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Need To Improve A Bad Credit Report? Find Out How Bad It Is
Improve a bad credit report, just like a leaky roof.
What’s the first step to repairing a hole in a roof?
Finding out how big the hole is.
This same logic applies if you find yourself needing to improve a bad credit report. The first step in developing a plan to improve your credit is determining just how bad it has become.
Most consumers who have experienced their credit rating fall did not allow this to happen intentionally. They simply spent money out of an immediate need, like with a leaky roof, and may not have had the luxury of developing a plan. But this lack of a planning, for whatever reason, is what has led nearly all consumers who suffer from bad credit to where they are today.
If you are a consumer currently experiencing the effects that bad credit can have on your life, you may wish each day that you could go back and develop a plan that would have kept you out of this mess. You can’t. But you can develop a plan that will help you recover and improve your report.
Requesting a free credit report will put you face to face with your past credit mistakes.
This can be frightening. Facing the unknown usually is. But it is impossible to eliminate that hole in the roof until you find out just how big the hole has grown.
There are several factors that you will likely see on your credit report that will affect your credit and your recovery for years to come, including:
- Delinquencies: Refers to any payments reported as 30-180 days late. Payments reported as 30 days late will likely affect your report for two years. 60 days and beyond may be with you up to seven years, after the first missed payment.
- Collection accounts: Should one of your delinquent payments go into collections, your credit report will likely be affected for up to seven years.
- Charged-off accounts: This is when your lender writes off the money you owe them as money they are never going to see. This will affect you for seven years.
While these factors will affect you for years, they can be overcome if you build a plan that helps you commit to not making the same mistakes in the future. And the best way to build a plan is to consult professionals or seek the counsel of those who have been there before.
That homeowner repairing the hole in his or her roof would likely never try to patch it on his own – especially if it were his or her first time. Improving your bad credit is just as big, just as important a project. The better your plan, the more help you receive, the more likely you will be to weather any challenges in the future.
