What are some specific ways I can increase my credit score?

Here's the situation: my credit rating is poor. I have a few charged off credit cards from my early college years. HOWEVER, I do have one credit card that I have never even been late. Also, I have some student loans that have perfect payment history.

BUT my rating is still too low. What should I do? I know that paying off charged off accounts will adversely affect my credit. So...how can I improve it now? Will secured credit cards work? What else? Thanks!
Additional Details
Currently, I only have one line of credit--the credit card I use sparingly and make payments on time. The student loans also are in perfect shape. It's just that old debt that pulls me down. And I've heard from several financial advisors that paying off the charged off accounts will pull my rating down. So, what's the way to improvement?

Let me start by cleaning up some poor answers here.

First, stay away from credit repair companies. They are a scam! Everything they do, you can easily do yourself. Most are nothing more then fronts for consolidation loans or home refinancing. They can even HURT your credit.

foreclosurefish's a little confused. Being added as an "authorized user" to someone's card does not help your credit. You need to get someone to co-sign a credit card for you to get any benefit.

You don't give much info on your situation so it's hard to give any specific advice.

Start by trying to get negative information removed from your history. See the first link for info on how to do that. It involves writing some letters and disputing reports with the credit bureau.

The advice about paying off charged off accounts is correct. If they are old accounts, and you pay them off, they now have "recent activity" on them and they will lower your score. I suggest if you try to pay them off, demand that the creditor remove them from your credit report completely. A paid off collection is still a bad mark on your history, so there is no advantage in paying it off.

Also check out the second link. It goes into the Statute of Limitations. If the debt is old enough, you don't have to pay it back, since you no longer have a legal obligation to do so.

Well I suggest you first read the following article. It explains what goes into the credit score. The more you know about how it work, the better you can manage it, right?

http://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/credit-reports-and-credit-reporting.html

Now as for ways to increase your score, I might suggesting getting on top of your spending habits. You can start off by learning how to make a budget:

http://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/creating-budget.html

After that, you can learn to trim here and there to free up some cash that you can use to pay off your debts:

http://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-simplify-your-living-expenses.html

Hope that helps

Do not charge over 50 percent on each card. Anytime you go higher then that it hurts your score. Also, your score will go up when you increase your income. Your debt to income ratio may be too high. Do you own a home? Secure cards do not help if you already have credit cards now, they only help if you have no credit cards.

Car payments, Mortgage payments, Loan payments, Utility Bills...

I have garbage credit too, and my only option right now is secured credit cards, in the same boat.

*edit*
Butterfly, I didn't know that, thanks for the info.

Hello,

You have alot of good information here..

I agree and disagree though wiht alot of the input..

Here's what you should do..

First of all, you are correct that when you pay off a credit card that has derogatory activity, at first it does lower your credit score.. The reason as you stated is because it shows recent activity, therefore the adverse items now come into effect...

The thing is though until you can show that these items are paid in full, and current, your score will never imorove...

Its a process that unfortunately takes time to improve.. The damage is already doen because you cant take back what has already happened..

You ahve to pay them in full, your score will go down a small amount, and you need to then HAVE PERFECT PAYMENT HISTORY ON EVERYTHING!!

Once you start to prove a consistent good pay history, you will then see your credit rating soar.. The "paper trail" will show that yes you had some hurdles in the past, but you have paid them in full, and have shown that you are now on the right track..

I can say that in at least 6 months you wil see your credit raise substantially.. Another 6 months from that ans you should be in a good situation all around..

Just make sure (As im sure you know now) to not overspend, and make timely payments on everything that you owe on... Also pay off any and all derogatory items ASAP...

Again i agree it wil hurt you momentarily, but there's NO other way to get back ont he right track...

Now another suggestion i have is in regards to your student loans.. You mention loans plural.. have you not consolidated? If your credit report is showing multiple student loans then it will have an adverse effect on your score as well..

Besides, A consolidation loan is a free government program offered to help students get a lower payment and a much more manageable loan.. By consolidating you also turn all of your "variable" interest rates and convert them into one "fixed interest" rate loan... It can save you thousands over the llife of your payments..

Now just to give you a background, i currently have my mortgage license and I am a licensed student loan advisor.. I analyze credit on a daily basis with both companies i work for... So i write to you from experience in the financial industry..

My name is Jason Fry, and i am a student Loan advisor with Student Aid Lending..

We are a title IV lender administered by the department of education...

My company does both consolidation loans, as well as new loans for students (and parents)

All lenders that are licensed with the Deparment of Education have the same programs, rates, and options... Everything is regulated by the government so there is no difference technically in which lender you work with..

The only differences you can find from one student loan lender to the next is the type of rate discounts offered..

The department of education offers 3 rate discount options... Each individual lender determines if they will offer the rate discounts or not..

My company honors all discounts offered by the government...

This includes:

*** .60% rate reduction for consolidation prior to graduation..

*** .25% rate reduction for automatic debit

*** 1% reduction for 36 months of ontime payments..

Most other lenders out there will only offer 1 or 2 of the three.. Again, we honor all of them..

If you would like mor information about my company, please visit my yahoo 360 profile..

http://360.yahoo.com/my_profile-hluduhmi...

From there you can find the direct link to our website as well..

Dont hesitate to call or email me at anytime and i can walk you through the entire process!!

Good Luck, i hope this helps!

Jason Fry
Student Aid Lending
1-800-964-0642 Ext. 114
jasonf@studentaidlending.com

WAYS TO BETTER CREDIT

Correct blatant mistakes. Your credit score is only as good as what shows up in your credit report. Review your reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once a year as well as several months before applying for a loan. Changing a mistake on your report - such as a payment that is wrongly labeled as late -- can take 30 days to three months, sometimes longer.

Pay your bills on time. This is always a good practice, and it's especially critical that you make prompt payments close to the time you need a loan. That's because 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.

Reduce your credit card balances. A heavily weighted factor in your FICO score is how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Generally, it's good to keep your balances at or below 25 percent of your credit card limit, said Jeanne Kelly, founder of The Kelly Group in Brookfield, Conn., which helps clients improve their credit scores.

Here are some credit score improving compnies. You can check each one and find which one is fits your requirments.
http://credit-repaire.blogspot.com/

You need to make sure that you pay all of your bills on time not just one or two bills. If you pay off charged off accounts it will not adversely affect your credit. It will simply show a zero balance showing that you paid off the debt. However you do need to know that credit cards are a sure road to some serious debt. Try to avoid the credit card game as much as possible. If you do need to have a credit card for business purposes use it sparingly.

Here's what you need to do. You contact the collection agency to whom the debt is owed. Tell them that you will pay the account in full on condition that it is removed from your credit report. Typically they will agree because they want the money, However, unless they expressly agree to take it offf your report - they don't do it. The delinquent accounts will remain on your report for 7 years.

If they agree to remove the account, they will contact the credit bureaus themselves in order to update the account. However, be sure to monitor the report to make sure its gone. Collection agencies often agree to take off accounts but don't follow through.

If they don't agree to remove the account - then don't pay. Be persistent. Keep calling them until they agree to remove it. Grinding them down is the key here.

One little-known technique is to have someone with a good, long credit history with a particular credit card add you as a second card on the account.

You don't ever have to use the card, but you're listed on the account, so all of the past, present, and future credit activity will be reported on your record -- even if you don't ever use the card yourself or even have physical possession of it.

The person who has the original card will just go on charging and paying off the charges and building good credit history, and it will all be reflected on your credit report, too. It can instantly improve your score by adding some positive information to your record.

Unfortunately, this technique can't eliminate negative information, but it's just as important to get more positive payment history on your credit report.

ForeclosureFish
http://www.foreclosurefish.com/

just pay off ur debts!

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