Use these tips to give your credit profile “tune-up” it needs:

Tip #1- Check for Errors

Your credit report or profile is more than just a collection of who your creditors are and how much you owe them or have paid them.

The first thing you need to do is carefully check that your credit report is accurate. Nearly 70% of credit reports contain errors.

These errors may be as simple as an incorrect middle initial or address. Or it could be as serious as a creditor reporting that you were late with a payment when in fact you were not late at all.

This error might not seem like a big deal to you. However,to a future lender like a mortgage company it makes a big difference!

Carefully examine your credit report and if you find an error contact your creditor and credit bureaus. Catch and correct these errors now before it hurts your chances of securing credit in future.

Tip #2 - Correcting Errors

The two most common errors contained in credit reports are: 1) wrong account information 2) incorrect recording of late payments.

If you find an account reported that does not belong you, you need to contact credit grantor or issuer immediately. Remember, finding accounts that you have not personally opened is a sign of possible identity theft.

Hopefully you’ll discover that this error is nothing more than an oversight and not an identity theft problem. Most often this occurs when they report an account belonging to a family member or someone with a similar name on your credit report.

If your problem is an error in reporting a late payment you will need proof to back up your case before this error can be corrected or removed. The most common error occurs when a payment is reported as “late” when it was actually a current or “on time” payment.

In either case, problem can and should be corrected. You will need to correct error in writing. Keep a journal or log of all calls and correspondence.

Payoff High Interest Credit Card Debt! Lower Your Monthly Payments! Buy A New Car! Refinance And Get Money Now! scream slogans splashed across envelopes.

The promotional letters inside point out how easy it will be for me to “get extra cash you need NOW!” They promise “no out of pocket costs” with a newly refinanced 30-year loan.

Could I use some extra cash NOW? You bet I could! Who needs high interest credit card debt? Not me, no way, no how! Buy a new car? Hmmm, I like that new Pontiac G6 I’ve seen on tv, maybe in a sleek titanium color with black trim?

For thousands of U.S. households “Home Sweet Home” is rapidly being replaced with a new sentiment - “Home Sweet ATM.” According to latest Federal Reserve study, 45% of homeowners who have refinanced their mortgages pulled cash out and 74% wound up lengthening their mortgage by about six years. Only 17% shortened their loan term opting to downsize to a 15-year mortgage.

In a period of six years, Americans have more than doubled amount owed on home equity loans and lines of credit, nearing $766.2 billion, according to Federal Reserve.