The best way for your daughter to turn her credit around is to continue to pay her other bills on time. Time will heal her credit report. I would not co-sign a card for her, because if she defaults again then you could be held responsible for the entire debt and the account is on your credit report. Lenders do not have to notify the co-signer until the account is in default. If you know the risks and want to help her anyway, consider opening a card (with a low limit) in your name as the primary borrower, with her as a co-signer. You will get the bills. She can pay you monthly, so you can send the payment in a timely manner, and she gets the benefit of building her credit rating. Set your rule with her — one day late and the account is closed. Her willingness to accept your plan tells you how much she wants to fix her credit.

Re-establishing credit after credit problems is not very easy. When you’ve had a car repossessed or a credit card balance forgiven, it takes quite a while before creditors are willing to loan you money again. While co-signing for a child to get a credit card seems like the right thing to do, it really isn’t the answer. In addition, you would be responsible for her debt if she could not pay it back. The first thing that your daughter needs to do is make sure that she pays all her bills on time. It would be good for her to open a savings account at a bank and make systematic deposits to it. This shows creditors that you have discipline and make be responsible enough to again have credit. You can also get a secured credit card where you deposit money on the card and basically are using your own money. This will help to re-establish credit. Assuming that she did not file bankruptcy, it may take from one year to 18 months of paying your bills on time to re-establish her credit rating. She needs to show that she now has control of her spending and can be considered a good credit risk.