How to Maintain Your Credit Rating Colorado

Steps

1. Pay your bills as soon as possible. Waiting until they are past due or nearly past due will shave points off your FICO score.
2. Don't carry a balance on your credit card. If you get stuck with an especially large balance (these things happen), you might need to put that card in a drawer for a month or two until you can pay it down.
3. Carry as few credit cards as you can. This means turning down department store and other specialty cards. Too many will mean a large available credit pool, which means you're in danger of over-extending yourself.
4. Check your credit report on a regular basis. If you see anything that isn't supposed to be there, or if you suspect your identity has been stolen, act immediately! You can start by filing a police report with LOCAL law enforcement. This police report is the first step in credit repair.
5. The longer you have an account, the more credible you seem. Jumping from card to card (tempting with low-interest transfer balances and other scams) will harm your credit. But closing accounts that you've had for a couple of years or more will not necessarily hurt (or help) your credit scores, as your payment history remains on your credit report up to 7 years - just make sure that your credit report accurately reflects that the account was closed at your request (accounts closed by the lender due to non-payment look very bad on a report).
6. Stick to your payment plan on long-term debt like auto loans and mortgages. Change your payments only when absolutely necessary and only after consulting with your lender.
7. Above all, stay proactive with your credit! Running away from your obligations or putting things off is an excellent way to ruin your credit and your future.

Tips

• 80% of all lending transactions are conducted using the FICO Score(R), a mathematical formula based upon your payment history, to make credit decisions. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores indicating better credit. The median FICO score in the U.S. is 720.
• You can get one free credit report per year from each of the credit bureaus. This does not include your FICO Score(R). Consumer reports recommends ordering the three score and report package from myFICO.com for $44.85 once a year.
• Only when accessing from ISPs located in the United States, can a FREE credit reported can be ordered, or viewed online here https://www.annualcreditreport.com

Warnings

• You have more than one FICO score - in fact, everyone with sufficient credit history has three - one for each of the three national credit bureaus. You can get all three FICO scores in one purchase at myFICO.com, which is a major reason why Consumer Reports recommends them.

Sources and Citations

• myFICO Credit Education section
• Equifax Learning Center
• annualcreditreport.com

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