Can I rebuild my credit score once I have paid off all my past delinquent bills and have applied for new CC's?

Question

I am 23 years old. My freshmen year in college i ruined my credit. In my sophmore year, I paid off all the accounts that were in collection using a debt counseling agency. Once, all my debts were paid off I applied for a Capital One credit card which I was approved for; and, a Macy's credit card which I also was approved for. But, my credit score is still poor........I NEED HELP BOOSTING MY CREDIT SCORE!!!

Answer 1

Credit repair does not require the assistance of a service. You can take a number of steps to help repair your own credit.

Although there are numerous credit repair companies offering their services for a fee, savvy individuals can do their own credit repair with a few simple steps. The advertisements placed by credit repair services touting their experience, qualified personnel and other qualifications can make the process seem daunting but it is really quite simple.

The basic steps for do-it-yourself credit repair include:

Request a credit report from all of the three credit reporting agencies
Carefully review all of the information on the credit reports
Dispute any mistakes on your credit report and document every step of the dispute process
Devise a debt reduction strategy
Establish good credit strategies now and carry them into the future
The first step of do-it-yourself credit repair is to request a copy of your credit report from Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. These are the three major credit reporting agencies and individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of these agencies. Requesting a report from each of the three agencies is important especially if you believe there may be a mistake on one of the reports. The information on all three reports will be similar but mistakes may only appear on one of the records.

Once the credit reports are acquired it is time to review all of the information carefully. Each item on the report should be examined and discrepancies should be noted. In reviewing this information, highlight anything that seems suspect and review your documentation to verify the validity of the item.

After compiling a list of mistakes, it is time to officially dispute any inaccuracies on the credit report. The dispute processes will most likely involve filling out a dispute form or writing a letter detailing the alleged mistake. In both cases documentation supporting the validity of the dispute will be required. For specific information on how to officially file a dispute, contact the credit reporting agency directly. Once the dispute process begins, document every aspect of the process. This is important because dispute resolution is a time sensitive process with specific guidelines for how quickly a dispute must be resolved. The agency may be required to remove a disputed item from a credit report if they do not respond in a timely fashion.

When a negative credit report is a result of a poor credit history and not mistakes, only time will properly repair the credit. The long term credit repair strategy for financial errors in judgment includes devising a debt reduction strategy which will demonstrate diligence and establishing sound credit strategies which will be viewed favorably in the future. Credit reporting agencies do not hold grudges. Credit lapses are removed from credit reports after set periods of time and a history of good credit is rewarded with a solid credit score.

Answer 2

Make all your payments ON TIME. Use the cards but pay off the balance when the bill comes.

One of the things that can hurt your score is to have a credit limit on a credit card of say, $5000 and have a $4999 balance on it. Having a low balance or no balance will help you. Not using them at all doesn't really help as much because you won't get a payment history on them.

However, you don't want to get a whole bunch of cards. 2 or 3 maximum and keep the balances low or at zero by paying them off every month.

Answer 3

Don't get any more credit. That is what sunk you the first time around. Macy's is a bit pricey to have their credit card, you need to be looking at Kohls, Pennys, Walmart. You have to prove you can pay bills, not spend money, (and proving that takes longer than proving you can't). Get a bank account and pay for everything with checks (not for cash checks). Actual, here is the bill, and here is the check I wrote to cover it. Keep you records of transaction for five years. Yep it could take that long to get a good score. Sorry! This is called experience, so learn from it. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Severe damage to your credit, even when dont at reckless times in your life ( freshman year in college for example) can take a while to rebuild. The same thing happened to my GF when she was in college. At 27 her score is starting to get up there after making alot of years of good payments. Ussualy after 7 years most things fall off your credit, so I would say by the time you are 25- 26 your score will start to quickl rise. At this point though, you are going to see slow gains, since those negative will still be sticking out like a sore thumb.

Hang in there though-- it will be back up there soon enough.

Answer 5

Use the cards you have, but take 2 months to pay them off. That was advice given to me by a financial expert. Most credit card companies only report to credit bureaus every other month. If you are paying the balances off each month, it never shows you had a balance. Good luck!

Answer 6

Do not over charge AND do not pay your balance off each month. You need to be consistent about paying your bill each month on time (very important) and pay more than the minimum balance due. It will take time to build your credit again but it is very important to handle it appropriately.

Answer 7

Keep your card balances below 50% of the limit. Pay them on time!!! Be patient...time will heal your report/score. Also, if you would like more information then visit:
http://www.thecreditrepairmanual.com