Students Can Repair Credit Score History: Find Out How
It seemed like just yesterday when you were eating mom's home-cooked breakfasts and hitting up dad for occasional gas money. Suddenly, you're thrust out into the world of adulthood without a clue or a personal finance plan. Even if you worked your way through high school, you likely spent all of your money on your first car, concerts, movie tickets, gas money, new clothes and fast food. With credit card offers in the student union and large lump sum loans assaulting you from all angles, it's easy to find yourself suddenly paying the price for your spending spree. So how can you repair credit score history and back-paddle out of this mess?
The first step to repairing your credit score history is to understand the breakdown of that three-digit number and what factors into your score. Your payment history comprises 35% of the score, so always pay every bill and credit payment in advance. This tells the lender how likely you are to pay them in full and on-time, without hassle. Also, the more recent the mistake, the worse it will be for your score. Another 30% of the score is based on outstanding debt, such as how much you owe on car loans or home loans and how many credit cards you have at their credit limits. You should have no more than 3 credit cards at 25% or less of their limits. This indicates whether you're out-of-control, using up your limits, and whether you're literally living off credit or not. The length of time you've had credit will account for 15% percent of your score because lenders want to see that you have a long-standing history of paying responsibly. Furthermore, 10% of the score is based on the number of inquiries on your report. If you are applying furiously for tons of credit cards, then this indicates that you're in some kind of financial trouble. The last 10% of the score is based on the types of credit you currently have, which should be a mix of unsecured credit cards and revolving loans to show you're capable of managing money. Credit report repair should start with making timely payments, then working balances down to 30% of your credit limit, then on to things like type of credit.
To repair credit score numbers, you'll obviously need to know what that magic number is. By law, you are entitled to one free credit report each year from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, which are the three major reporting bureaus. Experts recommend that you order one from each bureau since they may all be different. Creditors only need to report to one of the bureaus, by law, so it's estimated that 40% of all reports contain inaccuracies. You can gather these reports and engage in a little online credit repair at www.annualcreditreport.com. Once you have your report, you can clean and polish it by writing to dispute any inaccuracies.
You can apply for a secured credit card to repair credit score history as well. This is particularly useful for people who wouldn't be approved for an unsecured credit card. You'll deposit money with a lender and then use your card as you would a debit card. Screen your card issuer carefully, though, as there are a lot of credit repair scams. The best cards will offer no application fee, no annual fee, will be reported to all three credit bureaus and will convert to a regular credit card after 12-18 months of on-time payments. After you've had your credit card for a year, then you may want to apply for a small installment loan from a bank or your credit union. Choose something with a year or two timeframe and limit the amount of interest you pay.
Related topics about repair credit score
Credit Repair
One way to re-establish good credit is to secure one of the credit cards for people with bad credit. You need to exercise caution while looking over these credit repair offers, as there are obviously many scams preying on the poor.
