The majority of people who have a significant amount of credit history tend to have at least one negative item on their credit report.
It is also important to keep in mind that quite a few items that are listed on the credit reports of consumers in the United States like you might not be entirely accurate.
As a result, you are well within your rights to dispute these items and try to get them removed from your credit history if at all possible.
However, you can still improve your credit report even if you think it’s unlikely you can remove negative items from it.
Here are some things you can do to improve your credit report if you have negative items on it.
1. Start A History of Recent On-Time Payments
As you more than likely know, more recent information affects your credit more than older information does.
Additionally, missed or late payments are one of the most common negative items on a person’s credit report.
You can pad your credit report by establishing a recent history of making your payments on time.
Since your credit score is largely based on the past two years of credit history, starting and continuing a trend of on-time payments can definitely improve your overall credit report.
2. Get A Credit Builder Loan at a Credit Union
Installment loans are a useful tool if you want to positively impact your credit score.
This is due to the fact that installment loans diversify the types of debt that you build up and pay.
As a result, if you pay installment loans on time, you can actually improve your credit score.
The number of credit accounts you have and the types of credit accounts that you have comprise roughly fifteen percent of your overall FICO score.
Reach out to your local credit union and find out if they offer Credit Builder Loans as one of their financial products.
Typically, credit builder loans can vary greatly, from a minimum of $500 to a maximum amount of $3,000, and they come with repayment terms up to a maximum of 36 months.
It is important to keep in mind that not all credit unions offer credit builder loans to their members.
You should also know that you will not actually receive the loan proceeds with a credit builder loan and the credit union takes out the loan then freezes the money in an interest-bearing savings account.
Naturally, this account is in your name.
After that, you make your payments, along with interest, until you have completely paid off the loan.
Once you have paid it all off, you receive the money as well as any dividends that have been earned on the initial savings deposit.
You have a very good chance to create a positive credit history if you do make your payments on time.
3. You Can Get Self Lender Credit Builder Loans
You can also get the exact same sort of credit builder loan online as you could with a credit union if you go with Self Lender.
The process starts with Self Lender putting a loan in a Certificate of Deposit held by the bank in your name.
Doing so does not require a significant amount of money or credit, and you don’t have to put a lot of money upfront, either.
You can start off quite small if you like, with as little as $25 a month being available.
You first select a monthly amount that you are going to pay into a Certificate of Deposit, also known as a CD.
You figure out the terms of your loan by selecting either a 12-month term or a 24-month term for it.
The loan’s rate is 14.92% annual percentage rate.
The amount of the loan gets deposited into a certificate of deposit bank account which does earn interest and is insured by the FDIC.
It is important to keep in mind that Self Lender will report your on-time payments to all three major credit bureaus in the United States: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
As a result, this can increase your credit score because as previously mentioned, on-time payments of any kind for a sustained period of time will improve your credit score.
4. Demonstrate A Level of Stability on Credit Reports
One of the main things that creditors want to see is plenty of evidence of stability on your credit report.
If there are any discrepancies about any of your personal information such as your name, current employer, date of birth, Social Security Number, and more, you should make sure to take care of those as quickly as possible.
This is one way that you can pad your credit score. It is likely that this stability will end up improving your credit score in the long run.
5. Add Your Phone Number to All Credit Applications
Your telephone number could actually be a crucial factor for any sort of credit application.
A creditor might have difficulty verifying your identity without a phone number, and they might not be able to do it at all without a phone number.
A creditor is likely to hesitate to grant credit to someone if they are unable to verify their phone number.
As a result, it is a good idea for you to add your phone number any time you are applying for credit.
This helps creditors verify your identity and feel more comfortable about granting you credit.