A poor credit score may make it difficult to buy a home, find a job or obtain an affordable insurance policy. While you may be tempted to hire an Illinois company to help you rebuild your credit, the fact is that you can often do so on your own for free.
Reach out to your lenders
Eliminating past due payments on your credit report may be as easy as calling your lender. A lender may be willing to roll a past due balance back into your loan in an effort to get an account back to current. Lenders may take other actions to help you make future payments on time, which will help to improve your credit score. Reaching out to your lenders may also be ideal if you notice inaccuracies on your credit report. For instance, a creditor may have reported a payment as 30 days past due when it was received on time.
Be patient
Your current credit issues may be resolved simply by being patient and learning from your mistakes. Typically, information falls off of your credit report after seven years, which means that past due payments, a repossession or a bankruptcy will go away on its own. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for up to a decade after your case is dismissed. However, even then, you should be able to get credit within a year or two after your case is discharged.
Being proactive about your finances may help you avoid a foreclosure, repossession or other serious negative consequences. Generally speaking, your creditors will work with you to find a solution to your fiscal problems as they would rather receive a partial payment now as opposed to nothing after you file for bankruptcy.