You've finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a house. You've visited your bank and applied for a home loan, hoping to put in an offer on the home of your dreams. But the news from the bank isn't good. Either the interest rates are beyond your means, or you were turned down.
The explanation for this situation is that there's a problem with your credit score. Your bank will make a decision regarding your eligibility for a loan and the interest rate it will charge you based on its assessment of your past performance.
But don't give up hope. There's a chance you can improve your credit score if you work hard at it. Don't procrastinate; you need to get moving now if you want a good record before applying for that loan. It won't happen overnight.
If you raise your score before visiting your lender, you will have a better shot at qualifying for a loan and getting a good interest rate. Start by getting a copy of each of your three credit reports.
It is always a good idea to check them for items that you believe are not your debts. These can be disputed and if they are not yours, they will be removed. If you have debts that have not been paid on your report, try to arrange to pay them off. Even a payment plan is better than not paying them at all.
If you make an effort to pay regularly on these debts, this shows you are making an effort. Creditors are more likely to report regular payments to the credit bureaus, thus your credit scores will go up.
Some desperate people will try to dispute a bad debt, even though they know it to be accurate. If the credit agencies are unable to verify the information within a certain period of time, they're obligated to remove that item from your record.
This is completely legal, however if it is removed from your credit report, it could reappear later. If at a later date they prove the debt is yours, they can put it back on the credit report.
It's important that you maintain all of your credit accounts and regular bills in good standing. The odd late or missed payment will appear on your credit report and impact your score negatively. You want to build up as much positive information as possible, so that your lenders will be impressed with your credit performance.
Sad to say, certain items will be difficult to delete from your credit scores. But don't let that get in the way of your efforts to clear up the negative information. Be persistent and ask the credit agency to reinvestigate any debts that you are sure are not yours.
You might ultimately have to forget about erasing your past mistakes and focus on the important thing - getting more positive items to show up on your credit score. Then you'll be able to move on to applying for that loan to purchase your dream house.
You've finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a house. You've visited your bank and applied for a home loan, hoping to put in an offer on the home of your dreams. But the news from the bank isn't good. Either the interest rates are beyond your means, or you were turned down.
Paul Cameron is editor of the Personal Finance Section at i-KnowHow | Information for Life, where you'll also find ideas and tips for hobbies, home and garden, technology basics, family and much more.
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