Steps to Improving your Credit

• You should have no more than three credit cards. Too many open lines of credit negatively effect your credit score.

• Try to pay your bills consistently and on time. This will prevent new adverse information from being added to your credit report.

• Try to reduce the amount you owe and try to keep your balances below 35% of your total available credit limit for each line of credit. Going above 35% brings down your score.

• See if there are any open lines of credit on your credit report that you no longer need, such as credit cards that you don't use anymore. Such "potential debt" can scare away potential lenders.

• Stay on your best behavior for seven years. That's when most negative information, such as late payments, accounts that your lender turned over to a collection agency, and court judgments against you, are removed from your credit report. (There are a few exceptions to this seven-year rule; for example, bankruptcy information remains on the report for ten years.) Your good behavior will pay off even before the seven years have passed, because more recent information is factored in more heavily than earlier information. On the plus side, positive information, such as a history of paying back debts on time, stays on your credit report forever.