My Friend Raised Her Credit Score Over 100 Points With This Tip

If you're trying to improve your credit, this tip could be exactly what you need.

For the most part, raising your credit score is a bit of a slog. If you follow good credit habits, like paying on time and not charging too much to your credit cards, you'll make steady progress. Even so, it will normally take at least six months to a year to see a big difference.

There's nothing wrong with that, as a higher credit score is worth it no matter how long it takes. But depending on what's holding your credit back, you might be able to increase your score faster -- much faster than expected. A friend of mine recently tried a simple tip, and her score went up by over 100 points in just weeks.

Dispute, dispute, dispute

My friend had a low credit score, in the 540-range, because she made some of the typical credit mistakes when she was younger. She had credit cards and other credit accounts, and she paid late multiple times. There were also accounts she couldn't pay off, so they were sent to collections agencies.

Years later, her credit file was still feeling the weight of those issues. She had several delinquent accounts on her credit report, and while some of them were legit, there were others that she didn't recognize or that should have fallen off because of how much time had passed.

What often happens in these situations is that your debt gets bought and sold by various collection agencies. This can lead to mistakes, like a debt collector continuing to report a delinquent account even after it should've fallen off your credit history. Case in point, in an investigation last year, 34% of consumers found credit report errors.

My advice was to dispute anything that she didn't recognize or that should have come off her credit already. She did that, and a few weeks later, many of those black marks had been removed from her credit report. The result? Her credit score was now above 650.

How credit report disputes work

A dispute is a way to get incorrect items removed from your credit report. You can dispute any account information that you believe is inaccurate. Here's how the dispute process works:

• You file a dispute with the credit bureau that issued the credit report. If all three credit bureaus have the same inaccurate information, you can file a dispute with each one.
• The credit bureau contacts the creditor that reported the information you're disputing.
• The creditor must investigate your claim within 30 days. This can be extended up to 45 days if you provide additional information relevant to the investigation during the first 30 days.

The creditor might not respond at all, which is great for you, because it means the credit bureau must delete the item from your report. If the creditor finds that the information is inaccurate, it's required to provide accurate information to the credit bureaus.

If the creditor provides documentation to verify what it reported, then that item stays on your credit file. You can, however, escalate the dispute by providing additional information if you still believe it's incorrect.

The good thing about the dispute process is that there's really no downside, no matter the result. If you win, then the item comes off your credit report, and that may raise your credit score. The worst-case scenario is that your dispute isn't successful, in which case your credit report will be the same as it was before the dispute.

Correcting mistakes on your credit

It's widely recommended that consumers check their credit reports at least once per year. You're legally entitled to one free annual credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Currently, there are even free weekly credit reports available.

If you see any possible mistakes, either contact the creditor to ask about it or go ahead and dispute it with the credit bureau. You used to need to do this by mail, but all the credit bureaus now offer online dispute options. Here are the links you can use for each one:

• File a dispute with Equifax
• File a dispute with Experian
• File a dispute with TransUnion

Negative items can have a huge impact on your credit score, and you definitely don't want your score to be lower than it should be because of inaccuracies. Make sure to review your credit report on a regular basis so you can dispute anything that doesn't look right.