Removing negatives from your credit report through credit repair is only half the battle of getting an excellent credit score. You also need to be sure you have enough positive open accounts on your credit file.

Without building enough positive credit you can at best hope for marginal scores. Those with no open lines of credit at all may find themselves exiting from a credit repair program with no scores at all! Why? Because scores were being generated from negative items only, and those negative items have been removed leaving the client with nothing to obtain a credit score. A zero or “N/A” credit score often shows up on their credit reports

Of course there is a “catch-22” when it comes to building credit. That is, you need decent credit to be approved for most lines of credit and you need lines of credit to obtain decent credit. How to escape this dilemma?

First, let us be clear on the types of credit that exist on a credit report. Installment, revolving and department store revolving lines of credit are the three main types of credit. You want to be sure to have at least one of each type.

First and foremost, you will need a credit card. If you want to build credit this is a necessary requirement. Most “mainstream” credit cards will deny you if you have low credit scores or have defaulted on a card in the past. Furthermore, even secured credit cards will deny you if you have defaulted credit cards in the past as banks stick up for each other in this way. Once you are denied, don’t keep applying! There are many alternative credit cards that will approve you. See our credit building tools to access the list of them. These cards have fees associated with them but they are well worth the price.

For an installment account we recommend getting your rent to reflect on your credit report. Installment accounts can be also be obtained here credit building tools. We also recommend un-differing your student loans if applicable. You can also apply for a small secured loan through your bank.

Lastly, wait until your scores are improved a bit before you try to apply for a store credit card. At first try bigger stores such as Wal-Mart, but don’t keep trying if you get denied. Building credit is a layering process and should be done in steps. The more credit you have available the easier it will be to obtain new lines of credit.