does anyone know of a sure fire way to raise your credit score w/ out all the gimmicks?

other than the known..."pay your bills on time" and open new credit and show it being paid over time?"

Public Comments

1. Paying your bills on time and showing the capacity to handle debt responsibly is the best way to improve credit score as seen below. You might also want to check your credit report to see that there isn't any inaccurate information on there. FICO, the credit rating product offers services regarding credit scores. Yahoo Finance offers free credit reports so you can check.
2. Get the facts from the credit reporting agencies themselves.
3. Get derogs that aren't yours deleted; Stop closing out old accounts; limit credit inquiries; make sure old derogs are reported as $0 current balance/$0 past due; if a joint account holder drags an account into bankruptcy, have the credit bureau delete the reference 'included in bankruptcy' on your credit report. Really, your question is unanswerable, or who would not have good credit? The system is set up to prevent quick manipulation, except for errors in reporting.
4. If you're talking credit cards, run up a bill and pay it on time OR before time. Do that randomly over the year with varying amounts. Work up to the limit of the card and pay it off. Call and ask for more credit. If you're talking houses, prefect credit card history, no outstanding amounts. No car payments. No bankruptacies. Credit with all the major stores does not hurt (but no outstanding balances.) Etc. Good job history of increasing salaries and not a lot of changes. Show them you CAN afford the credit and that you are RELIABLE and will pay it back.
5. Step 1. Obtain copies of all 3 credit reports. Step 2. Review the information on those reports carefully and dispute any inaccurate information. Step 3. If you have credit cards with high balances, pay the down NOT completely. Having credit card with a "0" balance is not good....they refer to it as "under-utilization of credit." Step 4. If you don't have a savings account, open one and apply for a signature loan with the bank using the savings account as collateral. Step 5. Pay this loan early.....not right away......if you choose a 12 month payback, pay it off in 6-8 months. Step 6. Repeat step 5 Step 7. Do NOT apply for credit of any kind during this process, inquiries will cost you 2-6 points for each one. Step 8. Do pay everything on time or better and monitor your credit report quarterly to ensure that everyone is reporting accurately. Follow these steps and your score will increase signifigantly.....not the fastest way, but the ONLY way to guarentee yourself improvement. Good luck and take care