Improving Your Credit Score

• Author: Daniel A Edelman
• Profession: Lawyer
• Pages: 95-97

95

Improving Your

CreditScore

CHAPTER

20

It is not possible to quickly improve one’s credit score. You should beware of people claiming that they

can do this—such promises are generally “too good to be true.” In the past, people have claimed that

your credit can be quickly fixed by creating a new identity using a taxpayer identification number instead

of a Social Security number or by paying unrelated people to list you as an authorized user on existing

accounts with a good payment history. Such attempts are fraudulent and may result in substantial civil

and criminal liability, especially if you obtain credit through such means and then default.

For example, presenting a credit application that does not disclose your liabilities may make the

debt nondischargeable in bankruptcy. Presenting a credit application to a financial institution (directly or

through a dealer or retailer) that is known to contain materially false information is generally criminal.

Also, creditors and the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) have adopted measures to catch such attempts,

so they are not likely to succeed.

Generally, improving your credit scores takes time. Absent erroneous or outdated information on

your credit report, the best way is to pay debts down regularly over time. Many banks offer payment

reminders or automatic payments, in which you are either reminded to make a payment or the payment

is made automatically. If you have multiple

credit card accounts, pay down the ones

with the highest annual percentage

rate (APR) first while maintaining

your other accounts in current sta-

tus. Do not close accounts, includ-

ing unused accounts, because owing

the same amount of money but hav-

ing fewer open accounts may actually

CAUTION

Closing an account doesn’t make

it go away.

Edelman53574_Ch020.indd 95 22/05/17 10:28 AM