what can you do to raise your credit score if you have really bad credit?

What immediate steps can you take to raise your credit score? And should I still be seeing things on my credit report from 1999? I have since paid off these bills but yet they show up. What steps can I take to raise my score

Public Comments

1. Get a gas card (AKA gas station specific credit card)...one that often won't require a certain credit rating to obtain and/or charge very high interest. These often have second chance programs and will allow you to build up enough credit within a year by paying them off on time to relieve much of your credit problems. Then you can use that improved credit to get a "real" credit card, pay on time, and rebuild the rest of your credit. The whole process should take no more than 1.5-2 years if done well.
2. Pay your bills on time. Keep your debt to available credit ratio low.
3. Your first step is to establish more credit that is paid on time every month. If your score is so bad you cannot get a credit card, then do one of those secured cards. You need to open new lines of credit any way you can and prove you will pay them every month
4. There are many things one can do, it takes time though. Here are links to help you and it is free http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre03.shtm#improve Building a better credit report. http://www.ftc.gov/gettingcredit/ What you need to know about your credit. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/crdright.shtm Credit and your consumer rights. Here are the statute of limitations on credit reports. The credit bureaus keep your personal credit history for periods between 7 and 10 years: Unpaid Tax Lien - Indefinitely Chapter 7 Bankruptcies - 10 years from date filed. Public Records - 7 years from the date of payment; Closed or Inactive Accounts - 10 years from the date of last activity; Derogatory Accounts - 7 years from the date of original delinquency; Hope this is of help.
5. A charge-off that occurred in 1999 could be reported at latest to the year 2006...Send a Registered Letter with Return Receipt to all three credit bureaus stating that these items from 1999 are being reported beyond the amount of time allowed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and that they need to be deleted.
6. I agree with the last answer
7. Go to Transunion and dispute 3 or 4 of the big ticket items, if you dispute all of them they will become suspicious. Then, if you have a Get It Now near you, go there and finance something. They don't base it off of your credit score and they report to the bureau. If you don't have time to dispute your items, go to Lexington Law.com and you can pay them to clear up your credit. They are doing it for me and my score has gone up by over 100 points now. Good Luck!!
8. The stuff from 1999 will show up on your score for up to 10 years however it will show paid in full if you did.