So I have had a really bad couple years after the divorce and a combination of un- and under employment and have screwed my credit royally. ( to the point of having “derogatory” info on my credit report:O )
Now I just got a new job and in a month or two, I will have paid off my critical bills that need to be paid like utilities, rent, insurance, etc.
Any tips on how I should go about rebuilding my credit? Are there any legitimate sites that will help with this? I see ads for supposedly non profit organizations that do this but I am skeptical about such places.
I am going to be getting a new car and my new employer is co signing so I can avoid 15%+ interest rates - will this help my credit if I maintain the payments?
The more payments you make on time, the better your credit looks. Lenders like to see that you’re paying in a timely manner, and once you build up a track record for this, your credit will slowly improve.
Any idea on how long I need to be showing consistent payment for my credit to improve? I also wonder what the procedure is for removing info from my report once I pay off the overdue bills. If that is even possible or if it just stays on for some predetermined time.
I once dated a woman who’d declared bankruptcy. She was able to get a special credit card I referred to as a “go and sin no more” credit card. The rates were probably higher since she was a higher risk, but the idea was if she used this card responsibly it would help rebuild her credit rating.
You may want to look into something like that. Use it to pay for things you’d normally write a check for, that you know you’re going to pay off soon, and it will help.
Unfortunately, another necessary ingredient for rebuilding your credit is time, so despite various spams we’ve all received, there’s no quick fix.
I’ve looked, all those programs that immediately fix up your credit are scams. There is no way to get negative marks off your report unless they are incorrect and you can show them to be so.
You are going to have to be patient.
Take what credit you can get, and use it responsibly.
You can fix things pretty quickly. That being a relative term, but you’ll get the idea. If you have a really crappy credit card of any kind, you will get offers for ones a little better. Take the little better one and cancel the less good one. Keep that up for a few years and you will be on the road to recovery.
I found that taking the high interest car loan and just biting the interest bullet worked the best for me. After about a year and a half of making the payments ontime I was able to refinance the loan at a much better rate. Having a year history of making a car loan on time (with no co-signer) really helps things along.
While it is going to take a long time for all the bad stuff to fall off your report entirely, building a track record of paying on time after starts helping right away. More recent activity that is all good seems to carry alot of weight.
Not all of my bad has fallen off yet, but still, I carry several Platinum cards. (finally)
You cannot have accurate info removed. It will expire automatically after 7 years in most instances. You can and should make sure that all the things you have paid off/caught up on are correctly report. Get your report and make sure it is accurate and up to date. If things that are paid off are marked as delinquite, it will hurt you more. You CAN have info like that corrected. In several instances I had to contact old creditors and request that they update the information supplied to the credit reporting agencies. Always have them supply you with a copy of the information the submit for your records.