What is the best/quickest way to fix my credit score?

Answer 1

I've had a lot of experience in this, helped out some friends of mine, one of their scores went up almost 200 points in 1 year.

1. Pull copies of all of your credit reports from the 3 credit reporting agencies (Transunion, Equifax, Experian). You can do this for FREE without having to join anything at www.annualcreditreport.com.

2. Start looking closely at your reports for any negative items. You will have to dispute these negative items if they are incorrect with the credit reporting agencies and this can be done online. I got better results though writing letters. Be very specific in the letters. You can find some good ones online and tailor them to suit you - that is very imortant. I did this for the one friend I mentioned above and got twenty something negative inquiries removed. I disputed everything negative as he didn't know what was valid and what wasn't since the ex paid the bills.

3. The negatives that weren't removed did eventually get removed (all but one) by writing goodwill letters to the actual creditors themselves. One creditor was tough and a lot of people were contacted at the company until a sympathethic ear was found. Got 21 late payments on that account alone removed that way. It was phenomenal!

4. Pay ALL of your bills on time, if you pay even one late and have a Credit card, chances are that credit card company will raise your finance rate.

5. I caution against establishing any new lines of credit as your score can take a hit on that since they are not established credit lines.

6. Go to www.creditboards.com and read their forum section. It is a HUGE source on information and read some books on credit repair.

All of this worked for me too. I have almost an 800 and was at one time a 452.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I worked for equifax. The best thing you can do is obtain a credit report to review, you should really get one from all 3 credit reporting agencies because all 3 companies report different information. Of course some info will be the same but some companies are not members of all 3 bureaus and that is where the differences come in. Never ever go to a company that tells you they will fix your credit for a price. You can do this yourself for free. If there is anything on the report that is incorrect you need to dispute it. This could be your personal info address late payments amount you owe on a loan. Anything that you see that is incorrect you need to dispute and you can do this by calling the bureau and speaking to an agent or online or send your dispute by mail. Include your confimation # though with correspondence - that will be on the front of the file when you receive it. A dispute can take up to 30 days from the day you submit it. That is because the bureau that you are disputing the info through will have to contact the company you have a dispute with and the company will then need to respond to the bureau. The dispute may come back in your favor - you may need to dispute again or show proof. Remember that your score is different with each company that you apply with- each company will have their own software that they score you with. Also each company will look at your score in a different way. One comp may think you have too many credit cards and another may think you don't have enough credit. Try to always pay your bills on time oh and when you are applying for something try to know ahead of time which places you want to apply with for sure because everytime your credit is checked that deducts 2 pts from your score. They call it a hard credit check. I'm not exactly sure what else to tell you - if you have a more sprecific question contact me ok - [e-mail]
I was just reading what some others wrote - some is good advice - others not so much try going to www.equifax.com they have info on credit for you and closing accounts that are in good standing will report for 10 years on your file unless the company that reports it agrees to remove it, if it was delinquet it will remain for 7 yrs. Companies like to see established credit which means more that 3 yrs

Answer 3

Get a copy of your credit reports from all three agencies. This ia available to you at no charge once a year and can even be done online. (Do a search for free credit reports. You will be asked to join various programs at a cost, just decline those offers.)

Check for discrepancies and report them back to the agencies.

Often there are duplicate and even wrong items in these reports that contribute to a lowering of your score.

Close any accounts that you do not use, especially if they have high limits available. This is seen as potential credit that could be abused and actually affect your score in a negative way.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

This is an extremely difficult area to give good advice, so please look for which area you are in when I put these below, as the advice for each is different:

1) You have NO credit.
You just don't have credit. You haven't ever had a credit card of any kind, never taken out a loan, etc. This is fairly easy to fix, though it takes a little bit of time. Start by getting a department store or gas card (or both), and using them now and then, but remember to pay them off in the same month that you make the purchase. This will build up your credit score slowly but steadily, and after a year or so, you can then try to get a small loan for something, or get a full credit card and begin using it now and then and doing the same thing: paying it off every month. If you get a loan, make sure and make your payments on time, and try to overpay the minimum as well.

2) You have bad credit, but you are "caught up"
Your credit score is low (below 600), and you've had credit in the past, which you've payed off, and you are all caught up on everything. You have some disposable income, and you need to get your credit score up so you can get a car or home, etc. This is actually easier than #1, because if you have disposable income, when you go to get loans and credit cards, they take that into account. As with the above, go get 1 credit card, and possibly a dept. store or gas card, and use them a couple times a month, making sure to pay them off each month, or at least pay the majority of the balance. For some reason, the credit rating companies actually rate higher when you have a balance, but keep paying on it, rather than paying the balance off completely. Do this for a year or so, and you'll be back over 700 in no time.

3) You have BAD credit, and you're in financial trouble.
This is for those people who are simply not caught up, have bad credit, and can't seem to get ahead. I have been there, a couple years ago, so trust me when I say that I know what I'm talking about here. First thing: get a credit counselor. Try not to use the big national companies that do the credit consolidation stuff, they can actually make things worse for you, because they will require you to start paying on everything, but then a lot of companies won't actually settle with them, and you'll end up with multiple payments that have to all be made right away, this can be very bad. Get a local credit councelor if possible, sit down with them with all of your financial information.
Check stubs
Banking information
How much you owe to each creditor (or collector)
How much you spend each month on necessities, etc.
They will walk you through what you have available to start paying off creditors and collectors, and they will help you deal with them to come to settlement agreements. Make sure that you stay up to speed on what is going on, and don't just "let them do it for you." The more involved YOU are, the better off you will be. After you have started getting things in order, just work on that for a while, 6 months, a year, whatever it takes to get to where you are no longer "behind" and you start paying things off. You will see, after a year or so, that your credit is starting to get back to a "safe" area of the low 600's or so. Continue paying things off until you are completely clear of debt. After you have been completely clear of debt for at least 3 months, and you have built up some disposable income in a savings or checking account, THEN go back to #2 above, and start trying to actually build credit again.

I hope that helps.

Answer 5

Make double payments on your outstanding credit cards. Pay them off or just pay them on time. Add a few extra dollars to the minimum amount due will help too.
Don't apply for too many credit cards or apply for loans, while you are trying to up your credit score. Every inquiry, is a point against you. Too many of them and your score goes down.
Good luck!

Answer 6

I was told by a credit counselor that a good thing to do is get a secured credit card. You make a deposit, then use it like a credit card where you make monthly payments, but your limit is however much you put into it. Just make sure you pay the monthly charges on time or it does you no good.

Answer 7

You can start by paying off the credit cards. Then you can cancel most of them, just keep a couple active. Use one card, charge something, pay it off immediately. You will see you credit score start to rise. You can also refute bad reports if they are incorrect.

Answer 8

you'll have to pay everything on time. Dont open any new credit. Keep using good credit. And get a copy of your credit and start paying everything down and setteling all bad credit. It takes time, but it'll come

Answer 9

Pay your bills and stop charging things that you can't afford. Just cause you want it doesn't mean you should have it. And no, you don't deserve it. If you can't pay for it, the answer is no.

Answer 10

It's gonna take a sight longer than six months.