Credit scores and credit reports are a reflection of how well or poorly you have managed your finances. If your credit report shows negative information, it becomes critical for you to get rid of any unpaid debt. Otherwise, you may be charged with an exuberant amount of interest.
If your credit report shows terrible reviews of your financial behavior, it will be difficult for you to obtain credit from other creditors. You may still get some credit, if and only if you collateralize it with a property or an asset. But, if you don’t own any valuable assets to use as collateral, you will not be eligible to get any form of credit, leading to a worse financial situation.
To get rid of bad credit scores, you are left with the only option to start rebuilding your credit. Improving your credit score will help you get approved for loans or credit cards, and, as a result, you will be rewarded with better interest rates. A bad credit score is equal to or below 619 per the FICO score. Follow the mentioned steps below to get your credit score back on track.
Review your Credit Report
Make sure to review your credit file so that you know your financial position. By doing so, you will get a better idea of what points need improvement. Do you have late or missing payments? Is your credit file showing that you have a higher rate of debt utilization? Reviewing such information will help you formulate a plan on where to start to improve your credit score.
You also need to check your scores to know whether there are any errors or inaccurate payment details present without your knowledge. If yes, then dispute the problem and get those debts removed, automatically improving your score. In case of any dispute, FTC offers some great rewards which will help you rebuild your credit score.
Catch your Payments
Your payment history has a significant effect on your credit report. If you fail to meet your payment deadlines, it will not improve your credit score. You will only be making it much worse.
If you find it challenging to make your payments on time, you should contact your creditors to get a more suitable payment plan. Make sure to be up-front when contacting your creditors and explain your whole scenario. Let them know that you still want to pay for your responsibilities. You can also ask for services from a credit counseling agency to make a proper payment plan.
Pay your Bills on Time
You can slowly rebuild your credit by paying your bills on time. This also includes paying non-credit card bills such as utility, phone, internet, etc. Late rent and missed utility payments are reported directly to credit bureaus. Payment history helps you to establish a reliable pattern to improve your score. Make sure that you are not falling into the bad habit of making late payments. If you can make automatic payments from your bank account, utilize this not to miss any more future payments.
Avoid Closing Credit Card Accounts
Try to avoid closing your credit card accounts, whether you use them or not. The longer the history of your credit, the better it is for your score. However, if you are far behind on your payment deadlines, the only option you are left with is to get a payment plan. A payment plan is required to cancel your credit card account. But, make sure to track the history of your credit score to rebuild it.
Pay Down Debt
Credit utilization is another factor to consider to improve your credit score. Credit utilization is a way to measure how much debt you have, and it is expressed as a fraction of the available credit that you use. For instance, you have an available credit of $10,000, and you only use $7,500; the amount of your credit utilization is 75%. You need to make a plan to pay off your debt more rapidly by using credit utilization. Reducing your debt will help you to improve your credit score.
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