Read all 5 sections. 1 Get your credit reports. 2 Correct errors and pay debts. 3 How to get good credit. 4 Things to avoid. 5 Get a good job and budget.
----- 1rst - Get all 3 credit scores fast free and easy with GoFreeCredit The real scoop on free credit scores -----
It is of the up most importance to know what is negatively and positively affecting your credit scores. So you say you want to know how to get good credit? Well it starts right here.
We all know that we can get a free credit report at annual credit report.com. What we all don't know is that we can not get a free credit score. In fact it cost 7.95 per credit score at annualcreditreport.com for a total of 23.85. It cost 19.95 for the "FICO" credit score at all 3 bureaus for a total of almost 60 dollars. There are also sites on the internet that say they can model your credit scores like "creditkarma" and 'credit report card" with a questionnaire and they simply do not work. They are usually not even close. It is a jungle out there. I promote the links on my site for 3 reasons. 1. You get all 3 of your reports and scores for free if you cancel in less then 7 - 10 days as advertised. 2. You can get updated scores and reports after working to correct errors. 3. If you choose to keep the monitoring service to monitor your credit score adjustments the monthly service fee is the least expensive online.
Usually I will cancel because I get my credit reports at least once per year and I already know what is on my report. I always keep the monitoring service for a couple or 3 months if I am trying to get errors corrected. Remember that 60% of all credit reports, have errors that could cause you to be turned down for credit or jobs. Remember that Transunion, Experian and Equifax are huge conglomerate corporations that report what ever is reported to them by approved vendors. So you must be diligent at keeping your credit reports as clean and active as possible.
----- 2nd - Correct and remove credit errors - Pay off bad credit or balances -----
The first thing you must realize is that credit is real and there is no magic cure all for bad credit. You cannot pay a credit repair company to dispute all your bad credit and expect that to work. First IT WON"T WORK and second it is illegal. On the other hand there are a lot of unscrupulous collection agencies out there that can really report incorrect data on your report. Be prepared to pay off or negotiate any all "bad credit" or "bad debt" that you legal know are yours. At the same time you should be aware of the legal avenues you have to correct errors and pay off bad debts. You should always make collection agencies legally validate their ability to report and collect on accounts reported to bureaus. So I have a plan of action to get bad credit paid off. First dispute errors on your report. Second legally validate bad debts. Third negotiate as much as possible on any payments before you send the check. Pay off debts using the pyramid debt repayment system. Pay the smallest debt first then, ad that debt payment into the next smallest debt until you work up to the largest debt using the combined payments of all those previous debts to pay the largest debt as fast as possible. You should also pay open lines of credit down to 30% or less of your high credit limits or 79% minimum. High credit line balances kill good credit scores even if you pay your monthly minimum payments on time each month.
----- 3rd - How to get good credit at all three credit bureaus. Transunion Equifax Experian -----
All good credit scores or good credit reports have at least 3 - 6 accounts of open, rated, and current lines of good credit.
Open means the credit is open today. Current means the credit is not late today now and that it hasn't been late in the 2 years back from today. Rated means the account is reported to all 3 bureaus and shows "at least" 12 months activity. Best if 24 months. Activity means the account has been used each month or paid down each month in the past 2 years. Rated also means that these are legitimate lines of good credit not collections, charge offs, utility bills, past cell phones bills, past judgments, past liens, past medical bills, past electric bills and past bad satellite tv contracts.
These lines of credit need to be credit cards that report to bureaus. Car loans that report to bureaus, home loans that report to bureaus and personal loans that report to bureaus.
You might quickly say that this is stupid to go into more debt to get good credit. You must realize that debt is exactly what good credit is. There are some good ways to get good credit without new debt but they almost always require some type of money up front.
The fastest way to get good credit is by using:
Installment Loans: Home loans, Car loans and Personal loans
Revolving credit: Credit cards
Non Typical Credit
How to get good credit with Installment Loans
1. Get a secured personal installment loan at a local credit union in a city near you. Credit Unions will approve spotty credit, they look for reasons to say yes, and the are big enough to finance homes and cars. You can get a secured personal loan by depositing anywhere from 200 to 1000 dollars into a saving account and borrowing against your own money. Typically your interest rate will be a couple points higher than the interest they would pay you for keeping your money in savings. Most if not all credit union report loan activity to at least 1 of the 3 credit bureaus. Make sure to ask before you continue with the process.
2. Get a peer to peer installment loan Peer-to-peer, or social, lending sites such as Lending Club and Prosper connect borrowers with individual investors. The rates borrowers can get on 3 installment loans depend on their credit and their applications.
3. Get a Federal Student Loan. You have to be at least a half time college student to qualify for these loans. Check out FAFSA
4. Get or become a cosigner on a auto loan, personal loan or home loan. You will need to find someone who has some good credit already or you will have to have some good credit already to be a co-signer.
How to get good credit with Revolving Credit
1. Get a non balance carrying credit card or a Charge Card. If you get an American Express or a Diners Club charge card you will not be able to carry a balance and thus will not have to go into debt. There is an underlying benefit to using a charge card in that you will always have a low credit utilization ratio on this account. Credit utilization is the balance you carry from month to month against the high credit limit you are allowed to borrow. You credit utilization ratio can dramatically affect you credit score in that if your ratio goes over 79% your scores can drop hundreds of points even if you pay your minimum balance each month on time. The best credit utilization ratios typically run 30% or less of your high credit limits. Most charge card require you to already have some good credit before that will approve your non balance carrying charge card application.
2. Get a secured credit card that reports to bureaus. The most popular, effective and lowest fee carrying secured credit card in America right now is Orchard Bank Credit Cards. You may not even need to pay up front on this credit card. Simply fill out the application and you will be prompted as to which type of Orchard Credit cards best fits your credit history. I got one of these for my 18 year old daughter and paid in 200 dollars to start. The fees are low as possible and they report to all 3 credit reporting bureaus allowing you a great way to get good credit scores.
3. Become an authorized user on another person's credit card. There has been some difference of opinion on what has happened to this segment of credit reporting. Some say it does work, some not. Evidence has shown that most credit cards do report authorized users on spouses and family members. So the market segment has been reduced but does still work. You do not have to be given actual access to the credit cards accounts to be have the data imported to your credit files. You will need to call and make sure the credit card in question does this importation of credit information for authorized users. You also need to make sure the person keeps low credit utilization balances and pays on time each month. If you find the card holder cannot keep up with the payments or is letting the balances explode, then all you have to do is call the credit card and ask to be removed as an authorized user. Then the entire bad and good credit file will be removed.
How to get good "non typical" credit
Go to William Paid and get payments reported that are not being reported in the normal ways. Report Rent, Utilities and more. This is a totally new good credit making system that really works and I totally recommend William Paid to anyone who is renting and hopes to one day own their own home.
---- 4th Things to avoid or look out for -----
Prepaid Credit Cards. Pre Paid credit cards are the same as debit card and do not report to the three credit reporting agencies. Some even confine your spending to only their place of business. Like Walmart prepaid cards. These cards do nothing to help your credit, you can only use them at Walmart and they have fees. Small fees but fees non the less that will help you no more than the cash in your wallet will. Avoid them.
Rent to Own. Rent to own are not really loans at all. They are rent to own contracts that will only report to the three credit reporting agencies if you default on your contract. The whole idea is to keep you coming back and paying 2 or 3 times the value for more stuff because you do not have enough credit to buy it on your own. Avoid them at all cost.
Loans don't report to bureaus. report monthly to the credit bureaus. These are often found at local small banks or small area financing companies that will finance small appliances or gym contracts. It is important for you to be informed as to what is helping you get good credit and what is not.
----- 5th and probably the hardest most obvious is ------ Get a good job, or two jobs, then budget and pay bills on time. In 12 to 24 months your score will JUMP BIG TIME
- Get Your Free Credit Scores So you say you want to improve your credit? Well it starts right here. As seen on AOL MSN and YAHOO
- We must have 3 - 6 open lines of rated credit (12 month's reported to bureaus within the last 1 - 2 yrs) ! It's not enough to pay off collections and charges offs.
Get good current lines of credit here
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Car Auto loans Bad Credit? No Credit? No Problem - Dispute Errors Validate Debts Negotiate with Creditors Pay Balance Limit Ratios down to less than 79% best if 30%. Concentrate on debts that are 24 months from today back, as this time frame makes up 70% of credit scores.
- Get a good job or two jobs, budget and pay bills on time. In 12 to 24 Months your score will JUMP BIG TIME
How to get good credit scores. 1rst Get your credit reports and free credit scores. 2nd Correct errors and pay off bad debt. 3rd Get good credit with credit cards and loans. What to avoid and get a good job
I am Bo
Majors. I answer questions free and fast
majors@oskie.com
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