Welcome to Credit Help -

First off, we're not here to tell you that your credit rating can and will be fixed with our magic wand, practically over night.

The downside of how credit ratings are calculated - it doesn't take much, just one late payment or soft inquiry to damage your credit score, but it takes an unequally longer time to recover from one or more slip ups.

There are countless self declared finance gurus on tv, radio and the internet. Most are trying to "sell" you a solution, and offer you a book in return. The same information that you receive in these books, can be found online, just by searching via your preferred search engine - like the search bar above this article.

Credit Cards:

If you have them and you're late:

Make your minimum payments at all costs - contact your card provider and ask whether they can temporarily lower your minimum payment and/or interest rate.

Paid off Credit Cards:

Do not cut them up, unless you have no intention of using them. Even then, refrain from returning them as this would lower your overall credit availability. If you have them and you can make the minimum payments, use each card for a small purchase from time to time and pay it off within 30 days - it becomes an interest free loan this way.

House Payments:

If you're late, contact your lender. If you're in default, contact available state agencies for assistance.

If you're in foreclosure - get out of it at all costs, it hurts your credit rating worse than a bankruptcy. The government has placed several agencies in your state which may help with negotiations with your lender, provide payment assistance or refinancing guidance. Also, check our sister site Refinance.com for further information regarding your options.

Collection Agencies:

Collection Agencies must adhere to a strict set of rules government by state and federal government. While some agencies may be excempt from following the Do Not Call regulations, we still advise to get on the Do Not Call Registry list - it will cut down on your overall spam calls.

Last but not least - your credit report:

Once per year, you're entitled to a free credit report, but without FICO score. This doesn't really matter, because what you're most interested in are the entries on your report, not your overall score at this time.

Chek all entires carefully and for good measure, anything negative, start disputing it. The disputes are free of charge and must be answered by the collection agency having made the entry, within 30 days.

Should you have any detailed questions, just post in the comment section and we'll answer everything as good as possible. Alternatively, you may log on to IntelBank.com - our site of Intelligent Business and Banking.