Just a copy and paste, but Very Useful Info. . . . .


2 Fast and Easy WaysTo Boost Your Credit Scores Right Away
In today’s economy, you simply can’t afford to have a poor credit score, especially if you are seeking a loan within the next 6 months. Unfortunately, there are life events that will happen to us and that we have no control over.

According to Fair Isaac Company, over 75 percent of mortgage lenders and over 90 percent of credit card lenders use credit scores when making their lending decisions. In addition, employers, utility service providers, and even insurance companies use credit scores to evaluate whether to offer their services to individuals.
In short, the decisions relating to whether you receive even the most basic services come down to this single factor.
Furthermore, lenders will charge higher interest rates on loans to individuals with lower scores. . As more and more service providers use credit scoring to evaluate their customers, individuals with low credit scores are finding it more difficult to obtain goods and services at competitive rates.
Here are 2 ways to boost scores quickly.
1) Reported balance/credit limit is incorrect: 35% of the credit scoring model constitutes of what your credit limit vs balance ratio is. Ideally, you should be less than 33% or so. So the first step obviously would be to evaluate each revolving trade line separately and establish if the ratios can be improved. Please remember it’s not so much as the amount that matters but the ratio. So if paying off $50.00 on one card puts you at 30% whereas the same ratio on another card is possible with a $200.00 payoff, do the $50.00 first.
But the most significant impact is if you have a card that is either not reporting the correct credit limit or is reporting no credit limit at all. This is more common than people realize. Department store cards are typical examples. Remediating this item could make all the difference for a person’s credit scores. So either ask the creditor to report the correct limit or simply pay the balance off. Please note that you will have to bring the balance down to zero on such a card since an unreported credit limit will be read as “zero” limit and as such even a $1.00 balance will be considered maxed out. (Never close down such a line. Only pay it off)
If you remediate such an error, it will not be unusual to see a sudden 80 point jump in ones scores. (Provided there are not numerous delinquent accounts)

2) If you have had past derogatory items on your report, check to see how they are being reported. The statue for most is 7 years but correct reporting of the status is critical. Most people with delinquencies simply resign to the fact that they will have to suffer for 7 years. In most cases that is not true. The item can stay on your credit report but have very little impact on your scores if you practice good credit habits for 12-24 months. Even after a Bankruptcy you can get to 680 or above scores within 6 months! But status of delinquencies is very important. So look at all the delinquent items and check status. If anything is being reported as 90 or 120 days late but it’s not, dispute it. For example a charge off cannot be 120 days late. Usually you will see the original creditor showing a 120 late but also a charge off for the same trade line. The 120 late is hitting you hard because that is considered most recent or current, which are always the worst.
Getting these two types of errors corrected from your credit report will boost credit scores significantly. Or, if you are in the process of obtaining a loan, you can provide proof to your loan officer and request them to conduct a Rapid Rescore for you. This will get you the higher scores with 24-48 hours. I explain the Rapid Rescoring process in detail in my book.

This article was provided by Eram Saeed, a 10 year veteran in the lending industry. She is the author of Amazon Best Seller “How To Raise Your Credit Scores 25-100 Points in 48 Hours, Guaranteed”. This book is currently available on Amazon