Even if you have remaining blemishes on your credit report, you can offset
those blemishes by adding positive credit to your report. You can have an A credit rating
again within a year or two even if you just came out of bankruptcy by taking the following
affirmative steps.
1. Creating Positive Credit: If you have an excellent credit history with
some creditors who are not reflected on your credit report you may be able to add them.
There is no clear-cut law on this, however usually for $2 or $3 per creditor you can have
that information added to your file. Remember to get the creditor to agree to this first.
2. Get a Visa and/or MasterCard:
A Visa and/or MasterCard is probably the
best credit reference you can get. Therefore, it is important to get one of these cards and
make regular steady payments to improve your credit rating. You can
get approved for one instantly here.
If too many negative marks
remain on your credit report or your income is less than $1,000 a month you can still get
a secured version of one of these cards. These are debit cards where you deposit a certain
amount with them as security for your purchases. You can get secured Visas and MasterCard.
These cards are excellent ways to re-build your credit rating and are virtually as
effective at bolstering your credit as an unsecured card.
Remember however to review the terms of a card before you apply for it.
Such relevant terms are annual fee, low APR, surcharges and length of the grace period.
3. Retail Store Cards: Also somewhat effective at rebuilding credit are
department store credit cards. They are usually relatively easy to get especially if you
already have a Visa or MasterCard. Remember your credit rating will improve faster
(especially for Visa and MasterCard) if you keep a running balance each month rather than
pay off the entire amount.
4. Entertainment and Travel Cards: Such cards as Carte Blanche and
American Express which force you to pay off the balance each month are not great credit
builders since they are not considered as strong of an indication of how well you handle
debt.
5. Mortgages and Auto Loans: Mortgages tend not to improve your credit
rating tremendously since they are secured.
6. Savings and Checking Accounts: Having a checking account with a good
payment history is factored in heavily in your rating as is a savings account.
7. Employment: Your position and length of employment at a particular job
is a factor commonly looked to in making credit decisions.
8. Other Credit Cards: Make sure that the card company reports that you
are making your payments on time. Gasoline cards and mortgage companies often do not
bother reporting unless you are delinquent in your payments.
Cosigning: If your credit is really checkered, you may need to get
someone to cosign for you. This means that if you are unable to pay back the loan, the
cosigner is legally responsible to pay it back. This also means that any negative
information that arises out of the cosigned debt will adversely impact both the cosigners
and your credit. However, by having someone with good credit cosign for you, you may
qualify for much better credit than on your own, thereby expediting your credits
repair.
Borrow Credit: By becoming an "authorized user" of
someones credit card, you can in effect borrow someones credit history. Find a
friend or family member that is willing to contact their credit card company and make you
an authorized user. Of course, make sure to pick a person with a good credit history on
that particular card. If the person who is allowing you to be an authorized user is less
than enthusiastic about the arrangement, you can give him the credit card when you receive
it. In other words, for this system to improve your credit, you really do not have to do
anything except piggy-back on the other persons past and continued good payment
history. The most obvious danger here is if the person starts to neglect paying his
account.
Running Balance: It is best to keep a small running balance on your
cards while rebuilding your credit, rather than pay them off in full each month. Although
it will cost you some interest payments, it shows an ability to manage debt.
Manufacture Positive Credit: The following technique is a powerful and
effective way to dramatically speed up the positive evolution of your credit. It takes a
small amount of seed money but may be well worth it if your interested in returning to an
A credit rating (see below).