5 Factors that can Hurt your Credit Score in Cayuga
5 Factors that can Hurt your Credit Score in Cayuga
Posted on September 13, 2021
Our credit scores impact our lives in all kinds of ways and it’s essential to keep on top of them and keep them as high as possible. There are many ways you can hurt your credit score but just as many ways you can help it.
This post is about the former rather than the latter.
Our Cayuga auto loans team outlines 5 things we can all find ourselves doing that can hurt your credit score.
Not using credit
This first point isn’t really a bad thing until you need credit for something. Your credit score is a measure of how well you manage credit and pay your debts. If you don’t use credit, how is the system going to know how good you are at managing it?
That doesn’t mean getting into debt for the sake of it but it could mean using a credit card just to keep things ticking over.
Making too many credit applications
‘Credit shopping’ is a thing. It’s where a consumer will shop around for the best deal on an auto loan, mortgage, insurance or something else. What many people don’t realize is that every time you apply for credit, it leaves a mark on your credit score.
Too many marks (hard inquiries) and your score suffers. While lenders know about credit shopping, they also hope consumers know about the impact applications have on their score.
Carrying debt on credit cards
One of the most common myths we hear, and try to bust in our posts, is that carrying debt on your credit cards is a good thing. It isn’t.
Credit cards are an expensive form of borrowing. While automatic payments to contribute positively to your credit score, there’s no need to carry debt on the card to get the benefit.
Just use the card for day to day purchases and pay it off at the end of each month once your automatic payment has gone out.
Late payments
Being late with a payment won’t necessarily impact your credit score. Much depends on how late it is. If you’re a day or two late and pay in full, you’ll probably get away with it the first time.
Miss a payment for much longer and it can be marked as late on your credit report.
Different lenders work in different ways. Some will give you 48-72 hours while others will give you a full billing period of 28 days or so.
Trouble is, you don’t know which your lender is until it’s too late!
Wiping the slate clean
Wiping the slate clean means closing credit cards, paying off your Cayuga auto loan, paying off your mortgage and having zero debt.
That’s great for your way of life and means you must be doing something very right. It’s not so good for your credit score.
Like we said earlier, your score is a reflection of how you handle credit. If you don’t use it, the system won’t be able to assess it and score it.
Contact Unique Chrysler for help, advice and competitive Cayuga car finance and leasing.
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