Technique to Instantly Raise Your Credit Score

[serenity06]

I received this in my email and thought I would share it with everyone.

Technique to Instantly Raise Your Credit Score

Rehabilitating your credit history can be an activity that takes time and patience. However, there is a technique that should instantly give your credit score a nice boost. The technique is call "piggy-backing" and if done correctly, may add between 20-50 points to your score almost instantly.

The technique of "piggy-backing" is quite simple. All you need to do is add another person's positive payment history from an established credit card account to your credit report. Here is how it works:

Ask permission from a trusted friend/relative to be added as an "authorized user" on one of their credit accounts such as a Visa or Mastercard -- Ideally you want to be listed on an account with a very low balance and one that has had at least 1-2 years of on time payments.

Contact the credit issuer and ask to be added as an authorized user -- Once you are listed as an authorized user, the card issuer usually will report the account history on both your credit report as well as the primary card holder's credit report. This will add a positive, low-balance, established account to your credit history. Essentially, it will appear as if you made all the payments over the life of the account. (Lenders and credit bureaus will view this as an indication that you are creditworthy).

Check your credit report and make sure the account is listed -- Depending on the particular card issuer, they may not always immediately report the account to the credit bureaus. If it does not appear on your credit within 30 days or so, you may want to contact the card issuer and ask that it be placed on your credit record.

A word of caution -- when you approach your friend/relative, make sure that it is someone that you trust will pay the account on time. If the account becomes delinquent, then that negative information will likely be put on your credit record and you may be back to square one.

Establishing positive credit history can improve your credit score and buffer the impact of delinquencies. (My score went up about 25 points when I used the "pigg-backing" technique and added a relatives Visa charge account to my credit report.)

To achieve really great credit however, you want to establish positive credit as well as eliminate negative accounts such as charge offs, collection agencies, bankruptcy, etc. When I fixed my credit I focused on establishing a solid payment history and hired an affordable credit law firm to get rid of my negative credit items.

[ADSOFT]

I did that and my credit score didn't move up.

I was also adviced that this technique would bring my score up. Something must be wrong. .... have to dig further into it .

[keith]

i'm not good enough to even make 'black sheep' in my family. i would'nt ask my friends to do it either. i would not do this for anyone else, it reminds me of being asked to co-sign a note, (which i would never ask anyone to do, nor would i do it for anyone). thats just me though. good luck

[someonesomewhere]

I did that and my credit score didn't move up.

Did the TL appear yet? Could take upwards of a month for 'em to report it on your CRs. And did you check your FAKOs, FICOs or both?

[divemedic]

If you want to read more about this, search for "authorized user"

[mattandallismom]

That sounds like great advice. I just removed myself as an authorized user from an account due to the high balance. I'm hoping that helps too.

[zwiepak]

I'm sure it's appropriate for the right situation for someone somewhere...!

[keith]

yeah, probably so