There are some tried and tested steps to improve one’s credit report. This article will highlight a few of these steps.
- Always pay your bills on time. Late payments and missed payments are one of the major causes for a bad credit rating. Any payment which is received after 30 days of the payment date is reported to the credit bureau and has a negative impact. In case you will be late for your payments you must pre inform your creditors. In this way you can avoid the late payment being reported to the credit bureau.
- It is always advisable to have lesser debt in your name. Even if you make your payments on time but you have a lot of debt in your name it will show negatively on your credit report. Hence it is best to get the credit limit reduced on your card. Also if you have a lot of cards, you must get rid of as many cards as possible. Ask your creditors to close your accounts and report the same to the credit bureaus.
- Bankruptcy and tax liens have a major negative impact on the credit report hence should be avoided at all times. A bankruptcy would stay on the credit report for as long as 10 years while a tax line stays for 7 years.
- If you want to re establish your credit a good way would be to ask a friend or a family member to co sign a small loan which you must pay on time.
- A secured credit card is also a good way of re establishing one’s credit. You will have keep a certain amount of money in an account which will cover the card charges.