Many people today, dealing with poor credit, want to know: how long does it take to repair bad credit? The answer is, you can probably guess, it depends. You need to follow some basic steps to repair bad credit, and how long it takes you to do those things will determine how quickly you can fix your credit score.

To get one myth out of the way right off the bat, however, there is no way to legally, legitimately get your credit wiped clean without bankruptcy. You can’t set up a new Social Security number; scam artists have sold people on getting a new employer ID number, which is similar to a Social Security number, but this is not a legal way to clear your credit history. So forget that option, it will only hurt you worse in the end.

The only way to really repair bad credit is to bring your payments current, reduce the balances on your unsecured credit cards, and maintain that history for a period of time, at least a year. Say you brought all of your payments current today, and paid down your credit cards so that your balances were under 50% of the total credit limit. You would see some improvement in your score within a few months. But if you have a bad credit history, a lender will want to see that you maintain that kind of payment habit for a longer time period than a few months.

If you have something like bankruptcy or foreclosure on your credit report, you will have to wait a little longer. For bankruptcy, most lenders will want to see one or two years of clean credit afterward. That’s not to say that some lenders won’t grant you credit before that time, just that most conservative banks and credit card lenders will wait to see how your history shapes up. Remember too that a bankruptcy stays on your credit report for ten years, not seven like other debt.

In the case of foreclosure, the time period is a little less, unless you want to buy another house. Bad credit mortgage lenders will wait for three or four years, which will depend on the latest FHA federal home lending guidelines. Check with your mortgage broker to see what they will require.

The short answer to how long does it take to repair bad credit” is at least a few months. If you have really bad credit, and you have no way of bringing all of your debt current, then you need to find a way to start debt negotiation and get in a position to pay everything on time as agreed. Then all it will take is a little patience, but eventually all credit can be fixed with time.