---

Improving your credit score is a cost-effective way critical to save up to thousands of dollars in interest payments. A low FICO score ? even by a few points ? can dramatically increase your cost of obtaining a car, house or credit card. In some cases, it can make obtaining credit impossible.

We can help. We don?t do credit repair, but we can give you insights on how to start improving your score immediately.

Below are some expert tips for improving your credit without hiring a credit doctor or watching your credit score sink any lower.

Expert Tips for Improving Your Credit From

• Call your credit directly.
  By working with your creditors to pay your debts, they?re more likely to negotiate some of your terms on your account: lower interest rates, stop late fees, eliminate over-the-limit charges or accept a partial payment in lieu of total amount due. Credit card companies are also willing to work with you, they just need to know that you?re doing your part to get out of debt.
• Pay off debts.
  Lenders advise that keeping a high debt to income ratio will adversely affect your credit rating. You should lower your debt ratio to below 45%. That is, reduce your balance on all revolving credit accounts to below 45% of the available credit limits.
• Refinance your auto loan.
  The best way you can begin to build or rebuild bad credit is to get more credit to refinance your high-interest auto loan. This may sound like a bad idea for someone with bad credit, but auto loans are the typically the best type of loans to refinance for a more favorable rate. Remember, you can't get or improve your credit, if you don?t use credit. Once you have the credit, your proper use of it puts you on the way to improving your score.

For more information about improving your credit score by refinancing your high-interest auto loan, contact us for more information about our program.

General Credit Repair Information

Q. What is a FICO Score?
A. FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac Credit Organization. FICO scores are used by all three of the major credit reporting bureaus to assess your creditworthiness. While all three companies have their own credit scoring models, all three were developed by Fair Isaac Credit Organizations and are therefore generically known as FICO scores. Using the information in their files, these organizations rate your creditworthiness, and decide whether or not you will obtain a loan for your home, car or get a credit card. They also influence how high of an interest rate you will receive for all of your loans, potentially costing you thousands of dollars in interest charges. The lower your FICO score, the more lenders will charge you to obtain a loan.

Because each credit bureau may have different information on file for you, you may have up to three different FICO scores.

Q. Where do I get my credit score?
A. You can run your own credit report as often as you like without affecting your credit score. But don't keep applying for credit, as that will lower your credit score. You can get your credit report online from a few sources, including:

• Experian Online Credit Reports: You get a thorough credit report in 30 seconds from one of the big three credit bureaus. Banks run your credit report from two or three of the credit bureaus.
• MyFico.com has your credit report online instantly. Get the 3-in-1 Credit Report With FREE Credit Score if you have never seen your credit report. It has your credit files from the top three credit bureaus used by car dealers.
• Equifax Instant Online Credit Reports is another one of the big three credit bureaus. Most creditors who run your credit profile use Equifax, as they are the most thorough.

Q. What do lenders do with my FICO scores?
A. Generally, lenders will obtain all three of your FICO scores and take the middle one (not an average of the three) and use that to obtain your credit score.

For instance, if your FICO scores from the three credit bureaus were: 716, 685 and 699. Your mid FICO score would be 699 and would be used to determine what loans you qualify for, and what interest rate you will likely pay. It also determines the type of loan you can qualify for. For example, if you are self-employed, you would be just one point short of qualifying for a simple, low-interest home loan. So even a few point improvement can make a difference.

Q. What if my credit information is wrong?
A. Your FICO score is compiled from the information they have on file. If that information is incomplete, inaccurate or fraudulent, your scores can be lower. If two out of the three credit bureaus have bad information, your credit scores can suffer greatly and significantly increase your cost of credit.

Q. I pay my bills on time, won?t my scores be high?
A. Not necessarily. Paying bills on time is only one consideration. Even people with seemingly good credit histories may score low on FICO scores. How you structure your loans, the balances you keep and other patterns may affect your fico scores without you being aware of it. For example, while paying off and closing credit card accounts is a good financial practice, it can sometimes lower your FICO scores. Unless you know how your personal FICO score is determined ? and what to do about it ? it is difficult to improve your score. Click here to learn how to obtain your FICO score develop a personalized plan to improving them.

Q. Can I improve my scores on my own?
A. Yes, but you can also lower it with the best of intentions. Strategies that seem to make sense, like paying off and closing unnecessary credit cards, or paying off old delinquencies can actually lower your FICO scores. Knowing why your score isn?t higher is just as important as knowing your score. Credit repair will not improve your FICO score. Credit repair is about changing your history. Improving your FICO score is about taking the actions that help increase this score. If you know how your score is obtained and rated, you can take steps to improve your FICO score, legally and effectively.

To learn more, click here to improve your FICO scores.

Q. How does getting an auto loan improve my credit score?
A. Although getting more credit seems like a contradiction, you can't get or improve your credit if you don?t use credit. Once you have the credit, your use is reported to the credit bureaus and that?s how your score is determined. Auto loans typically are high-interest and very unfavorable for those with poor credit scores. Companies like offer no-hassle financing for refinancing auto loans to much more attractive rates. When you?re able to get a lower interest rate for your auto loan, you demonstrate a couple of favorable credit actions: that you were able to get credit and you fulfilled your payment obligations for that credit.