If you have seen (or heard) the recent commercials about getting a free credit report, then you know it’s important to have good credit and to monitor your credit line. This is the only permanent record that you need ever be worried about. Having a negative credit report can affect your borrowing ability, your interest rates, and even your employment.
Fortunately, a negative credit report is not permanent and thus can be made better. After seven years, the majority of the undesirable contents of a negative credit report will automatically be removed.
This is why it is so important to manage and care for your credit history. Although mistakes can be repaired, it will take at least seven years to make those repairs.
Your credit history will be negatively impacted by late payments on rotating credit and loans. For that reason, paying such debts in a timely manner is very important. Having proof that you have been able to pay bills on time for one entire year is important when you meet a lender to borrow money. Some people are not organized and thus have a hard time making on time payments. If this is the case for you, be sure to pay off your bills as soon as possible.
There are times when you get behind on the payments and work out a payoff arrangement with credit card companies or store cards. This is a smart thing for you to do in the long run (but only if you cut up the cards and don’t get any more credit lines), but it could be a negative strain on your credit history in the short run. Settlements of any kind will put a mark on your credit history.
Bankruptcy is definitely a negative on your credit history. It is one of the few negative financial situations that could remain in your credit history for more than seven years.
When lenders are trying to decide whether or not you can be trusted to pay back the money you wish to borrow, they will judge you by your credit history. Bankruptcies filed under chapter 13 stay on your credit history for seven years, much like other negative information. If you file for chapter 7 bankruptcy and thus do not have to pay back debts you have racked up, that information will remain a part of your credit history for ten years.
Having a negative credit history could mean adding 3 or 4 percentage points to any loans that you might be interested in getting. It could mean that you will be turned down altogether. What you do right now with your credit can affect your financial situation for seven (or even up to ten) years. Take care that you don’t do damage to something so valuable.
Tags: Credit, credit management, credit rating, credit report, credit score, debt management, fico score, negative credit history, personal finance