how to improve credit report?

can anyone advise me on the best way to improve credit report? my husband had to file bankruptcy about 5 yrs ago (due to a problem w/ former business partner). until that time, we were up-to-date on all payments and did not have a "late" bill until his atty advised us to discontinue payments for all companies that were to be included in bankruptcy pay-off. since bankruptcy, we have had a difficult time w/ obtaining credit (obviously). however, we now have several credit cards (w/ "hi-risk" interest rates) and still have poor credit. we both have stable jobs and good income. we want to consolidate the credit cards (all w/low limits) to 1 or 2 cards and anything else we can do to improve report. according to at least one reporting agency, it indicates all those companies (about 5) that we had prior to bankruptcy - with 90 or 120+ late days (this was during the time for the bk to become final). i see ads for all types of companies offering to help w/credit, consolidate, reduce interest, etc. are any legit? is there anything we can do? we don't have any payments past due and haven't for a very long time. thank you for any help you can provide.

Every account that was included in your bankruptcy should indicate so on your creit reports. If they don't say so, you need to dispute them with the credit bureaus.

Doing that will signifigantly improve your credit score. Those old past due entries are bringing down your score much more than they would if they indicated that you filed bankruptcy on them.

thanks! first, i plan to obtain copies of credit reports from all of the agencies that i can. i will go over them and dispute anything possible. do you think i should also bother with any of those companies that offer to "improve credit report"? if not, is it possible to consolidate the credit cards i have now? thx!

[bigun]

Sadsister,

You've one other problem. Credit scoring for unsecured debt is "ratio driven". In other words, creditors look at the amount of cc debt you carry vs your credit limit. Any card with an 80% utilization rate [U/R} is a red flag to creditors. A total U/R on all cards combined of over 75% is a danger signal. It shows you can't handle your spending.
You need to get the cards you have now down to at least a 40% or better U/R to look better to potential creditors. An ideal credit profile will have a U/R of under 25%.
If you have those cards jammed to the near the limit, put 'em in the sock drawer and start payinh 'em off. Nobody is going to give you credit on favorable terms when they see a mishmash of low limit cards from subprime lenders loaded to the gunwhales with debt. Go to [url]www.myfico.com[/url] for an understanding of credit scoring .

Don't waste your money with a "credit improvement" company. Just buy a book on credit repair at the bookstore...most of them are the same. They contain the same information that the credit repair companies use. Credt repair companies do not have a magic wand that makes bad stuff go away. You can do the same things they can, at a fraction of the price.

If you've run up debts again after bankruptcy, you need to pay them down and stop using the cards. That will raise your credit score.