Years ago as a youngster I remember watching an episode of one of my favorite sketch comedies, in this particular episode a woman was about to venture out on a blind date.
When her suitor arrived at her door she was pleasantly surprised to find a handsome man glancing back at her. Knowing that he?d successfully made it past the first hurdle judging by her positive areaction, he confidently started to joke with her. He then thoughtfully placed her coat around her shoulders and before the slipping out the door a fax started to arrive. She began to read it, her smile fading by the second.
It was a background check on her date. She found out that he?d been married 3 times, relied on all his previous wives for alimony, was up to his ears in debt and served prison time for fraud. She ended the date before it even began.
Although only a comedy sketch, it does run along similar lines of a credit report, your next date won?t have privy to such intimate details of your financial situation, however, your bank or credit lenders do.
Why Is So Much Importance Given to Credit Reports?
It gives potential lending institutions a snapshot into your personal financial history. From this they can determine how you handle your current debt, if you pay your bills in a timely manner, how many loans you have and how much you owe. It also reveals if you?ve had troubles with other lending institutions in the past and if it required the assistance of a collections agency. This can be manifested as a negative mark against you in your report and adversely effect your credit rating.
The whole point of the credit report from a lenders perspective is to see if you?re a prime candidate to lend money to and the likelihood they?re going to get that money back, period. In fact any lending institution will know if they\’re going to approve you within just 5 minutes of looking at your credit report. Imagine that, a life altering decision in the time it takes to cook an egg.
Things that Can Go Against You
If you have a sketchy payment history, this can be interpreted as negative from the eyes of the lending institution and be seen as a risk to lend you money.
A high debt to income ratio. All they?re concerned about is getting back the money they borrowed you with extra interest added on. The more you owe in relation to how much you make is a big concern for lenders as that means you?ll struggle to meet your weekly/monthly commitments to them.
Debt counseling also shows up on your credit report and raises concerns that you?ve had difficulty in managing your finances. Try to fix your credit as much as you can on your own. Carefully budget to catch up with lagging payments. If you need credit counseling then only do so as a last resort.
How to Beef Up Your Credit
You can strengthen your credit simply by disputing charges you?re not responsible for and getting those negative marks on your credit report removed, why tolerate blemishes tarnishing your credit score when you don?t have to? Write to the credit bureau and challenge any charges (accompanied with proof) you didn?t incur. It may take a few attempts but persistency is the key.
Create history. Establish a predictable pattern of payment by building a regular payment history. Banks and lending institutions like consistency, it means reliability and shows that you?re good at paying your bills.
Embrace your credit report. It pays to immerse yourself in your finances at least twice a year, that way you can track your own progress and quickly catch any inconsistencies or errors and correct them. This way you know your financial status and there are no surprises when it comes time to apply for a loan.
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Annette Miller knows for a fact how frustrating being in debt can be, having formerly been in debt herself she is passionate in helping others break free from theirs and has dedicated a blog covering topics ranging from Debt Consolidation to Budgeting and Finance. http://www.debtreduceinfo.blogspot.com |
Writen By : Annette Miller