Pay your current bills on time. If you have a mortgage, pay before the due date, not before the penalty date. If you can, pay your old debts. and get rid of any old judgments.
Pay all of your bills on time, make sure to meet at least the minimal amount due on all of your credit cards; but try to pay over that amount. Pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. You have to consistent with payments for awhile before your credit will recover. Once you pay off the cards, pick the one with the lowest interest rate and keep it. Cut all of the others up and DO NOT GET ANYMORE when your credit is good.
If you have any bills, pay the on time each and every time.
Open a credit card – go through your bank. Use your credit card a little bit (30% of the limit or so) each month, and pay it off in FULL each month.
Do this for at least a year.
If you can’t open a credit card, and you don’t have any monthly bills, start by getting some monthly bills. A phone is a good choice, because most people have a phone already. Sign a 2-year contract with a mobile phone company and pay that each month on time.
You don’t clean bad credit you rebuild good credit.
The only things that can be legally removed from credit reports are items that are not correct.
Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act derogatory accounts show for 7-years from the date of first delinquency which works out to 7-years and 180-days.
What you can do is use a couple of credit cards for everyday things and pay them off in full before the due dates, this will help establish a good payment history.
Another thing you can try if you have collections or judgments is to see if they will agree to a pay for delete agreement this simply removes the accounts from your credit report in exchange for your payment, some will and some won’t
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
The way to get good credit is to have one card and pay it in full each month.
It is an old ladies myth that you need to carry balances to establish credit – IT SIMPLY is not true. I have no loans, and I have top notch credit. You don’t need loans to establish credit.
———————-
To get a card you will need a job and a checking account.
Easy cards to get: gas cards, store cards
Use these wisely for 6 months – pay the second you get the bill
After 6 months get a regular visa card. See if you can find one with cash rewards. They are high interest – but you won’t ever pay that interest if you follow the rules.
/