3 Debts Settled; 1 Left...Now A Question

When my last debt is settled, how long before my credit can be rebuilt and what's the best way to do it?

So long as the negative items remain on your credit report, your credit score will not improve. After you settle your debts with the creditors, the report will show the outstanding debts as "paid" but will still be there in your report as negative for seven years and six months from the date of your last missed payment.
However, after you settle the debts with the creditors, you should immediately start rebuilding your credit, by improving your credit history.

Hi Alan,

You can rebuild and have a high credit rating within 2 years. Get a secured card and make a personal loan are the easiest. You can put money aside in a savings account and use that as collateral for a personal secured loan at your bank. Your credit score will rise even though that stuff is on your credit.
My mother's score is over 700 (and she just bought a house) and she filed for Chapter 7 3 years ago, and that is all she did (she refused to accept any more credit cards than 1 for emergencies, that she pays off every month). Make sure you do not overextend yourself on credit, you will start getting offers after you have paid on that secured card for over 6 months.

Hope this helps.

There are also good places such as crownjewelers.com that gives you a line of credit without doing a credit check. I and other members of this community have used this successfully to bring my credit score up. Check it out you can just buy a small item as a way of getting good credit on your report.

Most store credit cards or department store cards tend to be some of the easiest credit cards to be approved for. Although with your situation a secured card would probably be the best idea.

Just to clear something up. Just because an item is listed on your credit report under negative items doesn't necassarily mean that it is bring down your credit score. I have two different credit cards that over two years ago I made a late payment to each of them. Just one 30 day past due payment and they have been listed under negative items ever since. But the fact is that they are still helping to increase my credit score now. I'm sure my score dropped a bit at the time of the late payments but it has only gone up since then.

Same goes for positive accounts. You could have just opened a credit card and have it listed under positive accounts but if it has only been open for a month or two than it could actually damage your credit score for having a newly opened line of credit with no payment history.

Anyone disagree?

I noticed this website, crownjewelers.com , when you apply for a line of credit it ask for your social security number but it isn't a secure website. How many have applied for credit at this website that had no problems?

@Scott: True, but you have to start somewhere. After around 6 months you will start to get pre-approved offers, which will be small balances, like $300. Take one (double check the fees) and toss the rest...

Plus, after you finish settling your score is going to be beat all to heck so what's a few points down, especially when is is the fastest way to bring them back up?