Things Single Parents Need to Knoww about Their Credit Report (cont.)
Contributed by Lisa Marie
Too many inquiries into your credit report can be worse than a few late payments!
Keep this in mind when applying for credit. If you have too many potential creditors looking into your credit report, it can have devastating effects. This can actually lower your credit score more than a few late payments.
Another problem that occurs quite frequently id this: People open up new credit cards to consolidate old ones. Mostly, this is done with an offer of a higher credit limit with a very low introductory interest rate on purchases and balance transfers. The problem lies when you have too many zero balances on your credit cards. This too can lower your score on your credit report. A best bet? Close out the credit cards which you aren't using.
Hopefully, the creditor will put a note in the comment section of your credit report stating the account was closed at your request. Otherwise, it could look bad to future creditors who may ask why the account was closed.
The moral of the story is to check your credit report, at least annually. Sending your kids to college is a dream that you can achieve if you start checking your credit report now.
