Bad personal credit can really be a debilitating problem for someone trying to get by in our society. With bad personal credit you’re unlikely to be able to get any loans, or credit cards, and may have loads of difficulty trying to buy a car or put a down payment on a house. A bad personal credit rating can almost be smelled by banks and businesses, and you’ll find yourself being rejected from things you didn’t even know you could be rejected from. Yes, you may as well face it, a bad personal credit rating is the 21st century equivalence to leprosy.

The good news is, unlike leprosy, bad personal credit is usually rectifiable. Sometimes it’s a very simple matter of paying some forgotten bills, other times it may take more time, but regardless of how bad your credit might be there are likely ways you can improve it. If you’ve been getting rejected from loans or credit cards lately, chances are you have bad personal credit.

The first step in repairing bad personal credit is of course identifying that you in fact have it and more importantly, why. So a good place to start is with a credit report. There are a number of websites today that offer credit reports. While some of these sites are somewhat dubious, others can provide some valuable insights into your credit history, explaining why you might have bad personal credit. Some good examples of credit report companies include Equifax and Experian.

Often times when you get a credit report you’ll see that your bad personal credit is due simply to a forgotten bill or two you never paid. Many businesses trying to collect on a late bill will turn to collection agencies, which will in turn wreak havoc on your credit rating until you pay up. Although these collection agencies are always supposed to contact you first, they don’t always succeed in reaching you if you move around a lot and so you may have been a target for one of these companies without ever knowing it.

Of course, some cases of bad personal credit may be more complicated than just a single forgotten bill. And even in the simple cases, some amount of credit repair may be needed after you’ve settled old debts. Additionally, as I learned when I first attempted to get a credit card, having no credit history at all is the equivalent to having bad personal credit. A good way to make permanent repairs to your credit, or to establish credit in the first place, is by getting a secured credit card and being religious about your payments for it.