Top 10 Tips for Improving Your Credit in 2016

1. Be sure to pull your free credit report from each of the major credit bureaus at least once a year. Review them to ensure there is no inaccurate information, and report it immediately if you find any.
2. Make sure to always pay your bills on time. Being 30 days late on just one mortgage payment can lower your score by as much as 100 points!
3. Everyone should have at least one credit card open. Having access to that revolving credit and using it responsibly counts for 30 percent of your total FICO score. Just remember, only purchase things that you have cash on hand to pay for, and pay off the entire balance in full every month.
4. If you’re shopping around for a mortgage, loan or anything else that involves a credit check, make sure to do it in a close time span. Multiple inquiries hurt your score, but inquiries that are grouped close together count as just one. Your FICO score will ignore multiple inquires made within 30 days of scoring, while the newest lending software gives you 45 days. However, older software gives you just a 14 day window to shop around.
5. Don’t close out old credit accounts or credit cards. Debt that has been paid in full is good for your report. Plus, the length of time you’ve had credit open helps your score: the age of every account is averaged together, and the older your credit history, the better. In fact, age accounts for 15 percent of your score.
6. Use less than 10 percent of your credit card limit at any given time. Using it sparingly will help to increase your credit score.
7. Negotiate with creditors and collection agencies if you are having difficulty paying off any of your current debts. Be proactive and determine if there are payment plans available that are more realistic for your current financial situation.
8. Eliminate any small balances that remain on your credit accounts, the number of credit cards with balances on them affects your credit score, the fewer you have with a balance, the better
9. Pay your credit card bill in full before the statement goes out. Most credit card companies report to the credit card bureaus at the same time statements go out, so lowering your credit utilization ratio by paying off your cards in advance will impact your score in a positive way.
10. Convert outstanding credit card debt to personal loans if you don’t have the means to pay it down quickly. Credit card debt is more damaging to your credit score, and it can have a higher interest rate, making it harder to pay down.