Credit scores can fall like dominos once you make even one mistake in balancing your finances. Sometimes you can stop the momentum in time and other times the damage becomes just too great to manage on your own. You need to repair your credit to a status where it has a positive and helpful impact on your life again. There are ways you can partially do this yourself, but most do not know how or even where to begin. Follow the steps below to raise your credit score and also seek the help of a credit repair service to reach the score you desire.
3 Easy Ways To Increase Your Credit Score On Your Own
- Pay Your Bills On Time – Lenders want to know that you are reliable on making payments on time, as they do not want to lend a large sum of money to someone that is consistently delinquent on their payments. A good track record of paying your bills on time can go a long way.
- Pay Off Debt and Keep Balances Low On Credit Cards and Any Other Revolving Credit – If you have over a 30% credit balance of your total credit line limit, that can have a negative impact on your credit score. To figure that out, you simply take your total credit balance and divide it by your total credit limit. For example, if you typically charge around $1,000 each month and your total credit limit across all your cards is $5,000, your utilization ratio is 20%. Lenders like to see 30% or lower credit utilization ratio. So if you can get that under 30% and maintain that, your credit score will likely go up.
- Don’t Close Unused Credit Cards – Many think it’s a good idea to pay off an outstanding credit card balance and then cancel the credit card, so they don’t rack the balance up again. However, this can have a negative impact on your score because you are ultimately lowering your overall credit line limit. Lets say you have 3 credit cards and a total credit line limit of $30,000 ($10,000 credit limit on each card). If you paid off one of the credit cards and had a remaining total balance of $2,000 on the other cards, then cancelled the one you just paid off, you know have a utilization ratio of 10% instead of 6.66%. The reason for this is because you now have a total credit line of $20,000 instead of $30,000 due to cancelling that paid-off card. It’s in your best interest to keep the paid off credit card open, just don’t charge anything to it so your total credit line limit remains high, which will lower your overall utilization ratio has you pay the other cards down.
When you have exhausted all other ways to raise your credit score on your own, seeking the help of a credit repair service is your next best line of defense. Below are some of the top credit repair services that can help you get your score up to where you want it to be.
Lexington Law Firm
Lexington Law Firm has been helping clients repair their credit for over thirty years. They boast ownership of the number one credit repair app and have a website easy to navigate as a first-time viewer. The top menu provides many drop-down options explaining details about credit repair and makes the experience feel inviting as opposed to intimidating.
Lexington Law offers three pricing plans ranging from $89.95 to $129.95 each month. The higher priced plans include extra features perhaps unnecessary to repair your credit. Lexington Law receives only a C rating from the BBB (Better Business Bureau) although most issues reported appear to be addressed and/or resolved. Almost polar opposite of the BBB standing is high-quality customer service, availability at extended hours and the employment of a bona fide legal team to help ensure your credit repair service is on the right track. Lexington Law Firm does not promise quick fixes or credit magic – they put their experience to work and steadily repair your credit over time.
Credit Saint
Credit Saint (Credit Restoration) claims the number one ranking in challenging inaccurate data on your credit report. They are accredited with the BBB and offer a ninety-day money back guarantee on their services. Service fees are slightly cheaper than those at Lexington Law ranging from $79.99-$119.99 per month. What really stands out about Credit Saint is their customer satisfaction rating.
95 percent of Credit Saint customers report being satisfied with their results. There is customer service available around the clock, which is highly convenient. They offer unlimited dispute services and their “Clean Slate,” service (while more expensive) literally cleans your credit as good as possible over time. Their process is set up in 45-day cycles and receives a stellar 4.7 rating from ConsumerAffairs.
Scoreology
“The Science of Credit Repair,” is how Scoreology describes the service they facilitate. They offer a free consultation, which is one sign of a legitimate, viable organization. The company also states clearly on their site that credit repair is a process requiring perseverance and experienced guidance. This means their science is the real-deal and Scoreology is not pushing magic fixes on its clients.
Scoreology displays a full list of the credit repair process on its own page as part of their website. This level of transparency exhibits trustworthiness and experience. On the other hand there is no indication of monthly fees or pricing tiers. You have to contact a Scoreology representative to get that information. There are 325 reviews about Scoreology on Angie’s List and 314 of those give an “A,” or “B,” rating. This is a popular credit repair service with a lot of knowledge and an emphasis on high-quality results and customer service.
CreditRepair.Com
The credit repair service so aptly named as CreditRepair.Com streamlines their approach to fixing your credit with the use of impressive technology. They offer a fixed price of $99.95 per month and customer service seven days, twenty-four hours a day. CreditRepair.com helps you create a viable game plan, which can constantly be monitored online via a proprietary app. They do not offer a money-back guarantee but do provide constant education about how to maintain your repaired credit for the rest of your life. Having a 4.4 rating on TrustPilot means customer satisfaction is high.
National Debt Relief
National Debt Relief is the place you go when your debt is higher and your credit score is lower than normal. They specialize in assisting clients who have over $7,500 in unsecured debt. In fact, they have assisted more than over 100,000 clients since 2009 and are still going strong today.
What is bold and impressive about this company is providing a full guarantee – 100 percent satisfaction or your money back. There are no cancellation fees or early penalties. Their expert level of experience and transparency throughout your entire credit repair process has earned them the valued and accredited A+ rating with the BBB. National Debt Relief is expertly qualified to help you fix your credit and have the statistics, reviews and experience to prove it.