Credit repair is a process that can take three to six months to resolve all the disputes that the average consumer needs to file. It may take less time if you only have to fix a few mistakes or repair your credit every year, but if you've never corrected your credit and have a lot of things to challenge, it may take longer. The credit repair process involves sending letters back and forth between you and your creditors so that everything is in writing. If you have hired representation, your credit repair company should be able to give you an idea of how long your situation should take.
It's important to remember that credit repair is the first option you should choose when you want to get a better credit score. Your credit analysis will include a score for each component of your most recent credit score, as well as personalized advice on how to improve problem areas. There's nothing a so-called “credit repair” service can do that you can't do for free. In particular, look for collection accounts, public records, late payments, and other factors that influence poor credit ratings.
Your score should gradually improve throughout the process each time a creditor agrees to make a change in your favor. If you want to calculate how a secured card could help you recover your credit or how adding a second card to your wallet could affect things, you can use WalletHub's free credit score simulator. The short answer is that it usually takes at least a year to recover from bad credit, assuming you do everything right. For example, you could get the best cashback credit card for everyday expenses, the best travel rewards card for airline and hotel reservations, and the best balance transfer card to reduce the cost of your current debt.
You can go from having bad credit to a fair one or, better, with a secured card, at which point you can opt for more attractive unsecured credit cards.Of course, this means that no new negative information is added to your credit reports at the same time. You can build your credit quickly with bad credit if you're aware of major monthly bills, reduce your debt, and implement strategies to lower your credit utilization rate. If you've never reviewed a credit report before, it may take 1 to 2 hours to review all three reports in full. Taking positive steps to repair your credit can help you see an improvement in your report and, therefore, an improvement in your creditworthiness.
