How Fast Can I Raise my Credit Score?

Your credit score is that magic number that can help you purchase your dream home or that flat-screen TV. Getting your credit score a few points higher could help you score better interest rates and even improve your job prospects. Boosting your credit score can be achieved in the short-term and long-term.

Credit Score Factors

The timeliness of your payments, the amount of money you owe, the time span of your credit history, how much credit you have and the type of credit you possess all determine your credit score. A certain weighted percent is given to each of these factors, making some of them more important than others in the determination of your score. For instance, on-time payments constitute 30 percent of your score.

Immediate

Of these factors, the ones to assist with raising your credit score the fastest are in the "amount owed" category and "new credit" section. Even if you can make no payments, call your credit card company and ask for a higher line of credit. Doing so makes your "debt-to-credit" ratio look more favorable and therefore boost your score. Similarly, getting a new credit card may also boost your score if you carry a low balance on the card. Also, to make a positive impact on the "length of credit history" section, Martha Maeda, author of "How to Legally Settle Your Credit Card Debt for Pennies on the Dollar" advises people to start making small purchases on inactive credit cards and paying them off every month. Furthermore, Maeda advises not closing any accounts since your credit score hinges on the longevity of your accounts.

Medium Term

One of the longest-lasting effects on your credit score is paying off debt. If your debt exceeds 50 percent of the loan's line of credit, hacking away at the balance will boost your score. Paying debt in a timely manner benefits the two sections "on-time payments" and "amounts owed"; combined, these two sections constitute 65 percent of your credit rating. Because the amount of your payments will depend on your income, the speed in which your score improves will vary. What you choose to pay off has implications for your score as well: For the fastest results, pay off any consumer debt before other types of "friendlier" debt such as student loans and mortgages.

Long Term

The way to boost your score that takes the most amount of time is getting bad debt, judgments, bankruptcies and foreclosures removed from your credit report. Defaults on credit cards, for instance, negatively affect your score for at least seven years. Bankruptcies affect your score for 10 years. In cases like these, many years of time is the only remedy for improving your score. But positive information can remain on your credit report for as long as 30 years, according to Steve Bucci, author of "Credit Repair Kit for Dummies."