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Credit Repair When your past credit history prevents you from getting a standard credit card you will need to rebuild your credit record. You may be able to qualify for a secured VISA or MasterCard credit card. The bank will give you a credit limit based on the amount of your deposit. Make your payments on time and they will be reported to the credit agencies. After you have established a good payment history, apply for an unsecured credit card. Secured credit cards are more expensive than an unsecured card because you are a high credit risk. Most secured cards charge an annual fee and an application fee. Interest rates can be high. Try to pay your bill in full every month and avoid interest charges. Remember that your purpose of having this card is to establish a good credit record so you can qualify for an unsecured low interest credit card! Read terms, conditions and disclosures when you apply for a card. Most companies can and will raise your interest rate if you make your payments late. Many credit card companies will also charge a late fee. Some have annual fees or even monthly fees. Know what you are getting yourself into! Most of us eventually need to purchase a car or a home. The better your credit record, the lower your interest rate. A good credit record will save you lots of money. See the sample car loan below: 13,000.00 car loan for 5 years at 9% interest
13,000.00 car loan for 5 years at 17% interest
The higher interest loan cost $3,193.02 more. You can see how important it is to have a good credit rating! I'm sure you can think of better things to do with $3,193.02 than to give it to a finance company. If you have a bad credit record, you could be required to pay a much higher rate than 17%. If for some reason you can not make a payment call your creditors! They don't want to ruin your credit record, they just want you to repay the money you borrowed. In most cases they will be willing to work with you and you may be able to avoid being reported to the credit bureau. Negative items can remain on your credit report for 7 years! Beware of credit card scammers! Never give your personal information out over the telephone to someone that calls you. They may use this information to apply for credit in your name. There are companies that target people with bad credit. If it sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam. Do a quick search for "credit card scams" on the Internet. You may be surprised how many you find. Some companies advertise with a "900" number and try to get you to call them. You will be charged for the call. Never give you personal information out over the telephone to a company that calls you. If it were a legitimate company and offer they would know not to contact you this way.
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