How to Get a Good Credit Score Fast

Do you need a good credit score fast? That all important FICO score you have heard financial gurus tout really is all that important. Landlords deny tenants a home, car dealers refuse to finance loans, banks refuse to hand out mortgages, and people with bad credit who get loans pay more to find them.

But if you need a good credit score fast, there is hope for you. You can only raise a credit score so much in a short amount of time, but here is how to max out your potential and keep your credit score heading up.

Instructions

1




PAY BILLS ON TIME (35% OF YOUR SCORE) AND GET GOODWILL IF YOU DON'T

You can't undo what you have already done, or can you? The best way to keep your credit score high is to pay bills on time, every time, without fail. If you miss bills and you have a spouse or partner, hand them off and see if they can do better. Sign up for online bill pay with your bank and make it automatic. Pay a week early on everything if you have to.

BUT.... What if you already missed bills, paid late, and suffer from a credit score tooth decay? You can get a filling, sort of. Make sure all of your bills are paid to date. Then contact the businesses whom you have been late with before in writing and ask for a good will adjustment to your credit. Cite recent faithful payments. Play on their heart strings and often you will get a bump in your credit fast.

2

LOWER YOUR DEBT TO CREDIT RATIO (30% OF YOUR CREDIT SCORE)

- Call your credit cards and ask for a higher limit. Request they report that limit to the credit company. Higher credit limit means you have less debt to credit ratio. For example if you regularly charge $1000 but you have a limit of $4000 on a credit card you have a 1 to 4 ratio. Get a $10,000 limit and all of the sudden you have a 1 to ten ratio. Huge bump!

- Pay off your cards a week early before the closing date of the bill. This makes your debt to credit ratio look even lower by increasing the gap between owed and available.

3

FIX ANYTHING THAT AIN'T RIGHT ON YOUR CREDIT SCORE.

Get on the phone and complain. Look at your free credit report from whichever agency you receive it from. Analyze every line and look for things that aren't true. If it simply says an account was closed but doesn't say 'closed by customer' call and get that changed. If there is a late payment mark that you have proof of paying on time by all means get on the phone! Call the credit company, call the vendor, and make it right. If a person you talk to at first isn't helpful, wait for a shift change and call again!

4




PULL OUT OLD CARDS AND CHARGE A FEW BUCKS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE FAST.

Old accounts help your credit score (15% of score). But if you haven't been using them then they are not treated as a positive. Don't add much to them or you will hurt number 2. But do charge a couple bucks and get them active again. Make sure you pay them on time!

5

DON'T APPLY FOR NEW CREDIT LINES, UNLESS YOU HAVE LOTS OF TIME.

The last two categories mix of credit available (10%) and new credit applications (10%) fight each other. You can't diversify credit lines quickly without dinging your new credit application score. So unless you have six months to wait it out, sit tight on this category and make it up in others.