How to Raise a FICO Score 50 Points

Lenders use your FICO score to decide if you get a loan for a car or home or approved for a credit card. In some cases, the number can impact whether you will get a job. There are ways to raise your FICO score by 50 points or more, but the amount depends on how low your score was to begin with. A low score will increase faster than one in the medium range, but all scores will increase by following a few easy steps.

Instructions

Raising a FICO Score By 50 Points

1

Get your credit report. You credit score is based on the information attained on your credit report such as late payments, lawsuits and bankruptcies. The government has rules on how long an item can be on your credit for example bankruptcy will be on your report for 10 years, but occasionally a credit bureau will forget to take an item off or will have wrong information. You have the right to protest the bureaus and have these items taken off.

2

Reduce your credit card balances. One of the major factors in your credit score is your debt to credit ratio. If you have a large amount of credit and a large amount of debt, it can hurt your score. If you are able to substantially pay off your credit card debts, it will keep your overall credit high and your debt low. This will substantially raise your credit score.

3

Pay your bills on time. Your ability to pay bills on time makes up a whopping 35 percent of your credit score. If you are late, 30, 60 or 90 days it can substantially hurt your score. If you are behind on several credit accounts, get caught up as soon as possible. If you are 90 days late on several accounts one month and caught up the next month, then it may raise your score by as much as 50 points.