The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.
The recession was quite a bad spell for people all over America. With so many unpaid bills, mortgage amounts and lack of jobs, people found that they increasingly had less chances of obtaining any sort of loans from banks. Credit history, essentially refers to an individual's records of borrowing and returning money. There could be instances where the payments are delayed or there is a lack of funds to make the payment. In such a case, they become defaulters and this reflects in a poor credit score for these persons.
When applying for a loan at a later stage or for credit cards, all of these information and the credit scores of the individual is analysed to see if the person may be granted a loan or not. Through previous records of payments done to other banks, people decide the credit worthiness and also how much of the loan can be sanctioned and what sort of credit cards may be given. The FICO score is one such score that indicates the credit history and on an average it may be anywhere in the range of 350-850. For those persons where the FICO score is below 600, there are lesser chances of obtaining loans or credit cards being sanctioned as they belong to a high risk category. Thus FICO scores need to be maintained on an average above 640 to be considered an average to good customer.
When dealing with financial commitments on mortgage or looking for financing options for your loan, take care to study and compare various loans and interest rates available in the market. Be sure that you can meet with the financial commitments made and that whatever credit card purchases are made are within your affordability. All of these precautions ensure that you do not fall into the defaulter's category and can maintain a good credit score in the long run.
If at all you have made mistakes in the past, there is no need to lose hope. The credit score can be improved through consistent payments. Turn in your credit card for a secured one. This is one method to improve a credit rating. Consistently evaluate your payment schedule and have the money set aside early in the month to avoid problems in the event of a deadline. It will require the person to make some adjustments and sacrifices to their spending habits. There will be a need to evaluate and make only necessary purchases so as to avoid unnecessarily large bills which may prove difficult to pay.
Besides that another method is to completely stop using your credit cards until you settle the outstanding balance on it. It is important to work on this when you consolidate your debt, as it is not the time to be making new purchases on your card or end up with more debt. With careful and meticulous planning a solution can be arrived at! Once cleared of the credit card debt, it will be possible to revert to having a good credit history.
