Sensible ways to manage and repair your credit

Need a credit makeover? You're not alone: in the U.S., outstanding credit card and other types of revolving debt have jumped over 20% in the past decade, and millions of Americans are struggling with one or more credit-related issues. Whether you're just working on improving your score or need some sound advice on how to make debt a thing of the past, the latest edition of Credit Repair Kit for Dummies is packed with reliable information for escaping the quicksand and taking the concrete steps needed to build up a solid score.

There are many reasons why you might have a subpar credit score--mortgage and auto debt, student loans, impacts of disasters such as COVID-19, and even identity theft. This book covers these scenarios and more, helping you identify the reasons behind a lower score and providing you with straightforward, proven techniques for managing it back to where you want it to be. Also included are sample credit reports, forms, templates, and other helpful online tools to use to whip your score into decent shape.

• Add information to your report to beef-up a low score
• Avoid, reduce, and get rid of mortgage, credit card, student loan, and auto debt
• Keep a good credit score during a period of unemployment
• Fight back against identity theft

A good credit score is always a great thing to have. This book shows you how to put even the worst credit situations behind you and make a poor score just a bad--and distant--memory.

Melyssa Barrett is Vice President of Identity Solutions at Visa, Inc., where she creates products to detect and predict fraud within consumer credit, debit, and prepaid products.

Steve Bucci is a credit-scoring columnist for CreditCards.com and a syndicated columnist for Bankrate.

Rod Griffin is Senior Director of Consumer Education and Advocacy for Experian, responsible for the company's national consumer education programs and outreach.