Check Your File

You can basically check your credit report every 4 months for free, did you know that? You can request a free report from each of the three credit bureaus per year, so you can be clever about how you space them out.

Use this opportunity to look for account balances that you don’t recognize, AKA those you likely forgot about. Also, be on the lookout for unexpected red marks!

We recommend using CreditCards.com which gives you information and explanation for each section. Make sure to then remove outdated information within 30 days of the initial request!

Pay Old Debts

Since not all lenders use the latest scoring system, you may still be in trouble from old mistakes. For example, the latest score calculations by VantageScore and FICO will skip old collections accounts if they’re been paid in full, but since these systems aren’t as widely accepted as we’d like, some lenders may still see them.

Keep that in mind when figuring out how you’re going to tackle old debts!