How long does credit repair take?

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice. See Lexington Law’s editorial disclosure for more information.

Many Americans are caught between a rock and a hard place because they have low or no credit but need good credit for so many different aspects of their lives, including qualifying for more credit. If you’re one of the millions of American consumers affected by bad credit, there are ways to build or repair it yourself—but just how long does credit repair take?

Credit repair is different for each individual, and the time frame all depends on your specific credit situation. Cleaning up your credit depends on many factors, including the negative items themselves and the responsiveness of your creditors, collectors and the credit bureaus.

There are some credit repair companies that make guarantees about credit repair results, but the truth is that fixing credit is complicated, so guarantees can’t be made. We’ll explain why it can take some time and work to rebuild your credit after it’s been damaged.

How long does credit repair take?

Credit repair is different for each individual, and the specifics depend on various factors. The process involves verifying and challenging negative items on your credit report that may be inaccurate, unfair or unsubstantiated.

While the timeline varies, here’s how the initial process goes:

1. Request a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus.
2. Identify any errors.
3. Gather all relevant documentation, like payment records, to help demonstrate the errors.
4. Dispute or request that the information be validated by the credit bureaus.
5. Begin the dispute process with individual creditors and debt collectors as well if needed.

If items are accurate on your credit report, the length of time it will take depends on the following questions:

• How severe are the derogatory marks on your credit report?
• What is your credit history?
• How many collection accounts are listed on your report?
• Are you able to pay off your debt in a reasonable time?
• What are your overall credit goals?

Is DIY credit repair faster?

If your credit has been damaged, it’s highly recommended that you work with a company that provides credit repair services. Not only will they teach you how to repair your credit, but they also have experience challenging errors on your report.

Although this option is ideal for many people, you can also do it yourself. DIY credit repair may save you money, but it may even take more time because you would need to educate yourself on credit repair and how to address inaccurate negative items on your report.

There are a variety of resources online that provide credit repair tips, but you need to ensure you’re getting information from credible sources.

How long does a credit dispute take?

The credit dispute timeline can depend on how long it takes the bureaus to review your information and get back to you.

When you challenge negative items on your credit report that are inaccurate, unfair or unsubstantiated, the bureaus have 30 to 45 days to investigate. At the end of the investigative period, the bureaus have five days to send their findings back to you. The bureaus must provide the results of their investigation in writing and provide a free copy of your credit report, if the dispute results in any change.

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the act that allows the credit bureaus 30 to 45 days to look into your dispute. The FCRA governs your right to an accurate credit report and requires the credit bureaus to verify negative information reported. If they can’t verify the item, they may have to remove it from your credit report.

If the negative information on your credit report is accurate, there may still be ways to remove the item, such as sending a goodwill letter or a pay for delete letter to a creditor. However, there is no way to guarantee the removal of accurate negative items from your credit report.

What is the credit repair process like working with professionals?

Knowing what’s going on behind the scenes while the credit repair company works on fixing your credit can put your mind at ease if it takes a little time.

Step 1: Review your credit report

Downloading your credit report doesn’t take too much time, but when working with a credit repair company, you’ll go through it with a professional. During this review process, you can let them know if there are any suspicious or potentially inaccurate items that should be challenged.

Step 2: Send correspondence to the credit bureaus

Once errors are spotted, the credit repair company will draft letters to send to the credit bureaus regarding the errors. The credit repair company may ask you to provide them with documentation, like proof of payment, that they can submit with the letters.

Step 3: Await a response

Finally, you’ll need to wait for a response from the credit bureaus. The time frame for the response is dependent on a lot of different factors, such as if the bureau needs more information, so the response may take more than six weeks.

Of the Lexington Law clients who saw a score increase in a six-month period, 79 percent saw an improvement of 40 points. If you work with Lexington Law, you’ll also be provided with tips for repairing your credit while you await a response.

How long do negative items stay on your report?

If negative items on your credit report are accurate, there is a good chance they will remain on your credit report. This data is on your report because it gives potential lenders an idea of the risk they’d be taking by lending you money or providing you with other services, like renting an apartment.

Sometimes, you simply have to wait for these negative items to fall off. Here’s how long different items can stay on your report:

• Hard inquiries: 2 years
• Late payments: 7 years
• Charge-offs and collection accounts: 7 years
• Chapter 13 bankruptcies: 7 years
• Chapter 7 bankruptcies: 10 years

Collection accounts are damaging, but you may be able to negotiate with the collection agency to remove the negative item from your report after they receive payment.

How long does it take to start repairing your credit?

You can start taking action to repair your credit today. If you have accurate negative items on your credit report, like late payments or a bill in collections, these items can stay on your report for up to seven to 10 years. Although a derogatory item can seriously impact your credit, there are actions you can take that can help build your score while you wait for these negative marks to fall off.

• Pay your bills on time. Payment history accounts for 35 percent of your total credit score. If you’re trying to rebuild your score, make sure that you prioritize making your payments on time.
• Pay down your debt but keep your credit cards open. Length of credit history accounts for 15 percent of your credit score. Closing lines of credit may shorten your credit history and reduce your credit utilization ratio, so make sure to keep your credit cards open or carefully consider the effect on your credit before canceling them.
• Report your alternative credit data. If you’re making on-time payments on services that are not traditionally reported to the credit bureaus, like your cell phone service, you can use a service like Experian Boost or ExtraCredit to report those payments.
• Increase your credit limits but apply for new credit selectively. Increasing your credit limits may help your credit score, but applying for new lines of credit leads to a “hard inquiry” on your credit report. Too many hard inquiries on your report within a short time frame like a few months can negatively impact your credit, so try to apply only for new lines of credit that you are almost certain you qualify for.
• Try to keep your credit utilization as low as possible. Your credit utilization ratio, the amount of credit you’ve used compared to the amount that you still have available, accounts for 30 percent of your credit score. Try to keep your balances low, or request an increase of your credit limits.
• Keep checking your credit reports. You are entitled to at least one free copy of your credit report annually from each of the credit bureaus. Make sure to check your credit reports consistently for inaccurate or negative items that may be hurting your credit.

How to repair credit the right way

Repairing your credit takes some time, but it could be faster or simpler when you’re working with a team of legal professionals who have years of experience. Lexington Law has nearly two decades of experience helping people work to repair their credit and achieve better credit. Whether your bad credit is due to identity theft or something else, we have focus tracks to help you work on your credit as quickly as possible.