How can you clean up your credit?

Answer 1

Pay your bills on time.

Answer 2

The first step would be to find out what your credit score is. Once you know this, you can start to pay off debts that went to collection agencies etc. and then gradually pay off debts a little at a time. Some agencies can work with you and approach your debtors and possibly arrange a loan consolidation or reducing interest rates or putting them on hold. There are many things that can be done. This should be done before approaching a bankruptcy firm. Good luck.

Answer 3

This is what you credit bureau states...All the credit you have (credit cards) how much you owe a month on them, how much the outstanding balance. Late payments. Inquiries which means which companys have checked your credit. Any collections you have, and if you've paid them off it wil state that.

NOW knowing this can help you.
May sure you pay all your bills/credit cards on time.
Dont let ANYTHING get into collections.
Having lots of credit and inquiries isnt really good, your credit score goes down.

Answer 4

according to the FICO site (http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/),... your FICO score is based on these criteria:

35% - payment history (did you pay on time)
30% - Amounts owed (are you maxed out on all your cards?)
15% - length of credit history (longer is better)
10% - new credit (are you opening up a bunch of accounts?)
10% - types of credit used (mortgage is better than payday loans)

Based on this, the best way is to
1 - get current with everything and stay that way
2 - whittle down the balances on the non-mortgage loans
3 - don't open new accounts
4 - wait.

Any black marks on your credit history have less impact as time goes on, so missing a payment last month will hurt more than the one you missed 3 years ago.

Also, being 1 month late is much easier on your score than being 2 or more months late, 3 is much worse than 2, etc. Being less than 1 month late shouldn't show on your credit history.

There's plenty of good information about your credit at
www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
www.equifax.com

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Always pay bills on time.

AND...

You can also get a credit card and charge something small (like a pack of gum) every month. Then pay off your charge EVERY month. Since a pack of gum is very affordable this will not be hard to do.

And because you will be paying off your card every month...this will help you build your credit score back up.

Answer 6

You can request a free copy of your credit report, once a year (under federal law). You need to be diligent in checking that all information contained on your report is accurate. You can dispute any information contained on your report, and the company that reported you has 30 days to verify the information or it will be removed from your file. There is complete information on how to go thru this process on the Federal Trade Commissions' website, www.ftc.gov

Answer 7

Always pay your bills on time.
Stop getting new credit cards.
(Don't close old cards, just stop using them. In fact, ask them to lower your credit limit.)

Use credit wisely. That is, have it but only use it in emergencies. Pay your bills in full every month.

You can get a free copy of your credit report each year. Write them on any items that are incorrect. Then ask for another free copy to verify they removed the item(s).

Answer 8

Watch your credit report monthly and wait 7 years until it all rolls off.. there is no easy fixes despite what the commercials say.

Answer 9

You need to submit a letter of dispute to the 3 bureaus.

Here is some info that will help:

Answer 10

1. Always pay on time or ahead of time.
2. maintain low balances on credit cards
3. keep your total potential debt to earnings load low - If you have a card with a $15000 credit line, you may ask them to reduce it to something more realistic, like $5000.
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http://www.bestcreditrates.net

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Answer 11

pay them all off or wait about 10 years and they will be taken off your record. I know by experiance. That happened to me.