Credit Score question...

This may help..its things you can do if you need to improve in a small time frame. good luck!

Speedy upgrade

That's good advice, to be sure, but these actions take a long time. What if you're house hunting and you just need a few extra points to bump you over the line to the great rates?

Start by pulling your credit report and your credit score to see where you are. To get an estimate of your credit score, check out our Credit Score Estimator. If your score is above a 720, you're golden. Improving your score from a 720 to a 740 won't get you better terms.

What you're looking for on your report are factors that could be affecting your score. Look for errors in the report, such as accounts that aren't yours, late payments that were actually paid on time, debts you paid off that are shown as outstanding, or old debts that shouldn't be reported any longer (negatives are supposed to be deleted after seven years, with the exception of bankruptcies, which can stay for as long as 10 years).

After repairing errors, the fastest route to a better score is paying down balances on credit cards, says Watts and David Herpers, chief marketing officer for Atlanta-based Amerisave Mortgage Corp.

'There's really no silver bullet, but I would think that over 60 days, it's possible to increase your score 20 points by paying down your credit lines,' Herpers says.

Had a few late payments in your past?
If you find yourself in some financial difficulties, you can protect your score by making sure your payments don't go 60 days past due, Herpers says. 'Some lenders don't report 30 days past due, but they all report 60 days past due.'

Even if you've paid your bills late in the past, you can improve your credit score by paying every bill on time from now on, says John Ventura, a consumer law attorney and author of 'The Credit Repair Kit.'


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'Forget about grace periods,' he says. 'If you want to have a really good record with the credit agencies, pay your debt before it's due and keep your balances low.'

A big no-no
One thing you shouldn't do if you're just trying to boost your score is close unused accounts, Watts says.

'If someone tells you to close unused accounts to improve your score, they're pulling your leg,' he says. 'It won't help you and it can hurt you.'

Pay down balances and close out any accounts that you don't use.

It can take some time to get your credit score adjusted though. So be patient with it.