Have you looked at your credit report lately? If not, now is the time to do so. The fact is your credit score helps determine whether or not you can receive a loan, whether or not you can obtain insurance, and can have an effect on the rate you are charged by lenders and insurance companies. By checking your credit report, you can establish whether or not there are any errors on it. Many people often find that the amounts on their credit report that they owe to their creditors are incorrect. However, there are procedures you can follow to update balances on your credit report.

The first thing you will want to do is contact your creditors to get an updated balance. You will want to verify whether they have reported this amount to the credit bureaus and when it was done. If it was not done due to human error or a data processing error, simply request that they contact the bureaus immediately with an update of your current balance and payment history.

Your next step is to contact the credit bureaus themselves to find out if they have received any updated information on your account. Generally, credit agencies have their own schedule they follow to update accounts and it may take as much as two or three months for this update to have an effect on your credit score. This is why it is extremely important to start taking care of your financial matters several months before you start the process of acquiring a loan.