by Jessica Curtis

Created on: February 12, 2009

Have you recently requested your credit score, only to find that it is much lower than you expected? There are many factors that can contribute to a low credit score. Credit is a strange thing - creditors prefer to extend borrowing capabilities only to individuals who seem more than able to repay. (Ironically, the ideal creditor as defined by most banking institutions is one who has no need to borrow money in the first place).

Don't let a low score stand in your way - there are actions that you can take to help raise your score to acceptable levels. Listed below are some of the most common reasons for a low score, and what you can do to help fix them:

1) Late payments. Even one late payment on a credit card can adversely affect your score, and in today's economy can be enough to scare away potential creditors. Unfortunately, this is the most common reason for lower-than-expected credit ratings, and there is very little that can be done to reverse the negative effects of a late payment on your credit report.

If you believe that this late payment is an error, contact your creditor and ask them about removing the mark from your report. If you are a first time offender, or have a reasonable explanation for your delinquency, creditors can be understanding of your needs. You can also dispute the mark by sending a letter to each of the 3 credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

If you are habitually late in your payments and this is reflected on your credit score, there are still some actions you can take, although they are more drastic. You can dispute every late payment, which takes a lot of postage and a lot of time, and hope that eventually these marks are removed. You can request a personal statement be listed on your report, which will allow you to explain your habitual lateness in your own words. This will not affect your numerical score, but it may make creditors more sympathetic to your situation. Finally, you can make a request to a relative or friend with good credit to become an authorized user on their account. More information on this below.

2) Not enough credit history. Your credit report may list faults that are out of your control, which can be very frustrating. If you have not had a credit line for at least 15 years, you are believed to be a higher risk. Over time, this issue will resolve itself, but what if you need a credit boost in the short term?

Your only possible option to reverse this negative mark is to become an authorized

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