Free ways to improve/build your credit score

[loans_n_fishes]

I think on the secured credit card thing that it totally depends on your bank. Some of them report to credit bureaus and some don't on that type of card. A lot of major banks use their secured credit card program to help customers with bad or no credit to help them earn positive credit. I had one with Bank of America right after high school, and part of signing up for it was that they'd report monthly to help me build some credit. And it worked really well.

Bank of America is where I typically send my clients for this type of card. Thanks for letting us know MissT.

[Joshua]

What do yall do about those old ones (over 7 years) that are sold to new collection agencies and appear current?

[Mr Cob]

What do yall do about those old ones (over 7 years) that are sold to new collection agencies and appear current?

Find a reason to get them deleted such as "ND". Most of the time when a collection is moved from agency to agency information is not reported and some times they have trouble verifying certain info giving you the right to have it removed.

[Joshua]

Find a reason to get them deleted such as "ND". Most of the time when a collection is moved from agency to agency information is not reported and some times they have trouble verifying certain info giving you the right to have it removed.

I've got 3 that I've disputed repeatedly, they report every month for a year or so and sell it off to another agency. One of them is 9 years old going on 10, the other two are 8 years old.

[loans_n_fishes]

Are you disputing through the creditor/bill collection agency or through the credit bureaus? You need to do it through the credit bureaus.

[beerguy]

quick note: It is of my knowledge (actually the VP of a Bank of America's knowledge) that you should have two revolving forms of credit: ie; credit cards and one non-revolving (I forgot the 'educated' word for it) form of credit: ie; car loan in order to establish good credit. it also apparently takes a year. but my question is about my credit cards: do I get better credit if I pay it all off, or if I leave a remaining balance? Or does it even matter? I generally leave a small balance, but nothing I cant pay off if I have to.

[Joshua]

Are you disputing through the creditor/bill collection agency or through the credit bureaus? You need to do it through the credit bureaus.

Through the bureaus.... it always says "updated" and sometimes "verified."

[loans_n_fishes]

Pay them off every month if you can. At the very least, keep the balances under 1/2 of the credit limit. Just use them fairly regularly for SMALL things to keep the accounts active.

Mortgages and car payments are great forms of credit, but you don't have to have them to have good credit. 3-5 tradelines with good history is what you are aiming for. The longer you maintain good credit, the better it is, but your score can raise significantly in 30 to 90 days using the methods I outlined earlier. You don't have to wait a year to see big changes in your score.

Also, when you are shopping for a loan (mortgage, car, etc) you will want to keep your searching to a minimum so your report doesn't get pulled tons of times to compare programs. Go to a broker (like me ) who can pull your credit once and shop for you with multiple lenders.

[loans_n_fishes]

Here are some scores you want to aim for in order to qualify for a loan (lowest to highest).

580
620
680
700
720+

There are still some programs that don't require a minimum score and/or will take alternative credit into account for those with little to no credit. There are also still some 100% programs that also allow the seller to pay closing costs so the buyer has very little out of pocket.

However, it is always better to have the highest score possible to give yourself the best choices.