9 Things That Will Destroy Your Credit Score
September 24, 2007 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
With the credit market crunch still on, and the housing market still trying to battle its way out, you will need a better credit score to get just about anything you want, from an auto loan to a home mortgage to a decent interest rate on your credit card. But, if you’re not concerned about saving money on interest, or your financial future, here are 9 things that will destroy your credit score:
- Declare bankruptcy
- Pay your bills late
- Stiff your landlord
- Pay only half (or less!) on your minimum payments
- Ignore your bills altogether
- Apply for multiple credit cards and lines of credit at once (or within a couple months of each other)
- Max out your credit cards
- Get a payday loan and keep renewing it
- Enter a debt negotiation program (which is different from consolidation)
Yea those debt negotiation companies are like nuclear bombs to your credit score. They almost conned me into doing one this one time. Thank god I came to my senses.
It sounds great, debt negotiation does, but it can be a real problem. Debt consolidation is a much better choice if you think aggressive debt reduction won’t work in your circumstances.