How to Repair Your Credit in 30 Days

Maybe you have more medical bills than you can handle, or you have been laid off. Whatever the reason, you may have been late with your payments and that has damaged your credit score. That may have hurt your chance to new credit because it is a major factor that most lenders use to make credit available. However, there are several ways to repair your credit in only 30 days so you'll have a higher credit score, which will probably enable you to borrow what you need at a fair interest rate.

Instructions

1

Assess the damage. Obtain credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, the three national credit bureaus. You can get a credit report from them once each year; and for about $10, you can also get your credit score, also known as a FICO score. From those reports, you will be able to see how much damage you have done.

2

Thoroughly review your credit reports. For example, see that the bureaus are aware of accounts that you have paid off. You'll need to contact those that aren't. Also, look for errors such as a report that contains another person's information, or a particular account that is reported as going to collection when it hasn't. That error alone can lower your credit score by as much as 100 points. This can improve your credit in as little as 30 days.

3

Pay off as many debts as you can immediately, and at the same time request your credit card companies to consider raising your credit limit. The credit bureaus are interested in the percentage of your total credit limits that you use. People with stellar credit rarely use more than a third of their credit limit so that should be your goal. Paying off your credit cards is important if you are to repair your credit in 30 days.

4

Pay your bills on time. Pay your creditors when their bills hit your mailbox, not when they are due because the credit bureaus like to see you pay your bills early. Because of the high interest charged by credit cards, it's best to pay as much as you can on them to reduce the amount you owe. An added benefit will be that you have reduced your dependence on them, which is favorably viewed by the bureaus and that action alone will most likely help in your quest to repair your credit in 30 days.