Some of the things you think you are doing to help your credit score may actually be doing more damage. Double check that you are not making these costly mistakes by reviewing these credit score myths:
Accumulating Too Much Credit is Bad. This is False. What does affect your credit score is too frequently requesting to receive credit, but having too many credit cards in itself does not affect your credit score. In fact, the opposite is true. The more available credit you have the better, if you are capable of keeping your balance low.
Closing Credit Cards Helps. Wrong again.
Closing credit cards is a double whammy in a negative way because you are limiting your available credit and you may be erasing a credit history from your report. Both are big determiners of your credit score.
Open Accounts that are Marked Open is Bad. This again is not necessarily a bad thing, and is not really a priority when working to raise your credit score. Having this open account may actually help you out by having more available credit and a history in good standing.
Using a Deb Consolidators Hurts. Actually, using a debt consolidator or seeking legal help does not affect your credit score in any way. If you settle a debt with a lender, however, chances are they will make a notation on your credit report that you used professional help to settle and close the account. This won’t change your credit score, but anyone who pulls your credit report will see this and may affect their decision to want to do business with you.
