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    Categories: Credit

How Long Does It Take to Fix Bad Credit?           

The moment you start to repair your credit, it is perfectly normal and understandable if you want to speed up the process and see the results you want right away.                

You-want all those negative things on your credit to be immediately removed and gone for good so that they won’t pull down your score anymore.

Sadly, things are easier said than done. Keep reading to learn about How Long Does It Take to Fix Bad Credit?

Credit Repair – How Long Does It Take, Anyway?

The length of time required for repairing or rebuilding credit is dependent on how severe the items that negatively affect it were. Simple things like inaccuracies such as aging or duplicate accounts, wrong account balance, and misspelled names can be removed in a matter of months. Items that are more serious such as collection accounts and late payments that were properly added to your credit report can stay there for up to 7 years.

Bankruptcy filings and other public record information can stay on the credit report for as long as 10 years. Meanwhile, student loan debt and unpaid tax liens can indefinitely remain on your credit.

All these factors will affect the length of time that it will take for you to fix your bad credit. There is no simple answer to this question, only a complex one. But, you can expect to see score improvements sooner if you also start sooner with the process of credit repair and fixing your behaviors that made your score suffer.

The Key is Payment History:

The moment you start with the process of repairing your credit, it is necessary for you to make your payments right on time on all the accounts that you have. You history of payment is the primary factor on whether you are creditworthy or not, and is also the key consideration for majority of loan types.

If you were ever delinquent on your payments before, it is quite imperative that you won’t have more late payments so that you can begin again and develop a more positive payment history.

Aside from making current any accounts that are past due, your score will rise faster if you pay off your remaining debts altogether.

Review Your Credit Report:

Make sure that you also request and check your report from the credit bureaus, namely TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. These bureaus can all explain to you the different factors that affect your score at the moment.

Once you have finished taking all the steps mentioned above, you are surely curious to know when you should expect seeing the positive changes in your credit score. If you resolve the said errors, you can look forward to an increased score in a matter of 60 days.

Resolving these issues is now made faster due to the stipulation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for credit bureaus to investigate disputed items in a 30-day period after the request is received, provided that all the required information is there. After resolving the issue, it often requires 30 more days for consumers to notice a rise in their score.

 

Jonathan Restrepo: Jonathan Restrepo writes about consumer credit for Creditmergency. He's passionate about helping others achieve financial freedom, so he dedicates his free time to learn about personal finance. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, MarketWatch, USA Today and MSN Money, and on the Associated Press wire.
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