5) If you have recently filed for bankruptcy, start rebuilding your credit with either a secured credit card or one that is known to be bankruptcy-friendly. The latter often requires higher interest be paid, but your credit score will begin to rise after three months of a steady payment history is listed in your credit reports.

6) If you have old accounts that are listed as being open, but are actually closed, call the creditor and send a letter to the credit bureau. Often times, creditors simply never report an account as being closed with the credit bureaus. If you have a lot of available credit on your report, potential lenders may wonder why you need all of this open credit and what your plans are for it’s use. A large number of apparently open accounts with a zero balance may put you in the high risk loan category if the lender suspects you plan to increase your debt load substantially with your unused credit.

7) Avoid excessively applying for credit as this may lower your credit score because of multiple inquiries.

8) Use your credit cards for necessities only and avoid spending more than you could repay within six months.

9) If your credit cards have excessively high credit limits that you never plan to use, call the creditor and ask that they reduce your credit limit to an amount that you are comfortable with. This will not only reduce the temptation of overspending, but will also prevent potential lenders from seeing that you have a lot of available credit and suspecting that you plan to go into serious debt.

10) The best way to improve your credit reports is to review the information filed with each of the three major credit bureaus every six months. These include TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. A free copy of credit reports can be obtained every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. Read this helpful article on 10 Tips To Improve Your Credit Score