Repairing bad credit score

Once you get timely making all required payments after a few years of being delinquent (particularly regarding student loans), how long does it take to make a marked improvement in one’s scores? I know a young man who was behind on his student loans for a couple of years, recently contacted the lender and has worked out a payment plan, but is concerned about how long it will take to improve the credit score. Can he do something (besides make all payments on time) that will accelerate the process?

Terry Says:  If the delinquencies were reported to the credit bureaus, then it will take seven years for them to “rotate” off his credit report.  But long before that, his score and report will improve because of his current pattern of good payments.  The first thing to do is actually check his report at one of the three major bureaus (they will all basically have the same info).  For that, go to www.annualcreditreport.com, the government-mandated site that allows you to get a really free report from each bureau, without signing up for expensive credit protection plans.

There is an outside chance that the student loan delinquency was not reported to the bureaus, a slim chance but worth checking it out!