5 Ways to Damage Your Credit Score

How to improve your credit score. It's a topic discussed endlessly the small business world. And good reason: No really knows the answer. Actually, that's not . Lenders know, but they're telling.

So let's look the other side of the coin: to damage your credit score. Avoid these mistakes and you can sure your score will benefit. We'll avoid the obvious advice -- don't declare bankruptcy, don't ignore a credit card payment more than six months -- because it's, , obvious.

Here five less evident ways you can shoot a hole your credit report. A lot of them know already. But you may not know how harmful can be:

Mismanage your credit card balance. It's never a idea to exceed the limit your credit card, but sometimes it can be hard avoid, even if you diligently monitor balance. If you're hovering near credit ceiling, a common merchant practice called credit card blocking could easily you over the max without knowing it. Something you may not know is it's best for your credit score if you maintain your card balance 15 percent to 25 percent of your limit.

Pay your bills late. Throw a household bill the table and forget it. This is another simple mistake that will damage to your credit score, especially if you're of the many small business owners who uses personal credit to your business. Or even if you're not. A of lenders now employ blended commercial scoring models that look at personal and business attributes to evaluate business creditworthiness. Luckily, paying a bill a days late won't do a lot of . But missing a cycle entirely will major damage.

Use the same card of the time. It's simpler to pay everything with the same credit card. It's also a good to compile enough rewards points to something better than a shoulder bag emblazoned your card issuer's dumb logo. But your credit score will trend higher if you up your payment methods (credit, debit, etc.). This is also a reason not to close old credit card accounts. It's better for score if you keep them .

Apply everywhere. About 10 percent of your credit score depends the number of credit applications you've recently. So don't use the shotgun approach. Apply only when you truly need credit.

Lose your edge. The bigger are, the they fall. It's true people in funny viral videos, and it's true of your credit score, . Which means that the more you work to get your score in the high 700s, the more you have to work to keep it . Because the higher your score, the more points you'll lose to a negative event. Why? Credit-scoring formulas are very sensitive any sign that you're getting in over your .


Adapted from: allbusiness.com, December 29, 2011.