Kerry Hedden asked:




If you are like many consumers you have really done a number on your credit rating. You don’t even qualify for a bad credit rating, in fact people probably laugh when you want to obtain credit. Whether your credit is destroyed because of no fault of your own like a family illness or if you got in over your head and could no longer pay your bills, you can restore your credit rating by using credit cards to do it.

There are several things that you should know about using credit cards to fix your horrible credit. Read these tips carefully and follow them closely, the last thing that you need to do is make your credit problems even worse. You should also know that you may have destroyed your credit quickly but there is no quick fix to fixing horrible credit, if any one promises to do so RUN and save your money.

The first thing that you should know is many consumers make a huge mistake by just doing nothing with their credit report. They begin paying cash for everything and ignore it completely, waiting for seven years to pass so that things will automatically fall off. Well what happens after seven years when you have a clean report but no credit history?

Once your report is clean and you try to reestablish new credit any lender is going to question why there is no credit history and the likelihood of you receiving credit is going to be slim. So begin right away establishing good credit by using credit cards to fix your horrible credit.

First get one to three secured credit cards. Start with one card for $250 then as you save more money get another card with a higher credit limit. The key to doing this effectively is finding a secured credit card company that reports to all three credit bureaus. This way when you are using your credit cards and paying on time you are establishing a great credit history.

Many of the secured credit card companies will also increase your credit limits without requiring an additional deposit as you continuously make your payments on time. Once you have proven yourself for two or three years many of them will upgrade you to one of their unsecured credit cards and refund your initial deposit with interest.

What do you accomplish by doing this? Once all your old credit history is gone you will be left with a great credit history that has been established over several years. Then when you are going to apply for a home loan or financing for a car you will no longer be considered a high credit risk and you will reap the benefits of having excellent credit.

Remember when you are using credit cards to repair your horrible credit that you do not do anything to further damage your credit history. Start immediately to clean up your credit report, and establish a new credit history using secured credit cards to do it.

Timothy

Molly Wider asked:




Something that many individuals with bad credit have in common is that they do nothing about it. They accept that they have bad credit and live with the consequences. Many don’t realize that it is actually not that difficult to fix a credit score. It does take patience as it can take a year, or many years depending on how bad your score is, but it is possible. The key is taking action and being consistent. The following are steps that you can take to improve your credit rating.

- Request your credit report. In Canada this means contacting Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. In the US this means contacting Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Many people are unaware that a poor credit rating could be due to clerical errors. Typos and duplicate entries on a credit report are not uncommon. Once you have your reports, review them closely to ensure that there are no errors. If there are errors, dispute the charges with the reporting agency and you could be back to an acceptable credit rating sooner than you think.

If you have established that your credit report is accurate, and would like to improve it, the following should be your next steps:

- Pay all of your bills on time. If you can’t pay the bills on time, call the company(s) you will be late in paying and let them know when you will be paying. Some companies will note these calls in your customer file and it may prevent them from reporting a non-payment. This will not always work, but it’s worth a try.

- Don’t cut up your credit cards. Many think that if they don’t use credit for a while their score will be fixed and this is not the case. You must use credit to gain credit. Reduce the amount of available credit on each card and reduce the number of cards you carry. Don’t just cut up a card, but call to have the account closed. Call or write to your credit card companies and ask them to reduce your interest rate. Paying a yearly fee for a lower interest rate on a card on which you carry a balance may be well worth it in the end. Again, if at all possible, be sure to pay your bills on time.

- If you have no cards, try to obtain a secured loan, or a secured credit card to re-establish your credit. Asking a friend or family member to co-sign on a loan or credit card is another method, but beware, if you don’t pay this debt, you may lose a lot more than a good credit score, so this should be a last resort.

Fixing your credit score is not impossible, but it does take patience, persistence and commitment. Following these steps should help you to improve your credit rating.

Nicole

ehowfinance asked:

Canceling a paid off credit card can hurt a credit rating because credit card companies can pretty much do anything that they want. Consider keeping a paid off credit card to avoid damaging your credit score with tips from theowner of a debt settlement company in this free video on credit cards. Expert: Peter Repak Contact: www.clearfinancialcompany.com Bio: Peter Repak has been in the debt settlement business for over half a decade. He and his wife founded the Clear Financial Company. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

Randy