Is It Possible to Increase Your Credit Score 300 Points in a Year?

You may be ready for a steady increase in your credit score after a financial disaster. Three hundred points is an enormous leap for any score, even in a year. In theory, anything is possible, but you would likely need to start with a score at the bottom and manage your finances perfectly to see a 300-point rise in 12 months.

Identification

How exactly you raise your credit score by 300 points in a year, nobody knows, because the Fair Isaac Corporation, producer of the most popular scoring model, only reveals the general factors in its formula. You likely need to start with an extremely low score -- as close to 300, the worst FICO score, as possible -- then add dozens of accounts with positive payment history to your credit file. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, so the fact that you can jump 300 points implies that you have some heinous offenses on record, such as bankruptcy, that may impact your score for years.

Considerations

To improve your credit score as much as possible in a year, pay your debt on time every month. As long as you manage your finances well, you eventually attain a good credit score. You do not need a perfect score either. Once your score reaches 650, you qualify for most loans, but probably not at the best interest rates.

Tips

The fastest ways to add points to a credit score are to dispute negatives on your credit report you believe are listed in error and co-sign on an account with positive payment history. Also, keep credit card balances low, because the portion of your credit card limit you use factors in heavily under the "amounts owed" variable. Paying old collection and charge-off accounts won't do much for your score, but the balance on the accounts still counts against your total debt.

Keeping Good Credit

Once you obtain a good credit score (about 750), you do not need to do much else other than keep paying bills on time and limiting the amount of debt you carry. If you have a credit score of 750 or above, you already qualify for the best rates on nearly every loan, so trying to boost your score could backfire. Adding points only gives you bragging rights.