How do you raise your credit score after delinquent debt has been cleared?

Question

The only item on my credit is a collection for $165. However, my credit score is 597.

Answer 1

From my past experience in raising my credit score. Establish a banking relationship, meaning open a checking and saving account if you haven't already. Then see if your bank offers secured credit cards that you can open a seperate savings account to secure a line of credit. If you're able to to do that, keep low balances and pay it off every month if possible.After a year or so, the card will be converted to an unsecured account and you'll have your initial deposit with some interest to boot. Another option is to apply for one or two department store cards that offer "instant credit". Chances are, you'll be able to get one of those. Another thing is to ask a friend or a family member to add you on one of their accounts as an "authorized user" but you don't keep the card. Now you have to be careful who you ask, reason being is that you don't want to have someone who's nowhere near as responsible with their credit. It would be like the blind leading the blind. Also if you're able to get your hands on some extra cash, open a CD through your bank and then apply for a installment loan as collateral. Don't use the money that you borrowed, just simply make payments early and often. One final suggestion is to visit this website. http://prbc.com/consumers

This is a reporting agency that you can enroll in to have any recurring monthly payments reported every month, complied into a score and use in addition to your traditonal credit reports. There's too much information on that website to discuss on here, but I'd strongly suggest checking it out.

Answer 2

Hey there I've got 10 steps you can use to build your credit score. I raised mine to well over 700 points using these steps:

# Know and Track Your Credit Score
# Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today
# Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit
# Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible
# Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones
# Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance
# Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit-
# If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan
# Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year
# Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you

Read the full article here, it gives you an overview of credit scores, and the 10 steps in detail on page 2:
http://millionster.com/articles/debt/increase-fico-credit-score/

Answer 3

You will just have to wait it out or you might try contacting the company and asking them to remove the account. This sometimes works if you have paid them in full. I this is your only ding on your credit the score does not sound right unless this is the only thing reported. If it is then maybe try getting a secure credit card and work on build up you credit.

Answer 4

Credit repair does not require the assistance of a service. You can take a number of steps to help repair your own credit.

Although there are numerous credit repair companies offering their services for a fee, savvy individuals can do their own credit repair with a few simple steps. The advertisements placed by credit repair services touting their experience, qualified personnel and other qualifications can make the process seem daunting but it is really quite simple.

The basic steps for do-it-yourself credit repair include:

Request a credit report from all of the three credit reporting agencies
Carefully review all of the information on the credit reports
Dispute any mistakes on your credit report and document every step of the dispute process
Devise a debt reduction strategy
Establish good credit strategies now and carry them into the future
The first step of do-it-yourself credit repair is to request a copy of your credit report from Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. These are the three major credit reporting agencies and individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of these agencies. Requesting a report from each of the three agencies is important especially if you believe there may be a mistake on one of the reports. The information on all three reports will be similar but mistakes may only appear on one of the records.

Once the credit reports are acquired it is time to review all of the information carefully. Each item on the report should be examined and discrepancies should be noted. In reviewing this information, highlight anything that seems suspect and review your documentation to verify the validity of the item.

After compiling a list of mistakes, it is time to officially dispute any inaccuracies on the credit report. The dispute processes will most likely involve filling out a dispute form or writing a letter detailing the alleged mistake. In both cases documentation supporting the validity of the dispute will be required. For specific information on how to officially file a dispute, contact the credit reporting agency directly. Once the dispute process begins, document every aspect of the process. This is important because dispute resolution is a time sensitive process with specific guidelines for how quickly a dispute must be resolved. The agency may be required to remove a disputed item from a credit report if they do not respond in a timely fashion.

When a negative credit report is a result of a poor credit history and not mistakes, only time will properly repair the credit. The long term credit repair strategy for financial errors in judgment includes devising a debt reduction strategy which will demonstrate diligence and establishing sound credit strategies which will be viewed favorably in the future. Credit reporting agencies do not hold grudges. Credit lapses are removed from credit reports after set periods of time and a history of good credit is rewarded with a solid credit score.

Answer 5

See there are no short cuts to increase your credit score and just by terminating your credit cards after making the dues your credit score may increase. To get ore details just go to google. com and type "increasing credit score" and clicking you will get many suitable websites which will give ample advices on this point. Especially check the legalzoom.com as well.

Answer 6

Get a credit card.
Charge $30 a month on it.
Pay it in full every single month.
After about 1 year your will have pristine credit that everyone wants to have, and your limit will be raised to about $5k to $10k on the card automatically.
Then buy a house and pay the mortgage early every single month.
This will boost your credit even higher.

Answer 7

The following two websites offer excellent information on repairing and re-establishing your credit history.