Posts Tagged ‘credit repair’

Having a Low Credit Score Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Buy a Home

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

When a lender considers approving your mortgage application, it goes something like this: First, what is your credit score? What is your credit history? How much money do you make? How much debt do you have? How much money do you have for a down payment?

Large down payments can help you overcome negative information on your credit history or a less than desired credit score. For the duration of your mortgage, however, you will pay higher fees and interest.

Bottom line is that you have a low credit score. If you want to purchase your own home, you still need a good credit score.

In order to qualify for the lowest interest rates, you need a minimum credit score of 758, according to CNN.com

Now, more than ever, it is important to have a good credit score to qualify for the best rates. The credit crisis has forced the mortgage companies to raise the minimum credit score, within the last 12-18 months.

Improving Your Credit Score to Get a Mortgage

Knowing how to improve your credit score can be confusing. But, if you just concentrate on removing bad credit information, your score will improve.

The “experts” claim that you cannot remove derogatory information from your report. They want you to believe that there is no way to raise a low score without waiting for the bad credit to automatically disappear ” often taking 7-10 years.

You can take matters into your own hands by obtaining your credit report to see what’s on it. Quite frequently, there are mistakes or errors that you can challenge now, and not wait 7-10 years for it to disappear.

Write a dispute letter addressed to the credit bureau or bureaus to dispute the errors. This will save you the frustration of working with the original creditor to fix the error.

More often than not, a well-worded credit dispute letter will resolve the error. In some instances, errors and sloppy work, hinder the investigation process.

This is because some credit bureaus don’t want to spend the time or resources to investigate the dispute. It is simply more cost effective to ignore or delay your dispute.

They want you to just live with the cost of having bad credit, and hope that you will give up on your dispute. This frustration causes some people to hire credit repair services to take over the dispute process.

How Long Will it Take to Raise a Low Credit Score

A frequent concern is how long will it take to improve a low credit score. Although every persons situation is unique, if you are looking for a fairly drastic improvement, then you should expect anywhere between 6 to 12 months before you report is clean.

This is nothing compared to waiting seven to ten years for the negative information to disappear from your credit report. It will be well worth the 6 to 12 month wait needed to raise your credit score, so you can purchase a home.

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Credit Repair Basics

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Having accepted credit, you are using someone else’s money as payment for your purchases. In addition, it also indicates that you promise to repay the money to the agency or person that loaned you the cash.

If you are applying for a loan, credit card or mortgage, it is normal for the agency or bank to check up on your credit worthiness. This is essentially based on an assessment of your credit history, thereby helping them determine the possible risks of the transaction and decide the terms of the loan. A positive assessment means that you have a good financial history, which increases your chance of being granted credit.

Credit Repair: The process, by which people with a bad credit history try to re-establish their credit worthiness is called credit repair. It means obtaining a copy of your credit status from the reporting agencies and carefully taking any steps necessary to address any problems, such as omissions, mis-reporting, mis-interpretation or any other inaccuracies.

If there are any discrepancies found in the credit report, the consumer is entitled to dispute the errors that have unjustly damaged their credit worthiness. There are several laws and regulations that are designed to guarantee the just and legal reporting of someone’s credit status. You can make use of these laws to formally commence the process of repairing your credit.

Every consumer is entitled to one copy of his/her credit history each year from each credit reporting agency. You will have to check the true nature of the errors in order to secure a successful credit repair.

Your credit record influences your purchasing power and eligibility for getting credit lines in the future. You should bear in mind that a good credit score can help in several areas like as: mortgaging a home, buying a car or even applying for a job. On the other hand, a bad credit rating can make you vulnerable to exorbitant interest rates and unnecessary loan conditions from the loan agencies. These two facets are important to help you realize why maintaining a good credit score is absolutely vital.

How Should You Repair Your Credit?: The method of credit repair can be accomplished through diligent work and discipline on your own. However, some companies will offer you ‘quick and easy’ ways to repair your poor credit history and they really can be quite tempting. However, these easy methods can also lead to further difficulties in the future, especially if they are unlawful.

If your poor credit history was caused by circumstances beyond your control, you can request an upgrade to your credit rating from your creditor. However, this can only be done if you were able to make amends to your credit records afterwards.

Creditors do not normally trust consumers who have defaulted on their payments. This can pose difficulties for you in getting further credit. However, once you are able to show a stable income and patterns of prompt payments, the situation can improve in the span of two to three years. This way, even if there was a bankruptcy, you are likely to be eligible for credit cards within two years, if a steady income is maintained.

Bear in mind that there are no quick fixes in repairing your credit. By contacting credit bureaus, correcting any errors, budgeting and consolidating your debts, you can improve your own score quite quickly.

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Maintain Your Good Credit Status

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Maintaining good credit is vital to your financial life. There are people who get a poor credit report due to neglect and the improper reviewing of the credit report. There are also others who have been through the process of repairing their credit and managed to maintain good credit afterwards. If you do not want to ever need credit repair, good credit maintenance is necessary. Luckily, simple steps can help one in the proper maintenance of a good credit status.

The importance of a good credit history plays a very important role in determining whether you qualify for a loan or not. The credit status report really says so much about the consumer, that it not only affects your finance life but other aspects of your life too. Financial advisers all agree about one thing: maintaining a good credit is important to leading a fit financial life.

Many people do not realize that landlords, employers and companies check credit status before taking a decision on whether or not they should grant a contract, rent a room or give a job. The scores and credit report can assist companies decide whether you pay your bills on time or whether you have filed for bankruptcy. They use the details on your credit report as a predictor of your future credit worthiness.

What Can You Do?: Although maintaining a good credit score can be quite a challenge, there is no better way to keep yourself safe from debt than by carefully following your spending and always sticking to a financial plan. Budgets are important as they can help you control your finances, decrease your debt and build a strong credit history.

On the topic of controlling your debt, the first thing that you can do is keep notes on your spending habits. You can do this by writing reports of what you spend and track anything that you owe. Monthly statements should be reviewed when they arrive and you must always check for any discrepancies. Additionally, always act on them by reporting them immediately.

To maintain your account in good standing, remember to always pay the creditor on or before the due date, which is usually printed on the statement. Do not skip any payments and strive to pay more than the minimum or, if possible, pay the whole outstanding balance each month.

Another easy step you can take is not to go over your credit limit. The available credit is the amount left on your credit usually represented by the difference between your credit limit and your outstanding balance. Always remember to maintain the balance lower than the limit of the credit available. Additionally, make sure to add any purchases you made after the closing date to your outstanding balance not included on the monthly statement; doing so will enable you find out just how much credit you actually have left.

Keeping to a budget is also important. Normally, 10% of your monthly income may be used to pay off your credit lines, bills or personal loans. However, if you are paying more, it is time to reconsider your spending habits. Stop buying impulsively since these purchases are often especially hard to pay off.

Lastly, control your finances. It is advisable to create a payment plan, which will help you get back on the right track. This plan should include those creditors, whom you need to pay and the amount of the payment each month. Normally, people limit their credit usage until the finances are under control, which is an excellent method of controlling your finances.

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