How to Do a Rapid Rescore Yourself
Learn how to prepare your credit profile and facilitate quicker updates to your credit score, making positive changes reflect faster.
Credit scores are a fundamental component of an individual’s financial standing, influencing access to loans, credit cards, and even housing. Many people seek ways to improve their credit scores, and often, the desire for quick improvements arises when facing significant financial decisions, such as securing a mortgage. This article will clarify what a rapid rescore entails and outline the actions an individual can take to facilitate faster credit score updates.
Understanding Rapid Rescores
A rapid rescore is a process designed to accelerate the updating of credit reports and scores to reflect recent changes. Typically, when information on a credit report changes, it can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days for these updates to appear and impact scores. A rapid rescore aims to shorten this timeframe significantly, often to within a few business days.
A rapid rescore is not a service consumers can initiate directly with credit bureaus. Instead, it is almost exclusively initiated by a lender, most commonly a mortgage lender, on behalf of a consumer. Lenders utilize rapid rescores when a borrower’s credit score is near a threshold for better loan terms or approval, and recent positive financial actions have not yet been reflected on their credit report. The lender pays a fee to the credit reporting agencies (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) to expedite the update process. This allows the lender to re-evaluate the borrower’s creditworthiness based on the most current information.
Preparing Your Credit Profile for Faster Updates
While individuals cannot directly request a rapid rescore, they can take proactive steps to prepare their credit profile for faster updates. This involves identifying areas for improvement and gathering necessary documentation. One common area is correcting inaccuracies on a credit report, such as incorrect account statuses, wrong balances, or accounts that do not belong to the individual. For these corrections, specific documentation like bank statements, utility bills, letters from creditors showing corrections, or identity theft reports are essential.
Credit utilization, which is the amount of revolving credit used compared to the total available credit, significantly influences scores. Paying down high credit card balances can lead to a quick score improvement. To document such payments, individuals should retain “paid in full” letters, bank statements showing the payment, or receipts. Similarly, settling collection accounts or paying off loans can positively impact a score. Proof of these actions, such as payment confirmations or letters confirming the resolution of the debt, will be needed. These clear, verifiable proofs are essential, as lenders or credit bureaus will require them for expedited updates.
Facilitating Expedited Credit Score Changes
After preparing your credit profile and gathering all supporting documentation, work towards expedited credit score changes. If a mortgage or other loan is being sought, the prepared documentation should be presented to the potential lender. The lender can then assess the impact of these recent changes. If it significantly improves the borrower’s eligibility or loan terms, they may initiate a rapid rescore.
The lender will submit collected proofs to the credit bureaus. This expedited process, once initiated by the lender, typically results in updated credit reports and scores within two to five business days.
If a lender is not involved, or if a rapid rescore is not an option, individuals can directly submit documentation to credit bureaus for expedited updates. This is relevant for correcting errors or ensuring recent positive financial activity is reflected promptly. Each of the three major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—offers online portals for submitting disputes and supporting documents. Alternatively, documentation can be sent by mail, often via certified mail for tracking purposes. While standard credit report disputes typically resolve within 30 days, and up to 45 days if additional information is submitted, directly providing clear documentation can help process changes efficiently.