Improving Your Credit Score The Right Way

When you have taken some steps to clean up your finances, your credit score is bound to improve.

What you should do next is check your credit score. Don’t go overboard; don’t check it frequently. This can be a red flag to lenders. You only need to get a baseline, and then check again in about 6 to 9 months to see the progress. You can get free credit reports from different places. Always see to it though that you read the fine print, so you don’t sign up for something you have no idea about.

When you check your score, don’t just look at the number. See to it that you really go through the report. In many cases, you will find that there are many errors on the report. Such errors could cost you so much.

Look at the reports from all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion), and check every entry for accuracy. If you see a negative item on the report that is in any way inaccurate, you can file a dispute by writing a letter (not an email) to the credit bureau that logged the negative item with any documentation you have. The bureau will then investigate. Even a single negative item removed could make a remarkable difference in your score.

If you have a credit problem in the past that was supposed to be eliminated from your credit report but is still there without any reason why, you’ll need to notify the reporting bureau. These problems could be:

• Bankruptcy (should disappear after 10 years)
• Lawsuits (should disappear after seven years)
• Tax liens (should disappear after fifteen years)

If you think it’s enough, think again. Whatever cause you to have a poor credit score to begin with can easily do it to you again. Start over and get it right!