Another way to get cleaner credit is to pay down high balance credit cards. Ideally you want your balance not to exceed 33%-50% of your credit limit.

If you decide to pay off a credit card do not make the mistake of closing the account. Having a high maximum credit limit with no balance will help your score whereas closing an account will lower your amount of available credit and can damage your scores.

When you get a copy of your credit report, sit down and review it. If you find any inaccuracies, don't wait to try and fix them. One of the biggest mistakes people make is procrastinating. Errors take time to fix. So take the time to fix them. It could mean a huge difference in your credit score.

If you're debts are under control now, but want to improve your bad credit history, the most important factor is to make your monthly payments on time. Use pre-addressed envelopes enclosed with your statements to mail your payments and call the company if you don't receive your usual statement. Also send your payment as early as possible if you carry a balance. Most companies calculate interest on a daily basis, so the sooner they receive your payment, the less interest you'll pay.

Minimize credit inquiries

You should only have your credit pulled when you are ready to act. If you are thinking about purchasing a new car, then you should have your credit pulled and purchase the car within two weeks. If you are thinking of purchasing a home, you should pull your credit several months in advance to check for any inaccuracies. Then have your credit pulled again when you are ready to actually make the purchase. Credit inquiries account for 10% of your total credit score. When the time comes to purchase a new home or refinance your existing home, that 10% could make a big difference.

Fico Score Models - A FICO score model is a number that rates a borrowers credit record. The score is based on a number of factors, including how well debts have been paid off, current levels of debt, types of credit, and length of credit history. Scores generally range from 350 to 900.

You may also see that your score is different when you pull it from an online source compared to what a mortgage company may pull. Scoring models are a little different for its intended market.

There are different credit scoring models for each of the three different credit scoring agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Each of those credit scoring agencies has different versions of there credit scoring models as well. Just like computer software is updated constantly so are credit scoring models. This is a big reason for some discrepancies between your credit scores between the different reporting agencies and between different creditors. If 2 different lenders tell you your TransUnion score and those numbers differ from each other, this does not mean that one of them is lying to you, it could simply mean that each one of them are using a different version to pull their credit reports through TransUnion. Usually the older version will be cheaper which can save a lender tons of money from making hundreds of thousands of credit checks.

Different credit scoring models are simply different ways of calculating a credit score based on the same information contained in your credit report.