What Affects My Credit Score? - There are many things you can do to either help or hurt your credit score. Your credit report is based upon information that is reported to the three main credit bureaus, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian, by credit companies whom you have an account with. The credit bureaus also obtain information about accounts you have in collections, and judgements you have against you.

Your payment history is a major factor in the way your credit score is determined. If you have any 30, 60 or 90 lates on your credit report then your score will be impacted negatively.

How you utilize the available credit that you have will affect your credit score. Don't max out your credit cards and don't close credit card accounts after they are paid off. Always try to keep your credit card balances, or revolving credit, at 20-40 percent of the credit limits. The longer these accounts are opent the better it will be for your credit scores too. The credit bureaus want to see an established length of credit history, not that you get a credit card pay it off, close it and then get another one and go through the same process again. Keep that first card and provide a long established credit history with an account that is much older and still open and available to use. Also, by leaving these accounts open it will give you more revolving credit available and help with your credit score too.

Public Records can have a negative impact on your credit scores. If you have any judgements, tax liens, bankruptcies, etc. these will all show up as public records on your credit report. If these records do not show as satisfied, or they are more recent they can have a greater negative impact.

How long ago were the negative items reported also has an effect on the credit score. The more recent a negative item is recorded, the higher an impact it has on the score.

The longer the average age of your open credit accounts, the better. An average age of 7 years will give you a better score than an average age of 1 year.
Keep older credit cards open, even after you pay them off.
If you are considering opening a new low rate account and transfering your balance from a higher interest rate account, first contact the company that has your existing account. Tell them of your intentions and ask if they will match the rate of the potential new account. They may not, but you have nothing to lose by asking.

Every time someone pulls your credit it has an effect on your credit. Some inquiries affect your credit more than other. Keep the amount of inquiries on your credit to as few as possible.

There a specific ratios of credit limit to balance that affect your score.. Typically being at 25% of your credit limit is considered "ideal."

What affects my credit score? - There are many things that can affect your credit score in both positive and negative ways. Your credit scores are determined by information which is reported by your creditors to the three main credit bureaus, Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

If you have high balances on credit cards, talk to your credit card companies about increasing your credit limits, especially on cards which you have a good payment history with. This can help reduce your ratio of balances to high limits, and improve your score (as long you don't max them out again).

Late payments on your credit obligations that have occurred during the most recent past six months carry the greatest weight in regard to credit scoring. Also late payments on newly established accounts may cause a lower score than late payments on older accounts that have had an otherwise acceptable payment record.

Age of your established credit accounts will affect your credit scores. If you close all of your established credit cards and then open up new ones this will have a negative impact because the length of your open credit trade-lines will be reduced greatly. If you have credit cards that you no longer use, it makes more sense to simply cut them up or use them once per year, to keep them active, and continue to grow a longer more established credit history that to close the credit card account once it is paid off. Consult a mortgage professional for more information on ways to improve your credit scores.

It is a good idea to review your credit bureau reports at least once a year. This gives you the opportunity to ensure there is no erroneous information being reported, which could negatively impact your credit score.

How can I increase my credit score? - There are many ways that you are able to increase your credit score. Making all of your monthly bill payments on time is one way. Keeping the balance of total available revolving debt limited to approx. 30% of your total credit limit is another way.

So to summarize, you can increase and keep your scores high by:

-Paying your bills on time

-Keeping balances low on credit cards.

-Paying off debt rather than moving it between credit cards.

-Applying for credit accounts ONLY when you need them.

-Checking your credit report regularly for accuracy.

-Get current and stay current on all accounts. The longer you pay your bills on time, the stronger your score will become.

Contact your mortgage expert for other ways you can improve your score that are specific to your current credit profile.

If you don't currently have one working for you, call 414-303-1215 and ask for Marty Searing.

To increase your credit score you can also limit the number of credit inquiries that you have against you by limiting the amount of new credit applications you complete (stop applying for the credit cards that offer a free gift giveaway when you apply). You can also make sure that you don't close old accounts because the length of your credit history plays an important role in credit scoring. A long established credit history is much better than a short patchy credit history.

Avoid taking on consumer installment credit accounts. These are the type of accounts offerred by retail furniture, appliance, etc. type stores. Many offer "90 days same as cash" or "no interest for one year" to sound attractive. Having these type of accounts will have a negative effect on your credit score.

Also make sure that you do not let past due accounts get turned over to collection. Not only will you lose a good tradeline account you will also impact your credit score negatively when the collection reports on your credit report.

Another good way to increase your score is to take out a secured credit card. The credit card will show the creditors that you have more available credit to you. The longer the card is open, the better that it reflects on your credit as well. Also, since it is already secured with your money, you will not be able to get yourself into any sort of spending trouble or bad habits.

30, 60, and 90 day late payments hurt your score more than anything else. A 30 day late payment occurs as soon as the payment is late, not 30 days after it is late. Creditors will not always report late payments immediately, if you make the payment soon after the due date. However, you can't depend on this. The best thing you can do is make all of your payments early, just to be sure they are paid on time.

If you cannot afford to pay your crdit card balances down to 30% or less, you may request that your creditor increase your limit. This will accomplish the same thing, although you can't rely on the creditor's willingness to cooperate. Do not try this if you have a habit of paying for things with the card. You don't want to get yourself into more trouble.

If you have limited credit lines open, you may want to consider having a family member or friend add you as an authorized user to one of their cards. Although it will show that you are an authorized user, the entire credit history for this account will appear on your credit report. So, for example, if you mom has had a visa card for over a period of years and adds you as an authorized user, that account will now appear on your credit report with its entire history. Of course, you want to make sure that it is a clean credit history before doing this! And if your family member or friend has concerns they can always add you to the account without actually issuing you a card to use.

Not honoring the contracts you signed with mobile phone companies can also ruin your credit. Many wireless companies offer free cellular phones if you agree to use their services for a certain number of years. If you terminate subscription to their services, these wireless companies may attempt to collect on the cost of the phones and if fail, will report to the credit bureaus.

If you have a unpaid collection on your credit report that has been several years old, be careful if you plan on to pay that off. Once that is paid, that item gets updated and then moves to the top of your report. Newer derogatory items count more negatively toward your score than older items.

To determine how to most effectively increase your FICO credit score, certain mortgage companies may utilize computer software which can simulate what certain changes to your credit report, for example paying down balances or closing certain accounts, may have one your credit score.

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