101 Powerful Tips for Legally Improving Your Credit Score

Table of Contents:

Introduction...3
The Basics...4
The Best Ways to Boost Your Credit Score...8
Keep Your Credit Score Safe...10
Avoid Common Credit Score Mistakes...14
Dealing With Your Credit Report to Deal With Your Credit Score...17
Dealing With a Credit Score after a Big Problem...21
Dealing With Professional Credit Help...25
General Good Financial Habits Build Good Credit Scores...29
Think Like a Lender...34
Develop an Organized Strategy to Repair Your Credit score...39
Loans and Your Credit Score...41
Make Credit Repair Easier on Yourself...43
Student Credit Repair...45
Dealing With Debt...49
Credit Repair and Your Emotions...51
Parting Credit Tips...53
Conclusion...55


Dealing With a Credit Score after a Big Problem
Big, bad problems can happen to you - bankruptcies, divorces, law suits, non-payment of taxes.
These are big problems that can affect your credit score in as big way. If you have faced a large
problem that has ruined your credit, you need to take action fast and work consistently to boost
your FICO score:
Tip #25: If you have bad credit, establish better credit by taking out credit and repaying it
quickly
If you have terrible credit following a bankruptcy or other major financial upheaval, you may
need to get back into a good credit rating by taking out a loan you can handle. Make an
appointment to see your bank or bad credit lender a few months or years after the problem in
question and arrange for a small loan.
You should have enough savings to pay for the loan before you do this. Pay back the loan
quickly. It will not hugely boost your credit score but it will show lenders that you are having an
easier time paying your bills. Taking out a small loan you can repay is part of the slow process
of reestablishing good credit following a big financial problem.
Tip #26: Try secured credit if you cannot qualify for other types of credit
Secured credit is credit or a loan which uses something as collateral. In some cases, this could be
an asset like a house. In some cases, this collateral could be money frozen in an account by the
bank for just such a purchase.
If you need credit following a big problem with your credit score, secured credit may be
something you can qualify for. You can use this secured credit to reestablish a good credit rating
so that you will qualify for other loans in the future. You may have to pay slightly higher
interest if your credit score is quite low, but in the long term repaying this type of loan can
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improve your credit score.
Tip #27: Give it time
Many people believe that simply paying off debts will improve their credit score at once. This is
not true, unfortunately. If you have experienced a bankruptcy, have been reported to a collection
agency, or have had charge-offs, the record will remain on your credit report - even after you
have repaid your debts and resolved the problem.
In fact, major problems such as a bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for seven or ten
years, affecting your credit score. Even if your credit problems stem from simply not paying
bills on time, it will take some time for the mark to fade from your credit report and for your
credit score to reflect your better repayment.
Paying off your debts and resolving problems will help your credit score (since overdue accounts
will be marked as “paid” on your credit report), but only time will remove the mark of the
problems from your record entirely.
This means that if you have faced a major setback such as a bankruptcy, you may have to wait in
order to get the best interest rates on larger purchases. The good news is that the further away
you are from a major financial problem, the less dire it appears.
For example, if you have declared bankruptcy, you can expect it to have a huge impact on your
credit score for the first two years, during which time you will have a hard time getting any
credit at all.
However, after two or three years, if you have been paying your bills on time, then the
bankruptcy from two years ago will matter less because you have been rebuilding your credit.
Your credit will still suffer - but you will slowly be starting to work your way out of the credit
problem. Persistence and good financial habits will get you there.
This means that if you plan on making a major purchase (such as a house of car) that may require
a loan, you should start working on improving your credit well in advance - even years in
advance - of your actual purchase. This is because you simply will not have enough time to
radically alter your credit score in time if you wait too long.
Even if your credit score is already fairly good, you may need to give yourself several months of ...