By having credit, you are using someone else’s money as payment for your purchases. In addition, it also indicates that you are swearing to repay the money to the agency or person that loaned you the amount.

If you are applying for a loan, credit card, or mortgage, it is normal for the agency to check your creditworthiness. This is essentially based on the assessment of your credit history, thus helping them determine the possible risks of the deal and decide the terms of the loan. Positive assessment means good financial background, which increases your chances of applying for a credit.

The Credit Repair

The process wherein consumers with poor credit histories try to reestablish their worthiness is called the credit repair. It involves procuring the credit report from agencies and taking careful and appropriate steps in addressing apparent issues, including omissions, misreporting, misinterpretation, or other inaccuracies.

If there are any discrepancies found in the credit report, the consumer is entitled to dispute the errors that unjustly harm their financial healthiness and creditworthiness. There are several laws and regulations that are designed to guarantee a fair and legal undertaking of the credit report process. These laws can be used to legally and formally start the process of credit repair.

Every consumer is entitled to one copy of a credit report each year from each credit reporting agency. Investigations with regards to the real nature of the inaccuracies and errors are possible and necessary for a successful credit repair.

What influences your purchasing power and eligibility of availing any credit facilities in the future is your credit record. You should keep in mind that a good credit score can help in several purposes, such as: mortgaging a home, buying a car or applying for a job. On the other hand, a bad credit score can make you vulnerable to exorbitant interest rates and unnecessary loan terms from several companies. These two facts are important in helping you understand why maintaining a good credit score is vital.

How to Repair Your Credit

The process of credit repair can be achieved through hard work and discipline. Easy methods, which can help you get out of poor credit history, can be quite tempting. However, these easy way outs can only lead to further difficulties in the future especially if they are done illegally.

In case your poor credit history is caused by circumstances beyond your control, you can always request for an upgrade in your credit rating to your creditor. However, this can only be done if you were able to make amends to your credit records after the circumstances.

Creditors do not normally trust consumers who default on their payments. This can pose a difficulty to you in obtaining new credit. However, once you are able to demonstrate enduring stability in your income and prompt patterns in your payments, the situation can improve in the span of two to three years. This way, even though there is a case of bankruptcy, you are likely to be eligible for credit cards within two years if the steady income is maintained.

Keep in mind that there are no quick fixes in repairing your credit. By contacting credit bureaus, creating your own corrections, budgeting, and consolidating your debts can improve your own score.

In today’s society, no one can overemphasize the importance of a good credit line. In fact, having a bad credit record is even worse than having no money at all. Without bad credit, it would be very difficult to get loans and do other transactions that would soon become necessary in the future such as applying for an apartment. However, people with bad credit need not sulk since they can still save themselves from their bad record through credit repair.

Credit repair may be done with a help of a financial adviser but it also helps to make some adjustments yourself. The best way of doing this is by proving that you are indeed capable of managing your finances. There are many ways of doing this, some of them are quite simple but they can definitely help mend a broken credit record.

Here are some important tips for credit repair:

1. Be sure to have your accounts settled on time. Whenever you get your bills, pay them immediately even way before the due date so you would not forget. Credit bureaus have high regard for payment history and they factor it in your credit score, taking up as much as 35% of the score. A good idea is to have your accounts registered on automatic transfer so that payments would immediately be made.

2. If you have past debts, pay them off, or at least show that you are trying to. If you do not have enough money to pay for everything, keep paying even in small installments. This will show that you are indeed responsible enough in trying to clear your accounts. Pay as much as your budget allows and pay regularly. Credit bureaus will notice these efforts, increasing your chances of getting a better score.

3. In case you do miss paying some accounts, try to catch up immediately. Not only do credit bureaus look at your missed payments, but they also check how long bills are kept unpaid. If you respond quickly, you can still show that you can indeed pay your debts even if it is a little later.

4. Register to vote. While it may not seem to be connected, registered voters do have better standings with credit bureaus. It can show that you are a responsible citizen as well as a responsible creditor.

5. Get hold of your own copy of your credit report. In the credit report, you would find a list of reasons you got a low score. Knowing this is necessary for credit repair and to avoid future mistakes.

6. Limit yourself to only one or two new credit accounts if you do intend to apply. Possibly, a bad-credit card and a bad-credit mortgage would be enough for you to manage easily. Getting several credit accounts at once may make you a hot object for credit bureaus.

7. Keep your old accounts, do not close them. Closing your old bad accounts will not erase them from your credit record. Pay them off and then keep them clean. Having old accounts can actually increase your average account age, which can help boost your credit rating and help repair your record.

Bad credit is not impossible to repair if you know for yourself the important steps to mend your broken record. Try these steps yourself and see your credit line improve.