i am paying all my credit cards, car, student loans, etc…is there a way to get the score to go up quicker, or does it just take time??
do a online credit check. Check for incorrect information already on your report. Git rid of any credit/charge accounts that you are not using.
What to do:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/millionaire/2922
What not to do:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103148/Six-Ways-to-Kill-Your-Credit-Score
All this info may change with some changes to Fair Issac and/or the new method proposed by one of the credit reporting agencies (can’t remember offhand).
6 is totally wrong
get rid of all credit cards that are paid off and unused-
every card you have is equal to a line of debt that you can immediately go into…
and lenders look at that as a risk-cause tomorrow you can go out and max that card -weather you do or don’t is irrelevant
too many cards hurts your score
Paying on-time is the best thing you can do to build your score. Never miss a payment, hit your limit, or pay late, those do huge damage to the score.
Also, don’t go applying for new credit every week, this does hit your credit, roughly 10 points per check.
Also, if unpaid balances are close to credit limits that is looked at negatively.
One suggestion: Do a balance transfer.
Lets say you have two cards, a VISA and a MC.
The VISA has a limit of 10k and you have a balance of 9k.
The MC has a limit of 12k and it’s empty.
You do a balance transfer of 5k from the VISA to the MC.
Now the VISA has a balance of 4k out of 10k and the MC has a balance of 5k out of 12k.
Now neither balance is near the limit.
This would be looked at more favorably and you might even be able to save yourself some interest if you can get a balance transfer offer with a low rate.
It’s not going to make a huge difference, but it could raise it up a few points. 
Also, ALWAYS make sure you pay more than the minimum payment on credit cards! <- Very Important!
Even if it’s only $1.00 more, it makes a huge difference.
On you credit report your payments are listed one of three ways…
- Paid MORE than the minimum payment.
- Paid the minimum payment.
- Paid LESS than the minimum payment.
You want ALL #1’s for the best credit score and even if it’s only $.01 more it will still get listed as MORE! :bigok:
I worked for a bank and reviewed credit reports and never saw such a thing.
However credit reports do show if you paid as agreed and how many times you paid late.
X2
paying more than the minimum doesnt do squat to your credit report…its only taken into consideration if your applying for a limit increase at which it is only used internally.
Experian absolutely does record payment amount/type!
I have seen mine numerous times.
right…they record the amount of the minimum payment that is due each month but they dont record the actual amount paid.
That is correct, they do not record the amount, but they do record: < = > for each payment.
My experian report did not show over payments.
Also, what is the best credit report to get cleared out of the 3 majors? I am going to start with one and move on through.
Any ranking of what is used most? ie. experian, transunion ect…
I assume most people know, but you can get all 3 credit reports for free each year (not credit SCORE, just the reports).
Get a Wamu credit card and you get a free credit report every month. Cant remember which company they use though.
They should show very similar information, so you’ll be cleaning up the same accounts no matter what.
If you wanted a loan from a particular bank, you could find out which one they use and do that. A lot of places pull more than one.
This is true! Free credit score updated monthly! FTW