CREDIT SCORE IMPROVEMENT

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Hey Gang~

I am working on improving my credit but especially my score and I am curious as to if there are no newly reported possible negative information on my account and I have been paying all of my credit cards (I have 1 store card and 1 small credit building card) as well as my utility, cell phone, and car loan payments all on time, how long will it be until I see improvement in my score?

Currently Experian has me at 670 but as most of you know, this is keeping me from getting a decent interest rate, and I am looking to purchase a 2nd car for commuting and refinance my current car loan (The family truck!).  With this credit score I am getting offers of 11.99%!!!! Which is just not happening when my current loan is 3.4%.

Any help is appreciated, I am new to this, I never had parents to guide me in proper credit management and learning the hard way has cost me thousands and now that I am in my 30's I'm finally on an upswing but want to be informed and do some research before I run my credit again.

Thanks!

[llecs]

Are you certain the 670 is a FICO?

Assuming it is a FICO, I know of many posters on here who received low single-digit APRs on new car purchases with scores around yours, and even lower. I'd aim for a CU from somewhere and you're bound to get a lower rate.

[takeshi74]

Have you pulled your reports to verify that there isn't anything that needs to be corrected?

What's your utilization like?

[HoldingOntoHope]

And in response to your original question - the amount of time it takes to start to recover from negative information is largely based on what the negatives were. For example 30 day late payments occurring only for a single month and not repeating seem to lose the majority of their effect after about a year to eighteen months. More severe delinquencies such as 60+ days or charge offs have an effect for much longer and at least in my own personal experience seem to have an effect up to the time they finally are excluded from your credit reports. This means a period of 7 to 71/2 years from the date of occurrence.

I saw the largest gain in my credit scores 70+ points when the last negative information was dropped and my report was completely clear of negatives. That was even with adding positive information and accounts that reported over the time in the rebuilding process. If you look in the Rebuilding your credit forum you will find a lot of expertise on how to start improving your scores. Good luck and welcome to the forums.