The recent economy has caused many people to forego paying certain bills in lieu of putting groceries on the table and keeping their electricity on.
However, putting those bills straight in the shredder has now had its effect on your credit rating and you want to know how to get it back up to par.
The first thing to look at is what type of black marks are actually on your credit report. The severity of the violations will determine how long the mark will stay on your credit report.
Things such as credit inquiries last for two years, while a bankruptcy may remain on your report for seven years or more.
Now that you have decided to keep your credit report clean, you need to actually pull a credit report to see that everything that is on there is actually yours.
Report anything that is not to the appropriate credit agency. Be sure to follow up if you have not heard back from them within 90 days to find out the results of their investigation.
The next step would be to get all of your bills together and create a budget that will allow you to pay down your debt and meet your financial obligations.
By doing this, you will free up credit you will gradually see your rating climb. Work on cards that have the lowest balance and when they are paid off, fold that money into the next card to pay it off.
While you are recovering from your bad credit, be sure NOT to apply for any more credit cards.
If you do, the inquiry can end up bringing your rating back down again.
Keep all of your payments on schedule to ensure that all of your accounts stay current.
If you have debt that has gone to a collection agency, work out terms of payment as soon as possible so that account is brought up to date as well.
