I've seen folks raise their scores by 50+ points in just a few months, without doing anything fancy. They just learned which factors affected their score most, and focused on improving those areas.

A little over a decade ago, I found myself in especially dire financial straits. I got laid off from my job, split from my spouse, and defaulted on the mortgage for the house I shouldn't have bought.

LaToya Irby is a credit expert who has been covering credit and debt management for nearly 20 years. She's been quoted widely in national publications, and her work has been cited in several books.

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