Credit Cards

• Pay down your credit cards to less than 30 percent of the available credit. This will have an immediate positive affect on your credit. However, do not shut down any cards, for this will only lower your credit score. Additionally, if you pay a card off in full and do not use it for an extended period of time, the credit issuer may close the account. This will also negatively affect your credit score, since part of your credit score depends on the total amount of unused debt capacity you have on your cards. Simply pay one bill per month with an otherwise unused card and pay the credit card bill in full every month to keep your credit score as high as possible.
  
  

Collections, Liens, and Judgments

• Pay off any old collections, liens or judgments. Some banks will not even consider you for loans if any unpaid debt of this caliber exists on your credit report. A paid collection, lien or judgment has a much smaller effect on your credit score than an unpaid one. Paying these will have a positive affect on your score, but not as immediate as the credit card balance reduction.
  
  

Errors

• Analyze your report. If there are any errors or fraudulent information on your credit report, contact the reporting agency to have them removed. Paperwork will be required and you may have to contact the original lien holder to have the error removed. The amount of benefit you see in your score will depend on the type and quantity of errors on your report. It may take more than 30 days to have errors or fraudulent information removed from your report.
  
  By law, you have a right to obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Find a link in Resources.