Final answer:
To improve her credit score, the client should close unused accounts, stop using credit, and consider opening new accounts responsibly.
Step-by-step explanation:
To improve her credit score, the client should consider the following tasks:
- Close accounts she is not using: If the client has credit cards or accounts that are not being used, it may be beneficial to close them as keeping them open may negatively impact her credit score.
- Stop using credit: The client should be cautious about taking on new debt and should focus on paying off existing balances.
- Open new accounts to re-establish credit: While it may seem counterintuitive, opening new accounts and using them responsibly can help improve credit scores over time. The client should be careful not to overextend herself and use credit responsibly.
To improve a credit score, it is advisable for the client to open new accounts to re-establish credit, make timely payments, and maintain low credit utilization.
The task that would most likely help a client improve her credit score by at least 60 points over the next 12 months is to open new accounts in order to re-establish credit. This action can demonstrate to lenders that the client can manage credit responsibly post-bankruptcy. It's important to pay all bills on time and to ensure that credit utilization—the amount of credit used compared to the credit available—stays low to further aid in the improvement of the credit score.
Other actions, such as closing accounts the client is not using, could potentially harm the credit score by reducing the credit history length or the amount of available credit. Stopping the use of credit entirely would prevent the demonstration of responsible credit usage, which is necessary for credit improvement. While hiring a credit repair company might be helpful in addressing inaccuracies or errors on a credit report, it is not a guarantee for a credit score increase and can be costly.