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Boost Your Credit Score in 2016
By Craig Buchan, M.A.
Part 2 of 3
The first article described 2 of the 5 tips that will help to increase your credit
score. In this article, I will share tips 3 and 4 as we continue the quest for
improving and maintaining a good credit score.
Tip #3:
Review your credit report from all three agencies, and dispute
incorrect information.
You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report
from all three credit reporting agencies
( Experian , Equifax ,and TransUnion)
every year. You can download these reports for free from
AnnualCreditReport.com .If you see any incorrect information, it is your
responsibility to dispute the information. Fortunately, making a dispute is
getting easier. You can register your disputes online (explained
here ). And
if your situation has not been resolved to your liking, you can complain to the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau online
, here .The CFPB would reach
out to the credit reporting agencies on your behalf.
Tip #4:
Don’t borrow money to build your score.
One of the worst credit
score rumors that never dies is the need to borrow money to build a credit
score. You never need to pay interest to have a good score. You only need
one transaction (that you pay in full) each month to do well. For example,
you could buy one gallon of milk each month on your credit card. If you paid
that statement balance in full and on time every month (never paying a dime
of interest), you could have an excellent credit score. Why? Because your
utilization would be low (only a gallon of milk) and your payments would be
on time. That is all it takes.
Base on tips 3 and 4, what steps will you take to improve/build your credit
score?
Part 3 will continue with the final credit score boosting tip #5.