Rebuilding your credit may seem like a long task with little light at the end of the tunnel. But really, a few strategic steps can make a noticeable difference in your credit score.
Whether you want just a few ideas to rebuild credit or the full enchilada, we’ll walk you through your options. Plus, you’ll even find a few bonus tips on what not to do to get that number growing.
Let’s get started.
8 Strategies to Rebuild Credit
There are actually quite a few ways you can jumpstart your credit score. Pick one, pick them all. Just remember that the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll start seeing results.
1. Address Any Credit Report Errors
First things first, you need to check your credit reports to see what’s actually on there. You can get a free copy from the three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. Just submit a form at AnnualCreditReport.com.
It’s sponsored by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and is authorized by federal law. In other words, accessing your free credit report is your legal right!
Check for Inaccuracies
Once you have your reports, you need to scour each one for accuracy. Don’t just look to see if the credit accounts are yours. You must check the amount owed, payment history, and other details to ensure the information is accurate. Pay careful attention to negative information because it does the most damage to your credit scores.
If anything looks incorrect or outdated, send a dispute letter. If the listing is outdated or erroneous, it should be removed within a few months.
Whenever your credit report is updated, the credit bureau should send you a new copy for free. You can then view the updates. Depending on the importance of the negative item being removed, you could see an increase in your credit scores. In fact, getting negative items removed from your credit reports is one of the fastest ways to rebuild credit.
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Learn how credit repair professionals can assist you in disputing inaccuracies on your credit report.
2. Keep Your Debt Low or Pay Down Existing Debt
Debt plays a huge role in determining your creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders and other creditors. Having too much can be a red flag. However, not having enough can result in lenders not having enough information to go on.
The key is to not overburden any one specific account. For example, if you’re approaching your credit limit on a credit card, your credit score will take a hit.
If you’ve already maxed out some of your credit cards, it’s time to start paying those down. And if you need to make some major purchases on a credit card in the near future, think about spreading it out over different accounts.
Credit Utilization
Need some comparison benchmarks for how much credit you should utilize?
Typically, you want to keep your balance below 30% of your credit limit. Your credit utilization ratio can help you determine which debts to pay off first. You’ll also want to consider how high the interest rates are to determine which one to start with.
If your APR is comparable across credit cards, work on getting each one below that 30% threshold. For example, if you owe $4,000 on an account with a $5,000 limit, keep paying it off until your balance is under $1,500. Keeping your debt low saves you money, and it can also help fix your credit scores.
3. Make Your Monthly Payments On Time
We can never stress enough how important paying your bills on time each month is. This includes all your bills, including loans, utilities, and cell phones, not just credit cards.
How long do you have before your late payment is reported to the credit bureaus?
The limit is 30 days. Thereafter, it’s likely your missed payment will be reported, and your credit score will drop. But here’s the catch: you’ll receive a new negative entry for every 30-day period afterward that you haven’t paid.
If you still haven’t worked something out with your creditor after a few months, they could send your account to collections. That creates a new credit report entry called a charge off. And charge offs can cause a significant drop in your credit score, not to mention put off potential new creditors.
Not only does this tip help prevent new bad credit entries, but it’ll also help improve your credit score over time. Consider setting up automatic payments or payment reminders, and you’ll start seeing positive results soon.
4. Avoid Closing Existing Credit Accounts
Account age is another determining factor used in your credit score. While you may think it’s better to close an account, consider a few things before you do.
First, understand how the age of the account actually affects your credit scores. Any new credit account could cause a slight dip in your credit score. So, keeping older credit accounts open to balance out new financial products is important.
But there’s a myth in the personal finance sphere that closing a credit card automatically removes that history from your credit reports.
That’s not true. Each closed account stays on your credit report for an additional ten years.
When is it smart to close a credit card account?
The answer is anytime you’re paying an annual or monthly fee that isn’t offset by other benefits received from the account. For example, if you have a travel rewards card, you may accrue enough points that save you more than you pay for the annual fee.
Take a good look at how you’re using your credit cards to determine if they really deserve a place in your wallet.
5. Use a Secured Credit Card or Credit Builder Loan
It may be difficult to get new credit if you have a shaky financial past. But you may need it for either a monetary emergency or to have an account that reports your on-time payments and help you rebuild credit.
There are two products that can help you in these situations, but they do have some limitations.
Secured Credit Cards
The first is a secured credit card. They’re common with banks and credit unions, although you can find some online credit card issuers as well.
To receive a secured credit card, you’re required to make a security deposit that serves as collateral in case of missed credit card payments. As long as you at least make the minimum payment on-time each month, the creditor will report the payment history to the three major credit bureaus. This will help you begin rebuilding credit.
Credit Builder Loans
The second financial product is a credit builder loan. With credit builder loans, you make a deposit in the loan amount to the financial institution, then make monthly payments (with interest). It may seem unproductive to pay for money you already have. However, the lender reports your payment history to the credit bureaus, and that’s what helps you rebuild credit.
Once you’ve successfully used either of these products for a certain period of time, you can usually upgrade to a better credit card or loan.
6. Make payments twice a month
Even if you pay your credit card balances in full each month, your credit scores could suffer if you charge a lot.
Why?
Credit bureaus don’t look at your credit card balances in real-time. Instead, they typically receive monthly updates from credit card companies.
That means even if your balance is $0 after you pay off your statement, your credit report may look different. In fact, you could appear to have a 100% credit utilization ratio even though you’re not carrying a balance each month!
You can avoid this problem by making more than one payment each month. That way, you’re reducing your credit card balances when the credit card company chooses to take a snapshot of your account and send it to the credit bureaus.
If you ever charge a large amount and can pay it off right away, you can do that even before your statement comes due.
7. Increase your credit limits
When you don’t have the means to pay down your credit card debt in a large bulk but are making on-time payments each month, it is still possible to improve your credit score. You can do this by requesting a credit limit increase from your credit card issuer.
That automatically lowers your credit utilization. Here’s how.
Again, let’s assume that you have a $4,000 balance on a $5,000 credit card. That’s a credit utilization ratio of 80%. But if you’ve been a loyal customer with a strong repayment history, you could call customer service and ask for a larger line of credit.
Say you raise your available credit limit to $8,000 and don’t add any new debt to the account. Your $4,000 balance now only accounts for a 50% credit utilization ratio. It’s a great start, and makes it much more manageable for you to get that number down to 30%.
8. Request to Be an Authorized User
If you’re close to someone with a positive credit history, consider becoming an authorized user on one of their existing credit card accounts. When you do, you’ll automatically get the age of the account and payment history added to your credit report. It’s basically a shortcut to rebuild credit.
The downside is that any negative history associated with their account will also be included on your credit reports. And if you get access to the card and charge a lot or don’t pay on time, their credit will also be affected.
This can be an extremely effective tool to build credit quickly. However, it requires a close relationship and an upfront conversation about expectations.
Be honest about your intentions and ask the person for total transparency in their own credit habits. After all, if they hit a financial bump, it could also impact you.
Still, becoming an authorized user is certainly a viable option, especially if you can have an open dialog with someone like a parent, spouse, or lifelong friend.
How long does it take to rebuild your credit history?
Rebuilding your credit history is definitely a process. Some negative marks, like late payments, and missed payments that lead to charge offs, can stay on your report for up to seven years. Bankruptcies can last as long as ten years. Of course, it’s possible to remove negative items much sooner. But even if they’re not, their impact on your credit score begins to wane as time goes by.
Once you start diving into some of the tactics we’ve discussed, you’ll likely start seeing results in your credit score within a few months.
After that, it could still take years to completely rebuild your credit, depending on what specifically is on your credit report. Luckily, the things you need to do to rebuild your credit are also things that are really beneficial to your overall financial health.
Final Thoughts
It’s worth making some lifestyle changes to pay off your debt, make your payments on time, and regularly stay on top of your credit report.
After all, rebuilding your credit is just the first step. Once you’ve started, you can begin thinking about financial goals as well, such as buying a house, going back to school, or saving up for a major purchase. With good credit, you will have access to the best interest rates.
The best thing about having a good credit score is that it opens the door to more possibilities for your life. So, when you start acting on ways to rebuild your credit, you’re taking the first step in a journey full of potential.
