While it isn’t impossible to do it can take years to fix bad credit. At times fixing your bad credit can feel like a full time job. Credit reports aren’t the easiest reports to read. Oftentimes hours and hours of research is required to even begin getting to the bottom of derogatory entries.
How long delinquencies stay on your credit
Different items on your credit report are reported for various amounts of time. To make matters even more complicated, each state has a different statute of limitations for collecting on debts. Inquiries for credit remain on the credit report for two years. In general, standard delinquencies remain on the credit report for up to seven years. Bankruptcies and tax liens remain even longer! A bankruptcy is typically reported for ten years. Tax liens can stay on your credit report for up to 15 years.
No quick fix to bad credit
Once you’ve been denied credit it’s imperative to get a copy of your credit report from all three major credit bureaus. The process of fixing bad credit is one of the most time consuming, frustrating tasks you will ever tackle. But you can’t run and hide. Yes, it’s embarrassing and it might even feel shameful to have to come clean with yourself about your spending and borrowing habits. Negotiating with creditors takes time and humility but if you ignore the problem it will cost you lots and lots of money down the road. Few things in life are more satisfying than feeling financially responsible. Your future self will thank you for the work you will do to improve your credit score!
Rebuild credit history
Along with paying old debts, getting erroneous items removed from your credit report and negotiating for good standing statuses on your accounts you must rebuild your credit history. Obtain a secure, low limit credit card. Use it for small purchases and always pay the balance at the end of the month. Don’t use this card to make large purchases. You might find yourself backed into the same corner you once were and you will rack up a large balance and miss payments.
Pay your bills!
Yes, your credit might be a mess and if you’re serious about cleaning it up you are probably going to spend easily over ten hours a week sorting through your old accounts. But the single most important thing you can do to fix your bad credit is to pay your bills on time! Make it a commitment. Starting right now you vow to never miss a payment.
A credit repair counselor is a very good idea if you have bad credit and are confused about where to start. There are professionals who do this sort of work day in and day out. We suggest Lexington Law Office. They have an entire staff dedicated to fixing bad credit but they can’t pay your bills on time. You have to do that!
"I just want to share with you my story about how my credit situation. If you are someone struggling with bad credit, then I was walking in your exact same shoes...
And today - if you look behind me - this is the house that I bought.
So, obviously my credit situation has changed.
Basically, while I was in college I ran up my credit cards and acquired a lot of unmanageable debt which destroyed my credit rating.
About a-year-and-a-half ago when I went to try to buy a house, the banks laughed at me and made me feel bad about what happened in college. (They basically implied that I was a deadbeat SCUMBAG even though it really wasn't all my fault).
I knew that I had to fix my credit, but didn't know how to do it myself so I went to Lexington Law.
Now, literally within several months, I was able to purchase a $300,000 new home without any trouble at all obtaining a mortgage.
So instead of going into banks with bad credit and being looked at as a scumbag, the banks were more than willing to help.
In fact, when I applied for my mortgage and the banker ran my credit, he came back and was saying...
"Wow! Sure thing sir. We'd love to help you out."
Lexington Law literally changed my life.
I went from being the person who has bad credit to being the person who is living in what I consider my dream home at age 29.
I had basically every kind of negative listing shy of a bankruptcy.
Lexington Law has raised my credit score at least 237 points. I just checked my FICO score which is now a 737. When I started with Lexington Law, it was below 500!"
I encourage anyone struggling with bad credit to pick up the phone and give Lexington Law a call.
It was super-encouraging to see my credit score improve each month as the negative items were deleted from my credit reports. I thought some of the bad credit was permanent since creditors misled me into believing that delinquent information would stay on my credit report for the next seven years.
However, through their dispute process and "goodwill interventions," Lexington Law proved it is possible to remove any questionable negative item. (it is the same as pleading 'not guilty' in a court of law).
Additionally, the paralegal assigned to my case showed me other credit rebuilding techniques such as:
Deleting the negative credit items like charge offs and the credit card judgment, combined with the credit rebuilding techniques, rapidly improved my credit score. In fact, in month two my score went up 74 points!
After living with bad credit for so long, it was really encouraging to see that I was making progress in the right direction.
Not only did the attorneys at Lexington Law show me results, they also provided excellent customer service along the way. If you are someone who enjoys that "personal touch", then you may like how Lexington Law assigns a paralegal to your case.
My paralegal (Stephanie) was always available to discuss the status of my case over the phone and email. Even though I didn't expect or ask for it, my attorney would also periodically give me a call to check in.
Here are some strategies Lexington Law used to delete the really stubborn bad credit - such as the credit card judgment:
You can also access you case online anytime you like. (I enjoyed logging in just to see all the deletions!)
If you are struggling with a bad credit score because of negative credit items, then I truly hope that you start repairing your credit today. I know how humiliating bad credit is and I know how easy it is just to 'sweep it under the rug' and pretend it will go away on its own.
I realize that your situation is probably a little different than mine, however, Lexington Law has already deleted questionable charge offs, a credit card judgment, late payments, collection items, and inquiries from my credit report and raised my credit score to a 737!
Here is a shot of my credit score online last month -:
To get started repairing your credit, call Lexington Law today direct at:
1-800-232-2903 (toll-free)
Or, if you want a Lexington Law paralegal to call you, click here.
