Credit Cards these days have become our best friend. Though i do not step out of my house without it still i m for and against keeping the credit cards. When i was young I was badly in debt, i used to take loan from my friends and never used to repay it, as a result of which the interest rate started growing up to the sky level. Somehow, I started avoiding the usage of Credit Card for few days but was not able to get rid of it completely.
The reasons were very simple. My best friend my credit card has always helped in my bad times. I can actually give you two instances when my credit card actually turned out to be a super hero for me. First, When i wanted to gift my sister a home at a reasonable mortgage rate after her marriage. I was successful in improving my credit score so that i can go to the bank and ask for a suitable home loan from them. Secondly, at the last year end i sat with my wife and made a budget plan as our expenditures were exceeding our incomes.
I started paying all the bills of the house from my credit card and at the month end i used to pay off the credit card. The only advantage i gained from it that my budget planner looked a bit more cleaner than usual. You will be surprised to know that I have three credit cards at the moment and i haven't paid a single interest money out of them and i will continue it till i owe those cards.
Just as an advice i wanted to add that if you save some amount of money from your income every month the dependency on credit cards will reduce. Another thing which I wanted to share is that Credit Cards are not at all forms of free money. At the month end you have to pay altogether for the things you have purchased with the help of your credit cards.
Today i must say that finally i have reached on a resolution regarding my credit disputes. I have understood one thing that at least from two credit bureaus the collection account is removed. I m still confused about TransUnion, but now since i have received the letter from the MD Penn Foster, i m sure that it will be resolved. Plus i will be checking credit reports with scores for the entire quarter and i have learned a lot in these few months that has taken to resolve my issue. The most important thing that i have learned during all these processes is that when it comes to dealing with collection agencies, stay away. They don't care about anything but getting paid, so anything that you say will not have any influence with them. If possible talk to the original creditor first to try and solve the issue. If things don't work out then, go to the collection agency. I want to add an advise for all of you that only communicate to them in writing and do not sign any of the letters that you mail them (they can forge your signature). The most important thing to be kept in mind is that make sure that every letter is certified with return receipt requested. If they call, don't answer. Remember, everything must be documented in writing. Telephone calls are hardly documented and trust that all you'll hear are threats anyway.
For resolving credit report disputes sending the documentation via mail is very important. You won't believe when I called TransUnion once, the lady asked me when did I send my information and I had proof that I did. So i was like saved at that point of time. Also, when disputing your report, be persistent. If it is not to your satisfaction the first time, keep trying. It doesn't hurt anything and eventually they will get the message to fix your report.
Keep in mind you should never wait until tomorrow to respond to a letter you receive from the collection agencies or any of the credit bureaus. Try to reply on the same day if you can. Putting it off just makes the process longer and more frustrating for you.
To improve your credit score it is important that you remove any inaccuracies on your credit report, make your payments on time and lower your outstanding debt balances. There are many other ways that you are able to increase your credit score. Making all of your monthly bill payments on time is the best way. Another good way is by keeping the balance of total available revolving debt limited to approx. 30% of your total credit limit.
To increase your credit score you can also limit the number of credit inquiries that you have against you by limiting the amount of new credit applications you complete for example stop applying for the credit cards that offer a free gift giveaway when you apply. Don't close old accounts because the length of your credit history plays an important role in credit scoring. A long established credit history is much better than a short patchy credit history.
Then make sure you avoid taking on consumer installment credit accounts. These are the type of accounts offered by retail furniture, appliance, etc. type stores. Many of them offer "90 days same as cash" or "no interest for one year" to sound attractive. But they are not just worth. Moreover, having these type of accounts will have a negative effect on your credit score. Never, let past due accounts get turned over to collection. It will impact your credit score negatively when the collection reports on your credit report.
Take out a secured credit card is just another good way to increase your Credit Score. By doing this, the credit card will show the creditors that you have more available credit to you. Always remember that the longer the card is open, the better that it reflects on your credit as well. Also, since it is already secured with your money, you will not be able to get yourself into any sort of spending trouble or bad habits.
30, 60, and 90 day late payments hurt your score more than anything else. A 30 day late payment occurs as soon as the payment is late, not 30 days after it is late. As we know the creditors will not always report late payments immediately, if you make the payment soon after the due date. However, you can't depend on this. The best thing you can do is make all of your payments early, just to be sure they are paid on time.
To determine how to most effectively increase your FICO credit score, certain mortgage companies may utilize computer software which can simulate what certain changes to your credit report, for example paying down balances or closing certain accounts, may have one your credit score.
Always be in touch with a mortgage broker, they can actually help you to improve your credit. It is also important to pay your bills on time and decrease your credit balances. You can increase your credit score by disputing errors found in your report. You will need to dispute errors with each of the three credit bureaus separately. If you can provide proof of errors in your credit report while applying for a mortgage ask your loan officer to do a rapid re score. This can help raise your score in as little as 3 days.
Lastly I would advice you that improve your credit score by reviewing your credit report with a mortgage professional, and follow their instructions. Check out this excellent video before you log out !
Most People in the US have credit scores between 600 to 650. And certainly credit scores may change your life styles. Excellent credit scorers have high chances of availing huge loans at low interests, quite conveniently. But it is not that the bad or poor credit scorers will not get any loans. The loan people would also offer loans to them but the rate of interest comparatively is higher than good credit scorers. Also, people with bad credit scores are not likely to get approved for a credit card. So this way better credit scorers may enjoy whatever they want e.g. they may have more credit cards, buy a car, house, or get approved for any kind of loan they want at cheaper interest rates.
Some of you might be new, and are not aware what would be the range of good or bad credit scores. Following data would help you to understand the ranges:
700 or Higher - Excellent or very good credit score 680 to 699 - Good credit score 620 to 679 - Average credit score 580 to 619 - Low credit score 500 to 580 - Poor credit score
And if you have a credit score in between 300 to 499, then you just got a bad or worst credit score. So be careful and try not to fall below the Good credit score range in order to avail your full credit benefit.
