Sometimes you just do not have a lot of time to improve credit scores. You may be in the market for a mortgage, personal, business or auto loan. You may even be job searching or simply seeking auto or home insurance.
All of these situations could involve a decision maker viewing your credit scores to make a decision to approve or deny credit. A higher credit score also translates into better interest rates which will save you money.
Consumers may not realize credit scores are in a constant state of flux. A change may occur to your credit score every time a creditor reports information.
Compound that by the number of creditors reporting to the credit bureaus at any given time and your credit score could change on a daily basis.
The constant change in credit scores may work to your advantage and help you raise your credit score fast if you can get positive information reporting and/or negative information deleted. Try the following tips to raise your credit scores quickly.
1. Decrease your credit card balance on the small accounts
Pay down your credit card and decrease your balance to thirty percent (30%) or less than your available credit limit. Your credit score will increase immediately. If you do not have the money to decrease the balance on the larger accounts, go for the smaller accounts. It doesn’t matter whether the credit balance is $200 or $2000. Your credit scores will increase immediately by paying down your credit card.
2. Authorized User Credit for a Quick Boost
Authorized user credit can be an instant way to boost your credit scores. The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion, utilize a credit scoring model known as FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation).
There are risks in becoming an authorized user on someone else’s credit card accounts. If the account holder becomes delinquent this will also reflect on your credit files, even though you are not financially responsible for paying any delinquency as an authorized user. Read more about Authorized User Credit.
3. Request a deletion for settled negative debts
If you pay a collection or settle a debt make sure you obtain a deletion and not a “paid collection” entry. This also applies to paying a debt directly to the creditor. Paid collection entries do not raise your score. Once you get a collection entry on your report that is put into the negative category on your credit report. A paid collection remains under the negative category on your credit report. You will not see an increase in your credit scores with paid collections.
Request a pay for deletion. A pay for deletion is a request made by you to the creditor or collection agency to pay a debt in full or an agreed upon percentage in exchange for a deletion of the account or trade-line. Never let a creditor tell you they cannot change or delete something they put on your credit report as there are no laws or rules that dictate anything must stay on your credit report for the full 7 or 10 reporting years. Remember to get everything in writing. See Deletions.
4. Rapid Re-Score your Credit Files
Rapid Re-Scoring can correct negative, outdated and inaccurate information in your credit report in as little as 72 hours! If you are in the market for a mortgage loan, refinance or home equity line of credit, your lender or mortgage broker can have your credit files rapid re-scored.
It is a service offered by a lender or mortgage broker in which your credit scores can be re-analyzed and quickly corrected for the purposes of obtaining a residential or commercial real estate loan.
There is a small fee for the service. Typically the fee is charged for each item that is corrected. The service is only offered by through a lender or mortgage broker. Consumers are not eligible to pay for the service on their own. Rapid Re-score accelerates the dispute process, corrects negative information and increases your credit score immediately. Learn more about Rapid Re-scoring.
5. Look for errors on your credit reports
The credit bureaus receive tons of information daily and mistakes are bound to be made. Disputing inaccurate items can raise your credit score if those items are deleted or corrected.
It is very common for credit reports to contain errors, inaccurate, and obsolete information. Never assume this type of information somehow drops-off at the 7 year mark. Sometimes you have to dispute this information in order to get it deleted. Other types of information that should be deleted or corrected are:
- Accounts that are listed as unpaid hat should have been included in bankruptcy
- Negative accounts that do not belong to you
- Negative accounts that should have been deleted once the 7 year mark has been reached.
- Accounts showing paid late that you really paid on time.
Dispute the Negative Items with a Click – ScoreDirect.com.
