What Factors Affect My Credit Score and To What Extent?

Q. What factors affect my credit score and to what extent?

A. There are multiple factors that affect your credit score:

• New late payment - it can drop your score by over 100 points.
• Short sale - it can drop a credit score by over 100 points.
• Even a collection account with a small balance can cause your credit score to drop.
• Joint account holders share ownership of the account and both are liable for repaying debt. If there is any delinquency, this would report on both credit holder’s accounts.
• Credit history - the short history of your established accounts, the lower will be your score.  So don't cancel your oldest credit card, even you no longer use it anymore. 

Q. How long information remains on my credit report:

A. See below for a few scenarios:

• Bankruptcy - 10 years
• Late payments, foreclosures, collections, and public records - 7 years
• Good closed credit – can be removed after 2 years

Q. How different types of credit are defined:

A. See below

• Revolving Credit is any credit that consumers can charge up to the limit and pay the minimum payment; such as credit cards and home equity lines of credit.
• Installment credit is any loan, excluding mortgages, that has the same monthly payment amount throughout the life of the loan; such as a car or student loan.

Get your free credit report: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

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