Tips on raising your Fico score

Unfortunately, credit scoring is much too complex a calculation for me to tell you specifically when your credit score should improve without knowing much, much more about your credit history.

Even if I had a copy of your credit report, it would be difficult for me to tell you when and if your score would improve based on your current credit history. As you mention in your question, the short-sale on your home will likely have a strong negative impact on your credit score; however, the amount of damage the sale will cause and the amount of time that it will take your score to rebound enough to obtain a new mortgage will depend on many other factors, such as your past and future payment history on your other accounts, your debt-to-available credit ratio, and trends in the mortgage market at the time you are trying to buy a new home.

Paying all of your accounts on time should slowly improve your credit profile, but how long it will take for your score to improve really depends on how much damage your credit score suffered due to the short-sale and other negative items, such as collection accounts, and how many positive credit listings are now appearing on your credit report.

While I cannot tell you when your credit score will improve, I encourage you to make your monthly payments in a timely manner, as the longer you make payments, the more positive influence your accounts will have on your credit history. I encourage you to regularly obtain copies of your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) to verify that all listings appearing on your report are accurate. If you find any inaccurate credit listings, you should dispute the item with the credit bureau reporting the information.

If it would help you for future knowledge, I can help you to understand how your credit score is calculated. Your credit rating is calculated based on several variables, including: your payment history (do you have any late payments, charge-offs, etc.), the amount and type of debt that you owe, if you have maxed out any of your trade lines, and then several other secondary factors like the length of your credit history and how many recent inquiries have been made to look at your credit history.

Generally speaking, all items remain on your credit report for up to 7 years unless you dispute the listing and it is removed as inaccurate by the credit bureaus. A bankruptcy may remain on your credit report for up to 10 years.

Here are some steps you can take to help improve your credit rating:

1. Pay off all debts and keep revolving lines below 25% utilization (and certainly don't 'max out' any loans or cards; 2. Get a small store card or gas card or credit card and make payments every month {this will help you re-establish a track-record of positive payment history}; 3.Write a letter to the three bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion)explaining your situation and why you are now in a good credit situation. Request that they add this letter to your file; 4. Pull your credit report and contest any inaccurate information so that it can be corrected by the credit bureaus.

These are a few of the considerations. If you would like more information about a solid financial game plan, please download our FREE budget and personal finance guide: http://www.bills.com/guide/

To learn more about credit reports and credit scoring, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Credit Solutions and Resources page at http://www.bills.com/credit/

I hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,

Bill

www.bills.com