Tempted by a Credit Repair Company in Oshawa? How to Do Better for Free

A number of companies who provide credit repair in Oshawa are trying to sell really expensive services that unfortunately often saddle people with more debt. They don’t provide as much value as a lot of people would expect for the price they are paying. And they possibly put someone in jeopardy of having worse credit by sending their new credit repair loan to collections if they are not able to make all their payments. While this may be unsettling, here is some good news: you can improve and repair your credit score for free in Oshawa – and even receive better advice and more one-on-one help than most of credit fixing companies offer. Keep on reading and we’ll show you how.

How to Fix & Repair Bad Credit for Less Than Credit Repair Companies, Services, & Agencies

The goal of credit repair companies and services is to help people improve their credit score – often claiming to be able to improve it quickly. The way many of them appear to do this in Canada is by offering credit building loans. The idea is that this loan will create some new good credit on your credit report and show the credit scoring system that credit is available to you and that you are using it responsibly.

While this approach no doubt helps a fair number of people improve their credit score, in our opinion, these companies don’t offer it because it’s the best way to fix or repair bad credit. They offer the loan because it's the most lucrative for them. A credit building loan ensures they can charge you interest and fees over several years. But you need to know something: there is a better, cheaper, and more effective way to improve your credit.

Why to Use a Cash Secured Credit Card to Fix, Improve or Restore Your Credit Score

In Oshawa, a cash secured credit card can be a much better and faster way to fix, improve, or restore your credit score compared to a credit rebuilding loan. A cash secured card requires you to put up some money as security for the credit card. The cash security required can be as little as $200 or $300. This credit card then functions as a completely normal credit card.

Cash secured credit cards have a number of advantages over credit rebuilding loans. Here are four of the biggest:

1. As a revolving type of credit, a cash secured card will improve your score faster than a loan as long as you don’t carry balance equal to half of your credit limit or greater.
2. Most credit repair loans have fees and interest that you pay monthly with your payment. A secured credit card only has one yearly fee, and you don’t have to pay any interest if you pay off what you owe every month in full.
3. It’s far more affordable because you don’t have to fit a credit repair company service fee and/or monthly loan payment into your budget. Instead, you simply use your card to pay for something that's already included in your budget – something like gas for your vehicle or a transit pass. You then completely pay off the card balance when you receive the bill. This doesn’t end up costing you anything extra since you were planning to purchase the gas or transit pass anyway.
4. With a loan, if you get injured or become sick, if your hours at work are reduced, if you get laid off, or if your income drops and you can no longer manage to pay your monthly loan payments, then your loan would likely be sent to collections. Your credit score would again be damaged, and you'd probably experience more stress in your life. With a cash secured credit card, on the other hand, if you don’t choose to buy anything with it, then you don’t have to make a monthly payment. Even if your life hits a bumpy patch of road, your credit should still continue to grow stronger, and you shouldn't experience any of the problems that a credit rebuilding loan would likely cause.

In short, from our perspective, a cash secured credit card is a much better way to give your score a boost or rebuild your credit. You just need to make sure that when you use the card, you never miss your minimum monthly payment. If you do, the credit card company won’t take the payment from your security deposit. They'll charge you late payment fees and eventually just close your card if you don't make your payments on time.

You also don’t have to use the card much. You only need to use it once every few months to keep the card active. Also never use more than 50% of your limit on the card as this will negatively impact your credit score. We also recommend that you faithfully fully pay off the card every month and try to never carry a balance. If you do have a balance, keep it low and pay it off quickly.

The credit limit on your secured card should be something reasonable that you can afford. If your income is very low, a limit of a few hundred dollars can work. However, if you can afford it, a higher limit of $1,000 to $2,500, will probably help you move your credit score up faster and higher.

Here is a government list with a lot of secured credit cards in Canada. To narrow down the list, choose your province, press the "Apply" button, and compare the cards. Here are some more cards that were missed on the government list.

If you are trying to figure out where you’re going to find the money for a cash secured card, here are some great ideas of where you can possibly get some.

What to Watch Out for & Be Aware of with Debt Relief Programs & Solutions in Oshawa

To make more money off of you, some credit repair companies and agencies also promote certain debt relief programs and services. If you are struggling to pay your bills and debt payments each month or have some bad debts you need to deal with, then some sort of debt relief option may be very helpful for you. Just be aware of these three things:

1. All debt relief options have just as many disadvantages as they have advantages. If there wasn't some sort of down side, then everyone would be enrolling in one of these. If you're looking for a debt relief option, the key is to find one with the right advantages for your situation and disadvantages that you can live with. Watch out for anyone promoting a debt relief program who focuses too much on the positive aspects of their program and doesn’t fully inform you of the negative consequences of their program.
2. If the employee trying to sell you a program earns commissions or receives a financial benefit from you signing up for it, then they may be putting their own financial interests ahead of yours. The fewer options a company offers, the more often this will be true.
3. There is always more than one way to fix, improve, or restore your credit, and when it comes to debt relief options, there are five of them in Canada (debt management program, orderly payment of debts program, debt settlement, consumer proposal, and bankruptcy). So if you get the sense that the person or company you are dealing with isn’t exploring all your options with you or is favoring one over the others (or isn’t even mentioning the others), then you may want to look for a second opinion with someone who will more objectively discuss the pros and cons of all your options with you.

Top Credit Score Tips to Improve, Restore, or Fix Your Credit – How to Do It Yourself for Free

You don’t need to pay anyone on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis to help you improve or restore your credit score. We have all of the essential credit score tips that work right here – for free. Take a look. We’ll show you the ways you can fix your credit quickly along with the most effective methods which do, however, take more time. After you’ve done all this, we can then show you how to get an extremely high credit score. If all this isn’t enough for you, if your situation is complex, or if you’d like some specific help and guidance, there are financial experts near you who have expertise in helping people with bad debt – and they’ll typically help you for free!

Where to Get Free Personal Credit Assistance in Oshawa to Fix Your Bad Credit Rating

Free Guidance & Information from Non-Profit Agencies Near You

A lot of people don’t know this, but some of Canada’s most helpful experts on fixing bad credit situations and completely repairing credit ratings are non-profit Credit Counsellors who offer free appointments (either over the phone or in person) in communities across Canada - including Oshawa. If you have debts you are struggling to pay or are struggling in some way with your finances, they are the best people to sit down with and go over your financial situation. Anything you discuss with them is completely confidential, and don’t worry if your situation is really bad. They’ve likely seen far worse. They're not going to make you feel bad or judge you. They are simply there to help people. Click here to find a local non-profit credit counselling service near you.

How to Get Free Credit Score Repair Help in Oshawa from Your Bank or Credit Union

The lender at your financial institution, or the mortgage broker if you applied for a mortgage, is a good person to talk to about your credit rating. You might have been declined for a loan. Instead of being embarrassed, use it as an opportunity to figure out how you can best get your financial situation back on track. If you get declined for something you’ve applied for, e.g. a loan, line of credit, or mortgage, the lender is allowed to tell you why. And if the explanation doesn’t make sense, get them to explain it again. Finally, ask them what you should do to get a better credit score and overall credit rating so that you’re not declined next time.

How to Get a Copy of Your Credit Report for Free

If you have never seen your credit report and are curious to find out how bad things really are, you can obtain a free copy of your credit report by following these steps. To get your credit score, you’ll have to pay a fee of about $15 - $30 to either Equifax or TransUnion, the two credit reporting agencies in Canada. This tool can estimate your credit score for free. This tool also lets you adjust your answers to the questions they ask, giving you an idea of how changing certain things can increase your score. This kind of specific feedback is hard to get anywhere else, and certainly not from paid credit repair companies, if you can find it at all – and it’s available to you for free.

Save Money & Do It Yourself - Repair, Fix or Improve Your Credit on Your Own

If you live in Oshawa and are seriously considering finding a credit repair company to assist you with improving or repairing your credit, we honestly believe that you’d be much better off doing it yourself. Start by getting a copy of your credit report – the free one should do for now (if you really want to know your score or have a baseline to measure your progress from, then go ahead and pay to get your credit score). Talk to your banker or a certified credit counsellor for some guidance. Think about applying for a cash secured card if they recommend it, and follow the suggestions we’ve outlined above along with in the guidance provided on the websites we link to on this page. Repairing your credit takes time and diligence, but by using the information we give you here, you’ll save a ton of money and your credit rating will be on its way up as quickly as possible.