Do you need to rebuild a low credit score? Using a credit card such as  secured or unsecured Visa or Mastercard is an excellent way to improve your credit score.

Having bad credit should not prevent you from achieving your financial goals. Credit bureaus insist that if you make mistakes that you will have bad credit for at least the next seven years.

This simply is not true.

By way of background, lenders look at your history to determine if you are reliable and can make the monthly payments.

Among other things, they consider your your income to debt ratio, a method that calculates how much debt you can afford to pay.  How much you earn versus how much you owe, including the amount you want to borrow, are figured into this formula.

If you don’t have credit at all, it may seem just as bad.  Lenders will rank you at a lower credit rating to start, simply because they don’t have a baseline to work from.  So start slowly to create one.

Apply for a credit card or line of credit with your bank or credit union, with a small amount of credit, such as $300.  Buy something but pay it off right away, before the due date.  Doing this consistently will give you a reliable and consistent credit history.

Some experts will tell you to keep a small balance on the credit card. Even though you will pay a modest amount of interest, it will help boost your credit score even quicker. (The goal here is to increase your credit score so you can expect there to be some expenses to achieve that goal.)

Each month you should do one other thing to actively improve your credit score.

For example, you can monitor your credit report for any inaccuracies or errors.  It is very important to look for any mistakes because it take anywhere from a month to a year to remove an inaccurate reporting.   File disputes immediately to begin the required investigations to get the information corrected.

Contact the Lexington Law Firm with any questions you have regarding improving your bad credit score. The attorneys and paralegals helped us fix our bad credit and get approved for an amazing new home.

Do It Yourself Credit Repair is not as easy as it seems. Many so-called experts and snake oil salesman promise that it’s easy…so long as you buy their $99 e-book. What you won’t learn from the do-it-yourself credit repair folks are all the pitfalls you can fall into which will only make matters worse.

There are traps the unsuspecting consumer can fall into.    Unless you are aware of the intricate maze you are about to enter into, there are mistakes you should never make when trying to repair your credit.

First, writing a dispute letter to all three credit reporting agencies, which are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion will get the ball rolling.   Make sure you include the name of the creditor in question, the amount of the debt, and proof as to why don’t owe the money (canceled check to show payment, incorrect name, etc.)

WARNING: Do not file your disputes online. There is a very, very, good reason to mail all correspondence to the bureaus.

Secondly, always make copies of all your correspondence and mail them with return receipts and certified letter requests.   This is your only proof that you have sent the letters and can challenge the agency if the bureaus ignore your letter and later state they never received your letters.   If they were delivered, they have them, and you can show that.  Its time consuming and people get frustrated, so they just send the letter in the mail.  There goes your proof.

Thirdly, if you are still having a problem getting through to the bureaus and are ignored entirely, you may have no choice but to contact a third party – this would be the credit repair agency.  Make sure you pick one with a good reputation and excellent customer service.  Look for feedback and they are a legitimate company.  Lexington Law firm is one of those companies with an excellent reputation and industry recognized standards.

We used them after making some mistakes trying to repair our credit. We found that they offered a mountain of expertise and little known secrets from their attorneys you won’t find on the Internet.

If you still want to handle the correction of inaccuracies on your credit report alone, make sure you don’t become frustrated and give up by the slow response (if any) that you will get.  You must persevere to get the results you deserve.

Lexington Law is a credit advocacy firm specializing in repairing consumer credit.  Although there are laws in place to protect debtors, there are still pitfalls consumers must avoid when trying to fix their credit on their own.