Rebuild Your Credit

After you’ve cleaned up your credit report, the key to rebuilding credit is to get positive information into your record. Acquiring new positive accounts is just as important as deleting negative information. Here are some suggestions:

Help Yourself

If your credit report is missing accounts you pay on time, send the credit bureaus a recent account statement and copies of cancelled checks showing your payment history. Ask that these be added to your report. The credit bureau doesn’t have to add this information, but often will.

Use Credit to Rebuild Credit!

The one type of positive information creditors like to see in credit reports is credit payment history. If you have a credit card, use it every month. Make small purchases and pay them off to avoid interest charges.

Don’t Stop

If you don’t have a credit card, you should apply for one. If your application is rejected, try to find a cosigner or apply for a secured card — where you deposit some money into a savings account and then get a credit card with a line of credit close to the amount you deposited.

Timing Can Be Everything

Word of caution: It won’t do you any good in the long run to apply for credit before you’re back on your feet financially. You’ll just end up with high-cost credit that will put you back in the hole again. Even if you can get a card earlier, wait until you are ready to start using credit again.