There are many urban myths and just bad advice that you should ignore when trying to fix your credit score. There are way too many so-called 'experts' offering unproven advice these days. Read on for what really works if you want to raise your FICO credit score to 750 or more!

You probably have been led to believe that you only have one credit score.

If someone asks you, you will likely quote your 'credit score'. In fact you have at least three or more scores and these scores can vary widely. How can this be?

There are three major credit bureaus in the country that create credit reports and calculate FICO based credit scores. They are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax but there are also a number of smaller credit reporting companies keeping tabs on your credit and reporting scores.

To make things even more complicated for us, some of the major lenders calculate their own credit risk scores based on information in your credit report. So, when repairing your credit score, you should focus on just the lowest FICO score rating number first.

Here's what I mean.

Contact the three major credit bureaus, find your lowest FICO credit score being given among them, and work on repairing that credit score first. Moves you make here will positively impact the other two major bureau scores and automatically raise your average score.

Our score is over 800. Our lowest credit score among the three major credit reports is 800, the highest is 830. Our average score, then, is 815. When we seek credit we use the average of 815 when getting quotes from potential lenders.

By the way, we never give potential creditors our Social Security number when shopping for credit. We only give them our average FICO score to work with. This prevents your score from being lowered by too many inquiries.

So, how do you adjust your lowest credit score but not damage it in the process?

First of all, don't make the mistake of closing too many of your credit accounts thinking this will improve your score.

This may not make much sense so let me explain it.

First, you might inadvertently close an account you might need. If you need credit in an emergency, you will have to reapply for credit. All those new inquiries from lenders will cause your credit score to actually drop.

Secondly, most credit bureaus give high favorable FICO points to those who have a steady long-term credit history.

This simply means that closing a credit card account you have had for years may actually hurt you in the long run. If you have newer credit card or store accounts that you no longer need or if you have too many credit lines open, then go ahead and pay off some of them and close them. Doing this can certainly help your credit score but, remember, try to keep one or two older accounts open in case you need new credit.

There is one case where closing your accounts can be a bad idea.

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