How to Sabotage Your Credit Score

You don’t need a good credit score, right? After all, do you really need lower interest rates? Plus, lower insurance rates are kind of over-rated anyway.

If you are ready to really take your credit score down a notch or two, here are some solid ways to take your rating to new lows:






1. Pay Late

One of the best ways to bring your score down in a hurry is to pay late. Since payment history accounts for the largest chunk of your credit score (35%), paying late can be one of the best ways to drop your score.

Even better is if you can skip a payment altogether. Skipped payments can weigh on your credit score like few other individual items. It’s also worth noting that an account doesn’t have to be credit related in order to affect your score. Repeated missed payments or late payment made to utility companies or landlords can result in reports made to the credit bureaus. And never underestimate the power of ignoring payments altogether and having your account sent to collections.

Bigger payment issues, like foreclosure or filing for bankruptcy can result in a 200 to 300 point drop in your credit score. Now that’s the big time.


2. Add More Debt to Your Budget

The more debt you use, the lower your credit score. With credit utilization accounting for 30% of your FICO score, you can do some serious damage just by running up the credit card bills. If you are squeamish about paying late or missing payments, you can live beyond your means and just add more debt.

If you begin using more of your available credit, your credit score will reflect that. Someone with a good credit score will try to keep credit utilization to no more than 30% of what’s available. But if you want to keep your score low, you need to pile the debt higher. Carry a balance from month to month, paying only the minmum or a very little more, and you can work on building up your credit utilization.


3. Ignore Your Credit Report

You can’t improve what you aren’t aware of. One of the best ways to stay in the dark about your situation, and to keep your credit score low, is to ignore your credit report. Your credit report is a history of your credit related transactions. However, sometimes the information is inaccurate. This inaccurate information can impact your credit score.

Now, if you’re committed to keeping a low credit score, you don’t need to even look at your credit report. No reason to dispute errors if they are helping keep your score down. Plus, ignoring your credit report can leave the door open for identity thieves. When one of these scammers open an account in your name, that can be a great help in bringing down your credit score.


4. Apply for Lots of New Credit

If you are running out of room on your current credit cards, you might consider getting a new credit card. Applying for lots of new credit can be a great way to bring your score down a little bit. It’s not as dramatic as missing payments, but this strategy still has its place.

When you apply for a lot of new credit, it can appear that you are trying to run up your balances. Several hard inquiries into your situation in the space of a few months can lower your score a little bit. Soft inquiries, like those for “pre-approved” offers won’t bring down your score, though. If you really want to create maximum impact, you need to get out there and apply for more credit.

source: financialhighway.com

Raise credit scores with good financial management

Credit scores make a huge impact in our personal and financial future.

Any debt left ignored or bills that you didn’t settle all get reflected annually in a document that is easily accessible by various financial institutions and is used to base your financial credibility. This credit report is where your credit scores are reflected. The higher your credit score, the higher your eligibility to qualify for significant loans should the need arise in the future. Inversely, the lower your credit score, the lower your chances of being approved for milestone purchases such as mortgages, car loans or even something as simple as a credit card application.

With lenders, bankers and other financial institutions using it as a reference before granting important loans, it’s a piece of reference that strongly reflects your credit history and financial responsibility. Poor credit grades, therefore, cast a bad impression against your overall reputation; and as a result, prevents us being able to take out important loans.

What makes credit scores to fluctuate?

It’s easy to look towards credit to keep up with the rising cost of living these days; but it’s also the easiest way to ruin credit ratings. Everyone should remember that credit cards are not a source of free or unlimited money—it’s borrowed money and every time you use it, it means it is a debt that you have settle. Given this, try not to spend beyond your means and use it responsibly.

Credit scores varies according to credit agencies

Three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion offer free annual credit reports, upon request. Each agency has their own algorithm to calculate the scores, which bring difference in scores. There are different calculation models used each agency and it is important to regularly review it for discrepancies and inconsistencies. Feel free to raise dispute if you come across any errors.

Correct credit report to stay in peace

While the temptation to live a luxurious lifestyle on credit is great, it is not the healthiest way to go about managing your finances. Living outside of your capability to settle your credit debts reflects negatively on your credit scores and may lead to your inability to get approved for important loans. Interest rates on credit card can go up, and this is something that we all want to avoid.

Get free credit check regularly and maintain a good credit score for a happy financial life. Keep a track on your credit report & score with credit monitoring and a regular check.

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How to Get Better Credit and Increase Borrowing Power

If you want to know how to get better credit, the first thing you must understand is what having good credit means. Learning how to get better credit begins with having an understanding of responsible borrowing habits. Your credit report and the things that a bank will look for when deciding if they want to grant credit to you follows a very simple logic. It really comes down to how much risk your present to them as a potential borrower. Here are some of the things that lenders will look at and they are also things to pay attention to if you are trying to figure out how to get better credit.

Stability is something that affects your credit report, credit score and is something that your bank will consider when determining if you qualify for credit. If you move residences or change jobs, often this is a sign of instability. Most lenders like to see that you have maintained the same employment or residence for three years. Your credit report will list your three most recent addresses and employers. If they are all different and have changed in a short period of time, this will affect your credit score.

How you use and pursue credit is another measure that your bank will use to determine risk and could be an indicator that you need to get better credit. The number of times that you apply for credit in a given calendar year will indicate if you are a "credit seeker". Too many inquiries will reduce your credit score and borrowing power. The rule of thumb is to make no more than 4 applications for credit in a given calendar year.

Having too many credit cards (even if you don't use them) will make you appear as a credit risk. The reason being is because of the "ability" that you have to go into debt. Having credit cards that are close to the limits, at their limits or over their limits is also a problem. It will not increase your borrowing power, will reduce your credit score and will trigger a message to appear on your credit report that states "balances are to close in proportion to credit limits". In this regard, if you want to know how to get good credit; a good rule of thumb is to only spend on credit cards what you can afford to pay in full each month.

Obviously, how you pay your credit cards is important. Late payments will destroy your credit and is definitely not a good way to get good credit.

If you are trying to get good credit and increase your borrowing power, your bank will also look at your cash flow, income to debt ratios, type of income, assets and more. Much of the criteria that your bank will look for are not contained within your credit report. Rather, it is information requested in a credit application and assessed separately from your credit report. Even if you have the best credit, if other this other criteria is not met you will not be able to get credit from many banks.

TrueAssess is Your Financial Report Card - Better than a Credit Report - Find out what your bank really thinks, qualify for lower interest rates, build better credit, plan for major purchases and more. www.trueassess.com

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You Cannot Raise Your FICO Credit Score Without Knowing This!

The loan officer said: 'Sorry, we cannot grant the loan. Your FICO score is just too low.' FICO? What is that? How can I fix it? Fixing your FICO credit report is easier than you imagine, once you know what you need to fix.

The truth is that you can manipulate your FICO score and repair your credit nearly to what it was before you get any more bad news from a loan company. It will take some time and a little work on your part, but it is definitely doable.

Loan companies and other creditors depend on your FICO credit score as their benchmark for lending. The three digit FICO number is how they determine if they will give you credit, the interest rate they must levy to be safe, and how much money potential lenders think you will be able to pay back on time.

The rule of thumb they use is: The national average score is 723. The higher your score is above that, the more financially sound you are. The lower your FICO score is below 750, the tougher it is for lenders to justify you as a good credit risk. And, they have no choice in the matter because FICO is the industry standard.

Your FICO credit number says a lot about who you are as a credit risk so you want your FICO score to be as high as it can be. Let me reassure you - It does not matter how bad your FICO score is now, there are ways that you can raise your FICO credit score! Ours is over 800. We got there in a step-by-step fashion by doing the right things.

The FICO score is nothing more than your credit history distilled into a single number based on past credit history. While there are guesses as to how Fair, Isaac & Co. (FICO) and the three major credit bureaus compute the score, they do not reveal their calculations. To be perfectly honest, even if they told us, we would need a very expensive computer program to compute it ourselves.

What we do know is FICO is calculated based on a borrower's credit history after considering numerous factors such as:

... Whether you pay your bills on time ... How long you have had credit (longer the better) ... How much you have borrowed compared to how much you had the ability to borrow ... How long you have lived at your current residence ... If you are a renter or buying a home ... The bad stuff such as: Bankruptcy, write-offs, collection actions, and other such actions

You might be surprised to know that there are really three FICO scores, one each from the major credit bureaus - Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. All lenders use either one of these three scores, or an average of the scores when determining your credit worthiness.

The reason this system is used and has been approved by the federal government is, the FICO score has proven to be an accurate and surprisingly consistent way of showing a our credit worthiness. It has saved companies millions of dollars in credit charge-offs by preventing lending decisions based on human judgment instead of cold mathematics. Over the years, lenders who have used FICO scores to grant or reject loans have been right over 80 percent in those decisions. So you can readily see why the FICO system is here to stay and why you should learn more about it.

Unfortunately, determining the FICO score that a lender might have used when you were rejected for credit can be a challenge. First, your FICO credit score is not shown anywhere on your credit report like you might expect. In fact, for many years, FICO credit scores were a well kept secret. Legislation now requires that anyone can get their FICO score. Secondly, there is still the problem of the three bureaus each issuing their own calculation of FICO scores based on their own versions of your credit history.

You can see why it's vital that you get credit reports and FICO scores from all three bureaus as soon as possible and start to work on raising your FICO credit score.

Fixing your FICO credit score yourself is easily done. Get the information you need here ==>FICO Credit Score Fixed. or here ==>Fix Your Credit Report. Jim DeSantis, Editor, OnLine Tribune.

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Check Your Credit Report Online for Better Loans on Credit

Credit history plays a vital role when someone is in urgent need of financing a loan on credit, as one’s worthiness of receiving it gets calculated as a whole, which is known as a credit report. So if you already doubt your financial history, it’s imperatively important to know its significance in order to receive a trouble-free loan online. To be precise; the credit score is based on the credit report, which are fundamental numerical expressions based on a statistical analysis of the aspiring creditor’s credit file with summarized historic fiscal information. This score plays an important part, but the probability of a person being delinquent on a loan or credit obligation in the future is uncertain in any case.

Since credit lenders firstly ensure that the aspirant’s financial report is perfect in order to finance their loan, it’s better to contact credit reporting agencies who have expertise in meeting all your requirements and thus focus on providing free credit report services online. Anyone who is interested in seeking the best services online can search for better online services to fulfill their credit reporting requirements. Displaying a good credit report is the most valuable thing one requires before allowing you to take credit to purchase a car or a home, and it can even impact your ability to get a job. A bad credit scores substantially hinders one’s qualification to receive different loans.

It is certainly important that your financial information has been reported in your credit history, as in a few cases credit profiles can be filled with inaccurate information that directly impact one’s ability to borrow money. Ensure that you keep a tight check on your report to ensure that no one is stealing your identity. In that case, your credit score can be significantly affected and it can take months or even years to get it straightened out. Many pioneer online credit agencies also provide access to online credit reports and scores.

But either way, it is very important to check your credit history and profile now as it may eventually save you from associated problems in the future. In this case, one can get access to all their required reports with no cost whatsoever and can get their free credit report online. By doing so, you'll not only save yourself money but identify incorrect information and possible fraud from stolen identity.

The faster you know what is wrong on your credit report, the easier it will be to get it corrected and avoid a lot of problems with negative information ruining your score and ultimately the ability to get loans faster.

Check your free credit report now at www.freecreditreport.com. It’s fast and easy. Here you can get your three bureau credit report and credit score instantly. Also get access to daily credit monitoring, credit alerts and other resources that will assist you in understanding credit reports and making big financial decisions.

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What Determines Your Credit Score?

Do you think your credit history represents your worthiness to receive loans on credit? The fact is that yes, it does. As your credit score influence your finances in many essential ways, so it’s imperative to better understand its very importance and facts concerning it.

Credit score is basically a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person’s credit file and summarizes historic credit information. Since the score symbolizes your worthiness of receiving loans, it represents the probability of whether one will become delinquent on a loan or credit obligation in the future.

In short, credit lenders want to make sure of your score before rendering any loan on credit. Normally, an ideal credit score ranges from 350 to 850 and the greater the score the greater the credibility. If the score falls in somewhere around 700, it is considered favorable, and with a score ranging around 600, the creditor would look to other factors to determine credit risk. The credit report is used to determine a three-digit number based on payments being paid on time, balances on accounts, amount of available credit and length of credit history.

Subsequently, there are numerous factors which influence one’s credit score and are responsible for determining it, such as:

The lump sum amount of money owed by an individual, which means that the more one owes, there is a comparatively lower credit score and less chance of receiving further loans.

Payment of bills is one such factor, which determines one’s worthiness of receiving loans as it adds up to a better score and is reflected in your credit report.

Amount of credit inquiries on your account is important as the more inquires on your account the chances of your score lowering are often greater.

Another such factor is the number of accounts one owns, as high credit balances automatically lower one’s credit score and affects credit scores directly. A moderate balance, which is paid from time to time, is ideal for getting better scores.

Credit limit is essential as it’s important to determine how close you are to your limits. Nearing the limits on your account reflects negatively on your credit score and thus decreases your essential numbers.

How long ago your credit was established helps in finding out the accurate score. If your account is long established it’ll automatically increase your score to a more positive number.

Negative credit history such as liens, foreclosures or bankruptcies will negatively affect your credit score and if your account is secure or unsecured.

It’s important to check your credit scores more often than once a year, and credit monitoring services can help you with keeping track on your credit score through alerts, so you can more easily maintain healthy credit scores.

Know your credit scores for free and track your score with credit monitoring. Get your credit score from all the 3 credit bureaus and also check with credit estimator to make big financial decisions at www.freecreditscore.com .

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