These days, though many lenders are now relaxing their existing credit standards to allow more consumers access to new loans and credit cards, a large number of people are still having trouble qualifying.

As a consequence, those consumers who applied for a loan or credit card only to be rejected may be left wondering what to do. The trick in most cases is to simply be patient and responsible about how they proceed. One mistake many might make is repeatedly applying for similar lines of credit from a number of different lenders, but this will only serve to lower their credit score. That’s because 10 percent of their overall rating is made up of factors related to new credit, including the number of credit checks that have been run for them within the last six months or so.

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For this reason, the smartest thing a borrower who has been rejected for a new line of credit can do is take advantage of a law that allows them to obtain a free copy of their credit report after being turned, and go over the document closely. This will help them to determine what areas of their credit history are causing them trouble, and therefore give them a better idea of how to go about fixing their rougher patches.

One issue many consumers may struggle with is making late payments. This is the single largest factor in determining a credit score, and so any misstep at all can have a negative impact. The further behind you fall on payments, the greater the impact to your scores.  Unfortunately for those looking for a quick fix, the only way to deal with this aspect of their credit is to make future payments on time every month. With time, the late payments become older, and on-time payments carry more weight when credit scores are calculated.

Another area a borrower with rocky credit may have more control over is their credit utilization, basically the amount of money they’re borrowing versus their existing credit limits. The more they’re borrowing, the lower this second-largest aspect of their score will be, so reducing debts significantly can have a huge positive impact.

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Fortunately for consumers who saw their credit ratings slip during the recent recession, credit standards are softening for most types of credit, making it easier for even those with subprime scores to obtain loans and credit cards.

Student loan debt has been a hot button issue in recent months as borrowers have seen loan balances and delinquencies increase considerably for this type of credit. As a means of mitigating these problems, one federal lawmaker has introduced a bill that could provide significant help to borrowers.

The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last month, and the bill has quickly gained a significant amount of public support since. An online petition in favor of the bill has nearly half a million signatures and many current students are rallying to the cause.

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The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), would forgive student loan debt for borrowers who have paid 10% of their discretionary income for 10 years. It would cap interest on federally issued student loans at 3.4%. Further, consumers who go into teaching, public service and private medicine in areas considered “underserved” would have their debt forgiven in half the time. Five other lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors.

“This provides student loan borrowers with a second chance, those who have been struggling financially,” Clarke said on the floor of the House in introducing the bill. “And by cutting this debt, this frees up their money to invest on their own. That will create new jobs throughout this country. It’s time for Congress to stand up for the rights of student loan borrowers. It’s time to forgive these student loan debts.”

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In the past year or so, student loan debt hit the significant and worrying milestone of $1 trillion in outstanding balances, more than what Americans owe on their combined credit card accounts. Currently, the average former college student owes about $25,500 on their loans, and if current rules for federal education loans are allowed to expire in the coming months, interest rates on them would double to 6.8%. However, if the bill were to pass, up to $45,520 – the average cost of a four-year degree at a public university – could be forgiven.

Millions of college students in recent years have graduated with not only tens of thousands or more in student loan debt, but also significant amounts of credit card debt stretched across a number of accounts, exacerbating their financial constraints.

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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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Americans may now be feeling better about the economy in general and their own finances in particular, leading to more borrowing overall, but at the same time, many are still being more cautious with their credit card balances.

Though consumer borrowing increased overall once again in the month of February, it did so despite the second straight month of declines in credit card debt nationwide, according to the latest monthly consumer credit statistics issued by the Federal Reserve Board. While the amount of borrowing increased overall to more than $2.52 trillion, up 4.2% from January’s slightly more than $2.51 trillion, that increase came entirely as a result of borrowing on nonrevolving loans.

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This type of credit, which the Fed uses to refer to installment loans – like student loans and auto financing – that do not include mortgages, rose 7.7% to a total of more than $1.72 trillion, the report said. Consumer borrowing on this type of loan has been rising for years since the end of the recent recession.

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However, credit card balances have fallen considerably during that time, and though borrowers recently bucked that trend during the holiday shopping season, debt levels are beginning to regress once again, the report said. February saw consumers’ credit card balances drop to a total of $798.6 billion, the first time the figure has fallen below $800 billion since November. That number was down 3.3% from $800.8 billion in January, which itself was a notable 4.4% decline from December’s $803.8 billion.

And during the month of February, interest rates on consumers’ credit cards were a bit of a mixed bag, the report said. Though APRs on all accounts slipped somewhat to 12.34% from the 12.36% seen at the end of last year, those on accounts assessed interest rose appreciably to 13.04% from 12.78%.

Financial experts had actually cautioned that the increases in consumers’ credit card use seen toward the end of 2011 were likely the result not of shifting attitudes toward borrowing on these accounts, but simply to finance gift purchases for the holiday shopping season. And with balances falling in each month since the new year began, it seems this prediction has proven correct. However, at the same time, many also say that credit card borrowing has to reach its logical bottom at some point in the near future.

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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.