 TITLE: How to Improve Your Credit Score CONTENT: How Long Does It Take to Rebuild a Credit Score?\n------------------------------------------------\nThere's no set timeline for rebuilding your credit. How long it takes to increase your credit scores depends on what's hurting your credit and the steps you're taking to rebuild it.\nFor instance, if your score takes a hit after a single missed payment, it might not take too long to rebuild it by bringing your account current and continuing to make on-time payments. However, if you miss payments on multiple accounts and you fall over 90 days behind before catching up, it will likely take longer to recover. This effect can be even more exaggerated if your late payments result in repossession or foreclosure.\nIn either case, the impact of negative marks will diminish over time. Most negative marks will also fall off your credit reports after seven years and stop impacting your scores at that point if not sooner. Chapter 7 bankruptcies can stay for up to 10 years, however.\nIn addition to letting time help you rebuild your scores, you can follow the steps above to proactively add positive information to your credit reports.\nYou may also hear about credit repair companies that offer to repair or \"fix\" your credit—for a price. It might seem tempting, but credit repair companies can't do anything that you can't do on your own for free. Similarly, you should be wary of so-called debt settlement companies that may encourage you to stop making payments in an attempt to try to \"settle\" the debt for less than you owe. Their plan can result in major credit score harm and may not even ultimately work to reduce your debt obligation. END