Brian Hawkins asked:




I don’t want to mislead anyone. These five tips are great ways to help increase your credit score but you’ll still need to pay your debts down and pay them on time. Paying your bills on time is the number one method to repairing you credit. This should be so obvious I didn’t even include it with the five tips. Consider it a freebie!

See where you stand

Before you can begin reestablishing your credit you need to know exactly where you stand. That’s the easy part and it will cost you less than fifty bucks in the US. You can’t fix what you don’t see so don’t skip this step. You can actually hurt your credit by fighting a negative that’s not even on your report and there may be mistakes and unfair derogatory information that needs to be corrected.

Getting The Report

I haven’t seen a service yet that actually offers a truly free credit report that includes your credit score. The ones that advertise free credit scores are using the ploy to get you to join their credit monitoring service or some other membership that requires a monthly fee. I recommend you just buy a report that includes the three available reports and scores from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. A few minutes researching the top search engine results for ‘Credit Report and Score’ should help you find a reliable site to buy your report from.

Lets Get Started…

1. Increasing the difference between your account balance and the credit limit of each card can increase your overall credit score. Pay down your credit card’s balances and the balances of other revolving accounts such as lines of credit. The bigger the gap the better off you are.

2. Here’s one that entire businesses have been built just by providing this service. It’s disputing old negatives. The idea is to get negative items pulled from your report by disputing the report in hopes that the creditor or collection agency won’t bother to verify it within the allowed time period. It’s a quick and easy way to ’slim down’ those negatives before you start tackling the project from other angles. You definitely want to look for and dispute inaccuracies.

3. Here’s one that I personally tried back in my twenties and it worked great. Let’s say you’re getting a couple grand from your income tax refund this year. Take a thousand dollars of that and go talk to your bank. Propose the idea of getting a secured loan using your cash as security. You won’t be able to withdrawal your funds until you pay off the loan but you won’t lose any money other than the interest paid either. It may seem silly to borrow your own money and pay interest on it but you’re repairing your credit. Be sure you make all payments on time every time and if you decide to pay it off early be sure you make several on-time payments first.

4. Here’s another one I’ve personally seen work. You need the cooperation of a relative with good credit for this one. Say dear old Dad has been paying his bills on time for years and he has fantastic credit and several credit cards. Simply ask him to contact the credit card issuers and add your name to the account. They will send him cards in your name but it’s still his account but now a little of his good credit will rub off on your score. It won’t hurt him unless you do something stupid like actually run up the account and cause late payments. Remember, the idea is to improve your credit score not get your hands on someone’s credit cards. You don’t need to use or carry the cards for this to work.

5. Be sure the credit limits being reported to the bureaus is correct. The credit limits on your credit reports may be out dated and showing lower than they actually are. If that’s the case ask your credit-card issuers to update the credit limit information to help your score. Remember tip number one? This will help increase that balance to limit difference to help boost your overall score.

These five steps should get you started on the path to enjoying a good credit history and ultimately lower interest rates, insurance premiums and other benefits of a high credit score.

Jason

Dr. Mark Clayson asked:




How can you protect yourself against identity theft? It may seem a tough job but in reality some of the best steps you can take are cheap and easy. And you should consider doing them right now and not wait until you have been a victim.

Watch bank and credit card accounts – look at statements, login to you accounts regularly, check transactions for any suspicious and unusual activity.

Get rid of paper where possible – clear mailboxes, shred sensitive documents, remove anything that has your data on it if you possibly can – how about getting things delivered electronically?

Take care of your wallet and only carry information that you will really need. Most trips require simple, straightforward and essential things. A full wallet contains valuable information for criminals.

Online accounts should be protected with hard to decipher passwords. Change them on a regular basis and choose ones that cannot easily be guessed.

There is a move to be being provided with free credit reports. These are useful and can show you if someone else has been applying for credit in your name. You can get one per year from each of the three credit monitoring companies.

Apply to a credit monitoring service to watch over activity in your accounts. They will alert you to all transactions and requests on your credit status which you can then check yourself for accuracy. As mentioned, companies also provide free annual credit reports if you ask them – you can stagger your requests so that you get one from each company every 4 months.

Tonya

Gerald Shaw asked:




Now that the economy is just moving on from the recent financial crisis, Americans have began spending on for the upcoming Christmas holidays. This would mean more credit card transactions and a greater need to monitor credit reports. Why is it important to keep track of credit scores?

It has been observed that due to the capitalist economy, more and more people are wallowing in credit card debt, posing to them a lot of problems in terms of financial security. On the other hand, sometimes the bank’s computer system messes up with the credit scores, allowing some errors to turn up on the credit scores, and deducting or deduct or adding points to the credit score, when they shouldn’t have. These problems illustrate the need for regularly looking into credit reports and monitoring transactions and changes made. This will also aid in facilitating credit loan transactions in the future.

To aid people who are too busy or ignorant to scour their credit files, the Federal Trade Commission has mandated by law the giving out of free credit reports by the big three credit agencies – Experian, Equifax and Transunion. However, there have been recent reports and feedback that customers and clients are being charged for a service fee, in exchange of tracking changes in their credit report. Moreover, some credit agencies have been luring customers in their websites by surreptitiously placing ads about credit monitoring, placing it as a hyperlink, only to find out that a membership fee has to be paid in exchange for the credit reports.

These services claim to assist the customers with credit monitoring, in which they can view for themselves updated credit balances and files, which is important if they will be applying for a loan, and for preventing identity thefts. Some critics point out that such monitoring services are a complete waste time, and that a monthly report will suffice – credit reports which are suppose to be given for free. Experian has been found to exploit access to these reports by promoting and marketing other services which the customer does not really need. For instance, to further lure clients into purchasing their services, their website is named FreeCreditReport.com – a striking resemblance to the similar sounding government website, AnnualCreditReport.com. This has created greater confusion among customers. For those wanting to keep track of their credit changes, it would be a good idea to look online for credit monitoring facts. Having knowledge about credit monitoring will eliminate the need to hire credit agencies and save you money, just to keep track of one’s finances.

Charlotte

Leah asked:


That is all i want. I want a list of my debts, who they are owed too, and how much.
I don’t wanna pay 49.95 a year for credit monitoring, or sign up for some stupid budgeting things, or get five different reports and how they interact with so and so for 9.95 a month but you have to sign up for a year. Or any of that crap. Ive been online looking for an hour for some place that just simply sells a credit report and if any of them do i don’t see it.
I just want a credit report. That is all. Nothing more. No bells. No whistles. Just a report. I am willing to pay for it.

Hazel

StartingOver asked:


I pay for a credit monitoring service every month. March 1st I opened a new account, and expected the service to notify me of the change, since they have no proof I was the one who opened the account. Typically how long does it take a credit monitoring service to discover changes made on an account? To my knowledge they only work with one bureau, not all three. I have not called them because I want to see if they ever notify me. If not, I’m closing the service and requesting a refund.
Also, is there a service which provides daily updates from all 3 credit bureaus?

Leslie

westsaeed asked:


So my friend was in Vegas at the USAir gate waiting for his plane. A guy came over and offered a free t-shirt and free airline ticket voucher. So he signed up, thinking it was a gimmick to build brand loyalty.

A few weeks later, his credit monitoring service emailed him that there was an inquiry from Barclay’s Bank. So he called and was told he had been issued a USAir Mastercard miles card. He was confused and angry that he’d been deceived. The huckster didn’t even furnish a disclosure of fees. When he got the card, he noticed an annual fee of $79, which was also not disclosed either by the person in the airport (who didn’t even mention it was a credit card application) or the phone rep, who talked him into keeping the card that had already been issued.

Can he cancel and have the inquiry removed? What is his recourse? Which state’s laws have precedence in this case?
No fine print. That would’ve blown the scam. Barclay’s told him it uses “independent contractors”, not professional bankers in the airport. My friend said the signup sheet looked like a Word document with only USAir’s logo on it.

Jeffery

Brian Miller asked:




Cyber crime is on the rise and usually results in ID theft. That can include theft of credit card numbers, debit cards, social security number or any other personal/financial information.

Criminals use sophisticated online phishing schemes to lure your into giving them your personal information through fake websites that imitate legitimate sites.

Criminals can also use the old fashioned way of stealing wallets or purses. Even if you just lost your purse or wallet, you stand a chance of getting your ID stolen.

Id theft can affect your credit in a bad way, not to mention your finances in general. It can completely ruin your financial future for years. Once a criminal gets your credit/debit card they can completely max out your credit cards or withdraw (steal) money via your debit card. You could be held liable for any charges to your account. They also can use YOUR social security number to create a whole new Identity for themselves.

All this will have a negative impact on your credit history. Having poor credit score can mean higher interest rates on loans and possibly higher insurance premiums -each of which can end up costing you thousands of dollars. Even some employers are checking credit histories of potential employees so it could affect your ability to get a job.

If you are just trying to improve your score you may want to monitor your credit score/report over a period of time to track your progress.

At the very least you can check your credit report at least once a year to check for errors and much more often if you suspect ID theft.

You can get 3 free credit reports from annualcreditreport com. The problem with that is you can only get each of 3 reports once a year. You could request one of the 3 reports every few months if you want to – but that still may not be enough.

You can also get your credit scores from each of the 3 credit bureaus for a fee. Those aren’t free.

There are services that monitor your credit scores and report. They are usually monthly fee based. Some provide theft protection in the form of insurance, as well as alerts to changes. They usually give you your scores right up front.

Tina

Mike D! asked:


I was in an accident nearly 4 years ago and was taken to the hospital via ambulance. As I understand it, they took my information then and they claim they submitted the bill to my insurance company. I figured everything was all set but have recently been getting collection calls for nearly $1000 and this has shown up on my credit reports (which unfortunately I have only begun to monitor lately). I have been in contact with my insurance company (who tells me I owe nothing in this situation because it should have been covered) and they say they received nothing from the ambulance company until the end of Feb 08! The ambulance company insists they did nothing wrong and refuse to take this mark off my credit report even when they are paid by my insurance.

Do I have any recourse to have this removed from my credit reports? I need help! Thanks!

Frank

Louis Tsui asked:


There are lots of different ways that a consumer, or someone worried about credit can look into free credit report monitoring. The main key is that you understand where you have access to this free monitoring and where you can get it for yourself. You can get free credit monitoring from lots of different credit report companies, or companies that deal and work with people’s credit. It’s a great decision for lots of people who are interested in making sure that their credit is stable and intact. Making sure that you have good credit is a great way to keep you on track with all of your finances. Credit report monitoring monitors your credit reports, and your credit. You can get this kind of monitoring from the majority of credit companies, and you can call your provider or other company to get information.

Using free credit report monitoring is a great way to make sure that you stay on track with your credit. It can help you realize when your credit is headed in a southward direction, and can give you a red flag when you need to watch your credit. These benefits are great for anyone who is just out of credit trouble, to make sure you don’t get there again. It’s also great for anyone who is just looking at a way to make sure that their credit is safe and that it is not going to crash. It’s a good decision to make for anyone with credit, and especially important for anyone who is worried about their credit.

There are lots of different kinds of free credit report monitoring services available, depending on who you are looking at to do the monitoring. You can look at your company, or look at anyone who manages your credit. Services include protecting you against fraud, monitoring your current credit patterns with your history, and giving you service to match your credit. Using these services can help you make sure that you aren’t making any mistakes, and that you can get a great credit history and score. This is a smart financial move for anyone, any kind of consumer and anyone with credit.

Article By Louis, CardKudos[dot]com



Alma

Amy Wells asked:


If your considering buying a home, getting an auto loan, or a new job, your credit will be a factor, and could negatively impact your ability to get a loan or a mortgage. If you would like to get the best deal possible, it is essential that you take a look at your credit report, and clean up your credit as much as possible, before you even apply for anything where credit is a factor.

First contact all three credit bureaus, Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax, and get a copy of your report. Each report will be slightly different, and you want to make sure you compare all of them, since they will need to be corrected one by one. In some cases you can get a copy of your report free, depending on the state. Also, you may get a free report bundled with offers like a credit monitoring service, but it is usually best just to get the report right on the bureau website.

Once you’ve received all three reports, start by reviewing the information for accuracy. For each item that is inaccurate, you will want to write a separate letter to the credit bureau, providing them with any documentation that you have available. Some of the typical errors include accounts that are listed twice, under a slightly different name, which can make it look like you owe more than you do. Another common error is companies that do not report when a loan or a debt is paid off. Once the credit bureau receives your letter, they will write to the credit company and wait for them to respond to your claim. If the credit company cannot provide proof to the contrary within 30 days, the item should be removed from your credit report.

Sometimes, you may be paying a bill regularly on time, such as a student loan, and find that it is not listed on your credit report. On-time payment is one of the major factors that go into getting a good credit score. If you call or write these companies, and ask them to report your good standing to the credit bureaus, chances are that they will, and that can also improve your credit.

One of the key things you can do to continue to improve your credit is to make sure you always pay your bills on time. If possible, sign up for auto-deduction for any recurring bills. Auto deduction has many benefits, and it takes the time and hassle out of bill paying. Also, each time you pay a bill on time, you will be taking one step toward improving your credit.

While it can take some time and effort to clean up your credit, it is certainly possible. You will need 1-3 months to dispute any errors and have them reflected on your credit report. By being proactive, and maintaining good credit habits, your credit will improve.



Pedro