Consumers have been far more conscious of their abilities to stay current on their various outstanding lines of credit in recent months, and now many experts say that this trend will likely continue for at least the next six months.

Credit risk experts say that they generally expect to see delinquencies on nearly all types of consumer credit to slip between now and the end of the third quarter of the year, according to the latest quarterly survey from the credit scoring bureau FICO. Only one type of consumer credit – student loans – was expected to rise in that period by more than half of the experts, and even then, just barely. Only 51% of respondents felt this way.

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Meanwhile, 68% of respondents said they thought delinquencies on consumers’ credit card accounts would either stay at their current levels or continue falling in the coming six months, up from 61% in the previous survey, the report said. Further, that’s the best total seen since the end of the second quarter of 2011.

“These results are consistent with the general sentiment that delinquencies will be less of a problem over the next six months,” said Dr. Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO and head of FICO Labs. “As lending risk – both perceived and real – declines, the natural reaction by lenders is to loosen the purse strings and extend more credit. This should be welcome news to consumers and businesses alike, because increased access to credit is a key driver of economic growth.”

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As a consequence of more expected tumbles for delinquency, lenders also believe banks are more likely to continue opening new lines of credit to consumers, the report said. In all, 77% of respondents said they thought car loan offerings would either meet or exceed demand, and 71% felt the same way about credit cards. A smaller number, but still more than half, responded similarly to questions about small business loans and student loans. Only mortgages remained a concern for many lenders, with just 44% saying they thought they could meet or exceed consumer demand.

Lenders have already been expanding their efforts to offer lines of credit to consumers who might have suffered some sort of shortfall during the recent recession, particularly in the marketing of new credit cards to subprime borrowers.

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The housing market may still be difficult for many consumers to reenter following an economic downturn that may have played havoc on their finances and credit standing. As a result, many people may be on the lookout for rental properties that are both comfortable and affordable.

However, those with bad credit have likely run into a problem: because competition for rental properties is so fierce, landlords currently have a significant incentive to only rent to those whose credit is top-notch. As a consequence, consumers who are looking to move out of their current rental property and into a new one might want to consider the value of checking their credit report and identifying either erroneous entries that might be unfairly reducing their credit standing (estimates show as many as 80 percent of credit reports contain such an error) or otherwise target areas where they could stand to make some improvements.

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A credit report will list all the lines of credit currently ascribed to your name, and might help you to figure out the ones that are causing the most problems for you. By working hard to reduce those problems, you might be able to improve your credit standing over the course of a few months and put yourself in a better position to qualify for the type of rental properties you want.

Furthermore, home prices – excluding those for distressed properties – rose slightly on a month-over-month basis in February, according to the latest data from the home price analytics and tracking firm CoreLogic. If that trend continues it could put additional pressure on those with diminished credit scores. In all, prices rose 0.7 percent between January and February, but at the same time, those prices were still 0.8 percent below the levels seen in the same month in 2011. Non-distressed properties accounts for about two-thirds of all home sales in February, have risen more than 1 percent since the beginning of the year.

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Errors on a consumer’s credit report can be cleared up by contacting the credit bureau that issued the document, but if any are noticed, it’s usually wise to also order copies of the document from the other agencies to make sure the same mistakes aren’t also on those.

Monitor and learn about your credit with Credit.com’s Free Credit Report Card and remember, we are each entitled to a free copy of our credit reports from the three major credit bureaus once a year through the site AnnualCreditReport.com.

Most consumers have a sense of how important their credit score is in their everyday financial lives, but many may not be doing all they can to make sure their standing is as secure as it could be.

One of the biggest mistakes a consumer may make when dealing with their credit standing is not making sure to check their credit report regularly. While many experts note that doing so will allow them to spot any potential signs of identity theft, it can also be used to help fix less insidious mistakes and generally ensure that a credit score is as it should be.

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For example, studies in recent years have found that as many as 80 percent of all credit reports contain at least one error, and in many cases, those mistakes might be dragging down a consumer’s credit score. And contrary to popular belief, these errors aren’t always the result of fraud, but rather simple mistakes. When lenders report borrowing transactions to the three major credit bureaus, they make a typographical error, such as transposing numbers in a consumer’s Social Security number. That might prompt one person’s account details to end up on another borrower’s credit report. This can obviously become especially problematic if the real borrower falls behind on their bills, which will take a huge chunk out of an unsuspecting consumer’s credit rating.

Fortunately, consumers who check their credit report regularly will be in a better position to spot these erroneous entries on their files. These can be cleared up by contacting the credit bureau that issued the document and alerting them to the mistake. Usually, this process can take as little as a few weeks, but the burden of proof may be on the consumer affected by the mistake, so it’s important to have the necessary documentation to show they’re not responsible.

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Of course, because each credit bureau is different, any mistake discovered on one credit report may be on all of them, and so it may be important to order a copy from each reporting company when an error is discovered. This can help to clear up most problems a borrower may face when applying for a new line of credit. Typically, lenders use an applicants’ credit score to determine the terms of the account, and better scores get more favorable interest rates, fees, and the like.

Monitor and learn about your credit with Credit.com’s Free Credit Report Card and remember, we are each entitled to a free copy of our credit reports from the three major credit bureaus once a year through the site AnnualCreditReport.com.

During and even in the wake of the recent economic downturn, many consumers fell behind on their various credit payments and banks responded by severely tightening lending restrictions.

However, as the effects of the recession continue to fade for some consumers and the broader economy as a whole, lenders are now allowing subprime borrowers whose credit scores may have suffered severely during the downturn, to have greater access to lines of credit once again, according to a report from the credit monitoring bureau Equifax. And while credit issuing remains depressed below pre-recession levels at just $782 billion in 2011, that amount was a significant gain of 10 percent over both 2009 and 2010.

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Evidence suggests that much of this change was driven by lenders stepping up their efforts to extend credit specifically to borrowers whose credit ratings have taken a hit in the last few years and still not recovered, the report said. Bank credit card lending to subprime borrowers increased 41 percent between the ends of 2010 and 2011, as new accounts hit a four-year high at 1.1 million. Further, credit limits on those cards grew to $12.5 billion, up 55 percent from 2010, to the highest level since 2008.

“The evidence of increased lending to sub-prime consumers demonstrates banks’ ongoing efforts to grow lending by providing credit opportunities to more consumers,” said Amy Crews Cutts, chief economist at Equifax. “Year-over-year results show borrowers are taking advantage of the new opportunities and seeking to diversify their financial activity, which is building momentum toward economic improvement.”

Similarly, subprime lending on retailer-issued credit cards also grew, though less significantly, because in many cases, the qualifications for that type of account are far less stringent, the report said. In all, subprime lending on retail cards grew 4.7 percent between 2010 and 2011, and made up 31 percent of all originations for these accounts last year.

In addition, car loans extended to subprime borrowers surged last year, and these borrowers now make up 46 percent of the total auto finance market, the report said.

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Consumers who suffered financially during the recession and saw their credit ratings take a hit as a result may want to check their credit report to see how much work they have to do to get back to their pre-recession ratings.

Credit conditions have been improving substantially in the last few months, as consumers continue to make on-time payments into their various outstanding debts and once again show an interest in borrowing.

However, at the same time, many lenders are still being cautious in rolling out the type of loans that were relatively easy to obtain prior to the recent economic downturn, according to a report from Central Wisconsin Business.

In many cases, not only do qualifications to receive substantial loans such as mortgages or car loans remain elevated since the end of the recession, but the processes for approval often stretch beyond merely checking a credit report and taking a quick look at some of their other financials, as they did in the past.

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“Six or seven years ago, we’d look at the last two years’ tax returns to figure out income, and that was it,” John Proulx, senior vice president at Peoples State Bank in Weston, Wisc., told the newspaper. “Now, we have to get transcripts from the IRS to verify those returns.”

As a consequence of these still-high standards, many consumers who saw their credit standing suffer somewhat during the recession may continue to have trouble obtaining a sizable loan for some time, the report said. And often, even when they are able to go through the approval process, it takes far more time, effort and paperwork to complete. Typically, consumers will need credit scores of 720 or more to be able to get the best interest rate available, and in many cases, the higher the applicant’s rating, the smoother the process will be.

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The reason for this is that lenders obviously do not want to run into more defaults again as the economy continues to improve, the report said. By going to greater lengths to verify applicants’ financial wherewithal, they are putting themselves in a better position to be insulated against potentially risky borrowers.

One type of lender has broadened qualifications in recent months, however. Credit card issuers are once again sending out a large number of offers to subprime borrowers who have experienced trouble paying their bills in the past, but are simultaneously trying to offset that risk by courting a larger number of consumers with top-notch credit ratings as well.