How To Add Something Positive To Your Credit Report

There are a lot of scam artists out there with empty promises to improve your credit score through some sort of manipulation. Don’t believe them. Only errors can be corrected and you can do that yourself. If you’re already making regular on-time payments, is there anything else you can do to raise your credit score? Can you add something positive to your credit report without resorting to fraud?

How to Add Positive Account Histories

When you review your credit report, be sure to look not just for errors but also for any positive payment histories that should be on your record but have been left out.

Where to look for positive credit history

• Local banks or credit unions where you got a small loan
• Local merchants and their private label credit cards
• Gas card companies
• Your doctor or other healthcare professionals
• Utility companies
• Your landlord

Why are these positives not automatically listed?

• Some creditors don’t report account information to the credit bureaus at all.
• Some creditors report only negative information, such as late payments or debt collection referrals.
• Some creditors may report only to one or two of the three credit bureaus.

Positive entries push your credit score higher

Getting positive entries into your credit report may help push up your credit score. To try to get a positive payment history included in your credit report:

• Write letters to the credit bureaus asking that positive payment history information be added to your credit files. Include your name, address, SSN, date of birth, and the report number from a current credit report, along with a copy of the most recent billing statement and copies of cancelled checks showing on-time payments over time.
• Always make copies of all your correspondence.
• Send everything via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested so that you have proof of delivery.

Credit Bureau mailing addresses

Equifax	TransUnion	Experian
P.O. Box 740241	P.O. Box 2000	P.O. Box 2002
Atlanta, GA 30374	Chester, PA 19022	Allen, TX 75013
800.685.1111	800.916.8800	888.397.3742

Though the credit bureaus aren’t obligated to fulfill your request to add these positive payment histories, they usually will, though they may charge you a small fee for each account entry they agree to include in your file.

No one can guarantee that adding these positive histories will significantly raise your score but it’s certainly worth a shot. The best way to keep your credit score elevated is to continue to make on time payments to your creditors, avoid using too much credit, avoid applying for too much credit, and keep your oldest accounts in force.

— Note —

This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Million Dollar Journey. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the Carnival when you get the chance. It has some of the Internet’s best financial writing, articles, posts, and information!

Photo by A-m-z-xO

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Tagged as: Credit, credit bureau, credit file, credit report, credit score, credit utilization, positive credit