One of the easiest things you can do to improve your credit is to close
accounts that you no longer use. When you reduce the amount of credit available
to you, it can improve your credit score. It is also a good idea to reduce your
credit card balances to 75% of your available credit or less. The lower, the
better. Paying bills timely is one of the best ways to keep your credit in
tip-top shape. Next, you should review your credit report and correct any
inaccurate information reported there.
Accurate Versus Inaccurate Information
Unfortunately, there is no way to remove accurate negative information that
appears on your credit report. Accurate information will remain on your credit
report for a specified period of time (for example, most negative information
will remain on your credit report and affect your credit rating for seven
years.) If you have made some mistakes that are accurately reported on your
credit report, be sure that those items will stay put on your credit report
until their time is up. Under those circumstances, your best bet is to wait it
out and make absolutely certain that you take steps to prevent your credit score
from slipping further until those unsavory items fall off. However, there are
ways to remove incorrect information from your credit report in order to improve
your credit score.
What Causes Inaccurate Credit Reporting?
People are often shocked to discover that their credit report contains
inaccurate information. It is crucial to realize that the credit bureaus are not
government organizations, but for-profit companies that rely on court records
and reports from creditors. If the information the credit bureaus receive is
inaccurate, so is your credit report. Sometimes, it is simply a case of mistaken
identity: your name is similar to another person's and their information has
been incorrectly added to your credit report. This is especially likely to
happen if you share the name of a family member (for instance, John Smith Sr.
and John Smith Jr.) with whom you have shared a residence. Or perhaps a creditor
did not properly document a payment you had made and reported a late payment to
the credit bureaus before the error was discovered. Often, information on your
credit report is simply outdated and should be updated to reflect accounts that
have been paid off and closed.