There are plenty of reasons why someone could have a low credit score. It seems like it takes a lifetime to raise it because things like age of credit, on-time payments, credit inquiries, and more take a lot of time to fall off or improve your credit report. However, there are some ways to quickly improve your credit score if you take an active role in rehabilitating it. 2020 could be the year you overhaul your credit score
Getting Started
Before you can implement meaningful change, you have to know what you are up against. You may know this already, but you can pull your credit report for free every year at www.annualcreditreport.com. Other options such as CreditKarma and WalletHub allow you to track your credit score throughout the year for free.
Using your credit report, list all accounts in collections. Then, examine the list for inaccuracies. You would not believe the amount of inaccuracies that exist on credit reports and they are disputable!
Start Paying, but Be Smart About It
Yes, part of rebuilding your credit score is paying. This is often the hardest part for people because they typically would not be in this position if they could make payments.
A great way to start is to immediately attack the collections accounts that are less than 24 months old. After the accounts cross the 24-month line, they more severely impact your credit score. If you can pay the creditor directly, do that instead of paying the collector. Then, if you have multiple credit cards, keep them open, but start making the minimum payment on time. Keeping these accounts open is good for your credit score. Additionally, the more accounts you have, the more on-time payments you can make which will raise your on-time payment percentage faster.
Credit Cards
You have to be sure to make the minimum payment on-time every month. That is step 1. Step 2 is to minimize usage until you can get your total (all cards) credit card utilization under 30%. Keeping the utilization under 30% will raise your credit score. Do not apply for more credit cards at this time. Credit inquiries will hurt your score and chances are you will be rejected.
Try Experian Boost
You make all kinds of on-time payments that do not help your credit score, but shouldn’t they? Experian recently came out with their Boost program. This program enables Experian to monitor payments you make for things like your cell phone, internet, water, electric, and more. They factor these payments into your FICO 8 score and, if you are making on-time payments, your score can go up!
If you want to make 2020 the year of the credit score increase, you need help. Navigating this complex process can be very difficult without the assistance of credit councilor. Elias Dsouza of Dsouza Legal Group has been helping people rehabilitate their credit report for over 15 years. Contact Elias today for a free consultation.
