Restoring credit?

Question

How do I restore credit if no one wants to approve me for anything? I have a score around 530 which is not bad but it is rated at very poor. So how do I get better credit if not even a bank will approve me? I have a great paying job and they don't accept that as collateral. Please help!!!

Answer 1

Ok,

Now that everyone has posted their answers, I'll go ahead and give you mine. My job as a credit analyst and underwriter, my job was to manually review accounts that were unable to be approved and declined by the automated process, so I'd know a thing or two about your situation. First, it would help knowing what makes up your score, so I'll give a quick breakdown:

1. Payment history-35%
2. Total debt owed vs. available credit-30%
3. Length of time establishing credit-15%
4. Types of credit established-10%
5. Inquiries and New accounts-10%

I figured that if you knew what made up your score, you would know what and where to start on.

You mentioned that you have a great paying job, which is good, but that's just half the battle. Do you have a checking account? If you do, then I'll move on, if not you should get one, pronto. Now a checking account doesn't directly establish credit or raise your score, but it does help manage your money and it helps during the application process. Also, being an accountholder at a bank makes it more accessible to loans, credit cards, and mortgages that the bank offers. In this case, some major banks and even some credit unions offer what's called secured credit cards. The major difference between these and regular cards is that a deposit used as collateral is placed upfront to determine your credit line. You pay for whatever's charged, just like a regular card, it reports to the bureaus just like a regular credit card, you get charged an APR just like a credit card. The deposit is usually tied to a savings account or a CD that may gain interest while you're building credit. You can also increase your limit by simply adding to the deposit. Since you would be investing your own money in rebuilding your credit, a good way to do this would be to treat the card as if it only had a $50 limit at all times, while you would only use about $20-30 of it a month. Pay it off on time, and periodically increase the credit limit by adding to the deposit. Continue to repeat the process. This way, you're building credit by showing activity, but you're not going into a lot of debt while doing it. Usually after a year or so of paying on time and keeping the balance low, if not 0, the card either usually converts to a regular one, or a better card would be offered, and more importantly the deposit would no longer be required and is given back with possible interest attached.

It's important not to apply for a lot of credit, especially if you continue to get declined. Reason being that each time that you apply for credit regardless of if you're approved or not, it creates a "hard inquiry" on your report and lowers your score anywhere from 5-10 points. A secured card gives you the best chance of getting approved for credit without getting declined mainly becuase you're bearing the risk by putting up the deposit.

With all this said, I posted links to several good secured card companies. There are some out there that give the cards a bad name, especially with the hidden fees that are charged well before you even receive the card!

So hopefully, this answer will have given you a better insight on what to do and where to go.


Good Luck!


And thanks for reading...

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Ask for credit limit increases on your existing credit cards.
Pay off the credit cards, loans, or other obligations you have.

Credit is computed by:
1 - Risk - if you've defaulted, been late, in collections, etc.
2 - The amount of money you've borrowed versus the amount you CAN borrow.

An example of number two might be that if you have a credit limit of $10,000 and carry a $500 balance, you might have a better credit score than someone who has a limit of $50,000 dollars but has a $30,000 balance - everything else being equal.

Answer 4

Your job does not matter , it all depends on how prompt you pay your debts,keep balance low,build a strong history,and don't be a credit-holic lenders do not want to see you opening or applying for credit a lot because it makes them think you will be in debt, and watch your mix you do not want to have alot of credit lines or loans open. The more you apply for credit the more your score falls.

Answer 5

you said you have a great paying job then save a few hundred bucks prepay a credit card use it then barrow a couple hundred, wait a few weeks then pay back. then go for a grand and pay it back in 6 to 10 months. by now your credit should be back in order. Good Luck