Understanding Your Credit Scores

What is a credit score? Lenders and creditors use a credit scoring system to decide if you would be a good risk for their lending services. Your credit score is determined by an evaluation of your credit report which gives the details of your credit history and credit worthiness. This information is gathered and put through a statistical program which compares your history against the loan repayment history of others with a similar profile. In essence a credit score is a number assigned to you by a reporting agency to indicate your risk level. Or another way to define a credit score is "a numerical representation of your credit report." The higher your credit score, the less of a risk you are. Your score will vary from one reporting agency to another. Vist youfixyourcredit.netfor more free credit repair information.

Your credit report is directly related to your credit score. Your credit score and credit report determines whether or not a creditor will give you credit or not. Your credit score is the main factor in deciding what terms you are offered or the rate you will pay for a loan. Therefore it is very important for a consumer to keep an eye on their credit report and make an effort to ensure a positive report. As consumers we are in control of what happens on our credit report. If you want to save money by receiving lower interest rates than you need to be in control of your credit report.


There are many factors considered when computing a credit score. Some of the things you have direct control of to ensure the safety of your credit score include the following:

Payment History
Paying your bills on time is a major factor when determining your credit score. If you have gotten into the habit of paying bills late, you will boost your credit score if you begin to consistently pay your bills on time.

Length of Credit History
People without credit history have a hard time getting a loan because they have nothing to base their credit worthiness on. The length of time you have had credit is a factor in calculating a credit score. This is also why you don’t want to cancel those old credit cards that you do not use. A credit card that has been open for a long period of time is a good thing when it has a positive payment history.

Available Credit
While it is true that it is good to have established credit, too many open credit card accounts can have a negative effect on your credit score. This is another good reason to keep up on your credit report. If you are watching your credit report you will know what accounts are open and how many there are.

Amount of Debt
Try not to use all of your available credit. A maxed out credit card does not look as good as say, three credit cards with only 25% of the available credit used on each one. Of course this should be coupled with a solid payment history to enhance your credit score.

Inquiries
On your credit report you will see a section where it discloses recent inquiries. Applying for too many new accounts in the recent past may have a negative effect on your credit score. Also when you are thinking about purchasing a home or renting an apartment it seems that everyone wants to run a credit check for you. Be sure that you really are interested in living there before allowing them to run your credit.

Raise Your Credit Score youfixyourcredit.net

You can raise your credit score just like a credit repair company. One simple and totally free method to raise your credit score begins with getting your free credit report of course. www.annualcreditreport.com Once you have your credit report or reports in hand look at them and look for obvious mistakes. If you find a collection account on your report that shouldn't be there because it is not yours or it has been on your credit report beyond the reporting period (typically 7 years) than you can dispute it with the credit reporting agency.

Look through the potentially negative items section and check that if anything is there that it is true, valid and within the reporting period. If all those things are true than you cannot have it removed unfortunately. Next go through the personal information section and make sure there aren't any social security numbers or other personal information that is not yours on your credit report. If you find any problems on your credit report and have them corrected you will raise your credit score.

If you are recovering from damaged credit, it is imperative that you begin by looking at your credit report and dealing with the negative items. Dispute them or work out payment arrangements. You can also try to offer them a "pay for deletion". Where you pay them some money and they have the item deleted.

Next You need to open some new accounts. Apply for a credit card use it and pay it off every month. If you do not qualify for a regular credit card, than get a secured credit card. That is a credit card that is backed by your own money. Try to open an account at a local store. Sometimes these credit cards are easier to get.

One sure fire way to boost your credit score is to have a family member with good credit add you as an authorized user on their account. When they add you as a user on an account that they have had open for a long time, you have the whole positive history of that account listed on your credit report. Obviously a credit line with a long history of on time payments on your credit report is something you need to boost your credit score. Don't forget to visit youfixyourcredit.net

www.freecreditreport.com

If you want a truly free credit report, do not visit Freecreditreport.com this may as well be a scam. They say "free credit report" in the title but it is not truly free. At that website you can get your credit report after you sign up and give your credit card information. Then, in order for it to be free you have to cancel within the 30 day free trial period. I hate having to cancel something for it to be free how about you. They are betting on the fact that you will forget to cancel. And you may be thinking: I'm too smart for that I will cancel. That is good. But why give up your information and give your self one more thing to remember to do when there is a place you can get your credit report totally free. If you visit youfixyourcredit.net you will find the link to www.annualcreditreport.com where you can get your credit report for free. There you will get a truly free credit report and you won't have to sign up for anything, give credit card information or cancel anything unlike that other website. Freecreditreport.com is owned by the Experian company and they use it to sale their product. It is a legitimate way to buy a credit report and find other tools for monitoring your credit report. However, it should not be considered free by my definition of free. In my definition of free you do not have to pay for or have to cancel anything so that you will not be charged monies. annualcreditreport.com is owned by the 3 major credit reporting agencies however, from my understanding in what I have read, it seems that the FTC has required them to put up a central place to get your report for free. So do not think that the reporting agencies did this out of the kindness of their hearts. They did it because they were required to by the federal government. The good news is that you can get your credit report for free just visit youfixyourcredit.netfor the link and other helpful tips on how to fix your credit.

A trick to boost your credit score

A mortgage lender told me one trick that you may find useful when trying to boost your credit score. He recomended that I ask my parents to add me as an authorized user on one of their credit cards. Their credit score is about 800. If you have the ability to do this with a realtive that has good credit it can surely help. Don't have them open a new account for you however, it is better if you are added on to an account that has a long history. When you are added as an authorized user you get the benefit of having that account and it's long positive history added to your credit report.

If you have not started to build your credit yet visit this link to learn different methods you can use to begin to establish your credit.

How to get credit when you have no credit

Free Credit Report

Six Steps To Rebuild Your Credit From: www.youfixyourcredit.net


1 Request a copy of your credit report from http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ it's free. If you find any errors request the bureua to fix the mistake.Step

2 Repay outstanding debt as quickly as possible. Start with the higest interest rate first. Step

3 If your debt is substantial do your own deb conlsolidation. Contact your creditors inform them that you intend to pay the debt but you need to have the interest waived. Or offer to settle the debt for half of what you owe. Negotiate a settlement with them. If that is too overwhelming then contact a non-profit credit-counseling organization and work out a debt consolidation plan. Do not use a service that uses the term debt consolidation loan.Step

4 Rethink your spending. Close your credit card accounts and cut up the cards. Buy only the essential food (not fast food) and gas. Use the rest of your paycheck to pay your ballances. If you have an extra vehicle sell it to pay a balance or borrow from a helpful relative and pay them back right away.Step

5 Begin to re-establish good credit. Pay all utilities and rent on time. Plan a budget. Keep your bank account maintained. Also keeping the same residence and job is a good sign to the credit bureau.Step

6 Open a new credit card. Keep in mind it may be hard to get a good itrest rate at first. Look for the lowest interest you can get with 0 or low annual fees. Once you have had bad credit you may need to pay an annual membership fee in order to get a card. Or just get a gas credit card. Pay these promptly and in full monthly if possible to establish good credit. You may also consider a secured credit card instead of an unsecured credit card.

You've heard the commercials. Get your free credit report and view your credit scores. Well they may give you the credit report for free after you pay for something. The truth is you can get your credit score for free every year just go to annualcreditreport.com, or 1-877-322-8228.
Once a year you are allowed to get your credit report for free. Also anytime you have been turned down from credit you may ask for a copy of the report and the information is in the letter they send you.

For free information, ideas and links to other helpful sites go to www.youfixyourcredit.net There is nothing for sale there. Just free information and strategys to go about getting your credit fixed up.