| When it comes to credit, most everyone knows | | | | living beyond your means and living beyond your |
| the obvious do's and don'ts. You know; pay your | | | | credit means if you have cards that are over the |
| bills in a timely manner, don't allow your bills to go | | | | limit. |
| to collection status, avoid bankruptcy, avoid | | | | Sometimes the creditors don't correctly report |
| judgments and liens-the obvious. What about the | | | | your credit information. This is the perfect time |
| forgotten derogatory-maxed out credit cards? | | | | for you to take action. Here is an example. You |
| Yes, this too can be considered derogatory. Most | | | | have a credit card with a limit of $5000 and you |
| people seem to forget about this and many | | | | use $1200. One goofy error that can occur on |
| people don't realize the impact it actually has on | | | | credit reports is this: the report might say that |
| your credit. | | | | your balance is $1200 and your limit is $1200 |
| It's true, this has a relatively large impact on your | | | | (when it's actually $5000). This can actually hurt |
| credit. The amount of revolving credit that one | | | | your credit rating because it looks like this |
| uses in relation to their available credit can actually | | | | particular card is maxed out, but it's really not. |
| account for up to about 30% of your personal | | | | This sort of factual error is actually very easy to |
| credit profile. It's not uncommon to see someone | | | | fix and you can fix it yourself. All you have to do |
| with an excellent pay history, no bankruptcies, no | | | | is get the tools to show you how to correct your |
| judgments, no liens, no collections and no charge | | | | report. There are many self help credit repair |
| off on their report AND a low credit score in the | | | | guides that will show you how to do this. Don't |
| 580-630 range. This sort of thing happens if you | | | | spend a lot of money to have a professional |
| have credit cards that are maxed out. This is | | | | credit repair company do it for you. It's |
| particularly true if you have several credit cards | | | | unnecessary. |
| that are maxed out. It's even more damaging if | | | | If you have some items on your credit report |
| you go over your credit limit. When you max out | | | | that are factually incorrect, they are very easy |
| several credit cards or go over the credit limit, it | | | | to fix. You can easily learn to this on your own. |
| says to potential creditors that you have trouble | | | | It's just a simple matter of buying a book and |
| living within your means. The cash you earn at | | | | reading about how to fix your particular errors. |
| work is not enough, so you've used all your | | | | Most books are very easy to read and provide |
| available credit to get what you want or need. | | | | detailed descriptions of what you'd need to do to |
| This is a huge red flag for creditors. It's easy to | | | | correct erroneous information on your credit |
| see why this can hurt your credit score. You are | | | | report. |