How to Boost Your Credit

It is important to stay on top of your credit so that you are able to obtain a loan in the future. You can do many things to boost your credit quickly so that you are able to obtain that loan or possibly get a lower interest rate on your next loan. You may have entries on your credit report in the past that were not the best, but there are things you can do to either remove them or make lenders move past them.

Step 1

Obtain a free copy of your credit report to look it over. You can go to annualcreditreport.com and get one copy of your combined credit report every year. This will help you get started as you will be able to see some of the things potential lenders will look at.

Step 2

Clean up any errors on your credit report. You can receive one credit report annually at no cost, which is a good thing to see to be able to stay on top of your credit. Request in writing a change on your credit report if you find any errors. Remember to include any evidence of the error to ensure they approve the change.

Step 3

Pay down credit card debts. You want to keep no more than 35 percent of the credit line used up on your card. This shows that you do use the credit that is available to you, but you do not have your cards maxed out. Make sure that the minimum payments are made on these cards on time.

Step 4

Pay your bills on time. This is one of the easiest things you can do, and it can really help your credit score if you haven't been so good about paying timely in the past. Just one month of paying your bills on time will make a difference.

Step 5

Refrain from several credit inquiries. If you are trying to boost your credit, make sure that there are not a lot of potential lenders looking at your credit, as this can affect you negatively. If there are inquiries on your credit report, you can request that these be removed as well, and it can be done in writing or even over the Internet.

Step 6

Pay off credit card debts but do not close the accounts. Keeping them open and using them once every six months for something small will help you boost your credit. Closed accounts do stay on your credit report for some time, so they will not boost your credit by just closing them.