Raise Your Credit Score, Lower Your Auto Loan Interest Rates
A Credit Article Contributed by Brandie King
Raise Your Credit Score, Lower Your Auto Loan Interest Rates
When you go to buy a new car, the dealer will check your credit report to find out what your credit score is before offering you an auto loan. They do this to find out if you make payments on time and how often you make late payments. If your credit score if very low then the dealer will either deny you an auto loan, or they will charge you extremely high interest rates if they do offer you a loan. By taking some steps to raise your credit score you will be able to lower the interest rate on an auto loan when you go to get one.
Credit Scores and Auto Loans: Get Your Reports
The first thing that you need to do is to get copies of your credit reports from all three of the major credit bureaus. Since creditors do not have to report accounts with all three of the bureaus, your credit reports with each of them will be different. You never know which report a dealer is going to request so you are going to want to raise your credit scores on all three reports. Dealers may even request all three reports. The three major credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. You can go to their websites to order your credit reports.
Experian http://www.experian.com
Equifax http://www.equifax.com
Trans Union http://www.transunion.com
Credit Scores and Auto Loans: Repair Your Credit
After you receive your three credit reports you need to sit down and closely examine all three of them. What you are looking for are errors, inaccuracies, and incorrect information. As you find these you need to write them down in a list, one list for each of the three credit reports. You may find the same error, inaccuracy, or incorrect information on more than one credit report, but still write it down on each of the lists.
Each credit report is independent from the other two and entries on one do not affect your credit scores on the other two, so you will need to dispute the same error separately for each report it shows up on.
Credit Scores and Auto Loans: Send Letters to the Credit Bureaus
When you have finished examining your three credit reports and have a list of the errors, inaccuracies, and incorrect information on each of the reports, it is time to mail dispute letters to each of the three credit bureaus. You may have to repeat this process more than one time to get everything fixed.
Below is a list of the information you should include about each error and inaccuracy. You can save yourself some time by including this information on the list when you are examining your credit reports.
- the name and amount of the item
- the collection agency
- why it's incorrect
- any proof you have that the disputed items are incorrect (such as canceled checks showing you paid a debt in full)
- what you want the credit bureau to do about it (correct it or remove it)
Visit Credit Info Center at http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/index.shtml for a sample letter that also includes what you can say to get old accounts removed.
