A few months ago, we did this before with three other viewers and we got such a good response from the public that we thought we'd try it again.
We helped Jill Hanks of West Hollywood, Mark Kramer of Huntington Beach and Lorena Peters of Los Angeles increase their credit score by 80 to 94 points. How did we do it?
Well, we got them in contact with credit score expert and author of "The Road to 850", Al Bingham, who wanted to help.
"I'm really taken back by all the people that are strugging and are really just trying to find solutions," Bingham says. "They're starting to recognize just how much it's costing them."
Could do we make it happen again? Hundreds of viewers wanted to know, including Purvis Glosson of San Bernardino, Dana Clark of Arcadia and Patti Miller of Santa Monica.
But Bingham says there is no magic pill to fix your credit instantly.
"It is challenging," he says. "
Although you don't need a perfect credit score of 850, having good credit is essential to your financial health, which is something each of our viewers learned the hard way.
Glosson didn't care about his credit score until his landlord told him he had to move. Glosson then thought it best to buy a house.
"I thought I was set," Glosson says, "but he wanted his property back and gave me 60 days to work.'
Clark is a graduate student at the /*University of Southern California*/ and her student loans just got out of hand.
Miller got laid off from her job as a make-up artist.
"I was really, very down," she says. "It's tough and I was scared."
Despite their credit troubles, Bingham was very successful in helping each one.
Here are some strategies to get your credit score up:
- Maintain golden accounts. Those are accounts open 10 years or more and use them at least once per year.
- Build a perfect payment history.
- Reduce your debt.
- Identify mistakes and correct them.
Miller got a second job and paid off her credit cards. She saw her score rise more than 100 points.
Glosson got his score up so much, he is now proud to say he has qualified for a mortgage and is ready to close on a house.
