Does Anyone But Me Control My Credit?

Your personal finances are really tied up with your credit score. Credit scores will determine whether youare approved for a loan, and if you are they will determine the interest rate youare charged on that loan. A good credit score will get you a nice home, and a poor credit score will get you rejected by banks time and time again. Notwithstanding, most people donat understand what a credit score is and where it comes from. Even fewer people know what impact credit scores truly have on their lives.

Even if you do all you can to improve your credit, the question still remains: Can others actions affect my credit score? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. The good news is that there are many actions you can take to limit the damage to your annual credit report.

Credit bureaus keep a lot of information on file, and this information is summarized as a number. This number is a credit score. The most commonly used one, the FICO score, is the sum of three such scores from three different credit bureaus. To find out what your FICO score is, you can use the myfico service.

Credit scores are continuously fluctuating to reflect changes in your account and credit activity. The total amount of debt that you have, the types of debts youave incurred, and your history of paying on time factors into your credit. The amount of time that you have had access to lines of credit also is considered by credit bureaus.

The factor with the most sway on your credit rating is your payment history. So if a company reports erroneously that you are not reliable about paying your bills on time, your credit score will be devastated. You may not think this would be a common occurrence, but it actually is. And once the wrong information has been reported to the credit bureaus, it can be a long and difficult process to get it corrected.

Anyone whoas had a problem like this can attest to the fact that an incorrect report from their employeras or utility provideras accounting department can cause them years of headaches. They have to play phone tag with companies, debt collectors, and credit bureaus. But the law is on your side, and usually these issues ultimately are worked out to the satisfaction of the customer.

If you are surprised by the low credit score you have, itas worth your time to check up on the information about you that the credit bureaus are using to get to that number. Do they have any incorrect information about you? Usually youall already know if a company has been incorrectly reporting your payments. There can also incorrect information that is damaging your score.

So, Can the actions of others affect my credit score? As we have seen, the answer is yes and no. Other people’s mistakes can unfortunately lower your credit score, but by being proactive and on top of your credit you can fix those mistakes and get your credit back to where it should be.

Tags: credit counseling, credit report, bad credit loan