3 Quick Moves to Boost Your Credit Score

One of the most important numbers in your life is your credit score. Why? Because your credit score is used by lenders to determine if you’re a good credit risk, if they’ll give you a loan – like a home mortgage and an auto loan – and how much interest they’ll charge you for those loans.

1. If you are a renter, add your rental payment history to your credit reports: Numerous studies show that this can improve your credit score, sometimes 20-points or more. There is, however, a catch: You can’t add this data to your Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion credit reports yourself. You have to use a third-party company because they have to independently verify your rent payments with your landlord or property owner. Fortunately, rentreporters.com does this, and once your payments are verified, they report your rental payments to TransUnion.

2. Try piggybacking: Piggybacking is when you are added onto the credit accounts of someone with a positive credit history. For example, if your spouse or a parent has good credit, you can be added as an authorized user on one or two of their credit cards. This lets you add positive credit history to your own credit files and increases your credit scores.

3. Get a secured credit card: Some 20-something millennials have “thin” credit or no credit. Also, they and others in their 30s, 40s, or 50s may have had credit mistakes in the past, such as late payments, charge-offs, collections, or even a bankruptcy. A lack of a traditional credit history or previous credit blemishes can make it tough to establish or re-establish credit and obtain a good credit score. But one strategy to overcome those problems is to obtain a secured credit card.

So, if you want to boost your credit score, make these 3 moves NOW. And don’t forget that services like RentReporters can help you get there by reporting your on-time rent payments to TransUnion.