White Hat Credit Help
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Just because you need credit help doesnt mean you cant get credit. Lenders and credit card companies each have their own set of criteria in evaluating the credit worthiness of an applicant. The conservative lenders often have the best terms and conditions but they also tend to take a broad view of an applicants total history and require FICO scores above 725.
Other lenders may place more importance on your recent history looking for a pattern of regular payments and the amount of credit already being used by the applicant. There may also be outside influences with these lenders as well. The automotive industry, mortgage bankers and others have a strong motivation to get out from under the liability of excess inventory and may be more willing to make a deal on a one off basis.
So there are opportunities regardless of your credit score. However, its a good idea to do what you can to clean up your score before looking for a big ticket item. Heres what you can do to provide your own credit help.
First, get a current copy of your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the three major credit reporting agencies provide a free credit report to each consumer annually. Go to annualcreditreport.com and download your report.
Review your report for accuracy. If there are negative items check for three issues regarding each. Is it yours? If you believe that the item isnt yours you can request verification from the reporting agency and they have to respond within 30 days. Is it accurate? If an item is shown as late payment and you believe that you have always paid on time you can request that the item be validated. Again the agency has 30 days to respond. How old is it? All items except bankruptcy, good and bad, roll off the report after 7 years. Look at the date of last transaction. If it is over 7 years old you can request it be removed.
If you have disputed items in your report, wait for the response from the agency and then get another copy of your report to insure the items have been corrected. Now its time to get the all important FICO score and unfortunately thats not free. However, MyFico.com has a 30 day free trial where you can get your score, just remember to cancel the subscription before the 30 days are up.
Now armed with your current credit report and FICO score, you know what a potential lender knows. If you are looking for a car or mortgage or even a big ticket appliance, contact the dealer/bank and ask for the credit manager. You can explain what your position is and what your FICO score is and see if that fits into their criteria. If it doesnt, find out why so you know what to work on. In the worst case you just saved yourself a lot of time and embarrassment.
If your FICO score is still sub-par and if you have a $1000 that you can spare for 6 months, here's a plan to put an immediate positive item on your credit report.
Visit the loan officer at your bank and explain you are trying to improve your credit score. Make him or her a partner in your plan.
Explain to the loan officer that you would like a six month personal loan for $1000 and you are willing to secure it by purchasing a $1000 six month Certificate of Deposit. This is a win win for the bank and you. Use the $1000 from the loan to pay back the loan. All this is going to cost you is the interest on the loan and even part of that will be offset by the interest you earn on the CD.
So now you have an immediate positive entry and six months later, a history of paying on time. Spend the money and get your new FICO score. You may now be in a position to go back to that lender and get that car, house or plasma screen.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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