When you're applying for a big loan, such as a mortgage or car loan, you want to raise your credit score quickly. While a great credit score is something that usually takes time, there are steps for quickly improving your credit score. Your success will depend on your personal situation, but even an increase of a few points could get you a better interest rate on a loan.

Fixing Errors

There's a possibility that your low credit score is a result of errors on your credit report. Order a free copy of your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com. Note that this service only provides a copy of your credit history and does not show the credit score. Look through your report across all three of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion Look for mistakes, such as balance errors or showing an open account that you've closed. Make a note of these mistakes and then send a certified letter to the credit company disputing these items. If you can prove that there is a mistake, the company should quickly remove those items, which will improve your credit score fast.

Removing Inquiries

Also on your credit report, you're likely to see inquiries into your account. These are companies that have looked into your credit report. Sometimes, these are valid inquiries, such as when you're applying for loans or credit cards. Often, they are inquiries that you did not authorize, such as companies that looked into your account to send you credit card offers. If you have unauthorized inquiries on your account, you can also write to the credit bureaus by certified mail to ask them to remove these. This will show a slight increase in your score.

Improving Debt to Credit Ratio

The debt to credit ratio on your report is the percentage of debt that you owe in relation to the amount of available credit that you have. The lower this percentage is, the better. To improve your debt to credit ratio, you can decrease the amount of debt that you have by working towards paying it off. You can also ask the credit card companies to increase your card limit, which will increase the overall amount of credit available to you.

Source:

FTC: Credit Repair: How to Help Yourself