The first step in improving your credit score is to constantly monitor your credit history by getting your report for free from AnnualCreditReport.com. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the three nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) provide a copy of your credit report every twelve months. You can learn more about the FCRA's mandate at the FTC.gov website set up for this.

Correcting Errors
Once you get a copy of your credit history, look it over and dispute anything that's wrong. You could have an account listed that isn't yours or one that's listed as delinquent when it's not. The statistics on the number of errors in credit reports is astounding (79% may have errors)and chances are something in your report is wrong and adversely affecting your score.