7 Small Mistakes That Will Hurt Your Credit Score

Most consumers understand that bankruptcy or foreclosure is going to tank their credit score and then negatively impact it for the next seven years, but there are plenty of other small mistakes a consumer can make that can turn a good score of 750 or higher into a mediocre 680.
 
Here are some of the more common mistakes to steer clear of, plus tips on how to avoid them in the future.

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Opening Too Many Accounts at Once

Credit card sign-on bonuses are certainly enticing, but you shouldn’t be signing up for every card that’s offering some cash back. This is because each application and subsequent credit pull will generate a hard inquiry that will appear on your credit report. (Credit pulls that aren’t used to decide whether you are actually getting a loan – for instance, one conducted by a landlord or by a bank when you are looking to get a checking account – are considered soft inquiries and will have no impact on your score.)
 
Each hard credit card inquiry will cost your score between three and five points and stays on your report for two years, though they only negatively impact your score for about half the time they appear.

Missing One Payment

One missed payment may seem innocuous enough, but in reality a single delinquency can cost a previously stellar credit score to fall more than 100 points. The good news: As long as the missed payment doesn’t lead to additional woes, your score will start to rebound relatively quickly and it can get back to good standing in about 12 months following the delinquency.
 
(Those who already had poor to mediocre credit prior to the new missed payment will experience less of an initial ding, but their scores won’t bounce back until well past the 12-month mark.)
 
To avoid taking the big hit, consumers can try calling creditors to ask for a good will deletion. They are more apt to oblige if the late payment was truly atypical behavior.
 
Closing an Old Account

You should think twice before officially closing that credit card you opened back in college, especially if you’re getting ready to apply for a new line of credit. Closing an old account can have a negative impact on your credit score since it can lower your credit-to-debt utilization ratio, which is essentially how much credit you have at your disposal versus how much credit you are actually using.
 
According to FICO, it can also cost you points you might have been netting by having an ideal number of credit cards in your wallet.
 
The exact effect this has on your score will vary, depending on the rest of your credit profile, but the advice is consistent.
 
“If there is no annual fee, just charge something small every now and then,” says Adrian Nazari, CEO of Credit Sesame. This will keep the issuer from deciding to close the account for you.
 
Maxing Out a Single Credit Card

As MainStreet has previously reported, it’s never a good idea to bump up against your overall credit limit because your credit utilization ratio will appear sky-high. However, according to Chris Mettler, founder of CompareCards.com, maxing out a single card can negatively influence your credit score as well. (Again, the exact impact would depend on the rest of your credit profile.) As such, if you do have a particular card that’s bumping up against its limit, you’ll want to pay that down as soon as possible.
 
“You don’t want your balance due to be over 33% of the available credit line,” Mettler says.

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Racking Up a Bill Right Before Your Statement Closes

Credit card issuers typically only report two things to credit bureaus each month: whether you’re up-to-date on all your payments and what your balance at the time is. As such, running up big purchases right before your statement closes – and the issuer reports the information – can negatively impact your credit-to-debt utilization ratio and subsequent score, regardless of whether you go on to pay off that balance on time or not.
 
“The trick is to make sure your balance is low before it is reported,” Nazari says. This is why it can be a good idea to pay off purchases as you make them or prior to the end date of your billing cycle.
 
Not Checking Your Credit Report

Even if you’re not particularly credit active, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the free annual credit report the Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to, if only to scour it for incorrectly attributed delinquencies, accounts or inaccurate balances, which can all do varying amounts of damage to your score. This is because errors on credit reports are all too common. As MainStreet has previously reported, about 30% to 40% of all credit reports have some type of error on them, some of which can unfortunately be difficult (and time-consuming) to remove.
 
Ignoring an Account That Has Gone Into Collections

You may think that you don’t owe that unpaid medical bill that keeps getting sent to your house, but your score is still in jeopardy if you decide not to pay it. Many places that don’t lend money, like a hospital or cable company, will send their unpaid bills to a collections agency after a certain amount of time and they will report you to the credit bureaus. Similar to a missed mortgage, credit card or auto loan payment, this delinquency can cost good scores 100 points or more.
 
“Whether you are right or wrong, [the bill] will negatively impact your score,” Mettler says. As such, consumers may want to shore up the bill in an effort to spare their score or dispute the bill through proper channels to get it eradicated.