10 Ways to Raise your Credit Score

1. Check your credit report regularly!

2. Make all of your payments on time. If you are forced to miss a payment, pay it off in the flowing month. Accounts more than 60 days past due will be indicated on your credit report.

3. Don’t apply for multiple credit cards over a short period of time or your cards that you are not likely to get.

4. If you need help, contact a reliable nonprofit agency such as the ISU Financial Counseling Clinic or Consumer Credit Counseling Services.

5. If you fall behind on payments because of illness, unemployment of family issues, you can write a short explanation to the credit reporting agencies. You should also call your creditor and work out a payment schedule that you can meet.

6. If your credit is severely damaged or you have a short credit history, consider opening new accounts with lower credit limits and paying them off on time.

7. Correct any errors that might appear on your report. The credit bureau who is providing your report can show you how to do this.

8. Keep your total account balances as low as possible.

9. Don’t open new credit cards that you don’t need just to increase your available credit. This could actually lower your score.

10. Learn what your current credit score is and what appears on your credit report.