Dear Creditnet: I pulled all 3 of my credit reports for the first time in 5 years because I plan to apply for a mortgage within the next few months. On two of my credit reports, I was surprised to find several credit card accounts and an installment loan that are still reporting as open and active. The other credit report shows them as closed. I know for a fact that these accounts are all closed. They have been for years. Could this be hurting my FICO scores in any way? And if so, should I contact the credit bureaus to let them know that these accounts have already been paid off and closed? - Randy D. from CO

Dear Creditnet: My college-age son had good credit, but then he got sick and was unable to work for a long time. He got behind on all of his obligations, so my husband and I are attempting to help get him back on track and rebuild his credit. We would like him to have a credit card in his name that we will be responsible for paying, but we're not sure what kind of card he could get approved for with bad credit. We would rather not co-sign unless it's absolutely necessary. What do you suggest? - Mary B. from CT

Dear Creditnet: I'm trying to buy a house this summer and my credit scores are just a bit too low to qualify for the best possible interest rate. My mortgage broker is suggesting we do something called a "rapid rescore" in order to quickly improve my credit before we close, but I don't understand how this works. Can a rapid rescore actually improve my credit scores, and how can I be sure that it will help me get approved for the loan? - Max S. from OR

Dear Creditnet: I have a bunch of private student loans totaling about $25,000 in debt, and I've been diligently making payments on time for the past five years. I unfortunately lost my job six months ago and I'm worried about keeping up with all of my payments in the coming months. Is there some way I can consolidate all of these loans right away so I only have to worry about making one payment to one company? Would this allow me to lower my payments and save some money while also buying additional time to land a new job? - Jackie S. from TX