Your credit score will drop within a relatively short period of time if you stop making payments on your credit cards and loans. Unfortunately, the process for renewing your credit score can take much longer. There are ways you can make immediate improvements, but it generally takes years to restore your credit score completely. The process takes a combination of making payments on time and waiting for negative items to drop off after a certain number of years.
Disputes
Disputing negative items on your credit report can renew your credit score immediately because they can remove negative items that are bringing your score down. Get a copy of your credit report from the three credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, which are all required to give you one free copy each year. Look for negative items that may be incorrect or unverifiable and file a dispute for those items. If the credit bureau cannot verify them, they must be removed. This will have a quick and positive impact on your credit score.
Payment History
According to FICO, your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your credit score. Every time you make a late payment it has a negative impact, even if your prior history is good. In order to renew your credit score, the Wallet Pop finance site says you must make on-time payments for a period of three years. If there are no other problems, such as judgments or other items that could have a negative impact, Wallet Pop says your score should go above 650.
Debt Level
Your debt level affects your credit score, even if your payment history is good. Ideally, Wallet Pop says to keep the level down to 10 to 20 percent of your total available credit. If you can maintain that level for four years, and there are no other negative factors, you may be able to get your credit score over 700 by the end of that four-year period.
Negative Information
Most negative information must be removed from your credit report after seven years. This includes delinquent accounts, charge-offs and late payments. You should review your credit reports to make sure old items are removed after the seven-year period. If they are not, file a dispute with the bureaus to force their removal.
Bankruptcy
A bankruptcy will affect your credit score for seven to 10 years, depending on the type of bankruptcy you file and the terms of the settlement. However, the effect lessens as time goes on. While you cannot actively do anything about the bankruptcy itself, you can rebuild a good payment history. This will gradually renew your credit score despite the bankruptcy.
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