How long does it take to improve your credit?

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

Granted, I've got a "good" score but my score fell when I was unemployed and was late with some credit card bills.

I checked with myfico and the thing I have in my favor is that I have a long credit history (about 20 years). I've NEVER been late on a mortgage payment and I paid back my student loan and a car loan early.

The late credit card bills in the last two years are screwing me. I've been paying every bill on time, if not early.

How long will it take before my credit score rises? It didn't take long for the score to drop, but will it take LONGER for it to improve?

[JPMNICK]

you get no extra's for paying early.

as for improving your score, one of the best ways to do it is to take out more credit. I know it sounds counter productive, and it will drop your score slightly in the short term. but more credit available to you = better score when used responsibly.

other then that, time is the only thing to help you, you got to wait for those lates to pass by

[sailor]

you get no extra's for paying early.

as for improving your score, one of the best ways to do it is to take out more credit. I know it sounds counter productive, and it will drop your score slightly in the short term. but more credit available to you = better score when used responsibly.

other then that, time is the only thing to help you, you got to wait for those lates to pass by

yeah, one thing looked at it the amount of available credit you have that you're not using. people tend to pay off a card and cancel it...which could leave them with all their remaining cards still maxed out. like nick was saying, having unused credit shows you are responsible and in a position where your back isn't up against the wall.

[Death Metal Moe]

I had well over 10K in debt just about 5 years ago, paid it all off.

I got my name on a company credit card and that helped A LOT. About a year ago I started getting credit card offers again. Got one 500 dollar card now and keeping it's payments up to date along with my cell phone.

So it took me somewhere between 3 to 4 years to get things back to a somewhat positive.

[ralphbxny]

Agreed I was unemployed for a bit and It took me about 6 months to get my shit back. We will see how all goes but I am still about a year away from clearing my debt...then I will start saving to buy someplace to live and go back into debt.