| Many want to learn to raise their credit score. You'll | | | | You will need to take a really good look at your credit |
| see those commercials on TV that say "Improve | | | | report and pay special attention to those items that |
| Credit Rating", call 1-800-Credit etc. Having bad credit | | | | affect your credit the most. As a general rule, items |
| score can make a lot of things difficult. Getting a | | | | that are several years old have less of an impact on |
| mortgage, a loan for a car and even renting an | | | | your credit than recent items. So you will want to pay |
| apartment all depend on your credit. These days many | | | | extra special attention to recent Foreclosures or |
| employers pull up a persons credit report before | | | | repossession than a loan default from 5 years ago. |
| making a decision to hire. To improve your credit | | | | 3. Start contacting the people you owe money to. The |
| quickly, there are a few tips you should keep in mind: | | | | way you approach a credit bureau or other agency |
| Improve Credit Rating Tips | | | | depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Here's |
| 1. Look in the mirror. Not literally of course. This means | | | | an example. Let's say you want to have 1 or two late |
| you have to look at your credit and your situation. If | | | | payments removed from your account at a credit |
| you've tried to get a mortgage or an auto loan and | | | | agency. You will want to be polite on the phone in |
| were declined, you need to figure out how much your | | | | order to win them over. I suggest telling them why the |
| credit needs to improve before you will qualify for | | | | payment was late if your reason was legitimate. If you |
| these things. Once you find out what your credit score | | | | were simply lazy or forgot to pay on time, make up |
| needs to be, or the general vicinity it needs to be in, | | | | some story. Just make sure it's believable. Remember |
| you will no how many points your FICO score needs | | | | to keep these keywords in your head all all times: |
| to go up by (ex. 20,30, 100 points etc.) | | | | Improve Credit Rating. That is the goal here. If you |
| 2. Identify your debts, and figure out which ones affect | | | | must make up a story sometimes, do it. |
| your credit score the most. Depending on who you talk | | | | When it comes to collection agencies, things are a little |
| to, the order of adverse items on your credit report | | | | different. These guys are supposed to have |
| looks something like this: | | | | something called "Validation of Debt". Often times they |
| - Bankruptcy | | | | don't even have this necessary paperwork and you |
| - Foreclosure | | | | can shut them up right there. |
| - Repossession | | | | Something important to keep in mind when trying to |
| - Loan Defaults | | | | improve credit rating, or I should say improve your |
| - Collections | | | | credit rating is that many collection agencies make |
| - Past Due Payments | | | | good money even if you pay off a portion of the debt |
| - Late Payments | | | | you owe. However, you should only agree to pay off |
| - Declined Credit | | | | a portion of the debt you owe if they agree to |
| - Credit Inquiries | | | | remove the negative item from your credit report. |