6. GET CREDIT FOR RENT AND UTILITY PAYMENTS
Why this works fast: Getting credit for rent and utility payments can help, especially if you’re new to credit, but it usually works best alongside other strategies like paying down credit cards. Rent-reporting services can add your on-time rent payments to your credit reports. The boost is usually modest, and not all credit scores include rent or utility payments — for example, VantageScores includes them, but FICO 8 does not. Even so, lenders who review your full credit reports will see your rental history, and a long record of on-time payments can help. Experian Boost is another option. It’s a free service that links to your bank account and looks for payments to things like utilities, phone bills, streaming services and some rent payments. You choose which payments you want added to your Experian credit report. Boost works instantly, but the rent-reporting aspect of it will vary based on a consumer’s history. For example, some services offer an instant “lookback” of the past two years of payments, but without that, it could take some months to build a record of on-time payments. Quick tip: Rent and bill payments don’t count toward every credit score, so use reporting services as a supplement — not a replacement — for building credit with cards or loans.
WHAT TAKES LONGER, BUT MATTERS
7. DEAL WITH COLLECTIONS ACCOUNTS
Why this works slowly: Paying or settling collections helps, but impact varies by scoring model.
Paying or settling a collections account can lower the risk of being sued, and in some cases, the collection agency may agree to stop reporting the debt once it’s paid. An account in collections is a serious negative mark on your credit report, so if the collector agrees to stop reporting the account it could help a lot. You can also dispute collections on your credit reports if they aren’t accurate or if they’re too old to appear on your credit report but are still listed. Collectors can keep reporting the account, even after you’ve paid it, and the effect depends on the credit scoring model. FICO 8, which many lenders still use, can count paid collections against your score. Newer FICO and VantageScore models usually ignore paid collections. Quick tip: Request and read your credit reports, then make a plan to handle collections accounts that are listed. If a collections account is accurate but old, check whether it’s close to aging off your credit report before paying — it may be removed automatically.
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