When most people think about credit repair, they think of disputing negative information with the three credit bureaus.  While this is certainly an important part of credit report repair, it is just the beginning.  Establishing good new credit is also important.  Many people don’t know how to do this, after all, who will lend to someone with bad credit?  The secret is knowing where to look!

Get Your Landlord to Report

A little known credit repair secret is that there are services out there that will report your rent payment to the three credit bureaus.  You pay directly to the service who then forwards your money to your landlord.  They will charge you a small fee, but it is well worth it if you are serious about credit restoration. Since this is typically your largest payment, this can go a long ways toward improving your overall credit score.

Get a Secured Credit Card

A secured credit card is sometimes called a guaranteed card.  Unlike most credit cards, approval is based on the deposit you make with the lender, not your credit history.  This means that you can get a secured credit card regardless of what your credit file looks like.

You need to select the company you go with carefully.  Make sure that they report to all three credit bureaus or your efforts will be wasted.  Additionally, you want to get a card that has reasonable fees associated with it.  Ideally, the total fees should be less than $50.  Avoid any card with an application fee!

CD Loan

A certificate of deposit loan is a great way to establish an installment payment history. Once you open a CD, most banks are happy to issue you a loan using this CD as collateral.  They generally do not care about your credit score, because if you default they will simply take the money in your CD.