Positive Habits

• Develop habits that promote good credit history, such as making payments on time, paying down credit cards and leaving available balances, for example.
• Monitor all three credit reporting bureaus to ensure accurate reports.
• Obtain credit reports annually and request corrections in writing.
• Look around for lenders that will loan to high-risk consumers. Alternative lending sources can help re-establish credit and recover from damaged credit history. They often charge higher interest rates to reduce their risk.
• Create a savings account. Money down is a positive motivator to a lender as it reduces the credit risk.
• Pay on time, every time even if the bill is not a loan, such as your utility bill.
• Explain one-time digressions. Lenders may take it into consideratio.

Negative Habits

• Don't request a series of credit checks in a short period of time because lenders will presume unstable credit conditions. However, lenders understand that vigilant credit managers will monitor their own credit reports to keep them accurate and positive.
• Don't take on more credit than you can consistently manage.
• Don't “max out” your credit cards.
• Don't spend beyond your ability to pay. Lenders are not going to want to fund extravagance beyond your economic abilities.
• Don't quit building credit because of a setback such as a bankruptcy. Instead, go to work re-establishing your credit. Even a small consumer loan allows you to rebuild a good payment history. Many lenders are more concerned with what you have done since a derogatory incident than what happened before, such as in the case of a bankruptcy.
• Don't leave errors undisputed and request corrections in writing.