Important info

If you owe a lot on various loans and credit cards, your credit might not be as good as you think it is. If you have sent a payment in late once or twice and that could cause bad marks in your credit history. Managing your debts today is more crucial than ever for financial stability. Since the credit markets are tight, it is important to have a practically spotless credit reports to avoid paying very high interest rates for any new loans. It might even cause you to not be approved for a loan. Your focus now should be on how to clean up credit reports and boost your credit scores.
Before you can learn how to clean up credit, you need to understand the credit ratings system. There are three credit bureaus that are widely used to evaluate the financial stability of consumers. When you apply for a loan or credit card, one or more of the credit bureaus will be used to check on your credit score. Scores can range from 300 to 850. The higher the score, the more likely you will be approved for the loan or credit card. If you have a low credit score you are deemed to be a more risky customer. When your score is low, you might still be approved for a loan, but the terms of your loan will include a high interest rate.
When you want to figure out how to clean up credit reports, look first to your credit cards. The credit bureaus reward consumers who have long credit histories and a substantial amount of available credit. Try to pay more than the minimum required each month. As difficult as it might be, use cash when making purchases to keep from piling on to your credit card debt. When you keep your balances maxed out, credit scores will continue to stay low, even if you are paying the minimum amount on time.
Don't think you can beat the system by taking out new credit cards and transferring balances. You risk taking a ding on your credit score by applying for the new cards. What you will find is that while this tactic gives you more available credit, it actually causes your scores to go down. So, as you are learning how to clean up credit, stick with the debts you currently have. Once you get them under control, you will be in a better place to get favorable terms when you really need to get a loan for a new car or a home purchase.

Just had had your application for a personal loan or credit card declined by your lender? Yikes!
What now?
As part of the investigative process each lender will do a credit check on you to see whether you're a good credit risk. Whilst there are many other factors involved in the loan application assessment process, one of the things the Banks do first up is to get a credit check done.
If there are any issues or red flags on the credit check, your application can be declined quite quickly.
The most common problem that arises is a hidden default. By this I mean a default that you didn't know about. This could occur where, for example, you change addresses. Even if you cancel all your utilities and move house thinking everything has been taken care of, it may not necessarily be the case.
It's not uncommon to discover that there was one final bill to be paid, usually from your phone company, posted to you after you have moved.
If you have not left a forwarding address with them, they cannot contact you and so the bill remains unpaid. If it remains unpaid for three months or more, they will list you on the public record as defaulting on the payment.
You will not find out about this until you make a credit enquiry.
Most banks will take a very dim view of this, and their initial reaction is to decline your application.
You will need to have an extremely good explanation to change the Banks perception, and unless the amount is extremely low, no more than a couple of hundred dollars, this may be difficult.
Most lenders take the view that you are responsible for all of your bills. In the case above, they will claim that it was your responsibility to stay in touch with each of the utility providers to ensure that everything was paid, and that you should also have provided them with your forwarding address.
Even if you pay the bill after you learn of the default, it will remain on your credit record for five years. This is the kind of blot on your copybook that you really can't afford to have.
So the lesson to be learned here is a simple one, take your financial responsibilities seriously, and make sure that you check and double check that you have paid everything on time every time.
If you don't, it may come back to bite you when you least expect it.

If you are interested in learning how to get your free annual credit report, you are in the right place. According to the Federal Law of the United States of America, each individual that resides in the country may receive a free copy of their individual credit report from each of the three bureaus that track and monitor credit in the country. It is important to understand that the agencies are not required to provide you with a numeric score associated with your report, only the report itself.
Being able to receive your free credit report is made possible by an official act from the government. This act is referred to as the "Fair Credit Reporting Act". You are able to receive this report from the agency referred to as "Experian", as well as "Equifax". The agency that is called "TransUnion" also provides a free annual credit report. You may request your report only once from each of these agencies within a time span of twelve months.
When requesting your credit report for the year, there are many ways to do so. You may order it on the World Wide Web, or by mail. You may also use the phone to order your report. If you want to do this, you must call 877-322-8228. When ordering, you may request only one report from one of the previously mentioned agencies, or you may order from all three agencies at the same time. It is advised that you order from all the reporting agencies at once.
It is essential that you review all of the information contained in your annual credit report to ensure that the information is accurate. Millions of individuals are subjected to identity theft on an annual basis. By reviewing your reports, you will be able to determine if you have been subjected to this crime. You should look for accounts that you did not become associated with, and any other unusual transactions that are not familiar to you.
If you discover any unusual transactions on your free annual credit report, it is important to immediately begin the dispute process so that an investigation may be initiated into the issue at hand. You will need to send a letter to the reporting agency that officially documents the information that you are disputing. You should also include any information that validates the fact that the information that is showing is considered to be inaccurate.
It is very important to sign up for your free annual credit report from each of the agencies that report credit each year. Not only will it help alert you to fraudulent activity that involves your identity, it will also allow you to keep track of the delinquent accounts that you have that may affect your ability to acquire credit on future purchases. By keeping track of your reports, you may engage in practices that assist in correcting negative items on your annual credit report. You can easily enjoy the luxury of knowing that your identity is private and not being subjected to criminal activity.

Building credit is a highly valuable technique that you may not find important in the near future but over time, have a high FICO will truly be an asset in your life. With a strong credit report you can be approved for many various loans. These can include auto loans, home loans, home equity lines of credit, business loans, business lines of credit, and other various forms of SBA loans.
You see with credit there comes responsibility. You must show that you have a high level of responsibility to the credit bureaus if you want to have a high FICO score of 720 or greater. The credit bureaus include Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. They will rank you credit score according to many factors which include the level of debt you carry, the amount of credit you currently have and how you use your credit and service your debt. Although these are not all of the points that are scrutinized, they do make up a great majority of what determines your credit score.
If you want strong credit score you must convey to these bureaus that you are worthy of one. Doing this is like building any other form of relationship. Time and persistence are really the key factors meaning you must show that you can handle credit responsibly and take on debt for a long period of time. The more you can show this with several open lines of credit, the higher you score will be. It is best to start as soon as possible to service your loans or credit cards and show that you are truly worthy of a strong credit score today.

With patience you can improve credit report scores. With time and by following the advice in this article you can clean bad credit.
Getting your report is easy.
To improve your scores you need to start by obtaining your credit report.
1. The Annual Report website is an approved site for requesting your report.
2. By calling (877) 322-8228 you can request your report by phone.
3. Fill out the PDF form at the FDC site and mail this form to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348.
5 areas are important to improve your scores:
1. Late Payments: You MUST make payments on time. Payments that are late will hurt your scores. For past due accounts call your creditors, talk to them. You will find that most are willing to work with you to help you get caught up. They will often not post negative reports to your report during this period. If overwhelmed with past and current negative reports, you should contact a non profit credit counselor.
2. Total amount owed is also important. If your credit limits are maxed, this will drop your score. Pay your balances down..
3. Short credit history. If your history is less than three years then you just need time. And wise management or your finances.
4. Are your types of accounts balanced? Installment loans and credit cards need to be balanced in order to improve your credit report. But beware; opening new accounts just to balance this will hurt you!
5. Looking for a new loan? Before allowing your score to be pulled, do your shopping up front. Inquiries can hurt your score but if they are within a short time period the damage will be minimal.
The first two are the most important in improving credit scores. Concentrate on these while still maintaining the others to best improve credit reports.
By following these simple tasks, giving it time and being persistent, you can improve credit scores by fixing payment histories, paying down balances, spreading out types of credit and staying away from new credit. Pay on time and be the first to call before your creditor calls you if you will be late on a payment. Find a credit counselor if you are overwhelmed by your credit woes. By being proactive and patient you can improve credit reports.