 TITLE: Why You Should Avoid Buying Tradelines CONTENT: Alternatives for Improving Your Credit Score Fast\n-------------------------------------------------\nOther ways to improve your credit score fast include:\n### Pay Down Credit Card Debt\nYour credit utilization ratio, calculated by dividing your credit card's balance by its credit limit, is a major factor in your credit score, as it shows how much of your available credit you're using. If you have a high utilization rate—over 30%—paying down your balance can help improve your credit score as soon as the account gets reported again to the credit reporting agencies. For the best score, keep your utilization under 6%.\n### Dispute Credit Report Inaccuracies\nIf there are erroneous or fraudulent tradelines on your credit reports, they could be bringing down your credit score. Get a free copy of your report from each of the credit reporting agencies—Experian, Equifax and TransUnion—through AnnualCreditReport.com and review them for potential problem accounts. If you want to monitor your credit report more regularly, you can get a free credit report monthly from Experian.\nIf you find errors on your report, you can dispute it directly with the credit reporting agency, as well as with the creditor, to get it corrected. Once it's removed, your credit score will respond accordingly.\n### Get Credit for Utility and Telecom Payments\nHistorically, utility and telecom payments haven't been included in your credit scores. However, with Experian Boost™† , you can now get credit for making these regular monthly payments. You opt in to allow Experian to identify your utility and telecom payment history, verify the data and confirm you want it included in your Experian credit file. Once you do so, your FICO® Score will be updated immediately, possibly resulting in a credit score boost.\n### Focus on Developing Good Credit Habits\nThere's no guarantee you'll get the benefits you're paying for with tradeline buying, and there are ethical and potentially legal issues to consider with the practice.\nIf your goal is to improve your credit score and keep it in good shape, the best way to do that is to develop and practice good credit habits. Make your payments on time every month, keep your credit card balances relatively low and pay them in full each month, and avoid unnecessary debt. In fact, you're probably better off taking the money you would have spent on buying tradelines to pay down any existing debt.\nAs you establish a positive credit history over time, you'll start to see changes to your credit score and you'll have a much better chance of maintaining it where you want it to be in the long run. END