5 Strange Things That Can Hurt Your Credit

We have all heard about the common ways to keep your credit score at the top of its game.  Don’t open too many credit lines at once, pay your bills on time and don’t file for bankruptcy to name a few. However, there are several less talked about ways that can drop your score. 

1. Ordering Cable

Some cable companies can request your permission to run a credit inquiry before placing your cable order. This type of inquiry is used by mortgage companies and credit card companies and is defined as a hard inquiry. The affect is most noticeable if too many of these types of inquiries are run at once.

2. Car Rental

When providing the deposit for your rental car, some rental agencies may ask to perform a credit check if you opt to use your debit card instead of credit card. This check is considered a hard inquiry by the credit companies. Asking about their debit card policy could save you time and credit points.

3. Letting Credit Cards Sit

In general, carrying a lot of debt can be detrimental to your score. However, not using your cards may cause your score to drop as well. The credit card companies may list them as “inactive” which affects your credit utilization rate. This rate is determined by the ratio of credit balances to credit limits. An “inactive” label means it is no longer factored in to your utilization rate.

4. Financing Offers

0 percent for 12 months sounds like a great deal but keep in mind that it can affect your utilization rate. Your loan is essentially maxed out for the full 12 months since no payment is being made. This type of plan is often considered a “last resort” by those assessing your credit worthiness.

5. Unpaid Parking Tickets

An unpaid parking ticket could come back to haunt you. More and more cities are turning these unpaid violations over to private collection agencies for payment. A collections account reflected on your report can do substantial damage to your score.