9 Ways to Salvage an Ailing Credit Score

Without even contacting a credit bureau, Jeana Reed has a pretty good sense of what her credit score is. "It's probably the worst they've ever seen," says Reed, a 51-year-old Texan. Like many Americans, Reed's current credit headaches can be traced to a hospital stay. After her husband blew out his knee playing softball, complications from the injury kept him out of work longer than expected, which forced the couple to use credit cards to