A credit rating is an evaluation of someones credit worthiness made by the credit bureaus. It is a snapshot of your credit history all found in one spot, your credit report. Having a good credit rating is very important and will make your life easier. It may seem overwhelming at first to maintain good credit, but after you take the time to learn about credit it is easy to do! In this article I will tell you how to:
1) Obtain a FREE copy of your credit report
2) What makes up your credit report
3) How to improve your credit rating
Receiving a free copy of your credit report is easy, just go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This website offers you three free credit reports a year. One report from each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If after you receive your three free reports you still need more within the year you can sign up for one of the three major bureaus credit monitoring programs. These programs usually cost between $10.00- $20.00 dollars and will give you full access to your credit report you can learn more information by going to:
www.equifax.com
www.experian.com
www.transunion.com
Now that you see what is on your credit report you must understand how to read it.
35 % *LATE PAYMENTS* :
The number one thing you can do to improve your credit is pay your bills on time from this day on. Although late payments will stay on your report for seven years the longer the time of your last late payment the better.
30% *DEBT TO CREDIT RATIO*
It is also very important not to max out your credit cards. The more credit you have available that you are not using the better.
15% *LENGTH OF CREDIT HISTORY*
The longer credit history the better so keep old accounts open,even if you are not using them.
10% *NEW CREDIT*
The amount of new credit you were given. If you’re repeatedly turned down credit recently it would not reflect good on your report so do not keep trying to get credit if your report is bad until you figure out how to make it better.
10% *MIX OF CREDIT*
It is good for your credit score if you have a different mix of credit. If you only have credit cards this is not going to be a strong area for your credit. The credit bureaus want to see credit cards, auto loans, home loans.
Improving your credit rating is not as hard as it seems. Go through your credit report and make sure all of the above things that make up your report are satisfied. If you have a few late payments talk to your creditors about helping you improve your credit rating and they may work with you and remove some of your negative marks. It does not hurt to ask and it may end up helping you a lot.
By following the advice I shared with you today I was able to raise my credit score by more than 100 points. I had horrible credit and I was terrified to even look at it let alone do something about it. The hardest part was actually looking to see where I stood. Now I know it is always possible to improve and to maintain good credit!