| Building a good credit score and maintaining it is, in | | | | If you do find errors like this, contact the credit bureaus |
| essence, a long-term process. The best ways to raise | | | | to sort it out immediately. In case you notice strange |
| credit score expect that you stay financially organized | | | | accounts or payments on your report and you |
| and learn to manage your debts wisely. No doubt, that | | | | suspect you may be a victim of identity fraud, contact |
| developing good financial habits consequently helps to | | | | the police, as well as your creditors and credit bureaus. |
| raise credit score. But if you're planning to buy a house | | | | 4. Contact credit bureaus to dispute errors on your |
| in the near future and you discover that you need only | | | | report.Besides the errors in your personal data, your |
| a few extra points to get better interest rates, you | | | | credit report may show late payments that actually |
| want to raise credit score ASAP. | | | | were paid on time, closed accounts still listed as open, |
| You should keep in mind that in the world of credit | | | | outstanding debts that you have paid off, and so on. If |
| scores, nothing happens overnight. Even when using | | | | such mistakes occur, the credit bureaus are obliged to |
| the quickest methods to raise credit score, it takes | | | | investigate and correct them. |
| some time for the changes to appear on your credit | | | | First you have to send them a dispute letter, where |
| report. But the sooner you take action, the sooner your | | | | you point out the errors you believe your credit report |
| score will start to grow. So, here's what you can do | | | | contains. Free samples of dispute letters are available |
| raise your credit score quickly. | | | | on the Internet. Add copies of relevant documents to |
| 1. Get your credit report and credit score.You have the | | | | support your claim. |
| right to obtain a free copy of your credit report once a | | | | Credit bureaus have to investigate the inaccurate |
| year from each of the major consumer reporting | | | | information in 30 business days and delete the errors. If |
| agencies (i.e. credit bureaus): Equifax, Experian, and | | | | the credit bureau can't verify the negative information |
| TransUnion. | | | | within this time, it has to be deleted, too. If your report |
| You should get all three reports, because they may | | | | gets corrected, you have the right to get a free copy |
| differ a bit. Your credit score is a calculation based on | | | | of it. |
| the information on your credit report. Different | | | | You can also ask the credit bureau to send your |
| companies have different formulas for calculating the | | | | corrected report to anyone who has inquired your |
| score, but the credit score most commonly used is | | | | records in past 6 months. Be sure to make copies of |
| FICO score. On their website, you can make a request | | | | the letters you send to credit bureaus and the ones |
| to get your current score. | | | | you receive! |
| This is the first step on your journey to raise credit | | | | 5. Start paying your bills on time and pay off |
| score. Your next step is to... | | | | outstanding debt without closing old accounts. |
| 2. Examine your credit reports carefully and search for | | | | In addition to disputing errors in your report, these two |
| inaccurate information.The first time you see your | | | | methods can raise credit score most quickly. Late |
| credit report, you may be amazed how much | | | | payments that were made years ago don't affect |
| information about you it actually contains. Unfortunately, | | | | your credit score as much as the recent ones. |
| not all of this information is correct. Research has | | | | Automate your bank payments and get organized, and |
| actually shown that 25-50% of credit reports contain | | | | may raise credit score within a few months. |
| errors. | | | | You also may gain this delightful result if you pay off |
| One reason why these errors occur is that you may | | | | your outstanding debt. If you decide to pay off your |
| be mistaken for someone with the same name as | | | | loan, don't close the account. Here's the reason behind |
| you, and this other person's data ends up in your | | | | this advice. Using a lower percentage of total credit |
| report. Another, and a much more serious cause of | | | | available to you raises your score, but if you close a |
| erroneous data is identity theft. So, if you spot | | | | credit account, your total available credit decreases. |
| outdated, incomplete or totally strange information, the | | | | Hence, if you shut down the account, you may still be |
| next thing to do is to... | | | | close to maxing out your credit - which decreases |
| 3. Determine the cause of inaccuracies on your credit | | | | your score. |
| report.If you think the credit bureau has you mixed up | | | | If just a few missing credit points hinder you from |
| with someone else, first make sure they have your full | | | | getting better interest rates, following the tips above |
| name spelled correctly. Also check if your social | | | | may solve your problem relatively quickly. If two or |
| security number on the credit report is correct. Look at | | | | three months still is too long for you to wait, there are |
| the address, too - if your current address differs from | | | | other legal options to raise credit score quickly. |
| the one on your report, it may cause confusion. | | | | |