1. Check Your Credit Report & Fix Any Errors

Our first recommendation to rebuild your credit score is to know where it stands. There are three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, and knowing what each score is from each bureau will give you that starting point to see how much you need to improve. Plus, while it’s unfortunate, it isn’t uncommon for errors to appear on your credit reports. Dispute any errors you may find from the credit bureaus separately since they may be different.

FICO Score 8 is the most common score that lenders will use with numbers ranging from 300-850. A poor score is 200-569, fair is 570-669 and 670 and above is considered good. Our team’s goal here at Joe Cooper Dodge Jeep is to see you build your score into a good, healthy range.

2. Make Payments on Time

After ensuring any errors on your credit reports have been fixed, the next step is to make your minimum payments on time. Late payments have the most negative impact on your credit, making up a huge 35% of your total FICO® score. It’s extremely important to build your credit by remembering payment due dates, so we suggest enrolling in automatic payments or setting reminders on your phone so that no payment slips through the cracks.

3. Stay Below Your Credit Limit

Another chunk of your FICO® score (think 30%) consists of how much credit you’re using within your limit, or credit utilization. Our financial experts suggest only using 30% of your credit limit at a time so there’s little chance of exceeding your limit and creditors can look more favorably at your credit score. If staying below 30% is more of a struggle, we suggest paying off your borrowed amount sooner, or request for your limit to be increased.

4. Be Patient

Our final tip is to patiently wait for your score to recover before adding new credit to your history report. While it may be frustrating to place plans on hold as your credit continues to build, we know that it will benefit your financial fitness in the long run. Continue to practice good spending habits and stay within your means of credit, and once your score is at a place that you’re happy with, we can’t wait to see you in our finance offices. Our goal is to see you drive home in a vehicle you love and can afford.