Tips for Maintaining a Good Credit Score
Maintaining a good credit score is difficult in the current economy, but it is also very important, perhaps now more than ever before. Bank failures, the housing crisis, and the general economic crash have resulted in lenders becoming very careful about lending money. Subprime loans have been singled out as a major cause of the crash, and lending practices have changed drastically in the past two years, making it significantly harder for people with bad credit to get good loan rates than it is for those with good credit.
Know the Benefits of Good Credit: Your credit score will affect your ability to get a loan, of course, but even if you never try to borrow cash it is still very important. Credit affects your ability to rent an apartment as well as buy a home. Good credit can even impact your insurance rates and the results of job hunting. Employers have even begun using consumer credit reports in their decision-making process.
Check Your Credit Report: You have the right to receive one free copy of your credit report each year from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. These can be easily obtained from the website Free Credit Score. Read over your report and if it contains any incorrect information, write the bureau and let them know and you will also need to write to the creditor and request that they correct their report to the bureau.
Pay All Bills on Time: Making payments on time is one of the most important steps to building good credit. If you have the money to make the payments, one good way to ensure your timeliness is to set up automatic payments. You’ll still have to pay attention to maintaining your account balance, since if the money isn’t there, the payment won’t be made unless you have previously arranged for overdraft coverage with your bank.
Maintaining good credit takes a little time and attention, but is very worthwhile. These simple steps will put you on the road to a history of good credit.
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