1. Late Payments
The easiest way to lower your credit score is through delinquent payments or by skipping out on a bill altogether.
Since your payment history makes up 35 percent of your credit score, failing to make the minimum payment within 30 days of the due date could send your score plummeting, says Craig Watts, a spokesperson for Fair Isaac.
Say for example you've never missed a payment and have a credit score in the high 700s or low 800s. If you were to miss the 30-day grace period, your score could drop by 100 points or more.
"That first delinquency puts you in a different class of consumers," says Watts. "You can make up that 100 points but it will take a lot longer than it took for that score to fall."
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Say for example you've never missed a payment and have a credit score in the high 700s or low 800s. If you were to miss the 30-day grace period, your score could drop by 100 points or more.
"That first delinquency puts you in a different class of consumers," says Watts. "You can make up that 100 points but it will take a lot longer than it took for that score to fall."
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Next
Back to Main
