Help for Your Credit
- Missing payments will hurt your credit, and if applying for a mortgage or auto loan, a poor payment history can impact approval. Help your credit by fixing your bad payment record with creditors and lenders. This involves always paying your bills on time each month. Yes, situations can prevent timely payments, such as financial problems. But instead of missing a payment, communicate with your lender in advance to see if you can negotiate a payment arrangement that allows you to send the payment a few days past the due date or skip the payment for the month without penalty.
- Credit card balances are another factor in low credit scores. The balances you carry impact credit scores by 30 percent, and lowering your debt can tremendously raise your personal credit score. Techniques to help dissolve debt quicker and help your credit include paying more than the minimum on credit cards. You can also ask creditors to lower your interest rate, which helps you pay down the principal quicker. What's more, cutting back on how often you use credit cards and paying off new charges within a month helps keep balances in check.
- Periodically completing an application for a credit card or loan doesn't hurt your credit score. But several inquiries within a short time period can take points off your credit score. Plus, creditors and lenders pay attention to your number of credit applications, and applying for several credit accounts can indicate desperation, wherein other creditors are hesitant to approve your application. Keep your credit in good shape by limiting inquiries and only applying for new credit when necessary.
- Help your credit by occasionally checking your credit report to ensure the accuracy of accounts. Misinformation and errors can harm your report. But identifying these mistakes and bringing them to the attention of your creditors can result in the quick removal of errors and trigger a credit score increase. Get your free report yearly from Annual Credit Report.
