While losing weight or quitting smoking might be on your New Year’s resolution list, you might want to take some steps toward improving your credit score. Raising your credit score can have some seriously positive effects on your future including better rates on loan, help in buying a car or home, and even in landing a better job. If your credit score is not quite where you want it to be, here are the steps necessary to repair it.

1. Pay off any past due accounts. The bulk of your credit score is based upon your payment history. If you do not pay the majority of your credit payments on time, you will have a poor credit score. To improve your score, find your past due accounts and work on paying them off as fast as possible. Then, work on paying everything on time.
2. Pay any collection accounts, then charge-offs and liens. Any account that has been sent to a collection agency will have a negative impact on your credit score. Once you have taken care of past due accounts, begin working on collection accounts. When you pay off a collection account, be sure to ask the collector to erase the account from your credit file. If you have any charge-offs or liens less than 24 months old, pay those off as well. Any accounts older than 24 months will have a negligible effect on your credit score.
3. Ask for adjustments. If you have accounts with a single late payment, call the creditor and ask for an adjustment in good faith. You may have had an instance where you simply forgot to pay a bill or had a time where you were short on cash. Ask the creditor to forgive the late payment.
4. Consider consolidation. You could very easily consolidate some and possibly all of your revolving debt into one much lower payment by using a car title loan from Embassy Loans. Paying off your revolving debt accounts will lift your credit score as will paying off your new car title loan. Keep lines of credit open, but work on paying all of your debt payments on time each and every month to continue lifting your credit score. To take out a car title loan, you must own a vehicle that is paid off or nearly paid off and possess its title.

If you are looking into buying a new car or a home, you can help yourself greatly by having a good credit score. Follow these steps to improve yours and reap the benefits.