Article adapted from Compare the Costs: How to Increase Your Credit Score 1.7.20 Gina Pogol, MSN Money.

Get started by pulling a free credit report.You’re entitled to one from each of the three biggest credit reporting agencies every year. Consider spacing out the requests throughout the year to watch for changes. Visit annualcreditreport.com to get started and look for inaccurate credit history or balances and the “reason codes” that tell you why your score is less-than-perfect. Then start tackling the issues!

Dispute incorrect information.First, contact the creditors that reported your account incorrectly. This may be all you have to do. Corrections from the original creditor should hit your report in a few days or weeks. Alternatively, you can dispute inac-curacies in writing with the credit bureau(s). Send a letter or report the error online on the TransUnion, Experian or Equifax web site. Supply any documents that prove your case. For instance, an automated bill payment on your bank statement. And keep copies of any letters or documents sent.

Fixing errors can raise your credit score in a few weeks. The credit bureau has 30 days after receiving your dispute to investigate and verify informa-tion with the creditor. It must also report the results back to you within five days of completing its investigation.

How to Fix Bad Credit History:

The most important factor in your credit score is your payment history. You can’t begin improving your score as long as you are not current on all accounts. As long as you’re behind, creditors will report you as late, even if you’re making a payment on time each month.

Try contacting your creditor and explain that you can make your monthly payments but just can’t catch up the past-due amounts. If you have a decent payment history, your creditor may re-age your account for you. That means you don’t have to catch up. The creditor adds your past-due amount to your balance and marks you current with credit bureaus. As long as you make your payment on time in the future, your credit history and score will improve. Re-aging can raise your credit score very quickly.

Sometimes, the only cure for bad credit is time. Every month that passes makes a late payment less important. Don’t increase your account bal-ances. Just devote yourself to paying on time and owing less.

How to Use Less Credit:

Credit scoring models pay close attention to the amount of available credit you have, and how much you use. The relationship between the amount of credit you have and the amount you use is called utilization. If you have $10,000 in available credit and use $6,000, that’s a 60% credit utilization ratio.

FREECredit Report Review

What are your financial goals?

Consolidate Debt,Improve your Credit ScoreSave for RetirementStart an Education FundSave an Emergency Fund

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It’s your turn! Visit us online or call for an appointment!

Our trained staff has reviewed over 6,500 credit reports with members.

Tips to Bump UpYour Credit ScoreMost consumers with good credit scores have utilization of 30% or less. You can decrease utilization if you pay down your account bal-ances, increase available credit, or zeroing credit card balances with a personal loan (personal loans are installment loans, so paying off your credit cards drops your utilization ratio to zero, even though you still owe the same amount). Don’t consolidate your debt with a personal loan unless you are confident that you won’t run your credit card balances back up.

How to Build/Rebuild Credit History:

If you don’t have a history, start by open-ing one or two accounts, charging small amounts and paying off the balances each month. The catch, however, is that it can be hard to get credit if you haven’t had credit. Although some options include getting a co-signer or tailgating on an established family member with an authorized user account, borrowing from yourself with a secured credit card could be the way to go. Not sure what direction to go? We are here to help! As part of our Free Take the Challenge program, we can help review your finances, identify your financial goals and determine ways to help you achieve them! Contact us today to schedule an appointment!

A higher credit score means access to lower rates and more savings in your bank account!

Here’s how to raise your score:

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