Saturday, August 14, 2010

What Bills Affect My Credit Score?

What Bills Affect My Credit Score?

A good credit score can get you a great interest rate on a mortgage or other loan. A poor credit score could leave you unable to find any lender who will trust you. Not paying your bills on time can leave a huge stain on your credit score, but if you know the bills to avoid paying late, you could make lenders love you.

Medical Bills

    Sometimes people aquire huge medical bills when a sudden illness or accident occurs. If this happens, it's a good idea to pay them off as soon as you can because an overdue hospital balance that is sent to collections can have a detrimental affect on your credit score. According to Privacy Matters, even smaller medical bills that go unpaid for a long time could be reported to the major credit bureaus.

Utility Bills

    Generally, if you are late on a utility bill, it's not going to get reported to a credit bureau. Only a few states report missed untility payments, according to Experian. However, if your utility becomes so late that it gets sent to a collections agency, the agency would almost immediately report the unpaid bill to the national credit agencies.

Credit Card Bills

    If you miss a payment on your credit card, you risk getting reported. While most credit companies typically wait until you are 30 days late to report you, some can report even earlier than that. It's best to pay credit card bills on time to avoid hurting your credit score.

Car Note

    Usually a car note is a large debt for most people. For instance, while some people may take out a credit card with a $500 limit, a typical car loan could be $10,000. It would be in your best interest to show the banks you can make payments on such a large loan responsibly. While some lenders will wait 60 days to report you, many will contact the credit bureaus if just one payment is 30 days late.

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