credit scores?

Question

My score is 540 how bad is that?

Answer 1

The scoring system goes from 0 - 900. A 540 score is considered poor. Unfortunately, if you have a lot of revolving debt, the only way to get the score up is to minimize the balances. If you have a repo, foreclosure or charge offs, the only way to get them removed is to write letter after letter to all three credit bureaus and ask that they be removed. If you continue to send letters and they don't respond, they will actually remove any negative items. The 3 credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. I hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 2

540 is not the best in the world, but this is what you need to think about

1. Who do I owe, and if so, how much? You might have something in collections.

2. What are you paying for right now? Are you paying enough? More importantly, are you paying on time?

3. What can I do to improve it?

Well as for the first 2 questions, I'm not in a position to help you with that becuase I don't know that. As for #3. I have some tips that might help you.

1. If you don't have one already, get a checking and savings account. A lot of people don't bother to pay becuase they don't have the means to. Most banks offer online bill-pay. If you're on chexsystems "death row" then you might need to get you a preaid Visa or MasterCard. Here's one that is EASY to get (http://www.accountnow.net)

2. Just because you have not-so-great credit doesn't mean that you still can't estabilsh credit now. Like I mentioned earlier, if you have a checking and savings account with a bank, see if they offer secured credit cards. What sucks about this is that you have to put a deposit (usually starting around $200) upfront to secure the same amount in a line of credit. This is not completely bad, however. Most times, the deposit earns interest while it's being held. Here's the important part. If (and when) you're able to get this. DON'T MAX IT OUT. Make small purchases (no more than $50) that you can pay off in full every month. Continue to do that for the next 6 months to a year. Hopefully by then, you would've proven yourself worthy for them to refund your deposit (with possible interest) and you have an unsecured card.

3. Another thing you can do is that you can report payments that you make on a regular basis like rent, utilities, car payments, day care, phone, insurance, etc. by enrolling in this reporting agency called PRBC. If you have been paying something on time you can have it verified and reported through them and it's compiled in a scored report that can be considered with your regular credit report. (the link to the prepaid debit card that I posted in #1 uses a bill pay service that is already registered with them)

These are just a few tips that I hope with work out for you,

Good Luck!

Answer 3

It's not very good. However for getting any kind of loan Credit History is much more important than credit score. Often, the lack of credit history is equated with bad credit. You should be aware that lenders will go through your credit report once you apply for loan for buying a house. Therefore you should polish your credit report. Anyway, in order to establish a good credit history and at the same time risen your credit score in a short time do following things:

1) Close all of your credit cards but one. It reflects in your credit report and it is a very good sign. For instance say that you have 5 credit cards with $1000 credit limit for each. Therefore you are responsible for $5000 of possible debt. But when you close 4 of them, now you are only responsible for $1000 of debt which lowers the level of risk of lending money to you.

2) If you have any loan, like car loan or any balance on your credit cards, try to pay more than your monthly payment for 6 months or something. I mean say your monthly due on your car loan is $150, try to pay $250 each month. Lenders can see these trends in your credit report and they see that you’re a responsible borrower.
If you don’t have such loans, I suggest getting a $3000-$4000 loan and paying it off in full in 5-6 months. You might pay $200-$300 of interest but you will save thousands of dollars in your home mortgage and interest rates.

Also checkout http://www.howtoestablishgoodcredit.com/Credit_Articles/index.php
There are lots of articles there, related to your question, which you can find useful to boost your credit.

Answer 4

While I've seen much worse, a score of 540 would indicate significant derogatory history. Obtaining unsecured credit would be difficult.

Answer 5

thats pretty bad. But I know of some programs that can help I use then myself. the address is below. I try telling everyone about them

Answer 6

THAT IS PRETTY BAD.I'M SORRY.