Blemishes and events we'd rather not remember have one thing in common: they can be wiped off. Whether the blemish is on your shirt, furniture, or credit history, it can be cleaned up. Clearly, a tarnished credit history should not prevent you from owning a house. Late payments, repossessions, write-offs, and bankruptcy are sure to leave stains in your credit history the size of a crater. The good news is that they can be cleaned. The bad news is that it cannot be done overnight. In fact, cleaning up your credit history would most likely take you a year at the very least.

You Can't Clean House Without Cleaning Up Your Credit History

A home mortgage lender is a businessman who will not fork out any sum without the assurance of getting it back. This is why home mortgage lenders verify would-be homeowners' credit history before granting them their loans. Credit history is as good an indicator as any of a borrower's willingness to pay off debts on time. For the same reason, blemished credit history make home mortgage lenders nervous - and with good reason, too! Think about it. If you are a home mortgage lender, wouldn't you quail in your shoes at the possibility of not getting repaid?

Spotting the Spots

While home mortgage lenders would rather have borrowers with pristine credit history, they don't shut the doors on borrowers with smudges on their ratings. In fact, home mortgage lenders are very understanding when it comes to late payments and reporting errors. They are not as forgiving, however, of unpaid debts or loans that have been written off as bad debts by creditors.

So, what kind of spots do home mortgage lenders look for in your credit history? They're on the look-out for old, outstanding debts and bad debts incurred anytime during the last 12 to 24 months.

Spots No Maid Can Clean

If your credit history is riddled with old, outstanding debts and recent debts, don't call the maid or a credit repair company. Many credit repair companies promise you miracles. They swear they can clean up your credit record overnight. Always take claims like this with a grain of salt. The only person who can clean up your credit history is you. How do you go about this mission?

* Pay your current bills on time. Continue doing so because this will reflect favorably on your credit history.

* Avoid borrowing anything while you haven't fully paid off your debts. Not only should you work at getting out of debt, you should also focus on staying out of it.

* If you have many loans to pay off, work out a schedule for eliminating as many of them as you can. Many home mortgage lenders do not grant loans to people who owe too much. As a rule of thumb, mortgage payments should not go over 36 to 38 percent of your monthly obligations, the amount of which is a combination of your credit card payments, child support, alimony, student loans, and the like.

Blemishes are seldom permanent. If anyone with a rag can wipe smudges off a coffee table, you can do the same, too, with your credit history.