As a Michigan college student, saying that you have a lot on your mind is an understatement. Your whole future is ahead of you, but you’re in the process of setting it up RIGHT NOW. You have classes to take, goals to meet, possibly a part-time job, and a social life – maybe. However, with everything that’s going on, you shouldn’t neglect your credit score. It is likely that a good credit score will come in handy right after graduation. This is because things like employment, housing, and car buying are dependent on credit scores. Also, it doesn’t take much time, just a good dose of responsibility and discipline, to start building a good credit score.
Sure, it is never too late to build a good credit score. Yet, Michigan college students who graduate with higher credit scores typically find that certain things are much easier. Here are a few of the important moves in post-college life that are much harder to accomplish if you don’t have at least decent credit.
For most people, this is why you go to college in the first place – to earn the means to build a career. Granted, you may not land your dream job immediately following graduation, but you at least want to start building your resume. While it isn’t legal in every state, employers in Michigan can include credit checks in the job interview process. Then, sometimes, candidates with low credit scores are passed over for applicants with good credit scores. Why? Building and maintaining good credit is often viewed as a sign of responsibility.
Most landlords run credit checks on potential tenants because they want renters with good payment histories. Therefore, having accounts in debt collections on your credit reports will often prevent you from getting a lease. This a very good incentive to not run up high credit card balances and neglect to pay them. Too often, Michigan college students think that these kinds of credit mistakes are not a big deal, but they are wrong. A charged-off credit card account can stay on your credit reports and bring down your credit score for seven years.
Even if you had a car in college, you may need to replace it with a newer model after graduation. Alternatively, if you made it through school without a vehicle, your post-graduation life will probably require access to reliable transportation. Of course, financing a car is possible with no credit or a bad credit score, but these loans usually come with higher interest rates. Yes, you can buy an older, inexpensive car with cash, but such a vehicle may end up costing you a fortune in repair bills.
The best way for Michigan college students to build good credit scores is to use credit cards sparingly and pay off the bills every month. One good strategy is to only purchase fuel for your car with a credit card. If you don’t have a vehicle, you can choose another necessary expense. The goal here is to not think of credit cards as extra money to spend on luxury items. Unfortunately, this normally leads to debt and bad credit scores – the opposite of what you want.
If your lack of credit disqualifies you as a candidate for a regular, unsecured credit card, applying for a secured credit card is an option. Opening a secured credit card account requires a cash deposit, and whatever amount you put down often becomes your spending limit.
An alternative is to become an authorized user on a parent’s credit card. Just be sure to approach this option with care because it comes with a lot of responsibility. Once you become an authorized credit card user, your card use affects the primary card holder’s credit score. Obviously, it would not end well for you if, through reckless spending, you destroyed your mom or dad’s credit score.
Once you start using credit, it is important to keep tabs on your credit reports. First, check your credit reports allows you to catch fraudulent transactions and bogus accounts that might indicate identity theft. Right now, following the massive Equifax data breach, everyone should take extra precautions against identity fraud.
Also, most Michigan consumers have errors of some type on their credit reports. This is due to the mishandling of consumer information by creditors and the credit reporting agencies. Sadly, many of these mistakes lead to lower credit scores. Fortunately, a federal statute called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) entitles all consumers to accurate credit reports. However, you must first realize that your credit reports are damaged before you can get them fixed.
So, go to www.annualcreditreport.com, and request free copies of your credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Under another statute, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), you may do this every 12 months. Then, while looking through your credit reports, if you discover suspicious items or inaccurate information, call Credit Repair Lawyers of America in Michigan. When you call our firm, and experienced credit attorney will get you clean credit reports for FREE.
Don’t let fraudulent items or errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America in Michigan, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in cases that are settled. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (248) 353-2882 or contact us on our contact page.
To learn more about Free Credit Repair After Identity Theft, please visit https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/michigan/id-theft-repairs/.
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