How to Make Your Credit Report Work for You
Basically, your credit report is a complete history and record of all of your loans, credit cards and so on. This report will include such information as your payment histories, where you have applied for credit, where you have applied for employment and more.
When you apply for credit or a loan somewhere, the lending agency will usually use your credit report to decide whether or not your history shows that you are worthy of the credit that you are requesting. The lending agencies will usually take a look at your credit report so that they can check and see what your history is in as far as making timely payments, credit lines you currently have, and to search for comparable credit limits. For example, if you tend to have a good number of late payments listed in your credit report, they may be less likely to give you the loan or the credit card that you are requesting because they view you as a risk. Or on the other hand if you have an excellent payment history but only one credit card with a limit of $2,000 and you are asking for a loan of $25,000, they may turn you down for not having comparable credit. In both instances you will probably need to ask someone to co-sign for you.How To Put Your Credit Report To Work For You
In order to make your credit report work for you there are a couple of things that you can do.
1. Obviously, the main thing that you want to do is pay all of your payments on time.
2. Next up, you will want to get your credit report or sign up for a program online that lets you view your credit report whenever you like. This way, you can keep track of everything on there and make sure that all of the information is accurate.
3. Check for errors
4. If you find errors create a credit diary and start correcting those errors
5. If you are seeking a large loan, but don't see a comparable credit line, start calling your current creditors and ask for a credit line increase. DO NOT USE THE CREDIT LINE. Just have it increased so that when they pull your credit, they see a comparable line of credit.
It may sound silly that you have to watch your credit report, but you would be amazed at the number of people who actually have errors on their credit report and they are completely unaware of it. These errors can and will end up hurting in the long run, so it is always best to double check everything that is listed in your credit report.
Also with identity theft on the raise, you really need to keep an eye on your credit report. Don't become a credit fraud victim.
Start keeping track of your credit today...so you can put it to work for you tomorrow!
Published by Liz R
loan consultant View profile
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- Liz Roberts, "How To Make Your Credit Report Work For You",(www.newhorizon.org)
- Think how you can put it to work for you tomorrow!
9 Comments
Post a Commentcredit is something that nearly everyone i come across is dealing with right now, and not in a good way. if you have particular expertise in this area, you could probably produce some great articles with a wide appeal.
Great article :-}
Great article. I had to get some inconsistencies off of my credit report and it took me about 6 months to do so. Thankfully, I caught them in time before it was too late.
Great article Liz, I would love to add this article to my blog. If you are interested please send me a message.
This is something I definitely have to look into now that I actually have credit. Thanks for geting me started.
Very good article. Keep up the good work.
Great article. I ruined my credit as a result of being a working teen and not really knowing how to manage my money. I'm just getting to the point where it's getting straightened out. :) Hopefully this will help some people before it's too late.
I had some small errors suddenly pop up on my credit report last year. Fortunately I was able to correct the whole thing in less than an hour. I think I should go check it out again to make sure nothing new has appeared. The info on a comparable credit line was very helpful too.
Most people don't think about their credit report until it's too late. It took me a year to buy my house because my credit report was so full of errors and the process to get them removed takes a long time and threats of lawsuits etc. People start learning how to upkeep that credit report, you never know when you will want it or need it in an emergency.