How to Improve your FICO Score

First and most obvious is to pay all your bills on time.  Check your credit report for accuracy.  You can get a free annual report by writing directly to the credit bureaus.  Dispute any inaccuracies immediately.  You may dispute with creditors and with the bureaus.  Even neutral information should be disputed.  for example if a credit limit is reported lower than it really is, it will appear that you are using more of your available credit than you really are and this will lower your score.  Negotiate with collectors and businesses to remove any late payments. Sometimes creditors will remove negatives in exchange for a prompt payment.  Be sure to get any promises in writing before making a payment, once the account is paid the creditor has little incentive to live up to any promises.  When nothing else works, pursue legal action.  Collectors and businesses do not want to go to court, it is costly and they have nothing to gain by reporting negative information about you.  Decrease your ratio of how much credit you use vs. how much credit you have.  This can be done by paying off your balances of by increasing your credit availability, and not using it.