Who are you?

Why don't you speak with a credit specialist?

Out of my scope of expertise. 

Pay your loans/credit cards off, pay your bills on time

Ask a lender

stop spending beyond your means.... 

Pay their bills on time and don't spend more money than they make. It is really that simple.  Pay off Debt and save money. 

Abby,

Contact a credit specialist.

Contact Gene Mundt or Joe Petrowsky for a wealth of information

Pay off credit card debt. Don't open any new accounts. Pay off any past due accounts.

As Julie Larson Realtor® Sarasota said - refer them to Credit Karma - lots of self-help and tools to help your folks get their credit in order.  Having two millennials, they have lots of friends I've referred there!

Sign up for a free CreditKarma.com account. They've got all kinds of tips on how to improve your credit scores including the best ways to lower your credit card debt.

Pay your bills on time. Don't overcharge. Have a mixture of credit lines.

spend less, pay down more debt.

have a budget

70-10-10-10

Richest Man In Babylon

Contact a professional qualified in the field.   

All about playing their game, take on credit, and pay it off.

Never miss a payment.

Keep at least one credit card account long term, the longer the better.

Have a high ratio of available credit compared to the amount you owe.

don't carry credit card balances and pay your bills on time.

Credit scores will increase over time if you do not show any past dues for one year and especially in the year one is applying for a mortgage. So, if your were past due in 12/16 you may have to wait until 12/17 to see a slight increase. Also, for every debt you have that stays current, this too will help in 12 months history of the debts. Fair Issac and COmpany (FICO)..can be manipulated by consolidating credit cards. Let's say you have 3 cards with a $10,000. credit limits. It would increase your FICO by 10 -20 points, by placing all the debt on one card and have little or no debts on all the others. When FICO looks at the credit it will show that you do not abuse your credit due to the many cards with little or preferably zero balances. I am not in the credit business,but over 30 years ago, I helped a friend start a credit agency and these are a few of the tips he told me. In the mortgage world, increasing a FICO score by 5 points can me an approval.Finally don't re-lie on anyone outside the credit/finance world, due to the constant changes in this particular area. Be careful picking any Credit Counseling agencies. I give my borrowers a copy of their report (which I helped create) for it shows ever company they ever death with and contact information. Remember, you don't know where you are going, until you know where you are at.....Take care.  

Make payments on time.

Pay bills on time.

Don't max out credit cards.

A credit speacialist can you the right answer.

pay your bills on time

Pay your bills on time. If you have credit card debt get rid of it. At least get it down to 30% of your total credit limit. 

work with a lender that is willing to talk to the people.  You sell Real Estate!

pay all your revolving credit cards to under 30% of their credit limits

Contacting a lender that also specializes in credit clean up is most helpful. Everyone has different reasons for low credit scores. In general though, pay bills on time, don't spend exceedingy on credit and pay off debt.

Pay their bills on time.  Get rid of unused credit cards.  Pay off debt.  The usual stuff you can find on a quick google search.

This is so broad. It really depends on how the individuals got into the bad score situation. The simplistic answer is reduce your debt or stop running up debt. However, if you do have debt, the key is to pay on time and regularly. To build up a good score, if you are young, start early - get a credit card (with a low limit, so you don't go crazy), spend judiciously and pay it up every month to avoid interest charges.

Abby,
Do not purchase and use credit cards.
Be sure your balance is less then 50% of credit limit
Ex: credit limit 1200.00
Balance should be less then $600.00
If you paid off a credit card. Do NOT close the credit card
Do you show charge offs? Contact and offer to pay a negotiated amount to clear to zero $0
Outstanding debt owed? Contact and also negotiate pay to clear to zero. BE SURE IT IS IN WRITING. Will be zero $0

That should cover it!
What if you don't have enough credit?
Open a secured card. You give bank that offers this let's say $500.00 and you get a credit card with credit limit of $500-
Good luck! Feel free to contact me. 949.310.4960

Since I'm not a credit specialist, my best advice is:
Pay down or pay off debt
Increase reserve funds (savings)
Stay on the job more than two years
Increase verifiable income
Keep debt to income ratio low
etc. etc. etc.

 Don't do a strategic default.

abby tiscareno Don't use your credit card except for an emergency.

Your lender.

It is am easy recipe: Pay bills on time, reduce balances to below half of what your credit limit is, go on each credit bureau site and review your credit report disputing anything wrong and NEVER pay anyone for what you can do for free. There is no magic or over night fix available 

Spend less.

Save more.

Reduce debt.

Abby, those are easy instructions to give but when one is living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, dodging phone calls and can't get that credit score above 680, it is frustrating.

Now I do need a response from you.
Do you own a house or rent?
Do you own a car or take public transport?
Are you employed? How many hours a week?

Tag me in your response.

real easy pay off all debt and pay your bills on TIME

Others have answered.

There are many great articles that can be found by using Bing.

abby tiscareno beyond my expertise level for sure.

Check your credit for free all 3 credit bureaus 1/year for mistakes. Regularly monitor your credit. Now many banks offer free credit data( Wells Fargo, City, AmEx, etc.). Pay the smaller credit balances in full first and schedule your payments on larger balances. Do not miss any payments and pay ontime, pay at least min of what you have to. 

Keep your ratio of used credit to available to less than 25%; pay ALL your bills on time;have multiple sources of credit. Talk to your lender

Immediate positive hit would be to pay or challenge any charge offs.