How to Improve Your Credit Score in 60 Days

Significant credit repair generally takes some time, as creditors only report to credit bureaus once a month. Some credit reporting agencies, however, like those that generate merged reports for mortgage and consumer credit lenders, provide rapid rescore services that can update credit histories and rescore your credit in a matter of days. While some credit repair strategies, such as making prompt payments after a few late payments, take months to improve your score, others can take as little as 30 to 60 days.

Instructions

1

Get a copy of your credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) for free at annualcreditreport.com; you are legally entitled to one free report per year from each bureau. Check the reports for any inaccuracies and dispute any that you find. Common inaccuracies include accounts under a similar name that aren't yours, closed accounts that show as open, inaccurate open balances or account information, open collections that have been paid and negative comments more than seven years old.

2

Pay down your account balances on credit cards and unsecured or revolving credit accounts. Shoot for a balance of no more than 30 percent of your total available credit limit, but 10 percent is ideal.

3

Spread your balances out over a few credit cards instead of one large balance on one card. A single large balance still shows a predisposition to overload on credit.

4

Use all of your cards for periodic small purchases and pay them off in full when you get the bill. This keeps your balances low, you avoid paying interest and prevent creditors from closing your account due to inactivity.

5

Open a major credit card if you do not have one: VISA, MasterCard or Discover are the best choices. Use it for purchases you would typically pay cash for, such as gas or lunch, and hold the money aside to pay the bill in full when it arrives. However, keep the number of applications and inquiries to a minimum.

6

Settle your collections, if you have any. If you either pay off the account or make payment arrangements then pay as agreed, the collection agency can no longer legally continue to negatively report on you. Make sure to get any agreements in writing and to make any payments by check or money order for record of payment. Ask the collection agency if they can mark the account "paid as agreed" on your credit history or remove the item from your report.

7

Ask your credit card issuers to raise your credit limits, especially if you cannot knock the balance down in a short time, but have a good payment history. This will lower the percentage of your balances compared to your available credit.

8

Keep accounts open and dispute any accounts recently closed by the creditor with the credit issuer. Closed accounts drop the longevity of your credit history and your available credit limit, which negatively affects your score.