Lower your credit score in a month and a half

Almost every person in my age group worries silently every day about something that affects our lives so significantly. You know what I'm talking about. I'm thinking of a number between 400 and 875...that's right, we're talking about the joyous topic of credit scores today. Lets not all get scared and change the page yet, because if you click that link below that says "Read More" I will tell you how to raise your credit score in 45 days, and how to lower it in a week.

First, you have to rid yourself of collection accounts. In one of the many catch-22s involved with dealing with credit issues if you just pay off your collection account it actually dings your credit record. I know, it makes about as much sense as a soup sandwich. What you should do is call the collection agency and explain to them that you are willing to pay off the account if all reporting is withdrawn from credit bureaus. And request a letter from the collector that says their agreement to delete the account upon clearance of your payment. Although not all collection agencies will delete reporting, removing all references to a collection account completely will increase your score and is worth the involved effort.

Second, and extremely obviously, pay off your past due accounts. If you need more of an explanation on that one I understand why your credit is down the tubes.

Third, get rid of charge offs and liens. Pay the newest ones first, another one of the catch-22s. Charge offs and liens older than 24 months don't affect your credit so paying them off doesn't help or hurt, so pay off the newest ones that are sending your credit down faster than the Yankees in the playoffs. (sorry to all my Yankee fan readers, I thought you had a chance to make it to the ALCS this year) If you have both past dues and collection agencies coming for you, pay off the past due balances first, then pay the collection agencies as referenced two paragraphs up.

Next, get rid of your late payments. Contact all the creditors that have reported late payments on your credit and request a good faith adjustment that removes all the late payments. Be persistent. Don't give up. Remember if the first person won't give it to you, call back and try again with someone else. If seven of them say no, then maybe you have to pay them off. Be polite though, if you are frustrated or rude, you make it difficult for them to help you. Actually you don't make it difficult for them to help you...the blood suckers just won't help you if you're rude.


Then find out what your credit limit is on all of your credit cards and find out the balances on each and evenly distribute the debt between them and pay them off at the same rate. Also, make sure that your limit has been reported to the credit bureaus. If they don't report a limit, it shows up as a "maxed out" account.

Don't close out your credit cards. The way that the sick credit software works is that if you owe $10,000 with an available credit amount of $20,000, you are using 50% of your available credit. If you close out a card that is worth $5,000, suddenly you only have $15,000 of available credit and are using 66% of it and DING, DING, DING, your credit score goes down.

Keep all of your old credit cards active. A good chunk of your score is decided on how long your credit file has been open. Try to use each card at least once every six months to keep the account from going to "Inactive." Use it, then pay it off the next month. Every person with a credit score of 800 and above has one thing in common...a credit card that is older than some of my friends. Trust me, I wouldn't lie to you.

And if you want to drastically lower your credit score in a week, go to every store that has credit cards on the same day apply for them and use them. A week later you won't qualify to get a McDonald's hamburger on lay away.

Now you now, and knowing is half the battle, 'cause knowledge is power. Turn those credit scores around and call me if you have any questions, or you can hit me up online almost everywhere. If you google "KWR Matt" there are about a billion sites that come up which all have ways to reach me. As one of the most easily accessible agents around, I want you to know that as the market rises and falls, ebbs and flows, I will be the rock that is there for you to build your house on. Oh, and for all of you looking for quite possibly the best father/son movie since "Field of Dreams" watch "Life As a House." That was an impressive movie. Sorry, just felt that you needed to know that. It is rated R for just about everything there is so use discretion when viewing.