Use Seven Simple Steps to Improve Your FICO Score In Just Nine Months

1, The first thing that I want you to do is to get two new credit cards, and if you know that you can't get approved, then get two secured ones! Anybody can get a secured credit card, sometimes called a debit card, because you deposit a sum of money to the bank, and the card is only good for that amount.

Not only are debit cards simple to get, but one of the great things about them is that nobody knows if your cards are secured or not, and it just says on your credit report that you have credit cards that are in good standing.

2, If you don't have one already, then I want you to get a Triple or Tri-merge Credit Report, and you can obtain one on line from any of the major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The cost will be around $20.00 and it will be money well spent. It easiest to apply on line but you can also contact any one of the following at,

Equifax, P.O. Box 740243, Atlanta, GA 30374, Ph. 800-685-1111

Experian, P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, Ph. 888-397-3742

Trans Union, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022, Ph. 800-916-8800

A tri-merge credit report is a credit report that allows lenders to see a combination of all three separate credit scores as reported by the three main credit bureaus.

3, Once you have your report, I'd like you to read it very carefully checking for errors. More than 50% of all credit reports contain mistakes, and they're often major ones.

It's especially important to find out if any of your credit card limits are being underreported, because a person's credit score is seriously affected by the relationship between the person's credit limits and his or her revolving balances. You might even find debts being reported that you've already settled, and even worse, debts that are not even yours.

4, Report the errors immediately by registered mail, and include copies of any supporting documents if you have them. Your report will be quickly updated, and the only thing that you'll have to pay for is the postage.

5, Start using your cards right away, and always keep your available credit at less than 20%, but never let it get down to zero because the difference between a maxed out credit card, and one that's in the above range can make a difference of 150 points to your credit score, and that's a huge amount.

It's important to follow the above advice for at least sixty days, but one thing that you shouldn't do is to apply for a new line of credit during that time. If it gets refused then it will appear on your report, and much of your good work will be undone.

You've likely read or heard, that many creditors will accept settlements for a whole lot less than is owed them, and as well as wondering if it's true, you'd also most likely ask yourself why they'd do such a thing.

The reason is what is known as the 'statute of limitations', and learning about them will enable you to get a lot of debt removed from your credit report for very little money.

A statute of limitation is the period of time that is allowed for a debt to be collected through the courts, and how this works in the debtor's favor is that the amount of time allowed is nearly always much less than the reporting period limit, for either credit or debt.

The law varies a little from State to State so check to find out what the law is in your State, and once you know what it is then check your report and see if any of your debts are outside of the statute of limitations. If you find some, which is quite likely, then contact the creditor and asked for the debt to be removed. The creditor will more than likely refuse, because he'll figure that you won't want to spend money on going to court, and he's playing a game.

Simply ask him how much he'd be prepared to settle for, and cut the best deal that you can, and you'll be amazed at how little creditors will actually accept.

None of the above is very difficult or complicated to do, and if you carry out the seven steps exactly, then you should see a change in a poor credit score of around two hundred points in about nine months, even if you still have a number of negative things on your report.


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The author of this article was a top film sound editor for many years and he produced a film for Columbia at a very young age. One of his primary interests is economics, and one of his websites -> Get Financial Help is for people with bad credit that need a loan. The cost of an extended list of lenders is extremely small, and anyone not getting a loan within 60 days gets a full refund.