7 Things That Can Hurt Your Credit Score

Depending on where you are in your life, you might be ready to improve your credit scores.  Many people in America are realizing that great scores are made over time – just like healthy living, it’s the “conscience” decisions we make that are so very important. We see 7 things everyone should be aware of when trying to figure out what will help create a better credit Score.

“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”

1. Don’t allow another Doctor’s Office to put a collection on your credit report.  Figuring out how to END “new” collections to your credit report, taking responsibility for these bills, and working out a payment plan on all future medical bills – is critical.  It’s a habit some people get into, and constant collections added to your report, year after year will pull your score down.
2. Pay your credit cards down.  If your credit limit is $2000, and your balance is $1750 every month, you are not going to have the BEST credit score you can.  The balance should ideally be below 30% of the high credit.
3. Don’t PAY all of your credit cards off every month!  I know, it’s counter intuitive, but if you have less than 20 years of perfect credit, this is important.  Carry a balance of $10 to $25 dollars a month, and pay the little bit of interest – this will keep your scores UP!
4. NEVER go over your credit limit.  The credit card companies allow you to do this – and then it SLAMS your credit score!
5. Make Payments on time… if you are going to be late on something – be late on your phone bill, not your car payment.  Unless you are going into a collection account, utilities do not report your payment history, credit cards and car companies do.
6. Get the BEST arrangements you can on Student loans, and remember that those are Installment loans – so if you just have Student Loan debt, you do not have a “balanced” credit profile.  You ideally want to have 3 credit cards to offset student loan debt.
7. Short Sales are treated like a foreclosure in many cases.

Okay, so that last one doesn’t apply to many people – but you wouldn’t believe how many people we talk to who have had a short sale, and don’t realize it hurts your credit score.  It does.  There are a small number of times where the short sale does not impact the credit scores – but for the most part, a short sale will impact your credit report the same a foreclosure would for at least 5 years.  Good Credit Advice!