Having bad credit in America can deeply affect your quality of life. If someone is to have poor credit it can make you ineligible for car loans, home loans, and even in some cases rental leases. Not to mention, people who have poor credit are usually at the mercy of creditors in regards to interest rates. Someone who has poor credit will get a much higher interest rate than one who has outstanding credit. We at The Weller Legal Group are here to assist you in understanding the credit repair process and are here to help you in fixing your poor credit. Below we are going to discuss five ways to help increase your credit score.
Length of Credit
Something that a lot of people may not know is that the length of your credit can have some real life consequences on your credit score. If someone is to just open a credit card, it will take some time before you can build up a good credit history. In regards to this, you should start as early as possible if you want to build up your credit. If you already have a credit card make sure to keep your oldest card active and don’t close that account. Banks like to see that you have a good length of credit history when they are deciding whether or not they want to approve you for a loan. Make sure to keep those old credit card accounts open, especially if it’s your first credit card that you ever received. Keeping old accounts open will help increase your credit score over the long run for years to come.
Payment History
Payment history is probably one of the most important things in regards to improving your credit. If you have multiple credit cards, make sure to pay your payments on time each month or you may get a ding on your credit. If you have the habit to pay late every single month then you will probably see that reflection on your credit score going down. Many people don’t take this seriously and they think if they pay late here and there it’s no big deal. That is not true, every time you pay late that is noted in your credit history, over time if you have many late payments it will only hurt your credit. This is why it is very important that you pay your bills on time and make at least the minimum payments each month. Do this consistently and over time you should see your credit score increasing.
Revolving Utilization
This is something that most people don’t realize that can have a big affect on your credit score. Revolving utilization is when you look at the credit amount limit given to you and the amount that you are currently using. For example if you credit limit is $10,000 and you are currently using $3,000, this means you have a revolving utilization of 30%. In order to increase your credit, try to keep this revolving utilization in check, preferably under 30%. The lower you get your revolving utilization the better. If you are getting close to maxing out all of your credit cards you definitely will start to see it affecting your credit score. Make sure to take your revolving utilization seriously because if you are close to maxing out all your credit cards it will negatively affect your credit and can be a sign of more dangers to come. Be careful when it comes to credit cards, it is very easy to let your credit card debt spiral out of hand.
Number of Inquiries
The number of inquiries you make can impact your credit score in a negative way. This meaning if you apply for many credit cards, home loans, and car loans in a short period of time you will probably see that bringing down your credit. If you do not absolutely need to take out a loan, it would be advisable not to freely apply to many credit cards. Each time you apply for a credit card the bank will pull from your credit and that would bring down your credit a little bit. If you are looking to take out a loan for a big purchase, for example a house, it would be best to keep your number of credit inquiries to a minimum before submitting your application to try and get the big home loan. Be careful when applying to many credit cards because you may also have the habit of using too much credit for impulse purchases. This could make your revolving utilization higher than it should and will also hurt your credit as we mentioned in the section before.
Hire a Credit Repair Agency
If you are feeling absolutely overwhelmed with your credit situation you can always hire someone to help you to increase your credit. This is probably the easiest and most efficient way to increasing your credit score. If you want to see good results then do your research and hire a good credit repair agency to help you with your credit situation. They will analyze your credit history and see what they can fight to remove from your credit report. These agencies can also help you take the necessary steps in helping you maintain your good credit score for years to come. Hire a credit repair agency to help you improve your credit may be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Final Thoughts
We at Super Credit Repair and Weller Legal Group hope that the information provided in this article helped you understand how to increase your credit score. The Weller Legal Group have years of experience in helping our clients with bankruptcies and improving their credit. We have offices located throughout Florida, including, Clearwater, Port Richey, and Lakeland. If you have any other questions in regards to increasing or fixing your credit score feel free to give us a call today at 1-800-407-3328.
Picture Credit: geralt