Did you know that you are legally entitled to one free copy of your credit report, from each of the three credit bureaus, every 12 months. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling (877) 322-8228. If your credit report is accurate and, perhaps, not as high as you had hoped, check out these 10 simple tips to raise your credit score.
- Make Your Payments on Time: This is one of the most important things you can do to positively influence your credit score.
- Get Current on All of Your Accounts: Get current and stay current. Payment history accounts for 35% of your score and has the greatest impact on it.
- Improve Your Debt-to-Credit Ratio: Pay down your account balances and keep them low. The ideal debt-to-credit ratio is less than 30% utilized, so you should aim to reach that percentage.
- Pay off Miniscule Balances: One of the factors in credit assessment is how many of your accounts have balances. So try this: instead of charging $40 on three different credit cards, you can charge $120 on one card and keep the others at a zero balance. Just make sure you don’t close the zeroed out accounts, as this too can hurt your credit score.
- Keep Inquiries Within a Short Time Period: Every hard credit inquiry will cause your score to dip (usually a few points) for one year. While it is expected and beneficial for you to shop for the best rate, try to keep your time frame as brief as possible.
- Keep Paid off Accounts Open: Even if you don’t think you will use the account, your open accounts determine your account age; therefore, the longer the account has been open, the more it will positively impact your score.
- If You Have Had Credit Problems, Re-Establish a Clean History: When starting over, start small by opening new accounts and paying them responsibly. This will help you re-establish your credit history.
- Pay Your Fines: Some cities have begun to turn small fines in to private collection agencies. This could include items such as your delinquent library books and unpaid parking tickets.
- Ask Before You Purchase: Did you know that some cable and internet providers run a hard credit inquiry when you sign-up for their service? Protect your credit by asking companies about their policies before you sign-up.
- Don’t Close a Delinquent Account: It may seem counter-productive since you would like to remove it from your active account list, but if you close an account with a balance, it will cause your available credit and credit limit to be reported as zero.