Steps To Help You Avoid Credit Repair
If you want to avoid credit repair you need to follow some good financial habits. By following these habits you will keep your credit score high enough to avoid credit repair. Your credit score is critical to your financial future. Lenders, landlords and employers are starting to use credit scores to evaluate you as a potential customer or employee. If you need credit repair help, here are the steps you need to take:
What’s a Good Credit Score?
Credit Scores Above 750|Good Credit Score
- A credit score higher than 750 is evaluated by the industry as a benchmark for a good risk.
- With a score above 750 you don’t need credit repair help, but work on maintaining or improving that credit score.
- A credit score of 850 is considered perfect, strive for 850.
Credit Scores Below 750|Bad Credit Score
- If your credit score is less than 750, creditors consider you a risk.
- A credit score from 300 to 750 is considered poor.
- Any score below 750, needs credit repair help.
Steps To Avoid Credit Repair:
Step #1 - Pay Your Credit Cards Off Every Month.
- When you pay off your credit card balance every month, instead of just paying the minimum amount due, creditors consider you to be financially responsible.
- You are showing creditors that you can manage your money.
- Only charge to your credit cards that amount that you can afford to pay off every month.
- When you keep current with your payments, creditors will grade you as a good risk.
- As a good risk, you avoid credit repair.
- If you improve on this one financial habit alone you can actually raise your credit score.
- It’s a lot easier to maintain good credit than it is to go through the credit repair process.
Step #2 - Do Not Max Out Your Credit Cards.
- By maxing out your credit card balance you show creditors that you spend too close to the edge.
- This is true even if you can pay the balance off every month.
- Lenders look at credit card holders who max out as too risky.
- Creditors have statistics that show most “maxers” usually have a difficult time making regular payments.
- Your payment history will make up the largest portion of your credit scores.
- By spending up to your credit limit every month you actually lower your credit scores.
- Maxing out your credit cards may lead you to needing credit repair help some day.
Step #3 - Make Timely Payments.
- Always make your payments on time.
- Payment history makes up the largest percentage of your credit score.
- Paying on time helps avoid credit repair.
- By paying on time, you not only avoid the high expense of late fees, you also keep your credit scores high so there will be little need for credit repair.
If you need credit repair – where to start:
Your Credit Scores
- Know your current credit scores, don’t be afraid of it, know it.
- Order your credit reports so you have a base to start from.
- You can order a free credit report, once a year from each of the 3 national credit reporting agencies.
- Next, check the report for errors.
- The credit reporting agencies are required to just report the information they receive. They are not required to correct any errors; that is your responsibility.
- Notify all 3 of the credit reporting agencies in writing, they have 30 days to investigate your claim.
- Work on improving how often you use your credit cards.
- Keep your debt low; if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.
- Spend frugally.
Getting credit repair help is sometimes necessary, and that’s okay. If you never understood the real impact of late pays, making minimum payments or maxing out your credit cards, you may find yourself in need of some credit repair help; be okay with that.
Do not despair if your credit scores are low. You must start somewhere, just make sure you start.
Lenders, landlords and employers take credit scores very seriously and so should you. They are all starting to look at credit scores to determine whether they do business with you or not. Don’t be locked out of opportunities, repair your credit so that opportunity opens up for you.
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