Improving Your Credit Score in Kansas City

 

Just starting out as a young adult and need to establish new good credit?  How about a person who has struggled with good credit and are ready to improve your credit?  How about a person with excellent credit until the mortgage market meltdown and now you are working to reestablish your good credit?

We have 5 Tips for you to Improve Your Credit Score.

1. Get copies of your credit report and make sure your credit is correct.
   1. You can order your report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com every 12 months.
   2. You can also call them at 877-322-82228
   3. Be sure you pay your bills on time
      1. By far the most important thing you can do to have good credit is to manage your bills, pay on time, avoid late fees and overdraft fees, and stay current.
      2. If you have the money but still pay late from time to time, explore automatic pay options so that you are paying on time or learn how to schedule payments and reminders on your digital calendars.
      3. Understand what makes up your credit score.  Credit score is a complicated formula that looks at several things:
         1. Do you pay your bills on time – or have you paid late, had a charge off, foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sale.  Any of these issues and it may be partially a matter of time.
         2. What is your outstanding debt.  They look at your credit limits and your balances, the ratios between the two will affect your score.
         3. How long is your credit history – a good credit history on one account that has been around a long time should show up as good while a good credit history on a brand new account could be negative.
         4. Have you applied for credit recently.  Applying for new credit can sometimes have a detrimental affect.
         5. How may accounts and what types you have.  It is important to limit the numbers of accounts you have.  A good mix of revolving credit and credit cards can help, but too many can hurt.
      4. Learn legal steps to take to improve your credit – most of the credit reporting agencies have information on steps you can take to remove incorrect information and to improve or have bad credit removed.
      5. Beware of Credit-Repair Scams.  One of the best ways to improve your credit is to do it yourself, but if you have no idea where to start, don’t have the time or need hand holding, a good service can be a great help, but be sure to check out the service providers you work with before signing up with them.