Credit Re-Building what is the best way to do this?

Question

I have seen several adverts for free credit sites, but free and credit hardly ever go together. So I was wondering if anyone has any sage advice for me.

Answer 1

They are scams.

Go to

www.annualcreditreport.com

It's a government site and free. Get copies of all three credit reports.
Appeal any information that is incorrect.

The rest of the "repair" is time.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/18/earlyshow/living/money/main951008.shtml

Answer 2

You need to have some positive reporting accounts. This can be done with a secured credit card. Only take what you can handle and pay on time. That will make the biggest improvments over a short 1 - 2 year period.

Here is some additional info. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

according to the FICO site (http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/), your FICO score is based on these criteria:

35% - payment history (did you pay on time)
30% - Amounts owed (are you maxed out on all your cards?)
15% - length of credit history (longer is better)
10% - new credit (are you opening up a bunch of accounts?)
10% - types of credit used (mortgage is better than payday loans)

Based on this, the best way is to
1 - get current with everything and stay that way
2 - whittle down the balances on the non-mortgage loans
3 - don't open new accounts
4 - wait.

Any black marks on your credit history have less impact as time goes on, so missing a payment last month will hurt more than the one you missed 3 years ago.

Also, being 1 month late is much easier on your score than being 2 or more months late, 3 is much worse than 2, etc. Being less than 1 month late shouldn't show on your credit history.

There's plenty of good information about your credit at
www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
www.equifax.com

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Pay all your bills in full, on time from now on. Also, get rid of any credit cards you do not use. Keep using one credit card moderately, just be sure to always pay your bill on time. If you have debt, pay it off as fast as possible by cutting costs wherever you can and applying the money towards the debt. Good luck!

Answer 5

DON'T pay anybody! Just pay your bills on time, get a credit card and pay it off every month, the occasional tank of gas every month is a good place to start. Just make sure you pay it off every month. After about a year, yes it takes awhile, your credit will go up in rating. Good luck.

Answer 6

Always pay your bills on time.
Stop applying for new credit cards.
Once you pay off your credit cards balances then always pay the entire balance in full each month.

Ideally you would have credit but only use it for a serious emergency. Pay for everything in full each month.

Answer 7

Ok your wanting to rebuild your credit...
1st: save up a $1000.00, then borrow against that thousand,
2nd take the $1000.00 you borrowed open up another savings.
pay on the 1st one that you borrowed against for a few months then pay it off with the one in the savings. Then you want to take the one in the other savings get it back up to $1000.00 and borrow against that one. do this for about 6 months- to a year. the banks will see that you have been establishing credit, then apply for an unsercured loan, pay on that for a few months and then pay that off with the money you where just saving, DON'T pay it off right away that will do you no good on establishing your credit.

Answer 8

Start by paying your bills on time from here on in
Also get a secured Credit Card from Bank of America, use it pay it off, use it pay it off
After TWO months your credit score will start going UP
The get another small credit card, etc...