While it’s important to know how to build your credit, it’s also just as important to know the things that will kill your credit score. Your credit score is more important than people realize. A low credit score can seriously affect your financial options. Save yourself the embarrassment of being DENIED or getting stuck with a high interest rate!

 

A FICO score of 670 or above is considered a good credit score. A VantageScore of 6660 or above is considered a good credit score.

 - Credit Score Killers

• Late or missed payments. Your score can be affected by over 60 points by missing just one late payment. It is important that you always make payments on time. If you know ahead of time that you’re unable to make your payment on time, contact your creditor to see if there’s anything they can do. 
• High credit card balance(s) is one of the most common credit score killers. It’s very tempting to use the full amount of your credit card balance(s), but it can be detrimental to your credit score. Most credit models will advise you to keep your utilization under 30% but I advise my clients to aim for 10%.
• Derogatory (such as collections), Mortgage Foreclosure, Repossession and/or Public records (such as bankruptcy). All of these are negative impacts on your score and they can remain on your credit report for 7-10 years. All can be an attractive prospect but all can affect your credit score by 85 or more points. Bankruptcy is the worst thing you can do to your credit score, so it should be the last option. 
• Number of inquiries for your credit report. A hard inquiry occurs when a lender whom you’ve applied for credit reviews your credit report as part of their decision-making process. A hard inquiry will remain on your credit report for 2 years. 
• Opening new accounts and Closing accounts will affect your credit age. Opening a new account will cause an inquiry and will also add a new account to your credit age.