How to Improve Your Credit Score
There are a few other things to be on the look out that can lower your score:
- Don’t load up on credit cards that you do not need. Every time your credit is checked, your credit is lowered by five points.
- If you are searching for the lowest price on a loan, do all your shopping within 45 days. Within that time frame, all inquiries made on you for the same purpose will be counted as a single inquiry, so your credit will only be lowered once.
- Watch out for “impermissible pulls,” which is a pull of your information that you did not approve. This is illegal and if you see one on your report, immediately inform the credit bureaus.
Alright, so all your prior bills have been paid and you’ve cleared up any errors that were negatively impacting your score. If you are still hoping to raise your score further, there are a few things you can do:
- Wait. Any remaining unpaid debts are less important to your score as time goes on.
- Mortgages and installment loans count more heavily than credit cards, so be sure to pay them on time.
- Try to pay off credit cards until you only have two or three. However, do not consolidate your debt onto a few cards; this is because your score is affected by the amount you owe toward a certain limit. If you put all your credit on one or two cards, it could actually worsen your score.
Keeping tabs on your credit report can be a hassle, but credit can work for you, not just against you. You can get a better rate on a loan or be offered one sooner than others if you have a higher credit score. If you are consistently paying bills and maintaining low balances on a fixed number of accounts, your credit will thank you!
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