Bad credit can make it difficult to get a loan if you need one or to obtain credit at the best rates. It can also affect purchases like car insurance, and your credit history may even be considered if you apply for a new job or apartment. If you’ve had credit problems in the past such as late or missed payments, then you need the information in this post which will show you ways to do it yourself: how to repair bad credit.
Find Out What’s on Your Credit Reports
To get started repairing bad credit, you need to know exactly what’s on your credit reports from the three main credit reporting agencies, which are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. It’s not uncommon for there to be errors, which might include accounts reported as late that weren’t late, accounts showing as open that have been closed, incorrect balances, and more. You may even find accounts on your credit report that don’t belong to you. Any errors you find should be disputed immediately with the credit bureau that’s reporting them.
Develop Better Payment Habits
While your credit can’t be fixed overnight, you can work toward repairing bad credit by developing better payment habits. Get in the habit of always paying your bills on time. A single late payment can harm your credit score and remains on your credit report for seven years. If you’ve ever ended up in collections or filed bankruptcy, this can do damage that can follow you around for a decade. Bringing any past due accounts current and continuing to pay on time will gradually help your credit score to improve.
Work Toward Reducing Your Credit Utilization
Another thing that impacts your credit score is your credit utilization rate. This refers to the total amount you own on revolving credit accounts compared to the total amount you have available to borrow. The lower your credit utilization rate is, the better. It’s a good idea to try to keep your debt below 30 percent of your available credit on revolving accounts.
Another way to reduce your credit utilization rate is to consolidate credit card debt with a personal loan. You may also be able to increase your total available funds by opening a new credit card or requesting an increase in your credit limit on an existing card.
Avoid Applying for Too Much New Credit
While it can be helpful to take out a new credit card or personal loan to lower your credit utilization rate, at the same time it’s important to avoid applying for a lot of new credit in a short amount of time. This can be considered a red flag and can lower your score.
Getting Help from Dovly
To make the process of disputing inaccuracies on your credit reports even easier, consider getting help from Dovly’s AI credit engine. Our automated credit engine can do the disputing, fixing, and managing of your credit report for you. You can sit back and relax while we work on having incorrect information removed from your credit report. Repairing bad credit for free doesn’t get easier than this. Try it risk-free with our free membership tier.