Consumer Credit QA
Posted by Alerts For Consumers at Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:56:00 GMT and is filed under Free Consumer Reports,Consumer Credit 
TAGS: personal finance advice, credit score, FICO, boost credit, repair credit
Dear Consumer Journal,
In six months, I plan to start looking for a new home; can you provide some tips on raising my FICO score?
Sally - Lexington, KY
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Dear Sally,
If you want to boost your FICO credit score, there are five steps to improve your credit worthiness:
1. Order a copy of your credit report. Then, identify any errors and send the appropriate documentation to amend the mistakes to each credit reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
2. Make credit card payments before the due date. Since, the FICO credit score accounts for 35 percent of your payment history, remitting prompt payments are is a good way to raise your credit score.
3. Minimize outstanding credit card debt. Keep a low ratio of outstanding debt compared to your available line of credit.
4. Maintain all credit-card accounts. Closing old accounts reduces the overall total of available credit, inherently lowering the credit score.
5. Keep a blend of credit products. For the FICO 2008, a new scoring model assesses credit based on a mixture of credit-cards and installment loans. To ensure a better score, maintain a variation of credit accounts.
CJ
Holly Bentz (c) 2008 fruitionmedia.net
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