Need to improve credit scores

Annemchale,

You can certainly take some steps and if you put in your effort, the scores will definitely improve. Let me tell you what Craig Watts, consumer affairs manager at Fair Isaac Corp. has said on this issue:

"The mantra for getting a great score is pay your bills on time, keep account balances low, and take out new credit only when you need it."

Some suggestions I would like to make to help you take proper steps in building your score:

1. It is easy today to apply for a store credit card that you forget all about in three years. But the account remains on your credit report & affects your score as long as it's open. Having credit lines and credit cards you don’t need makes you seem like a worse credit risk as you run the risk of 'overextending' your credit.
2. Another important factor in your score is how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Try and reduce your credit card balances, normally it's good to keep your balances at or below 30 percent of your credit card limit.
3. A late or missed payment in the last few months is likely to lower your score much more than an isolated late payment five years ago, from now on make sure that the bills get paid on time.
4. Don't close unused credit card accounts. If you have several credit card accounts but are only using a few of them, you'll only raise your balance-to-limit ratio if you close the unused ones. Also, if you have a short credit history or very few accounts, opening a new credit line may lower your score.
5. Review your reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once a year and dispute errors such as a payment that is wrongly labeled as late.