Greg Ulrich
Greg Ulrich, 45, is a teacher in a secondary school in South Dakota. Since his graduation from the University of South Dakota, he has thought he has been pretty savvy regarding his finances. He usually pays his bills punctually and will not even have a credit card. So when Greg Ulrich discovered that his credit score was 561, he was shocked, understandably. After further investigation into the credit score, he learned that a medical expense from his 30’s had not been paid. He had no idea about this bill because he had moved addresses and hadn’t received the bill. The collection agency had this bill for Four years and is still marked as “UNPAID”. After working to negotiate a “Pay-to-delete”, and failing, he chose to just not pay for the amount and wait for seven years to pass and the account to dissipate. He cannot get any lines of credit, a lease on a car, or even open a new checking account at a local bank.
What does this score mean?
For those that have a credit score around 560, you almost certainly recognize that this isn’t the ideal credit score to have. But, don’t be concerned. With only a handful of steps, you can easily bump that credit score up very quickly. For people with a credit score around 560, it is likely that you simply won’t have the ability to experience many of life’s greatest moments. With a credit score around 560, you are going to most likely not find a good mortgage for a house. With this range of credit score, probably you wouldn’t get a credit card with a great annual percentage rate. On top of that, this credit score will make it hard for you to lease an automobile.
How do you get a credit score around 560?
If you find yourself having a credit score around 560, you could have made such mistakes in your finances:
• Having a recent foreclosure on a house.
• Having multiple items in collections.
• Having claimed bankruptcy recently.
• Having an open loan – for example, a student loan.
• Having bills you have not paid.
• Having accounts with collection agencies which are not paid.
• Consistently being late on payments.
How can you improve this credit score?
To help you improve this credit score, consider taking some of the following steps:
1) If you have troubles with your credit score, you should attempt talking to a credit counselor. Each credit situation is completely different and thus, the solutions vary for each person.
2) Give it time! We all know that it can be a large amount of pressure to have to wait for a score to move up. However, it will not happen magically. Time will heal this credit score – if you take necessary measures that can help.
3) Get some personal lines of credit open and make certain to pay off your statement, in full, each month.
4) If you have an account in collections, you need to pay for the amount due. There is a significant difference from a collection account which is “PAID” and “UNPAID”. This can be the difference in you getting approved for a lease or just being rejected.
5) If you have more than one accounts in collections and do not have enough money to pay them all off immediately, try paying off those items with all the largest monetary value, instead of smaller values.