Are you looking for a new place to move to but don’t have the best credit? Don’t fear, as there are some things you can do to help increase your credit score so you can get that new apartment. Your credit score may be an issue if you’re looking to rent a new apartment, and your landlord takes into consideration the credit score of potential tenants. This may be a determining factor in deciding which potential tenant gets to rent the apartment. Use these helpful tips to ease your credit score and get you into the apartment you’ve always wanted.
How is My Credit Score Calculated?
The first step to increasing your credit score is understanding how your credit score works. Your credit score is a number that represents how reliable you are as a borrower. Many factors go into calculating your credit score, but how long you’ve had credit or your payment history, how much credit you are using versus how much credit you have available to you, how much new credit you have, and what types of credit you have, are all crucial factors in determining your credit score.
Pay Your Bills on Time
Paying your bills on time, or your payment history accounts for 35% of your total credit score. This means that you should always pay your bills on time to keep your credit score good.
Pay-Off Your Debt
The amount of debt you have in relation to the amount of credit you have available is called your credit utilization. For example, if you have $2000 in credit card debt and a $10,000 credit card limit, you have 20% credit utilization. It is recommended that you only use about one to 10% of your total credit. Paying off your debt will lower your credit utilization and make your credit score a little bit better.
Become an Authorized User on Someone Else’s Credit Card
If you have a family member or close friend who has good credit and is responsible and you two can trust each other, you may be added to their credit card as an authorized user. This will allow you to help your credit score because you are an authorized user, and their credit will affect yours too. Because your credit is not the only one being affected in this situation, you and the credit card holder must trust each other.
Open a Secured Card
If you have a very low credit score, often below 600, you can use a secured credit card to help you increase your score. A secured credit card takes cash collateral upfront as the credit line. You should be sure that your secured card issuer reports to all three major credit bureaus.
Include Rental Payments in Your Credit Score
If you’re planning on staying in your current apartment for some time, you may ask your current landlord if they can report your on-time rent payments to credit agencies. There are many ways to do this, though your landlord is the most ideal, and you can pay to use a rent reporting service.
