Our team is committed to providing every customer with exceptional credit repair service in Orlando Florida . When you have a better credit score, it can mean you finally qualify for a mortgage, have a lower interest rate, and make yourself more appealing to lenders overall. Just like you would make your home hurricane-proof before the big storm, the time to fix your credit score is before you need approval for a loan. There is no better time than now to make this decision, and it doesn’t have to be complicated!
What is bad credit?
By definition, ‘bad credit refers to a score below 560 on the FICO ® scoring system. This may imply that you haven’t kept up with timely payments, or you’ve maxed out your cards, or that you have a record of a foreclosure. Generally speaking, the factors that come into play are your payment history, length of credit, and utilization of credit. Even if these factors haven’t worked in your favor in the past, that can change today.
Improving your credit score:
We want to help people build personal credit, which is why we strive to be the best credit repair service in Orlando, Florida . But our approach goes beyond just raising people’s credit score, we aim to fix what’s broken. It isn’t news to us that the credit system has its shortcomings, but you can safeguard your credit report from this. These five steps can fix your bad credit and give you the financial freedom you deserve – let’s get started!
- Examine your credit report and check it for errors:
You have access to free annual credit reports from any of the major US credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Ideally, you’ll want monthly reports to monitor your progress more closely, which you can get through a monthly subscription. Go through your report in detail to determine what needs correcting. Here are some common culprits that may cause a dent in your score:
- Wrong personal information
- Listed accounts that aren’t yours
- Accounts that ARE yours but are missing
- Wrong inclusion of bankruptcies or foreclosures
- Inaccurate account details (look for open accounts, closed accounts, etc.)
- Duplicate accounts
- Signs of fraud
- Incorrect inquiries
If you find errors, highlight them and gather evidence to back up your claims, such as bank account statements or credit card bills.
- Dispute any errors you may find:
Now that you are armed with information and evidence, it’s time to dispute the errors you find! This can be done online or on the phone. Remember that bureaus have to resolve these errors by law, so you’re on the right side. As mentioned earlier, you’ll need documentation that proves there is an error. At this stage, you should also inform the lender or creditor that issued the account of these errors. It’s likely that they can correct the information themselves which should be an easier, faster process.
- Settle any payments that you can:
We know this part is not new information, but your focus should then be on clearing any outstanding payments. Payments are only registered as ‘late’ if it is 30 days past the due date, which gives you a month-long runway, but once payment is beyond 30 days, it can be reported to credit bureaus. The motto is to pay sooner rather than later because late payments can impact your report for years to come.
- Increase your credit limit:
A credit limit is a maximum amount that a company will give each borrower, based on their existing creditworthiness. While this may seem counterintuitive, increasing your credit limit can give you the extra runway needed to cover your payments. Consider requesting an increase on your credit limit to cover payments, provided you have the capacity to pay off the outstanding amount.
- Pay balances on time:
Lastly, clearing your debt is the most important part of repairing your credit score. Regular payments made on time are great indicators of one’s level of responsibility as a borrower. If you find it difficult to keep track of this on a monthly basis, set up automatic monthly payments with your bank.
Help is on its way
By improving your credit score, you can unlock a whole new world of purchasing power. Days of worrying about getting that home loan or car loan approved can be a thing of the past. Investing time and effort in this will set you on the right course for the long haul, so don’t give up! Take an active approach to improve your credit rather than waiting for things to get better on their own. It takes patience, but it’s well worth it.
If all this process seems overwhelming, don’t worry. You can get help from a credit repair company to advise you on how to optimize your reports, negotiate with creditors on your behalf, and sort out any errors. At credit repair of Florida , we believe that every client deserves the best shot at a great financial journey. We do this through a proven, three-step plan that has made us one of the top providers of credit repair services in the Orlando, Florida area.
Visit our website to know how you can improve your credit today.
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