Credit Score Repair

Hi Ross,

Welcome to the Forum.

Here are a few easy tips to follow to raise your score over time:

1) Make timely payments for all your bills. Sometimes paying more than the minimum amount helps to raise your score.
2) Do not use your full credit limit every month, even if you pay on time. It is best to keep the credit card utilization ratio between 35-50%.
3) If you have a secured loan that you pay in installments, paying it off can help to raise your score
4) Pay down any account that has passed into collections. You can negotiate with collection agency and come to a pay for delete agreement.
5) You can ask a relative or a friend to add you as an authorized user in any of their old credit card accounts. The longer your credit card history, the better will be your score.

While the above factors can help to increase your score, opening new credit accounts will decrease the score. Whenever you apply for a new line of credit, there are hard inquiries from the credit card companies. Hard inquiries can decrease your score by 2-50 points.

Hi Ross,

I agree with rachael that opening new credit card accounts does not help to increase your score.

Wanna sign up for a new credit card. which is the best card?

If you plan to apply for a new credit card account, you should shop for the company that offers you the best interest rates. You can fill up the online application forms of few of the credit card companies. When you start getting offers on your mail, you can compare the rates of interest, each one offers. It is always best to sign up for a low fixed interest card. For variable interest cards, the credit card company can change the interest rates without any prior notice. So it is not wise to choose a variable interest card, even if it offers a very low interest.

It is very important to ask about the company policies, if you default on a payment. The fine print can give you an idea of the terms and conditions of the credit card company.

Things you can do yourself to repair your credit

While it can be nice to go through a credit repair service, the fact of the matter is that you can actually fix your own credit. Here are some things that you can do on your own to start seeing improvement in your credit report:

* Pay bills and make loan payments on time and with at least the full amount due.
* Pay down debt – especially credit card debt – as quickly as possible.
* Do not apply for new credit.
* Check for errors on your credit report and have them fixed.

Before you choose a credit repair service, consider whether it is worth it to pay someone else to do something that you are quite capable of doing for yourself.