So, You've Been Denied

You've applied for a loan, and you've been denied. Your score is too low. "Now what?", you may ask.

You've followed all of the tips listed earlier, or perhaps these tips do not apply to your particular situation.

Have you paid off all of your credit card, auto loans, and not making any monthly payments? Do you not even have a credit card or auto loan at this time? Perhaps it is time to boost your credit score by making on-time payments on either a small installment loan (that you could get through your bank) or on a credit card. Whatever you do, try to avoid borrowing money from a consumer finance company.

If you have long-time and established credit cards but are not using them, then use one for gas and one for groceries and pay off each month. Pay them off early, too.

If your cards are nearly maxed out or over about 40% of the credit available, this could present a problem for your credit score. One option in resolving this is to call your credit card companies and request a credit line increase on your credit card. If you are making on-time payments and have been making on-time payments for a couple of years, make your request based solely on your payment history. That being said, you can request they only review your payment history. If they raise the limits, that will change your debt to credit ratio, and therefore, that will improve your credit score.

A problem to watch for and something to rule out: If you are using your credit card and charging up massive amounts each month even if you are paying off the balance in its entirety each and every month, if your most recent payment is not reflected, your credit score may not be accurate at the time of the credit pull.

Look at all three of your credit reports right now. The fewer the addresses and the fewer the employers that are listed, the better. Old addresses and former employers - outdated information - is also material for a request to the bureaus to have these inaccurate statements removed. Just treat the requests as you would any other dispute.