How to Raise your FICO Credit Score for Free

There are things you can to raise your FICO score for free without paying a credit repair person. When I worked along with a credit repair specialist in the mortgage industry, I learned ways people can raise their FICO credit score without paying any money. To get started raising your credit score for free today, follow these steps.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A free copy of your credit report - Checking your own credit will NOT affect your credit score.

1. 

   The best thing to do to raise a FICO score is to pay down the balances to half of their limits. For example, if your visa limit is $10,000.00, pay down the balance to $5,000.00 or less. Have no money? Transfer money from a credit card with a zero or low balance to another card with a high balance. In thirty days or less, there will be a significant increase in your FICO credit score. You'll also save money if you transfer with a lower rate.

2. 

   To keep a FICO credit score up, do NOT open any new accounts. It takes at six months or longer for new accounts to become established and to not affect scores negatively.

3. 

   To raise a FICO score, do NOT close any accounts especially the older accounts. Established accounts on credit reports reflect more favorably and will raise FICO scores for free.

4. 

   Had enough of all those junk-mail offers? Raise a FICO score for free by going to OptOutPrescreen.com and signing up to avoid all those credit card offers, and it's free to opt-out. The three main credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, look favorably on people who opt-out. Be rewarded with a few points added onto your FICO credit report.

5. Check FICO credit reports for free. There are several companies online that offer free reports. Do not pay for a FICO credit score. FICO credit scores vary depending on the type of industry that is pulling the credit report. If you apply for a home loan and a car loan on the same day, your FICO credit scores will be different. The same goes for credit cards. On your credit report, look for late payments. Recent late payments affect credit scores more negatively, sometimes as much as 50 points or more for each late payment.

6. Planning on getting a loan? it will be worthwhile to spend a couple hundred dollars to have a credit repair specialist get late payments off your FICO credit report. First, pay credit cards on time for six months. It's useless to pay someone to fix a credit report if you're is still making late payments.

7. If there are collection accounts on your FICO credit report, it may be necessary to pay a credit repair person to help remove them. It's difficult to get more recent collection accounts off credit reports. When paying off a collection account, the payment will keep the negative information on the report for up to ten more years after the payment date. Recent collection accounts will reduce FICO scores more than older collection accounts.

8. 

   For tax liens and collections on a FICO credit report, find a good credit repair specialist or tax repair expert.

Resources

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[Meri]

on 1/26/2009 These are great ideas on helping raise scores.

[NuttyMomma]

on 1/26/2009 I definately learned something new. Thanks for the info!