Part of rebuilding your credit is proving that you can pay your bills on time. If your bad credit episode left you without any credit cards, you’ll have to open new ones.

Credit reporting bureaus continually update credit reports as they receive information from lenders. Your credit score may change with these updates as lenders add new information to your credit report but also as old information drops off your report. How updates affect your credit score can depend on your overall credit history.

A credit bureau is an information clearinghouse that compiles information on consumers. The credit grantors, or lenders, report consumer payment history to the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus then compile that information together with information on tax liens, bankruptcies, and court judgments that is available in public records. In return, when consumers apply for credit, lenders can check credit reports to determine the creditworthiness of consumers.

So, it’s been 30 days since I sent my dispute letter to one of the 3 major credit bureaus and no response. How can I know if they’re doing something, did something, still yet to do something, or if they’re just simply ignoring me? Are they even allowed to just ignore people? What should I do?

Well, the notion of credit for a job well done extends beyond your personal, academic, or professional achievements and into your financial life. In the financial sense, credit is an agreement between a lender, a bank, credit union, credit card issuer, utility company, or other institution that has a financial stake—and a borrower.