 TITLE: How Do Lenders View Your Credit? CONTENT: How to Improve Your Credit Before Applying\n------------------------------------------\nBefore applying with a lender, start by checking your credit score and report. This will give you a better idea of what types of loans and credit cards you might qualify for. You can access your Experian FICO® Score and credit report for free at any time, or sign up for free credit monitoring with alerts that let you know when changes have been made to your credit file.\nUnless your credit score is already top-tier, there's always room for improvement. And moving from \"good\" to \"very good\" credit, for example, may open the doors to lower interest rates, more favorable terms or simply a better chance of approval. Although there's no quick fix for your credit, there are steps you can take to bring your credit score up. Here are a handful of tips to consider:\n*   **Review your credit scoring risk factors.** These are shown with your Experian credit report and score, and are a great starting point when trying to bring your score up.\n*   **Practice good credit habits.** Pay every bill on time, keep your credit card balances low and don't apply for credit unnecessarily.\n*   **Check out Experian Boost™† .** Adding on-time utility, phone and streaming service payments to your credit file with Experian Boost may help you bump up your scores.\n*   **Give yourself time.** The longer your history of making on-time payments, the more beneficial those payments will be. If you have negative marks on your credit, the passage of time will reduce the impact they have on your scores and eventually they'll be removed entirely. If you've recently paid down card balances to reduce your credit utilization, it may take a few billing cycles for your score to fully reflect that change. Bottom line: If you want to raise your credit score to improve your loan or credit card options, there's no better time to start than now.\nThe same advice holds if you don't have much of a credit history—or your credit file is \"thin\" (with fewer than five credit accounts). It may take time to build the credit score you aspire to, so start working on it now. Building good credit from scratch may take multiple steps. You may need to begin with a secured credit card or start with a credit-builder loan. Over time, as long as you manage your credit responsibly and continue to make all payments on time, your positive credit history will populate your credit report and build up your score. END