Posted on: 21st Jun, 2009 09:25 am
Since we have been self employed for a small period of time. Do we need to provide anything else to prove our income besides our tax returns?
Also my husbands fico score keeps raising every month, but mine has been the same for the last 3 months I have pade all my credit cards to a zero balnce and only one one installment on a car loan. Any advice on how to keep raising my score to atleast a 700 I have been at 677.
Thanks
Also my husbands fico score keeps raising every month, but mine has been the same for the last 3 months I have pade all my credit cards to a zero balnce and only one one installment on a car loan. Any advice on how to keep raising my score to atleast a 700 I have been at 677.
Thanks
LORIE611
Welcoem to the forum
Just to go over the basics, your credit report is made up of following:
35% is based on payment history
30% Amount you owed
15% length of history
10% New credit
10% on types of credit
As you can see 35% is payment history and the next 30% is how much you owed. As you keep making payment it will reduce the amoutn you owed helping again to improve your score and report.
15% is length of credit history
So check your report and see which area may be impacting you from improving yoru score. Also if there is some negative item on your report they tend to stay for atleast 7 years
Good luck and feel free to ask
Welcoem to the forum
Just to go over the basics, your credit report is made up of following:
35% is based on payment history
30% Amount you owed
15% length of history
10% New credit
10% on types of credit
As you can see 35% is payment history and the next 30% is how much you owed. As you keep making payment it will reduce the amoutn you owed helping again to improve your score and report.
15% is length of credit history
So check your report and see which area may be impacting you from improving yoru score. Also if there is some negative item on your report they tend to stay for atleast 7 years
Good luck and feel free to ask
Follow the simple steps to improve your score.
Improve your payment history:
Avoid making late payments on your bills.
Clear up all your past-due bills as soon as possible.
Request your creditor for an alternative plan with low monthly payments.
Negotiate with your creditors to remove charge-offs from your report and re-open those accounts.
Request your creditors to erase late payment entries after you re-start paying in time.
Reduce your outstanding debts:
Pay off high interest debts first.
Keep your balances low and try to keep your revolving debt to 50% of your available credit.
Don't close old and unused accounts rapidly in order to lower your available credit. It will raise your debt-to-credit limit which has a negative impact on your score.
Try to close accounts gradually over several months. Verify if the accounts closed are reported as "closed by consumer".
Improve Your Credit History:
You should not open several new accounts within a short period of time when your credit history is less than at least three years. Adding too many accounts in a short interval implies that you are not able to manage your credit properly.
Manage new credit efficiently:
Restrict yourself to a medium credit limit and not a higher one as your creditor suggests.
Do not try to open too many new accounts if you have gone through credit problems in the past.
Plan your budget taking into account your finances and credit.
Avoid several credit inquiries within a short period; otherwise it would mean that you are about to open multiple new accounts and this will affect your score.
Use a proper mix of credit:
It is better not to have too many installment loans as they can reduce your score. This is because the payments remain unchanged until you pay off the balances.
You can have a combination of credit cards and installment loans or loans with fixed payments as they help in improving your score. But you need to handle your credit cards efficiently.
Improve your payment history:
Avoid making late payments on your bills.
Clear up all your past-due bills as soon as possible.
Request your creditor for an alternative plan with low monthly payments.
Negotiate with your creditors to remove charge-offs from your report and re-open those accounts.
Request your creditors to erase late payment entries after you re-start paying in time.
Reduce your outstanding debts:
Pay off high interest debts first.
Keep your balances low and try to keep your revolving debt to 50% of your available credit.
Don't close old and unused accounts rapidly in order to lower your available credit. It will raise your debt-to-credit limit which has a negative impact on your score.
Try to close accounts gradually over several months. Verify if the accounts closed are reported as "closed by consumer".
Improve Your Credit History:
You should not open several new accounts within a short period of time when your credit history is less than at least three years. Adding too many accounts in a short interval implies that you are not able to manage your credit properly.
Manage new credit efficiently:
Restrict yourself to a medium credit limit and not a higher one as your creditor suggests.
Do not try to open too many new accounts if you have gone through credit problems in the past.
Plan your budget taking into account your finances and credit.
Avoid several credit inquiries within a short period; otherwise it would mean that you are about to open multiple new accounts and this will affect your score.
Use a proper mix of credit:
It is better not to have too many installment loans as they can reduce your score. This is because the payments remain unchanged until you pay off the balances.
You can have a combination of credit cards and installment loans or loans with fixed payments as they help in improving your score. But you need to handle your credit cards efficiently.
LORIE611
Unless you have too many credit cards, i woudl not suggets you to close any accounts
if you have opned too many accounts already, they ahve doen thier damamge.
It woudl be all about how you mange them
Good luck
Unless you have too many credit cards, i woudl not suggets you to close any accounts
if you have opned too many accounts already, they ahve doen thier damamge.
It woudl be all about how you mange them
Good luck