Advice on Raising Credit Scores Instantly

You do not need to spend hundreds of dollars on a credit repair company to raise your credit score instantly. But your options for improving your credit score instantly are scant. Credit scoring models are designed to punish you for years for making mistakes. However, it is not unreasonable to see a 45 to 100 point or more increase in a month or less.

Rapid Rescoring

Monitor your credit report as often as possible for any type of mistake, even something little like an employer for which you never worked. Fixing credit mistakes is the fastest way to raise your score, because negative items have more impact than positives in the FICO scoring model. Normal disputes can take months until the bureaus finally investigate the claim and update a report. Rapid rescore companies have a direct pipeline to the bureaus which lets them update mistakes immediately. Only lenders can use this service, but they are usually more than happy to act as the middleman. You must receive confirmation from the creditor of the mistakes beforehand, because rapid rescore companies shy away from performing investigations.

Pay off Credit Cards

The ratio of credit card debt to available limit is an important part of the FICO model, so eliminating credit card debt immediately takes your credit utilization ratio to zero. A single maxed-out credit card might take as much as 45 points off of your score, according to Bankrate.com. As an alternative to paying off credit card debt you can ask your credit card company to raise your limit -- just try your best to not tack any new debt onto your balance.

Collection Accounts

Ironically, paying collection accounts do little to change a credit score. Only when you have significant debt does paying them do anything, because delinquent debts still count against total outstanding debt -- the second-most important category in the FICO model. You could negotiate with the collection agency to remove the account completely in return for paying the debt in full. You will probably need a lawyer to draft this agreement and collection agencies do not always go for this.

Considerations

When you have really bad credit or an extremely high credit score, you probably cannot do much to raise your score quickly. Items like length of credit history only improve in time. The key is to minimize the amount of debt you carry and always pay on time. Credit scores measure your willingness to repay a debt, so payment history is the most important factor.