With more and more people having bad credit today, it’s making it difficult for people to get loans to buy things such as automobiles and houses. Bad credit can even make it difficult to get a job. The lenders are afraid of lending to those who have bad credit, but many people are falling into that category today. When they do lend money to people with poor credit, they have higher interest rates in an effort to protect themselves. In some cases, these rates are outrageously high, but those who need the loans believe that can do little to change their situation. Fortunately, that’s not the case. You can improve your credit and you should take steps to do it now.

Fixing credit is not something that is magical. It takes time and knowhow, but you can do it on your own. Even though it does take some time, it’s not as long as one might imagine. The first thing that you must to before getting a loan is to make sure that you are paying your current bills on time. If you do not have the ability to pay your bills on time now, lenders will know that you aren’t going to pay them either. You should also get a copy of your credit report so you can see and challenge any errors that might be causing your credit rating to drop. Take care of these with the credit bureau, and you will see that you can improve your credit rating.

Once you start fixing your credit, you are going to want to shoot for a score of 700 or higher. When you have a high score like this, you will be able to save thousands of dollars over the years. You can sometimes even negotiate with lenders for even better rates. Because they are starved for quality customers who are going to pay them back, they are often willing to negotiate. They will see you as a good risk to take. You will get more than just better interest rates when you fix your credit though.

You can also get better rates on your insurance. In some cases, you can even have deposits waived when it comes to utilities. Your cell phone pricing and service costs are going to be lower as well. Having great credit can help you save money in some surprising ways. It also gives you a good feeling inside to know that you can qualify for a fair loan when you need one.

How to Find a Good Credit Repair Solution?

Analyzing your credit report is one of the most important elements to start fixing your credit report. The first thing you should look at when analyzing your credit report is the state of your credit score. A credit score can range anywhere from 300 to 850. Remember that in terms of rating the lower the number the worse the score. If your credit score is low, you will need to examine the rest of your report to find out exactly what items are negatively impacting your credit score.

This could be the result of anything from not making your payments on time to having to file for a bankruptcy in the past. If you need to get credit repair, you will need to look through your credit report for any items that are inaccurate, incomplete, outstanding or incomplete. which you can dispute. If there is a mark made against you that you think is invalid, you can write a dispute letter to the credit bureaus, claiming that you should not have to suffer the consequences of the mark on your score. Removing bad marks will increase your credit rating right away. You should also remember that responsible credit habits are the best way to have a high credit score.

Another option is finding a credit repair service company that offers affordable and monthly low fees, so you can start fixing your credit without having to deal with the credit bureaus yourself.

Surprisingly, with so much riding on this number, very few people understand how the FICO score is calculated, what the score means, or what they can do to improve their scores.

1. Dispute Errors and Inaccuracies
Recent studies show that as many as 80% of consumer credit files contain errors and inaccuracies. Chances are you might be 1 of those 80. Errors and inaccuracies, especially ones that are negatively impacting your credit scores, can lead to higher interest rates on loans and credit cards or denials for new credit. After you’ve obtained a copy of your credit reports review them carefully to identify any items that are negatively impacting your credit score and highlight everything you believe to be incorrect, inaccurate, errors or obsolete and using a credit repair software dispute those items. These could be inaccurate or outdated accounts, unauthorized inquiries, collection that are not yours, duplicate derogatory accounts and outdated or unknown public records and accounts listed as “settled,” “paid derogatory”, “paid charge-off’” or anything other than “current” or “paid as agreed” if you had in fact paid on time and in full.

2. Make Payments on Time
One of the most important things you can do to have a high credit score is to pay your payments on time. Since your payment history alone makes up the 35% of your credit score making your payments on time is critical. Late payments that are 30 days or more past due will have a negative effect on your overall credit score. Late payments stay on your credit reports for seven (7) years.

3. Make Sure All Your Credit Lines Are Posted On Your Credit Report
Often, some creditors will not post your credit line on your credit report either by a human error or due to some other mistakes. Showing less available credit will result in a lower credit score. If you notice accounts that you have are not showing up on your credit report, you can request the credit bureau to report these accounts. Also, If there are past bankruptcies that are closed and should show up with zero balance make sure to they show a zero balance! In many cases, you need to file a dispute to request that the creditor reports the “bankruptcy as a charge off as a zero balance.

4. Pay Down Debt and Don’t Max Out Your Credit Cards.
The second largest factor impacting your credit score is how much you owe. This accounts for 30% of your score. The more you owe, the lower your score will be. Someone who owes $30,000 is riskier than someone who owes only $1000, all else being equal. So a great way to increase your credit score is to pay down as much debt as you can. Another factor in the credit score formula is your debt to credit ratio which should not exceed 60% of your total available credit.

5. Keep Old Positive Accounts Open
Length of credit history is another important credit score factor, so it can be to your advantage to keep open older accounts that are in good standing. While it is important to keep the total number of open accounts manageable, it may be more hurtful to your score to close an old account than to keep it open even though it increases the number of open accounts.

6. Keep Revolving Accounts Open
It is very helpful that you maintain a variety of credit accounts. If you do not have four active credit cards, you might want to open some. If you have poor credit and are not approved for a typical credit card, you might want to set up a “secured credit card” account. A secured credit card requires you to make a deposit that is equal to or more than your limit. This guarantees the bank that you will repay the loan and is an excellent way to establish credit.

7. Use Caution When Applying for New Credit.
Every time you apply for a credit card, line of credit, or other loans, an inquiry is made to your credit report. While new credit is the least important factor in your score, it is still an important issue to consider. When you are shopping for a new loan or credit card, do your shopping in a relatively short period of time. So to avoid these inquiries, apply for new credit only if you must.

When you sign up for the services of a credit repair company, you’re essentially paying them to look at your credit report and find all the negative and inaccurate items they can. They will then send letters to specific credit bureaus and creditors, working to remove these items from your report. This is the basic function of the best credit repair companies that you will work with.

A consultation is the first step after you call and request services from a credit repair company. In most cases, the consultation will be free, meaning you take no financial risk. Most companies will simply pull your credit reports from one of the top organizations though some will go after your actual FICO score. Through the consultation, a representative from the company will go through your report and help you determine which negative items are incorrect, outdated, or inaccurate, while showing which ones are candidates for removal.

After your consultation, you’ll have the chance to sign up for credit repair services. If you decide to proceed with a company, you’ll likely have to pay a fee that is often called a “first-work fee.” It may also be called a “setup fee” by some credit repair agencies. This fee will often be charged roughly seven days after you officialize services and sign up with the company. The fee covers the cost of setting up your account and sending the first batch of disputes to the bureaus and past lenders.

Now that you are signed up for services, the real magic starts to happen. The best credit repair companies dispute as many items as possible each month, helping to clear as large a number of negative items as they can in the fastest manner possible.

Be aware, however, that some credit repair companies promise to go after each and every negative item on your report at the same time. This is rarely effective, because once a credit bureau is swamped with requests to remove items that should not be removed, they may mark the account as frivolous and deny your requests entirely.

Massive change to your credit score can take a long time. You can’t expect all those negative marks to be removed overnight, so be patient. Even victims of identity theft will need time to repair their credit scores, even when working with the best credit repair services.  A large portion of credit repair companies will need at least six months to repair your credit. This is the average time cited by many of the top companies. It will, however, depend on the details of your specific score and the types of marks that need to be removed.

You will see some results in the first 45 days in many cases. Because credit bureaus and creditors legally have 30 days to investigate, as well as extra time to mail documents, this is typically the time frame for some changes. If there are items such as medical bills that need to be removed, it may take several months to see results.

Even if it is causing a negative score in your report, a negative item in your reporting will have to stay; not even the best credit repair companies can help on this. However, inaccurate items can be removed. These can include late payments that were actually made on time or items listed in the wrong name.

If your late payment or other negative item is accurate, however, it must stay on your report for a specific time frame; usually up to seven years. Lawsuits and judgments against you can also remain for seven years, but the statute of limitations will apply. Reports of bankruptcy will stay on your report for a decade.

Any promise made to remove all negative items is inaccurate and likely illegitimate. There will be correct negative items that can’t be removed until a certain time has passed.

Sadly, the internet is full of a wide variety of scammers, and you need to protect yourself in order to not lose any of your hard-earned money. While scams are always a concern, there are many excellent companies that can help you get the best possible results for your credit-repair efforts. Be wary of guarantees to raise your credit score to an exact amount by a specific date, and watch our for companies that request a large up-front deposit.

Understand that guarantees are not always cut and dry. Be aware of all guarantees that a company offers. Some companies will offer reimbursement for setup fees or services if you don’t get results, but there are details in the fine print that may not be completely disclosed. If you have a bad experience, you can make a complaint and receive some or all of your money back. However, it’s best to not expect a return if you don’t get the results you were expecting.

Be a careful judge of credit repair companies based on their promised results. Everyone’s credit score is different and unique, and it’s possible for a company to say that it can achieve something that may not be possible, including the specific number of negative items removed. After all, how can they make this promise before they’ve looked at your score? These numbers have little impact on the longterm results, and different negative items are treated and disputed differently, making it nearly impossible to followthrough on such promises.