How Can I Clean My Credit in 60 Days? A Comprehensive Guide
Having a good credit score is essential for getting approved for loans, credit cards, mortgages, rental applications, and even jobs Unfortunately, mistakes can happen that damage your credit – late payments, collections, foreclosures, and bankruptcies all negatively impact your score The good news is that you can clean up your credit, even in as little as 60 days with the right strategy.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll outline actionable tips on how to improve your credit score quickly. With some diligence and smart financial moves, you can be on your way to good credit in just two months.
How Credit Scores Are Calculated
Before diving into how to repair credit fast, it’s helpful to understand what makes up your credit score. The three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion – use the FICO model to calculate credit scores ranging from 300 to 850.
Several factors determine your credit score, including:
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Payment history (35% of your score): Making payments on time consistently is the biggest factor. Late payments and collections hurt your score.
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Credit utilization (30%): This measures how much credit you use versus your total available credit. Using over 30% of your total limits hurts your score.
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Credit age and mix (15%): Having various types of credit that have been open for a long time helps your score. Too many new accounts or closing old accounts hurts it.
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Ten percent of new credit inquiries are hard inquiries that can temporarily hurt your score. Every credit application is a hard inquiry. Too many hurts your score.
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Other factors (10%): These include the number of accounts you have open, your debt-to-income ratio, and public records such as bankruptcies and court judgments.
With this foundation, let’s get into how to clean up your credit report and improve your score within 60 days.
Day 1: Request Your Credit Reports and Scrutinize for Errors
The first step is pulling your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can get the reports from all three bureaus for free annually. Go through each report thoroughly looking for any errors – accounts that aren’t yours, late payments marked inaccurately, etc.
Dispute any errors you find through each bureau’s dispute process. Provide evidence like account statements showing payments. The credit bureaus have 30 days to look into the matter, and during that time they should take down any false information.
Day 7: Review Secured Credit Card Options
For secured credit cards, you have to put down a cash deposit that acts as your credit limit. They help build credit since you can show responsible use. Look at different secured credit card options, such as Capital One Secured or Discover It Secured, that report to all three credit bureaus.
Apply for a secured card ideal for your situation. Using one responsibly by keeping your utilization low and making monthly payments helps your score.
Day 14: Become an Authorized User
Ask a family member or friend with good credit to add you as an authorized user to their oldest credit card. This links their positive history to your credit reports and can boost your score.
Make sure they have good payment history and low utilization on the card. Use your authorized card access responsibly as well.
Day 30: Review Your Debt and Make a Payoff Plan
Log into all your credit accounts and make a list of balances and interest rates. Create a debt payoff plan like the “debt avalanche” – focus on paying high-interest debt first while making minimums on others.
You can also explore consolidating or transferring balances to lower-interest options. Paying down balances helps lower your credit utilization.
Day 45: Monitor Your Credit Regularly
Sign up for free credit monitoring services to track any changes or new items on your reports. Use a site like Credit Karma to get alerts for new inquiries, accounts, payments, and score changes.
Monitoring helps spot any fraudulent activity and alert you to actions you may need to take to continue improving your score.
Day 60: Check Your Progress and Next Goals
At the 60 day mark, order your credit reports again and verify your score has increased. Check that any disputed items have been removed and your utilization decreased. If you still have progress to make, set new goals like paying down your debt more or getting more revolving credit.
Other Tips to Rebuild Credit Fast
In addition to the schedule above, there are other important strategies that can help clean up your credit within 60 days:
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Pay all current bills on time – set up autopay if needed. Payment history is the biggest factor in your score.
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Keep credit card balances below 30%. Pay down cards with high balances first.
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Limit new credit applications – too many can ding your score temporarily.
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Prioritize paying down past due debt that is in collections – this will lower negative impacts.
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Include both revolving (credit cards) and installment (loans) accounts in your credit mix.
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Be patient and persistent! Credit repair takes diligence – keep monitoring and disputing.
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Seek help from a reputable credit counseling agency if you need additional guidance.
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Maintain financial responsibility going forward to build long-term credit health.
The Bottom Line
It is possible to clean up your credit report and raise your score substantially within 60 days using the right techniques. The strategies above like monitoring your reports, disputing errors, lowering utilization, and adding positive account history can remove negative items and boost your score quickly.
Stick to your 60 day game plan, continue monitoring your credit, keep making on-time payments, and maintain healthy money management habits. With time and perseverance, you can rebuild your credit and unlock better financial opportunities.
What happens if a company takes a negative action against me because of something in my credit report?
Be sure to check your reports before you apply for credit, a loan, insurance, or a job. If you find mistakes on your credit report, you should get in touch with the credit bureaus and the company that gave them the information to have them taken off.
When a company takes “adverse action” against you, like turning you down for credit or a job, because of something in your credit report, you’re entitled to another free credit report. To get it, ask for it within 60 days of getting notified about the action. The business must send you a notice with the name, address, and phone number of the credit bureau that gave them your credit report. This way, you can find out which credit bureau to question.
What happens if there’s negative information in my credit report?
Credit bureaus sell the information in your report to businesses that use it to decide whether to loan you money, give you credit, offer you insurance, or rent or sell you a home. Some employers use credit reports to decide whether to hire you. Whether you have a good or bad credit history also affects how much you’ll have to pay to borrow money. If there’s a lot of negative information in your report, you might have to pay more in interest.
How To Fix A BAD Credit Score ASAP
FAQ
How to clean your credit in 60 days?
Tips for Cleaning Your Credit in 60 DaysGet a Secured Credit Card. Become an Authorized User. Prioritize Paying Off Outstanding Debt. Dispute Credit Report Errors. Ask For Higher Credit Limits. Keep Your Credit Utilization Ratio at Around 30% . More Financial Options. Higher Loan Amounts.
How to raise your credit score 100 points in 60 days?
For most people, increasing a credit score by 100 points in a month isn’t going to happen. But if you pay your bills on time, eliminate your consumer debt, don’t run large balances on your cards and maintain a mix of both consumer and secured borrowing, an increase in your credit could happen within months.
Can you erase bad credit history?
You can file a dispute with the credit bureaus or enlist the help of a credit repair company to remove old debt and inaccuracies from your credit reports. Jun 2, 2025.
What is the fastest way to repair your credit score?
Paying bills on time and paying down balances on your credit cards are the most powerful steps you can take to raise your credit. Every 30 days, issuers tell the credit bureaus about how you paid your bills, so taking good steps can quickly improve your credit.