What Is the Quickest Way to Raise My FICO Score by 40 Points?

If you need to raise your FICO score by 40 points to obtain a better loan rate or to qualify for a certain loan product, take the necessary steps to quickly boost score. Your FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation Scoring Model) score represents your debts, assets, investments and judgments against you. A score below 600 typically means that you will be paying points (fees) on your loan or that your score is too low to obtain the loan. If you need to increase your score by only 40 points, closely examine your credit report to dispute judgments against you.

Instructions

1

Reduce your debt ratio to quickly boost your score by 40 points. Pay down your high balance credit cards, car loans, home loans or personal loans for an instant credit score boost. If you see the statement, "Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high" it means that your debt ratio is too high, which creates a lower FICO score. For best results, reduce your credit card debt ratio by 80 percent. Even a 30 percent reduction will garner positive results.

2

Dispute bad credit or judgments against you. One of the fastest ways to boost your FICO score by 40 points or more is to have bad credit removed from your report. Contact your creditors directly and negotiate terms, eliminate late fees or set-up new loan repayment terms. Negotiating or disputing bad debts can possibly remove bad credit from your report.

3

Remove errors from your credit report. Negative credit or judgments against you can only impact your credit score for up to seven years (10 years for bankruptcy). If you find that an old debt is lingering on your record, write to the credit reporting agency to have it removed. In some cases, someone else's bad credit may be haunting your credit report. Review your report with a fine tooth comb to ensure that every item pertains to your credit history. In some cases, another individual with the same name may end up on your report.