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Get a copy of your credit report from each of the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and dispute inaccurate information. You may have to provide proof, but often the investigation done by the bureau will be enough to have the information removed. Once you've removed inaccurate details, if your score isn't where you want it to be, you should try to get a credit account with someone such as Orchard Bank and use it to build good payment history while you wait for any negative items to fall off of your credit report. You might also consider opening a CD with a bank and then using it as collateral for a personal loan, which you will pay off from the funds in the bank. Either of these options will slowly build up your credit. Just read the articles here about what goes into your credit score and try to follow them as closely as possible.

If you are talking about the verification questions that are asked, it said that you MAY have taken out a mortgage loan around October 2005. This is simply a test question that was given to you to test to see if you knew about your own history (proving that you're really you).

To everyone talking about saving money: You can't get this card unless your income is better than 99% of the people in the United States. This card is marketed to the rich. Plus, if you actually use the features, especially the concierge, you'll more than get your money's worth. Plus, it has 1% cashback with no yearly max (which, of course, can be beaten easily by other cards), and I imagine that it's safe to say that people rich enough to get approved for this card might actually charge and pay off $49,500 or more a year... so, really, this is a great deal for those heavy spenders.

After talking to multiple custom service representatives on both the phone and citicards.com's live chat feature, I've come to the following conclusions:

1. According to representatives, the Citi Forward card is the best card for a college student with a very limited credit history.

2. To get this card, they really want to see at least 2 open lines of credit in good standing for at least six months.

While I can see why they would want you to have experience with credit before getting their card, how can they rightfully say that the card is geared towards college students and those without a credit history if they want you to have at least two other cards? More importantly, how is a college student with limited credit supposed to have two cards and still plan to get a third?

In a way, yes. Typically, when one says "soft inquiry", one is referring to the kind of report check that is done when a lender is pre-screening you for a credit offer (promotional inquiry), or a current lender is just "checking up" on your report. As you give CreditKarma permission to access your TransUnion report, this kind of inquiry is treated just as if you had requested the report directly from TransUnion (consumer inquiry). Both promotional inquiries and consumer inquiries DO NOT HARM your score in any way.

Assuming it is your only card, or one of your only cards, then it could hurt your score greatly! However, if you already have 4 or 5 cards that have been open for much longer than this, then closing the card may not do any damage at all. It all depends on your unique situation in your credit reports. Unless you have way too much credit available, there is no harm in keeping a the credit card account open. I recommend using it once a month for a small purchase and paying the balance off by the end of the month in order to keep the account active.

Get a credit card or two. Use the card(s) for small purchases (relative to your credit limit) in order to keep your total credit utilization under 25%, and pay off the balance in full each month so that you don't have to pay interest and so that you don't get yourself into debt. After six months to a year of on-time payments, you should see your score slowly increase. If you have a low score and cannot qualify for an unsecured card on your own, you could either get a secured card, or get a cosigner for a credit card.

If you get a secured card, it will act just like a regular credit card, but you will have to deposit money into a savings account that you are not allowed to get back until an agreed-upon time has been reached, such as 12 to 18 months. Lenders offer secured cards as a means to give credit-building opportunities to those will bad credit without having the risk of losing money, as if you refuse to pay your debt to them, then they will take the money from the savings account. Of course, if you want to build credit, you definitely don't want that to happen!

Getting a cosigner would allow you to get a better credit card, assuming that the cosigner's score is very good. However, it may be difficult to find someone with a good credit score that would be willing to take on your debt in case you don't pay, as well as the risk of having a lower credit score. However, as long as you only use the card responsibly, you should do nothing but good to your own report and score and to your cosigner's. A parent, roommate, spouse, friend, etc. that has good credit could be a cosigner for you, if they are willing.

No. As long as the account is truly closed, the account cannot re-appear on your report. If this happens, you should dispute the item on your report.

Try to keep your balance on your cards under $250 (or, better, $100). This will keep your credit utilization under 25% (or 10%), which accounts for a large part of your report.

Continue to make every payment on time, as this is the most important part of your credit report. If you are afraid you might not make the payment in time, set up automatic payments with your bank, or send in the payment extra early.

When applying for new credit cards, try to limit the number of applications you make. Pick one or two cards that you really want, and apply for them, rather than applying for several all at once. This will keep the number of "hard" inquiries on your report low (hard inquiries occur when a lender checks your report in order to make a credit decision about you).

If you follow all of these tips, avoid overextending yourself financially, and keep your credit accounts in good standing and open so that the age of your report will increase, you should see a steady increase in your score.

Also, as you are from another country, if you are denied credit from a lender, you may be able to appeal your case. If they deny you simply because your report is too thin, you could contact them in writing, possibly giving them a copy of a credit report from an agency in your home country. Though it is not full-proof, if the lender so chooses, you may be approved even if your credit history here is quite thin.

Yes and no. Your lender will decide when to report your current balance to the bureaus. Typically, the lender will report the the balance on the same day every month (with the exception of holidays, etc., in which case it would fall on the next business day). If you wish to use a large amount of your credit limit, even with the intent of paying it off in full, try breaking up your payments or paying off most/all of the balance before it is reported, or your report could wind up showing a very high credit utilization, even though you have little or no balance carried from month to month!

For instance, if you have have a credit card with a $1000 limit and you charge a $500 balance and pay it off on the due date, your report may still show a $500 balance, since it was reported to the bureaus before you paid it off. You could either pay the $500 before the report date (assuming you can find out what this date his by checking to see when it was reported in the past or by asking your lender), or you could pay $250 halfway through the billing cycle and $250 again when you would normally pay your bill. Either way, you can lower your utilization percentage significantly.

Absolutely not! Your credit report won't even show whether or not you allowed interest to accrue on a balance before you paid it off, it will only show what the balance was on the day that your lender decides to report the balance. Paying off your credit cards monthly will help you build credit and help you avoid high interest rates.