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Brought to you by Steve Miksta
Today, credit scores have become the #1 piece of data that determines whether or not a borrower will get loan approval and how much interest he or she will pay. Credit scores are now widely used – not only by lending resources – but also by employers, utility companies, insurance providers, and cell phone companies. And the list is growing every day.
Because your credit score is one of the most important tools creditors use to determine whether or not you are a good candidate for a loan, it will benefit you to learn what influences your credit score, and what you can do to improve it.
Here are about 30 reasons why your credit score is not as high as it could be:
- · Amount owed on accounts is too high.
- · Delinquency on accounts.
- · Too few bank revolving accounts.
- · Too many bank or national revolving accounts.
- · Too many accounts with balances.
- · Consumer finance accounts.
- · Account payment history too new to rate.
- · Too many recent inquiries in the last 12 months.
- · Too many accounts opened in the last 12 months.
- · Proportion of balances to credit limits is too high on revolving accounts.
- · Amount owed on revolving accounts is too high.
- · Length of revolving credit history is too short.
- · Time since delinquency is too recent or unknown.
- · Length of credit history is too short.
- · Lack of recent bank revolving information.
- · Lack of recent revolving account information.
- · No recent non-mortgage balance information.
- · Number of accounts with delinquency.
- · Too few accounts currently paid as agreed.
- · Time since derogatory public record or collection.
- · Amount past due on accounts.
- · Serious delinquency, derogatory public record, or collection.
- · Too many bank or national revolving accounts with balances.
- · No recent revolving balances.
- · Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high.
- · Lack of recent installment loan information.
- · Date of last inquiry too recent.
- · Time since most recent account opening too short.
- · Number of revolving accounts.
- · Number of bank revolving or other revolving accounts.
- · Number of established accounts.
- · No recent bankcard balances.
- · Too few accounts with recent payment information.
Steps to Take to start improving your credit today!
1 - Obtain a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus:
· By contacting Annual Credit Report Request Service. Each bureau is required to provide a free copy to you upon your request once every 12 months, but only through this service. To order your free copy, visit www.annualcreditreport.com, call 877-322-8228, or write to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.
· You are also entitled to a copy of your credit report if you are denied credit you have applied for. You must ask for your report within 60 days of being denied.
· You are also entitled to a free report if you are unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days, are on welfare, or if your report is inaccurate due to fraud or identity theft.
· You may buy a copy of your credit report from each agency.
2 - Verify that the information in your credit report is accurate. This includes your name
-spelled correctly, your address, your vital information etc. Make sure you are aware of
all credit lines and that you have ownership of all of them.
3 - Retain copies of any and all documentation and correspondence if you are disputing an
item in your report.
4 - If you have any errors, correct them immediately. The consumer reporting agency and
the agency or person who provided the inaccurate information is responsible under the
law for correcting it. To correct errors:
· Contact the consumer reporting company, via a certified letter with "return receipt requested," detailing what information you think is inaccurate and include any copies (not originals) of supporting documentation. They must investigate your claim and forward your information to the organization who reported the item you are disputing. The result of the investigation must be sent to you in writing, as well as a free copy of the report if there is a change resulting from your dispute. If there is no change to your report, you can ask that a record of the dispute be added to your report.
· Contact the provider who reported the item you are disputing. Include copies of supporting documentation. Once your dispute is resolved, if you are found to be correct, they cannot report the item on your report again.
In Conclusion
The bottom line is we have no choice. If a person has a social security number, then he or she also has a credit score. What any individual makes of it is their own decision. But you should know that it takes time and a bit of effort to improve the credit score. Don't wait until its too late. Start working towards a brighter financial future today.
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