The three-digit figure that is your credit score is critical, even if you are not aware. Can you imagine getting your loan application or credit card turned down due to a poor credit score? Well, it can happen. If you want to have good financial health, you should avoid some dangerous habits that can ruin your credit score.
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Dangerous Habits That Can Completely Ruin Your Credit
So, what are some of the habits that you can involve yourself in that can ruin your credit score? Here are some of them:
Not checking your credit report regularly
You can access one credit report per year without charges, and you should take advantage of that opportunity. There are also ways of accessing your credit score for free, and if need be, you can pay since the benefits of getting your credit report for scrutiny outweighs the cost by far. Combing through your credit report frequently enables you to know whether you are doing well or poorly with your score. With that knowledge, you can take remedial measures to improve or maintain your good habits to uphold a good score. You also get to see any errors or omissions that could mess up your score so that you can dispute them and get them rectified.
Getting a high debt utilization ratio
Your debt utilization ratio refers to the percentage of debt incurred against your available credit limit. You will have a high debt ratio if you pay with your card to the point of almost hitting the limit. Credit card issuers typically do not expect you to utilize all of your available credit each month. However, if you almost reach your limit every month, you will have a high utilization ratio and it can ruin your credit report the same way that missed payments do. It is advisable to use 30 to 40 percent of your available credit to avoid messing up your score.
But does it mean all is lost and you cannot get loans and credit cards approved if your score is poor? Of course not. You can rebuild your score by working with reputable credit repair companies. They help borrowers with poor scores to find seasoned tradelines for sale from high-performing accounts to which they are added as authorized users. That allows them to take advantage of the account’s good credit history and score, hence boosting their score.
Applying for many credit cards
If you put in many requests for credit cards within a short time, you could end up hurting your score. When applying for a new credit card, the card issuer makes a hard inquiry on your report. The credit agencies can undermine your credit rating due to hard inquiries. You should avoid applying for a new card at least three months before applying for a mortgage to avoid plummeting your score.
Issuing bouncing checks
When issuing checks, it is critical to ensure that you have enough balance in your accounts. If there is an insufficient amount in your account and the checks you issued are dishonored, financial institutions will forward such checks to collection agencies. The reporting of bounced checks drawn on your account can hurt your credit rating and jeopardize your chances of getting credit in the future.
Conclusion
You should avoid the dangerous habits discussed above as they can ruin your credit score. Additionally, it is crucial to follow up when you co-sign a loan with anyone since if they default, your credit score will be affected negatively besides being forced to pay it.