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!
Categories: Credit Score Articles Tags: again, cleaning up finances, Credit Score, improving credit score, item, need, think
What is the meaning of parentheses in a legally binding contract?
Question by player41140: What is the meaning of parentheses in a legally binding contract?
There is a contract that says, “The scholar must obtain at least 60 ECTS (30 US credits).”
Does this mean the scholar must have at least:
-60 ECTS and 30 US credits
-60 ECTS and/or 30 US credits
-60 ECTS or 30 US credits
or does it mean something else?
Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Andrew
60 ECTS is the same as 30 US credits.
thus: and/or
What do you think? Answer below!
Categories: Credit Score Questions Tags: binding, Contract, Legally, meaning, parentheses, think
Q&A: How do I build credit when I don’t have much?
Question by Heather: How do I build credit when I don’t have much?
I am trying to build credit, but no one will give me a credit card. I have a car loan in both my husband and my name and we always pay early, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. When I apply for credit cards they always say “insufficient credit”. How do I go about building credit and getting a credit card?
Best answer:
Answer by Kath6
You might try joining a credit union, if you can, and open a checking or savings account. After you’ve been a good customer there for awhile, you may be able to take out a small personal loan for something. (When my son was 16, he got a loan for $ 400 to buy a drum set.)
Another way you can get credit is to get a secured credit card. First Premier Bank is one such card. You have to basically put an amount of money up front and then you use it for small amounts, say $ 20 or so and pay it off every month. You’re really using your own money, but it shows that you’re responsible and a good credit risk. The catch is, you must repay it on time every month. You don’t want it to grow and not be able to pay it off. Only charge a very small amount each month. After a few months of doing this, your credit will improve and they may offer you a better card. But, be careful. Credit cards are very dangerous to use. If you absolutely cannot pay off whatever you charge every month, do not use it! Remember that your credit score is very important. It is the key to getting good interest rates on car loans and mortgages. Safeguard it well. The sources below will help you more. Good luck.
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Categories: Credit Score Questions Tags: Best, build, Credit, credit card, Don't, month, much, think
If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month do you still…?
Question by dk: If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month do you still…?
If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month, does this help to build up good credit history or score?
Best answer:
Answer by message_board_ceo
You can’t pay off debt if you don’t have debt. According to FICO, the most effective way to raise your score is to pay debt. Chase, Discover, and MBNA (now BofFA) all confirmed this by advising me to charge a small amount and paying it ALMOST entirely (leaving a small $ 3-5 balance). This would show I was an extremely low credit risk, thereby boosting my FICO score.
So I tried this method using 3 sock drawer cards, each with a credit line in excess of $ 10k. I would buy a tank or two of gas, small grocery purchases, etc. under $ 100 on each per month, then pay off 95% of the balance. My score shot up from the low 700’s to 755 in a matter of 3-4 months. Mind you I had very little outstanding debt on any of my other cards. Don’t believe me? Try it, because it most definitely will improve your score.
One more thing, keeping a card with $ 0 balance, not using it for extensive periods of time used to be a good thing but is a big NO NO these days. Why? Because creditors are very freaked out by unconsumed lines of credit that are potential sitting ducks for turning into delinquent accounts. Furthermore, unused cards are having their credit lines slashed substantially, thereby reducing your available credit, which is a major factor in FICO’s score. Expect your score to take a nosedive when Chase or Amex decides to cut your unused 10k credit line in half because you didn’t even need $ 5k, so why should they give you $ 10k?
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Do companies automatically deduct tax from your dividends?
Question by Steve C: Do companies automatically deduct tax from your dividends?
If you hold, say, shares in BP and they pay you a dividend of £500, do they automatically pay the tax on that for you?
And are the “tax credits” they give you with the dividend equal to this – what can one write these tax credits off against?
Best answer:
Answer by William C
You need to request the payer of the dividend to deduct any percentage you want to cover potential taxes. Or, you can have none deducted and pay at the end of the year.
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Categories: Credit Score Questions Tags: automatically, companies, deduct, dividends, from, think
When I got the score from one of those free services?
Question by Go with the flow: When I got the score from one of those free services?
It said this is a CE score used by lenders
What does the CE stand for?
I dug and found out that their (Quizzles) scoring model is completely different
They add Amount of Cash Flow to the formula
Which takes the amount of money you earn
The site asks you your salary, and I lied and put almost none and my score with them was disastrous.
They say they use a CE scoring model
Does the CE stand for the model used by mortgage lenders ?
What does it stand for?
Best answer:
Answer by timothy p
any score other than FICO is useless. The FICO name brand score is the one lenders use. It doesn’t include your income.
Your income will be considered in your ability to repay a loan but is irrelevant when considering how well you repaid loan is the past.
If you want your real score, go to myfico.com. They will charge for this score but it will be much more accurate. Keep in mind that some lenders give heavier weight to certain types of accounts so your score still may not match exactly. ex. My credit card company orders a custom FICO that gives heavier weight to how well I repay revolving accounts. A car loan may give heavier weight to how well you repay installment accounts… The only time I have had my FICO match exactly was at my credit union. The others were close though.
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