What are some easy ways to improve my credit score?
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Pay your bills by the due date. (even if it is the minimum) any thing paid after the due date reduces your rating. \nEg: R1 is the best rating.  R9 (written off) is the worst. \nThe scores will worsen, as you delay your payment. \nR2 means you paid past the due date but less than 30 days \nR3 means you paid past the due date but more than 30 to 60\nR4 60 to 90...and so on.\n\nReduce the number of credit cards you have.\n\nDo not apply for every card out there. (you will be known as a "credit seeker")\n\nNever stop paying a creditor eg: write something off.\n\nIf you are in debt, seek a credit counselling service, they can help you bring it down, but this will affect your rating. \nBankruptcy will affect your rating.\n\nYou should contact equifax, to review a copy of your credit rating, to ensure that there are not errors. (it will be your responsibility and time/money to straighten out any mistakes).\n\nAnything you do...good or bad, will remain on your rating (credit score) for 7 years.  \n\nGood luck.
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5 steps to better credit\n\nCorrect blatant mistakes. Your credit score is only as good as what shows up in your credit report. Review your reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once a year as well as several months before applying for a loan. Changing a mistake on your report - such as a payment that is wrongly labeled as late -- can take 30 days to three months, sometimes longer.\n\nPay your bills on time. This is always a good practice, and it's especially critical that you make prompt payments close to the time you need a loan. That's because a late or missed payment in the last few months is likely to lower your score much more than an isolated late payment five years ago.\n\nReduce your credit card balances. A heavily weighted factor in your FICO score is how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Generally, it's good to keep your balances at or below 25 percent of your credit card limit, said Jeanne Kelly, founder of The Kelly Group in Brookfield, Conn., which helps clients improve their credit scores.\n\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nTry CNN/Money's new Debt Reduction Planner for help wiping out credit-card balances.\n\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nPay off debt rather than moving it around. Since the ratio of your credit card balance to your credit limit is key, closing out an account and transferring the balance simply means you increase that ratio, which is likely to lower your score. In other words, say you owe a total of $2,000 on four credit cards, each of which has a $2,000 limit. Your total credit limit is $8,000, of which your total balance ($2,000) accounts for 25 percent. If you transfer all your balances to two cards and cancel the other two, your total credit limit is reduced to $4,000, and your $2,000 balance now accounts for 50 percent of that limit.\n\n    \n \n\nDon't close unused credit card accounts near loan time. If you have several credit card accounts but are only using a few of them, you'll only raise your balance-to-limit ratio if you close the unused ones. You also shouldn't open new accounts when applying for a loan if possible. If you have a short credit history or very few accounts, opening a new credit line may lower your score since you don't have a proven track record, said Jan Davis, an executive vice president at TransUnion. What's more, a new account will lower the average age of your accounts, another factor in your FICO score.
511361
Pray for a miracle.  There's no way to raise your credit score that much in that short a period of time.
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Shelle-\n\nAs a victim of ID theft which lead to drastic measures, I have spent the past three years studying and rebuilding my credit.  here's what you can do:\n\nHave about 2-4 credit card accounts, but keep the total balances below 50%, no matter what.  This is a huge credit score booster.  Debt to credit ratio is a large percentage that makes up your credit score.  I can simply boost my score 50-70 points in one month with just keeping it below 50%.  If its over 50%, the bureau is merciless.\n\nIf you have credit cards but they are all paid off, or you currently do not make monthly credit card payments, this is not good either.  The "computers" that calculate your score cannot really calculate anything  except history unless you have a revolving balance.  Plus the longer credit history you have, the more it helps your score.  For example, I have several credit cards all that are paid off.  I just use them if I have to, but I always carry a small balance every month ($150) on a Victoria's secret credit card and just pay the minimum-KUST TO KEEP THE SCORE STABLE AND GOOD.  The "computers" then can factor in some sort of payment that is being made every month.  If you pay nothing, then the computers cannot calculate a "month payment factor" in your score.\n\nIf you don't have a credit card/good credit go to www.orchardbank.com.  This place is the most generous in granting and rebuilding credit.  After a while where you make payments, they'll boost your limit.  You may start with $500 limit, and a high APR, but that's okay, just keep the balance below 50%, and in 6 - 9 months, you really start to be looking good.  Department cards and gas cards are also good places to start  and are more flexible to poor credit.\n\nAs for your bills like utilities, phone, etc.  These will not help your credit because they are not reported UNLESS you don't pay.  So pay them so you don't get a delinquency, but otherwise they're useless to you score.\n\nRemember, people with bad credit pull their score an average of 10 times more than someone with good credit.  CREDIT BUREAUS KNOW THIS, WHICH IS WHY THEY LEAVE INACCURATE INFO ON YOUR REPORT.  Try to keep the inquires down, because that hurts your score too.  That's how they make money.  That's how banks get their money too.  So... I would pull my own credit report at www.myfico.com and check my score regularly.  PULLING YOUR OWN CREDIT DOES NOT HURT YOUR SCORE.  Then dispute the crap out of everything, even if its right.  Write a letter, DO NOT USE THE AUTOMATIC system they want you to.  If that doesn't work, try a law firm.  www.lexingtonlawfirm.com is a great place to dispute everything.  I have used them and iit works well without breaking the bank.  $75 initial to start and $35/mo.  They write the letters, you can access your info on their website and pick the things to dispute.  They know HOW to say it.  If you don't write certain things in your dispute letter, the bureaus by law can ignore it.\n\nOne other trick:  Go to a bank and tell them you want to buy a house and apply for a mortgage.  Let them know your credit is bad and you've been having trouble getting them to fix inaccuracies.  Mortgage companies have an "in" and can get your credit corrected with the smap of their fingers.  I know this because my wife did this for US BANK on a regular basis.\n\nIf you don't get approved with anything, then try getting a secured credit card until the score gets better.  Or have your friend or parents with good credit or credit cards just see if they would be willing to put your name on their card as an authorized user/co-borrower.  It doesn't mean you need one (if they're leary of your sepnding habits), you just need the action going on in your report.\n\nALSO, NEVER CLOSE ANY ACCOUNT.  This will REALLY hurt your score.  If you pay off an account and don't want it, just cut up the card and n
1091396
You can greatly improve your credit, yes. There is already a good answer on here for this, and remember: STAY DISCIPLINED!!!\n\nYou can do it!
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Credit repair services are a hoax.  Avoid them.\n\nCredit counseling services, however, aren't about your FICO, but about debt reduction. Some of these have a bad reputation, too, so only use them as a last resort and read all of the fine print.\n\nThe only way to improve your credit is to start rebuilding it over time. Get a low-fee secured credit card. Pay it off monthly, and let time heal your credit.
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Increasing your credit limits is one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase your FICO credit scores.\n\nWhen you increase your credit limits and your spending patterns remain the same you end up using a smaller percentage of your combined credit limits. This increases your credit score rating.\n\nImagine you have 10 credit cards, each with a $1,000 limit. So you have a total (or aggregate) credit card limit of $10,000. Now assume that five of these credit cards are maxed out. In this case, you have a total (or aggregate) credit card balance of $5,000.\n\nYour balance-to-limit ratio is now 50%. You've used $5,000 of your $10,000 total credit limit ($5,000 / $10,000 = .5 or 50%). This is called your "revolving utilization." It's the total amount of your credit limits that you are currently using.\n\nYou pick up the telephone and ask for a credit limit increase on each of the five credit cards you haven't maxed out.\nLet's suppose each of the five lenders doubles your credit limit. So now you have 5 credit cards with a $2,000 limit and a $0 balance. But you also have 5 credit cards with a $1,000 limit with no available credit, for a new total credit card limit of $15,000.\nYou’ve used $5,000 of your $15,000 total credit card limit. Your new balance-to-limit ratio is 33% ($5,000 / $15,000 = .33 or 33%). By increasing your credit limits you've just reduced your balance-to-limit ratio from 50% to 33%.\n\nAnd if you doubled the credit limit on the other 5 cards in this example, your balance-to-limit ratio would be 25%.\n\nThat's a significant decrease in your ratio. You've just increased your credit scores by making a few free telephone calls.
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The reasons to have good credit are simple. If can affect you in literally hundreds of ways.\n\nGood credit \n\n- Lower interest rates for loans.  Home, Car, etc.\n- Qualify to by a home (FICO score)\n- Employers check credit ratings\n- Housing (Apartments) managers check credit before renting\n- Setting up utility payments (no deposits)\n- School loan rates can depend on your credit\n- It can take YEARS to repair a bad credit history and in the meantime you can be denied credit or end up paying MUCH higher interest rates because of poor credit.\n\nHow do you build good credit?\n\n- In many ways it is advantageous to have no (negative or positive) credit, because you can more quickly obtain new credit.  For example, you can immediately enter most department stores and immediately open an account.\n\nDepartment store cards can then lead to major credit cards, such as MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express.  Do not go wild with these cards, however.  Do not keep a balance past the grace period, so remember to pay off your balance each month.  Remember that your goal is to establish a credit history and a strong credit grade.  Maintaining a balance is actually a negative, albeit a minor drag on your grade.\n\nYou should try to limit yourself by maintaining only two department store cards and perhaps another two credit cards.  Do not succumb to the credit card temptation. \n\nSecured credit cards are a great way to establish a credit line whether you have no credit or damaged credit.  Secured credit cards are regularly issued MasterCard or Visa credit cards, which are secured by a deposit.\n\nTo establish a secured credit account, for example, you would set up a deposit account with the issuing bank.  The minimum could be as low as $100, depending on the bank.\n\nYou will then be issued a credit card, with a credit line normally equal to your deposit.  In most cases, you will receive interest on the deposit account.  However, if you ever default on your credit card, the bank can use your deposit to cover their losses.\n\nIt is also a good incentive to control your credit usage and minimize your balance.\n\nBut above all, DO NOT OVEREXTEND YOURSELF, PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME AND AS CLOSE TO IN-FULL AS POSSIBLE. Avoid splurging and using the card when you can't afford to.
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The average credit score is 695.  Actually, the highest you can have is 800.  To help increase your credit score, pay down bad debt such as credit cards to at least the half way point.  Make sure you don't have too many accounts open, late payments, etc.\n\nYou can also open more accounts if you don't have a credit history.  Show that you can make payments ... more than the minimum but not the whole amount for a period of time.\n\nYou can also take out a personal loan (small) and pay it back on time and that will help increase your credit score.\n\nYou want a good average score to help keep down the interests on credit cards and loans.
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1) KNOW what goes into your score :\nhttp://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/credit-reports-and-credit-reporting.html\n\n2) Make good use of the credit you have available to you :\nhttp://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/use-your-credit-card-sensibly.html\n\n3) Last but not least, protect yourself by reviewing your credit report EVERY year to prevent identity theft and other fraudulent activities :\nhttp://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/its-your-credit-take-care-of-it.html\n\nSorry for posting 3 links but putting all that info out there would really be too long :)
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I have answered this question in a 5 part series. There are a few items that can be done to build credit. Here are some quick ideas:\n\nThe fastest way is to have a family member or friend put you on a credit card of theirs as an authorized user. This allows the history of that account to report to your credit as well, but you never are in debt. (Just be careful that the account you are added to is a good one!)\n\nHowever, this is not a long term solution for good credit... try these for solid established credit over the long haul....\n\nOpen a Credit Union account and get them to provide a secured loan against your savings. If you have bad credit, most traditional and national banks will not give you a loan. They usually want good credit for that.\n\nGet a secured credit card and only use it for gas purchases, once a month and pay it off each month. No debt, but always paid on time... does wonders!\n\nBuying a car can help, but you will have a very high rate with limited or no credit.\n\n\nCheck out the resources below for all the details and more ideas.
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home loan: www.naca.com  \n\nthey are a non-profit housing advocacy group and they will work with you to improve your credit.
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FICO scores are not used for the purchase of automobiles.  Beacon scores are the determinant method.  Your bank, credit union or other auto finance company will pull credit on you and assign a score.  Different lenders have different thresholds.  The better the deal you get for financing, the higher treshold you'll have to meet.  620 is usually considered the the bottom of the best tier of creditworthiness.\n   The fastest way to increase your credit score is to NEVER charge on any card more than 50% of the high limit.  30% is even better.  Installment accounts that are near 10 months or so induration, should be paid to within 10 months and they will no longer count against your credit.  Never make major purchases within the first 4 months that a new line of credit is established.  Accounts older than 4 months with low balances will drive up your credit scores.
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Unfortunately there is not way to repair your credit score quickly, that's why it's imperitive that you keep up with good credit practices...\n\nI would get a department store credit card and buy something every month, and then pay it off right away....that same day even....doesn't have to be anything big....you just need to establish good payment history. \n\nIt will take at least a year of this and no other blemishes on your record to effect your credit score.
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I'm not sure that you can increase 50 points in that short amount of time.  Unless you have a serious discrepency on your report, which you must write to the credit bureau to have investigated and then hopefully fixed, the only way to raise your score is to eliminate late payments to your accounts.  At best, this would take a minimum of 90 days in order to significantly impact your score.
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Living with debt or bad credit can be very stressful, but help is closer than you realize. Improving your credit rating requires that you take positive action and change your attitude toward money. \n \n   \n  Steps:  \n1.   Request a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau. If there is an error, write to the bureau and ask it to fix the mistake. It might also help to contact the creditor who reported the error. Some creditors will contact the bureau on your behalf.  \n  \n2.   If the bad marks on your credit report result from outstanding debts, repay them as quickly as possible. Pay off those with the highest interest rates first.  \n  \n3.   If your debts are overwhelming, contact a nonprofit credit-counseling organization to work out a debt-consolidation plan. A counselor will help you consolidate your debts and will contact your debtors on your behalf to reduce or eliminate finance charges. This can reduce your monthly payments by up to 40 percent.  \n  \n4.   Steer clear of any services that offer you credit-repair or debt-consolidation loans. These companies will plunge you further into debt. Be suspicious of any company that advertises aggressively or sends unsolicited mail or e-mail.  \n  \n5.   Close your credit accounts and cut up the cards. Sell valuables or liquidate assets that will help you repay your debts. Buy the bare essentials (food and gas) and use the rest of your earnings to pay off your consolidated debts.  \n  \n6.   Work with your credit counselor to repay all of your debts. Meanwhile, live a life that will help you re-establish good credit. Pay rent and utilities or mortgages promptly, keep the same residence and job, maintain savings and checking accounts, set a budget and stick to it.  \n  \n7.   Once you have repaid your debts, apply for a new credit card to build a good credit history. It might be easier initially to get a department-store or gasoline credit card or one from an employee credit union.  \n  \n8.   Promptly pay off the balance of the credit card monthly to build good credit. Use the card responsibly.  \n  \n9.   If you don't qualify for a regular credit card, apply for a secured one. With a secured credit card, you fund an account up front and then "charge" expenses on it. This card will show up as a credit card on your credit report and, if used responsibly, can help you build a good credit history.  \n  \n  \n  Overall Tips:  \n Get a copy of your credit report once a year even if you think you have good credit. You may find errors that will damage your credit rating.  \n  \n Filing for bankruptcy is always an option, although your credit history will reflect it for 7 to 10 years, making it very difficult for you to get a car or home loan in the future.  \n  \n Creditors agree to reduce or eliminate interest rates under a debt-consolidation plan because it saves them the expense of collection efforts and increases their chances of recouping the balance.  \n  \n Every application you make for a credit card shows up on your credit report, and multiple applications can hurt your credit rating. To avoid this, use an online service that matches you with creditcard companies that will extend credit to you. Search online for "credit card finder" or "credit card search."  \n\nNo matter how bad your credit is, you can take steps that will make it better. \n  \n1.   Pay all of your bills on time. Late payments (payments that are 30 days late or more) have a negative effect on your credit rating.  \n  \n2.   Reduce the number of credit cards you carry. Write to your creditors to request that they close your accounts and report this status change to all three credit-reporting agencies.  \n  \n3.   Avoid bankruptcies, tax liens (a lien for not paying state or federal income taxes or property taxes) and collections. A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years. Collection accounts and paid tax liens stay on for seven years, and unpaid tax
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Since you saying you want to improve it, would that mean you already know what your credit score is and that you need to address it. \n1) If you have charge offs, you need to get them satisfied. Once you have, request a letter of satisfaction from the creditors. These letters will be worth more than gold to you in the next 7 years. So keep them in a safe location so you can present them if requested or if you have to dispute those charge offs. This also go for judgments and any collections.\n2) You need to re-establish your credit history. If you have applied and been denied credit, then your only alternative would be a secured credit card. You will have to supply a deposit for collateral, however you should be able to obtain one. Again, don't have a balance more than 50% of the credit limit, and always pay the minimum each month. You should have 4 trade lines (credit cards). I would not suggest that you get a department store credit card since most of them do not report to all three credit bureaus. Also it limits your ability to use them since you can only use them at the store that they belong to. \n3) Do not have your credit report pulled after you have set up your credit cards. If you are interested in knowiing your credit scores, you can always to Equafax, Extperian, and Transunion's website have pay for a FICO report that will not effect your score. If you get your credit pulled from lender, they might not tell you where you stand on the score and it effects your score at the same time.\n\nHope this helps.