What is the fastest way to clean up my credit score?

Answer 1

Try this to improve your score:

First know that the bureau must verify any debt you dispute. If they can not verify it, it must be deleted. They have 30 days to do this.

With 7 years in the credit business, I recommend disputing them all at the same time, as you will likely need to go through several rounds of letters to get what you want done. If something is blatently wrong with your credit report, call the bureau after they write back and refuse to remove it. Go up the food chain until a manager agrees to remove or amend the incorrect info on the spot. Don't buy into their speach about re-disputing it - but make sure you have provided the information necessary by mail already to correct the error. It will not help you to insist on something being removed if you have not provided verificaiton on why.

When you mail in the dispute letter, mail in as much information as possible with it. If your verification is a bankruptcy, send in all the pages to your petition and tab the important pages for them to review.

Also mail in a copy of an electric bill and a copy of your ID to avoid any delays. See the FTC web's site for your specific rights with collectors and debt reporting:

http://www.ftc.gov/

If your problem is directly with the creditors, write to them ONE time. If they do not remove incorrect information, write to your state's attorney general's office and the FTC. This will get you the results you seek if you are in the right.

If this is a collection agency problem, write to the same people plus the ACA at www.acainternational.org. Collection agencies are generally slime, so know your rights before you call them. See your rights here:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/index.html

If you have legit items that are bad, dispute them also. If they can not be verified, they must be deleted. It is not your responsibility to prove they are inaccurate, it is the credit bureaus who must demonstrate they are.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Pay off any debt you have as soon as you can, cut up your credit cards or pay them down to no more than 1/2 of the credit limit.
Increase your income to debt ratio. Pay all your bills on time.
Increase your savings account. It takes the average person about 1 year to improve their credit rating in this manner.
Make sure you have no judgements or collections, if you do you are intitled to put up to 100 word explaination, such as. I went through a difficult time and lost a job due to corporate cutbacks from Oct 2001- May 2002. This resulted in some slow or late payments. Get a small loan from your local credit union and pay it off fast, take out another small loan and pay it off fast, this builds a credit record that is positive. When we bought our 1st house we had virtually no credit and the bank recommended this to create credit, they also accepted, a note from my Auto insurance company saying I made all my payments to them on time as well as from utility companies and other companies we had paid regularly including a landlord. If you credit is really bad file bankruptcy BEFORE you get a judgement! You can virtually get most credit the next day. Although some items will be tough for a couple years. Your suppose to wait for 6 months before applying for any credit thereafter.

Answer 3

Make all payments on time and dispute negatives with the credit reporting agencies. Pay off all balances.

Answer 4

pull all three credit bureaus for free at www.annualcreditreport.com then pay the collections and send proof to all the bureaus involved. Just paying the bills does not mean it will be updated on your bureau

Answer 5

Marry someone with really good credit!