Late Credit Card Payments

When lenders are looking to lend out money to a prospective client they want to make sure they will get their money back with interest. One of the biggest factors that may be hurting your credit score is late payments on your credit cards. If your payment is due on the 4th of every month make sure you pay that payment on or before the actual due date. There are ways you can make things easier by setting up your account for automatic payments to be withdrawn from your checking or savings account each month. If you are having trouble making your payments on time because you get paid on unconventional days each month, you can request from your bank to have your payments be due on different days that may be more manageable for you.

Credit Report Mistakes

Did you know that sometimes there can be mistakes that show up on your credit report? It is important for you to periodically check your credit report to make sure that no mistakes are showing up on your account. If you do see any mistakes showing up on your credit score account, you can dispute the mistake by writing a letter to the appropriate credit reporting agency. Three of the largest credit agencies in the United States are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

Revolving Utilization Percentage

Your revolving utilization percentage can be a possible factor for your low credit score. Revolving utilization is the percentage of available credit compared to what you are currently using. For example, if you have a credit card with a $100 credit limit and you are currently using $10, your current revolving utilization percentage will be 10%. Make sure that your revolving utilization percentage does not get too high. If your utilization percentage gets too high, for example, 80% to 90%, creditors will start to see you as riskier. Having a high revolving utilization percentage will also negatively impact your credit score. If possible, try to keep your revolving utilization percentage around the 10% to 30% range.

Late Rent Payments

Something that you may not have known is that late rent payments can negatively impact your credit score. It is optional whether or not a landlord will report late rent payments to a credit reporting bureau, but it is a possibility. If you are going to have one late payment coming up, it may be a good idea to let your landlord know ahead of time that you may be a few days late. If there is a late rent payment reported on your credit report, it can significantly hurt your credit score in the short term. Also if your landlord uses a rent payment service, rent payments may be automatically reported to credit bureaus. This is good news for you if you are consistently paying your rent payments on time, but is very bad news if you are late on rent payments often. Maintaining a good relationship with your landlord by making rent payments on time can be key to keeping your credit score in good standing.

Length Of Credit History

Having a short length of credit history may not necessarily bring down your credit score but it also may not help improve your credit score. The longer your credit account is open, the more data credit bureaus have. People who have just recently applied for a credit card may start with a low credit score, and over time can build up their credit by making consistent payments on time each month. Also, one thing to remember is that it may be a good idea to keep your first credit card if possible. Closing down your oldest credit card account may hurt your credit score, especially if your next credit card account is much newer than the old credit card account.

Co-Signing A Friend’s Credit Card

Co-signing for a friend’s credit card may be one of the riskiest things when it comes to hurting your credit score. When you help a friend get a credit card by using your own credit you are taking on the responsibility of them too. If your friend does not pay their credit card payments on time each month, this will end up hurting your credit. If you don’t want your credit score to go down, you will have to make your credit card payments yourself. For most people, helping a friend get a credit card using your own personal credit score is just waiting for a disaster to come. Be very careful if you decide to help a friend get a credit card using your own personal credit by co-signing.

Applying For More Credit Cards

When you apply for a credit card or loan there is a hard inquiry on your credit score. If you apply for many loans and credit cards in a short amount of time this can significantly hurt your credit score in the short term. Be careful when you are applying for new credit card accounts, maybe look into giving some time between each credit card application. Hopefully, this will help with lessening the negative effects of having too many hard inquiries on your account in a short amount of time.

Closing Down A Zero Balance Credit Card

Remember when we discussed revolving utilization earlier? When you close down a zero balance credit card this can cause your revolving utilization percentage to increase. If you have a few credit cards that you are not using, it may be best to keep the accounts open so your revolving utilization doesn’t increase dramatically overnight. Keep this in mind before you decide to close down one of your zero balance credit cards.

How To Repair A Bad Credit Score?

There are many ways to repair a bad credit score, but one of the easiest and fastest ways is hiring a credit repair agency. At Weller Legal Group, we have over 20 years of experience in helping clients with debt relief and improving the credit scores in the state of Florida. If you would like to schedule a free consultation on how we can help improve your credit score, please feel free to email JWeller@WellerLegalGroup.com or call us today at 1-800-407-DEBT (3328). We have offices located throughout the state of Florida including Clearwater, Lakeland, Port Richey, and Tampa.

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• Save money as an emergency fund
• Never spend more than you can afford
• Pay your debts on time

In addition, experts today also recommend keeping your credit scores as high as possible. A credit score is an important reflector of your financial health. Having good credit scores helps to unlock savings and benefits which includes access to credit cards and loans. Let us look at the reasons why you should be maintaining a good credit score.

Save Huge on Interest Rates on Big-Ticket Loans
If you are applying for a large loan to purchase a car or a house, a small difference in interest rates translates into substantial money. It could be thousands of dollars over the period you pay off your loan. If you have a high credit score, you can easily secure a loan with the least interest rate available in the market.

Lucrative Terms and Availability on Loan Products
A high credit score gives access to almost every loan or credit card product out there in the market. You can shop around and compare rates more effectively. It also entitles you to get the best terms which include better dollar limits which can make it easy for you to finance your big purchases.

Access The Best Credit Card Offers
You get access to the most rewarding credit cards if you maintain a high credit score. These include low-interest rates, better rewards, lucrative discounts, and travel points. Some cards also have features like 0% APR on purchases and balance transfer offers. These often reflect substantial savings over time.

Insurance Discounts
Some insurance companies may turn down their products if you have a low credit score. However, having a high credit score qualifies you for the lowest insurance premiums on car insurance.

Better Housing Options
Some landlords often consider credit scores before making a rental agreement. They do so to evaluate if you are financially trustworthy. High credit scores make it easier for you to get approval for an apartment or home rental. You may even save money on a security deposit.

Entitles You To Security Deposit Waivers
Many utility companies consider credit scores to determine your ability to pay bills on time. Having a weak credit history might mean you have to arrange for a security deposit before initiating a utility service.

How to Improve My Credit Score?
Credit Repair or improving the credit score is possible by making several changes to your financial behavior. Each individual has several credit scores, but the basis for each of them is usually the same. Hence, if you adopt strategies to improve your credit scores, the effect will be seen everywhere.

You might wonder if there is a secret that can quickly improve your scores. Although you cannot improve it overnight, it’s quite simple and you merely need to do the opposite of what made its slump. Every scoring model gives different weight to the factors affecting your score, the most common factors usually include the following:

Payment History
The most important factor considered by all rating agencies, it records the number of late or missed payments you made. If you have been failing to make payments or delaying your payments, your credit score would go down. On the other hand, if you have been paying your bills on time, your credit score will be higher.

Credit Utilization Ratio
It is the amount of credit you have used against the total credit available to you. Maintaining a low ratio results in a higher credit score. Thus, you should always aim to keep this ratio below 30%. For maintaining an excellent credit score, this ratio should be well within 10%.

Number of Accounts
Rating agencies consider the number of credit accounts you have and how many of them carry balances. You can maintain a high credit score if you have more accounts that do not have balances than the ones carrying a balance.

Credit History
The frequency of how often you use credit is also a parameter that most scoring models use. The average age of all your open accounts is considered here and having a long credit history results in a better credit score.

Credit Mix
The type of credit you have is also considered while calculating your score. It includes credit cards and other loans. You should maintain a good mix of different types of credits to have a high credit score.

Hard Inquiries
While applying for a new loan or a credit card, the lender checks your credit score. A hard inquiry is one parameter that is checked before approving a credit account. If you have too many hard inquires, your score is bound to be lower.

If you are unable to maintain a good credit score or having troubles when applying for a loan, consult Super Credit Repair. The team of professional have been helping residents of Clearwater and Pinellas County and guiding them to improve their credit scores over the past several years.

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Making late payments: What you have on your payment history in your credit and loan accounts goes a long way in the calculation of your credit scores. However, it also depends a lot on the scoring models used and a single late payment on your credit card or loan repayment account can cause a reduction in your credit score. Apart from this, these late payments stay on the credit reports for around seven years. Therefore, keep in mind that it is a good idea to pay the bills on time all the time.

Higher debt to credit utilization ratio: Another crucial factor that is utilized for the calculation of credit score is the debt to credit utilization ratio. This ratio is about how much of your available credit you are using in comparison to the overall amount available to you for use. All creditors and lenders normally prefer to find a low debt to credit ratio that is below 30%. Many people open new accounts just to decrease the debt to credit ratio but it is not a wise thing to do. This is likely to impact your credit score in a couple of ways viz. hard inquiries as a result of these applications and new accounts might lower the average age of the credit accounts. It is a good idea to just apply for the credit you require and when you require it.

Applying for too much credit at the same time: When a creditor or a lender sees your credit reports as a response to your application for a credit, it will develop into a hard inquiry. These hard inquiries will affect your credit score. When you apply for several credit accounts within a short period it is likely to affect your credit score and force the lenders to consider you as a higher-risk borrower. Apart from this, some credit scoring models will consider your recent credit activity as well. Here you will find a caveat. In case you are shopping for a mortgage or auto loan or a new utility provider, these several inquiries for this purpose are normally counted as a single inquiry for a certain period. It allows you to check out multiple lenders to find out the best available loan terms suitable for you. It is significant to know that this exception is not applicable for other kinds of loans such as credit cards.

Selecting your credit card account: Although it might be tempting to close your credit card account that has been fully repaid, it is likely to affect your credit score. Apart from affecting the debt to credit utilization ratio if you close a credit card account it may also impact the mix of credit accounts from the credit reports. Generally speaking, creditors and lenders like to find that you have been able to handle your various credit accounts properly over time. If you close a credit card account you possessed for some time can also shorten your credit history and this may adversely affect your credit score.

Continually checking out the credit reports is one of the ways of keeping track of your credit accounts and knowing which info is getting reported by the creditors and lenders and getting factors to generate the credit scores. You can get a free copy of your credit report after every one year online. There are several other benefits associated with being attached with reliable companies such as Super Credit Score especially in the Clearwater and Pinellas County, FL area. Keep in mind that there are many types of credit scores and it is a good idea to get in touch with a professionals if you have questions on how to improve your credit score.

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