How Long Will It Take To Repair My Credit Score?
How Long Does It Take To Fix a Credit Score?
In your financial life, credit scores matter a lot. Credit scores determine from approval of credit cards and loans to interest rates that one will have to pay. Thus, if your credit score is low, it might be one of your main goals to work on improving it. However, how long does it take to restore one’s credit? Here is a guide to what determines your credit score repair timeline.
The following factors influence the credit repair timeline:
Several key factors influence how long it takes to rebuild your credit.
- How low your score currently is. The only disadvantage is that the more you are starting at a low level, it will take more time to increase your score to the desired level. If your score is in the 300s or 400s, it may take you several years to be able to get a score over 700. However, if your child is starting in the 600s, he or she may be able to raise the score within a few months.
- Why your credit score is low. Late payments, collections accounts, or other negative items on your report will take time to shed influence on your score. In general, the more recent or more severe the problems, the longer it takes for them to cease to dominate your score. Bankruptcy can remain on your report as long as 7-10 years of age or yes.
- How many accounts are problematic, or contain errors? If you have one or two negative items on your report, you may quickly deal with them and notice the changes in your scores. If you have many items, it will take more time to go through all of them in every account you have.
- Your credit mix. Another factor of credit scores is the types of credit that you have. Having credit cards, installment loans, and mortgages is beneficial to your credit mix and thus your scores.
- Your credit history length. In general, the longer your credit history is, the better your credit scores are. Thus, the credibility score is higher where you have been cultivating accounts for many years. New credit histories often begin with low scores that tend to rise as time goes by.
Improvements That Occur Within the First Year vs. Continuous Steady Advancements
When you begin the process of rebuilding your credit, there is the possibility of a very rapid rise in your scores. This is because some strategies, including reducing balances to below 30% utilization or correcting mistakes, can quickly lift scores. However, it is with the multiple years of positive credit behavior that the most significant increase in the credit score can be obtained. It is the difference between a band-aid solution and the process of establishing a solid foundation for good credit.
For instance, if you have a credit card limit of $1000 and the outstanding balance that you have outstanding is $900, then your credit utilization ratio is 90/1000 = 0. 90 or 90%. No way, that’s way too high for good scores. Therefore, by reducing the balance to $300, you have now managed to bring down your utilization rate to 30%. And in a few weeks once the credit card company reports that lower balance to the credit bureaus, your score might immediately go up 50 points or more. This is because lower utilization rates usually increase scores rapidly.
It also means that moving from a very poor credit rating to an excellent credit rating cannot be done in a few weeks or months. Reducing balances and utilization is beneficial in the short term. However, increasing a score from 500 to 700 can take several years of behaving responsibly paying bills on time, and not accumulating more accounts.
It takes time to build up a positive credit history that will overshadow a negative one. This chart provides estimates for typical credit score repair timelines depending on your starting point and credit behaviors going forward.
Starting Score: 300-500
- Quick improvement with lowered card balances: Improvement of 50-75 points within 2 months
- See 700+ score: At least 3-7 years if the cardholder is on time in paying his/her bill, using the card moderately without accumulating much balance.
Starting Score: 500-600
- Quick improvement with corrected error: Gaining 25-50 points in one month
- See 700+ score: Of course, such behaviors are usually positive and last about 2-5 years, depending on the specific circumstances.
Starting Score: 600-700
- Quick improvement with credit limit increase: An increase of more than 25 points in 2 months
- See 700+ score: It generally takes 6-12 months to maintain low card balances and pay the bills on time.
How Long It Takes For Credit Repair By The Numbers?
Here is an overview of general timelines for raising credit scores based on your starting point.
- 300-500 starting score: It takes at least 3 years to reach over 700, and it can take 5-7 years or more.
- 500-600 starting score: It will take approximately 2 to 5 years to achieve the more than 700 people mark.
- 600-700 starting score: It will take 6-12 months to reach and exceed 700.
Credit Score Factors By The Years
Looking at some key credit health factors also provides timelines to improve based on years.
- It is also important to know that late payments remain on your credit report for 7 years.
- Chapter 13 bankruptcy drops off your credit report within 7 years.
- A record of filing Chapter 7 & 11 bankruptcy does not affect your credit score once it has been ten years.
- Collections usually remain on the report for less than 7 years.
- There are also negative marks that can be recorded for up to 10 years for closed accounts.
The important thing to note is that when attempting to regain credit, one must have the virtue of patience and endurance. It is not possible to have all the bad credit wiped out by some magical solution in Month 1. Realize that to make some meaningful improvement to your score one has to maintain good behaviors for at least 12 months or more and the longer the duration the lower the initial score. However, do not despair – it is possible to work on rebuilding your credit after a significant decline even from such a starting position. Keep on with the credit repair processes for months as your scores and financial prospects keep on improving.
Ready to boost your credit score? Call +1 888-804-0104 now for the best credit repair services near you! Our expert team is here to help you achieve financial freedom and improve your credit. Don't wait—get started today!