When Todd Huettner's clients came to him hoping to qualify for a mortgage, their credit score was in the mid-700s, the sweet spot for lenders, who are looking for borrowers who are likely to pay their bills on time.

Huettner, principal at Huettner Capital in Denver, is an independent mortgage broker who has helped people navigate the unpredictable straits associated with obtaining a mortgage. But these clients had a particularly bad patch to deal with: They had declared bankruptcy two and a half years before.

"A foreclosure, like a bankruptcy, does hurt your score, but it's hard to tell exactly how much by itself, since there are usually other late payments, collections or judgments prior to a foreclosure," he said. "After all, a foreclosure only takes place after not making payments."

Because a credit score is really about how well you handle credit, said Huettner, "late payments are a huge warning sign, and really hurt your credit score. I've seen one late payment lower a score by 100 points."

And as the number of foreclosures has continued to grow, and even those with very good credit scores have had difficulty paying bills these past few years, the credit agencies are changing how they evaluate the risk of consumers defaulting on their loan. The Fair Isaac Corporation and VantageScore, the two companies that determine credit score formulas, have examined consumer behaviors to come up with a new scoring formula. The new scores might take a harsher look at average balances on credit cards and loans, causing an otherwise good score - anything north of 740 - to drop 40 points.

Whatever has caused your credit score to drop - bankruptcy, foreclosure, or late payments - it will take work to get it back up to the desirable mid-700 range (850 is the best possible score; 350 is the lowest.) "When you think about it, you didn't go into foreclosure overnight, said Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma, a Web site that provides free access to credit scores and credit advice. "Each one of those things that happens on the way to foreclosure - late payments, missed payments, higher credit balances - will affect your score; it can drop by 200 to 250 points. So it will take time to repair that score."

If you are in foreclosure on your home, you probably won't be looking for a mortgage too soon. But it's not too soon to start trying to repair that credit score. Experts offer these tips to get your credit score to a healthy number again.

Continue to pay your bills. Just because you foreclosed on a property doesn't mean you should pull back from other financial responsibilities. Your credit score is a reflection of how good you are at paying bills. So pay the credit card, the car loan, the gas bill, and any other accounts. Don't skip any payments. Continuing to pay is a way to stop the decline; not paying is a sure way for your score to continue to drop.

Don't close all your accounts. Yes, you just went through a foreclosure, and yes, you would probably like to cut up all your credit cards in order to get a fresh start. But, you need to have at least one credit card that you pay regularly to demonstrate your credit-worthiness. "You have to make on-time payments on accounts for your score to improve," said Huettner. "You can't jut close or not use your accounts and expect your credit to improve." Huettner said to plan for 24 months of timely payments to make a big difference in your credit score.