What Affects My Credit Score? - There are many things you can do to either help or hurt your credit score. Your credit report is based upon information that is reported to the three main credit bureaus, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian, by credit companies whom you have an account with. The credit bureaus also obtain information about accounts you have in collections, and judgements you have against you.How long ago were the negative items reported also has an effect on the credit score. The more recent a negative item is recorded, the higher an impact it has on the score.
Every time someone pulls your credit it has an effect on your credit. Some inquiries affect your credit more than other. Keep the amount of inquiries on your credit to as few as possible.
The longer the average age of your open credit accounts, the better. An average age of 7 years will give you a better score than an average age of 1 year.
Keep older credit cards open, even after you pay them off.
If you are considering opening a new low rate account and transfering your balance from a higher interest rate account, first contact the company that has your existing account. Tell them of your intentions and ask if they will match the rate of the potential new account. They may not, but you have nothing to lose by asking.
There a specific ratios of credit limit to balance that affect your score.. Typically being at 25% of your credit limit is considered "ideal."
Public Records can have a negative impact on your credit scores. If you have any judgements, tax liens, bankruptcies, etc. these will all show up as public records on your credit report. If these records do not show as satisfied, or they are more recent they can have a greater negative impact.
Your payment history is a major factor in the way your credit score is determined. If you have any 30, 60 or 90 lates on your credit report then your score will be impacted negatively.
How you utilize the available credit that you have will affect your credit score. Don't max out your credit cards and don't close credit card accounts after they are paid off. Always try to keep your credit card balances, or revolving credit, at 20-40 percent of the credit limits. The longer these accounts are opent the better it will be for your credit scores too. The credit bureaus want to see an established length of credit history, not that you get a credit card pay it off, close it and then get another one and go through the same process again. Keep that first card and provide a long established credit history with an account that is much older and still open and available to use. Also, by leaving these accounts open it will give you more revolving credit available and help with your credit score too.
What affects my credit score? - There are many things that can affect your credit score in both positive and negative ways. Your credit scores are determined by information which is reported by your creditors to the three main credit bureaus, Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.
If you have high balances on credit cards, talk to your credit card companies about increasing your credit limits, especially on cards which you have a good payment history with. This can help reduce your ratio of balances to high limits, and improve your score (as long you don't max them out again).
Age of your established credit accounts will affect your credit scores. If you close all of your established credit cards and then open up new ones this will have a negative impact because the length of your open credit trade-lines will be reduced greatly. If you have credit cards that you no longer use, it makes more sense to simply cut them up or use them once per year, to keep them active, and continue to grow a longer more established credit history that to close the credit card account once it is paid off. Consult a mortgage professional for more information on ways to improve your credit scores.
It is a good idea to review your credit bureau reports at least once a year. This gives you the opportunity to ensure there is no erroneous information being reported, which could negatively impact your credit score.
Late payments on your credit obligations that have occurred during the most recent past six months carry the greatest weight in regard to credit scoring. Also late payments on newly established accounts may cause a lower score than late payments on older accounts that have had an otherwise acceptable payment record.
Home
