The Credit Challenge

Just wanted to give you a quick and easy method to raise your credit score within a few days.  Many people complicate the process of raising their credit scores, and as you may know, the more complicated a thing is, the greater chance that it will never be done.

Here it is. Make sure you do it.

Call you credit card companies and ask for a higher credit limit.  Yes, that’s all you have to do.

Here’s why it works. The second category with the most impact on your credit score is your balance to credit limit, which accounts for 30% of your credit score.  The lower your balance compared to your limit, the better. 

Let’s say you have a credit card with $100 balance and a $200 limit.  You are at 50% of your credit limit, which hurts your credit score.  Again, the lower the percentage is, the better.  Once you call them and they agree to raise your credit limit to $500 for example, you have now lowered your balance to credit limit to 20%, meaning a higher credit score without lowering the balance on your card.

That’s pretty simple, isn’t it.  If you have several cards, this can really make a difference and substantially raise your credit score.

What are you waiting for, call your credit card companies!

If you want more tips like this to improve your credit score or fix your credit, click Raise Your Credit Score to get these tips sent to your email!

As you may know, people want to fix their credit right now.  Many people are losing their jobs or going through a foreclosure.  Gas prices have made money a little tighter and many people are falling behind on their bills.  This can be devastating when it comes to their credit report and credit score. 

However, I want you to know there is still a way to fix your credit even under those situations.  The problem is that people often lose hope and are paralyzed when it comes to paying their bills on time once they get the news of a foreclosure or other big events like that.  That leads me into the one thing that you want to avoid when you fix your credit.

First, let’s start off by talking about the behavior that occurs when you start paying late (for most people at least). 

Say I get into a situation where I can no longer afford my mortgage payment and all of a sudden my house goes into foreclosure.  This may cause tons of stress and anxiety for me so I figure that I’ll just give up on all my bills and obligations. 

I stop paying everything at this point; my mortgage, credit cards, car loan, and even my utility bills because my house is about to be taken from me.  Guess what happens next?

My credit score plummets to the depths of the sea!!!  I have late payments on everything now.  This is the major mistake that people are making in this desperate time. 

Now, here’s the BETTER WAY to handle this situation and one you can learn from to help yourself and your loved ones not to completely destroy their credit.

Again, let’s say that I am losing my home.  I call the bank to see if there is anything we can work out rather than just dodge their calls.  They may or may not be able to help, but at least I tried.  So let’s say that there’s no other option than losing my home.  Sad, but OK in the long run.

Now, here’s where the magic takes place.  

Although the mortgage company is taking my house, I decide to keep paying my credit cards on time, my car loan on time and everything else on time since there’s no hope in keeping up with my mortgage payment.  KEY - PAY EVERYTHING ELSE ON TIME!!

The reason that you want to do this is because you will still have available credit in good standings to help fix your credit after the foreclosure.  Even though you have late payments on the mortgage and a foreclosure, you still have the credit cards and car loan (or any other credit you may have) that you have been paying on time and is still in good standing.  Over time, the good history on these other accounts will help you slowly boost your credit score higher and higher and help fix your credit.

Compare this to someone who loses hope completely and stops paying everything.  They have late payments on every account, a foreclosure on their home, collection accounts from the other credit they stopped paying, and all the credit cards have been closed by the creditors for lack of payment.  What do they have left to build on?  Absolutely nothing!

While you just continue paying your open accounts on time and showing the credit agencies that you can still handle credit in a timely manner, the other person is desperate to fix their credit but has no open accounts in good standings to build off of. 

They must try hard to open new accounts to re-establish themselves and fix their credit.  This may take several months or even years to accomplish.  You on the other hand don’t have to worry about that because you paid everything else on time, other than the mortgage, and you continue to have open credit in good standings.

So, the one thing that you want to avoid when you fix your credit after an event such as a foreclosure is to stop paying on all your other accounts.  As long as you continue paying everything else on time, you have a 99% better chance to fix your credit much easier and faster than all the others that decided to give up on all their expenses.

I hope this has been helpful and has opened your eyes to see that your credit is not doomed forever if you go through a bad financial time.  Do it intelligently and with some tact, and you will be back on your feet much sooner than most others.

If you are interested in learning more of these tips and tactics to fix your credit or boost your credit score, click Fix Your Credit to get this valuable information emailed to you.

Most of the time that I am in conversation with people about their credit score and credit report, they often underestimate the importance of these 3 magical numbers, their credit score.

The obvious reasons that you want to take care of your credit score are either to get approved for a loan or to get a lower interest rate whenever you borrow money.

Yes, these are crucial, but there are other, often overlooked, needs for having a great credit score.

Here are a few that you should be concerned with.  When you …

• Open a bank account
• Are looking to rent an apartment
• Are trying to set up your utility services
• Apply for a new job
• Are looking to get insurance (auto, renters, and others)
• Are looking for expand on the credit that you already have

As you can see, there are many benefits to having a stellar credit score.  For that reason, I want to give you a small gift.  Click on Good Credit Score and you will get instant access to an audio interview on how to attain and keep a high credit score.

Do you know anything about the Fair Credit Reporting Act?  If you don’t, you really should because they are your rights.

For those of you that don’t know, you have certain rights as it pertains to a credit report.  Most of us think that the banks and lending institutions are the only ones with rights when it comes to your credit report, but that’s not true at all.

So, what should you know about the Fair Credit Reporting Act?  Here’s a couple things that are helpful to know.

• Your credit report has everything to do with your credit payments, credit history, and credit record and nothing to do with your age, race, marital status,  national origin, religion, or even if you receive public assistance.
• You MUST receive a decision on your credit inquiry within 30 days.  Whether you are approved or not, the lenders only have 30 days to notify you with their decision.  After 30 days they are in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  If you weren’t approved, they must include a detailed statement of why you were denied credit and also mention your rights, including access to a free credit report.
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act also gives you the right to a free copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus once every 12 months.  Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com for your free credit report.  It is good to see your credit report and look for any errors or identity theft, among other things.
• You have a right to dispute any inaccuracies on your credit report, and creditors must respond to you within 30 days.  If you were right or the creditor cannot show proof, they must remove that negative account from your report.  If it cannot be removed, then you have a right to include a 100 word statement or explanation for consideration and clarification on the item that you disputed.

As you can see, there are many rights that you have under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  It’s important that you know them because you may be missing out on getting your credit report for free or even settling for a lower credit score that you really deserve.

If you are interested in finding out more tips like this, be sure to visit here Fix Your Credit Score to get a free audio interview on obtaining a credit score of over 700.

There are many students or individuals who have gone bankrupt in the past that are now looking for ways to obtain a credit score.

It is really not that difficult to obtain a credit score even if you don’t already have one. 

Here are a few tips that I usually give to my customers to help them obtain a credit score.

1. Become an authorized user - this is one of the absolute quickest ways to get a credit score.  All you have to do is ask your spouse, family member, or friend if they would add you as an authorized signer on their account.  You will then get the benefit of their payment history on that account.
2. Apply for a secured credit card - if you have an account with a bank, they often offer secured credit cards, which require a deposit for the amount of credit they extend to you.  It is much easier to qualify for this type of account because the bank has some kind of security that you will pay; your deposit!
3. Report utility bills - this one is simple.  Simply get the payment history for your utility bills and send them to the credit agencies.   If you have a good payment history, these accounts will get you scored quickly.
4. Apply for a personal loan- you may be scared off by the high interest rates in the double digits, but make sure you only borrow a small amount so you won’t be trapped with high payments.  This will give you credit, and will establish the basis of future credit from other places.
5. Purchase with a co-borrower - although you may not have the credit needed for a purchase, you can purchase with someone else and get your foot in the door with credit. Since the co-borrower will help you qualify for the loan, you will now use that loan to get a credit score.

Just because you don’t have credit or a credit score does not mean that you are doomed.  There are many options for you to obtain a credit score, and also credit in general. 

The first line of credit may be slightly more difficult or expensive, but you are paving your way to a strong credit score and opportunities to establish your credit worthiness for your lifetime!