The experts advise you not to accept telephone solicitation. Many of these charitable groups and companies are legitimate, but many are not. You cannot repair a bad credit record, you rebuild a good credit record. Financial information stays on your record for 7 years, bankruptcies for 10 years. Now that there is no longer a Statute of Limitations on student loans, Congress is being lobbied to amend the credit laws to allow student loans to remain on credit records indefinitely.
Most creditors are just as interested in positive credit as in negative credit.
You need to improve the ratio of good credit to bad. Steps to Rebuilding a Good Credit Record Create a budget you can live with and open a passbook savings account. Set up direct deposit from your paycheck. Then pay back the loan by making timely monthly payments in order to build a positive payment history. Be sure this loan will be reported to the credit bureau.