Helping real people with real money challenges is a huge part of what our Bankrate editorial team does every day. Occasionally, we get the opportunity to talk with and help individual readers, as opposed to the largely anonymous readers who find our work via Google search.
Here’s a recent example from a reader who sent me a credit-building question on LinkedIn. The service journalist in me jumped at the chance to help, so I connected with an expert to share some general tips and advice for this reader and anyone else looking to improve their credit score.
Here’s the message I received:
Ana,
I’ve been trying to rebuild my credit for the past year doing everything myself and paying off all of my debts and other things, still I am struggling to get out of the 600s. Can you give me any advice?
I reached out to Lisa Robertson, a certified credit counselor and manager of counseling services at Parachute Credit Counseling, to help answer this question and offer advice.
“Building or rebuilding credit is an important undertaking for your financial future,” Robertson says. “But it can be a bit confusing as well.”
Let’s make it a little less confusing and talk about why credit rebuilding takes time — and what you can do to help the process.
Why rebuilding credit takes time
Your credit scores are based on the information on your credit reports, including:
- Payment history (35%): Even a single late payment can significantly hurt your scores.
- Amounts owed (30%): If you use a big chunk of your credit line, it can also be bad news for your credit.
- Length of credit history (15%): Older accounts generally result in credit scores.
- New credit (10%): If you apply for credit too often, lenders can see it as a red flag.
- Credit mix (10%): It helps to have various types of accounts on your reports, such as credit cards, auto loans, a mortgage and others.
Sadly, it requires quite a bit of time for negative information to fall off your credit reports. For example, delinquencies stay on your reports for seven years. The longer the delinquency, the heavier it weighs down on your credit scores. More serious items, such as certain bankruptcies, can remain on your credit reports for up to 10 years.
“If you’ve ever had a situation where you’ve damaged your reputation with someone, it can take time to rebuild the trust you had,” Robertson says. “Credit scores are very similar.”
That means you can do all the right things trying to raise your credit score without seeing the results you want — because that old negative information still lingers. Still, there are steps you can take to ensure you’re rebuilding your score as fast as you can.
How to rebuild credit faster
It’s impossible to give perfect advice without more detailed information, but Robertson does have some ideas on how one might prioritize moves to speed up the credit score improvement timeline.
“Without looking at your specific credit situation, it can be hard to say what exactly is holding up your progress,” Robertson says. “Based on the credit scoring criteria, I’d advise you first to work to pay off any outstanding collections accounts and get current on any past due accounts if you’re not already.”
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to add some new positive information to your credit reports.
Keep paying your bills on time
A strong credit score requires healthy credit habits — starting with timely payments.
“With payment history being the largest part of your score, it’s where we want to focus first,” Roberts says.
Ensure you always pay your bills before the due date. Consider setting up autopay to have at least the minimum amount paid automatically every month. If you do, however, you’ll want to keep an eye on your checking account balance. Avoid the situation where your autopay fails because you don’t have enough in your account on a certain date.
Bring down your credit card balances
A credit card, when used responsibly, is an excellent credit building tool. It allows you to establish a positive payment history (if you pay your card bills on time, that is) and reduce your credit utilization.
The credit utilization ratio, or the percentage of available credit you’re using, is the second most influential factor. The lower you keep it, the better for your credit score. Experts generally caution against using more than 30% of your credit line as it can hurt your scores.
“If you cannot afford to pay off debt in one fell swoop, the next best thing is to try to pay down your balances to less than 30% of your credit limit,” Robertson says. “For example, if your credit limit is $1,000, try to never let your balance go above $300 in that month. That way, the utilization reported to the credit report is always going to be low.”
Get a credit limit increase
You can also improve your credit utilization by requesting a higher credit card limit while keeping your spending unchanged. Sometimes, a credit card issuer will raise your limit automatically — but you can be proactive about it.
Call the number on the back of your card and ask if you’re eligible for a credit limit increase. Just make sure not to do so too often. The issuer might think you’re attempting to get access to as much money as possible in a bad financial situation. Instead, spread out your requests and avoid asking for an increase more often than once in six months.
Be patient
Of course, even if you’re doing all of the above, you probably won’t see positive changes immediately. You might have to wait for six to 12 months before you begin to see any meaningful progress, according to Roberts. And sometimes, the process can take years.
“Ultimately, lenders want to see a consistent pattern of credit usage,” she explains.
The key is to stay disciplined and develop good credit habits. Even though results won’t be immediate, they will pay off in the long run. Plus, those habits will become a routine, and managing credit should become a simple task for you in the future.
The bottom line
It can take a while to rebuild credit. The best thing you can do to make it happen soon is to focus on creating a positive payment history and keeping your balances low. Stay consistent, and results will follow. Thank you for your question — and good luck on your credit building journey. You got this!
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