The easiest way to hurt your credit is to break any or all of the rules that are important to lenders and creditors, which we’ll go over in detail here.

- Being late with bill payments. One third of your FICO score is based on your bill-paying track record. It’s been said that a payment that’s 90 days late is just as bad as filing for bankruptcy, or a repossession. However, sometimes in life things go wrong and maybe you aren’t able to get that payment out on time.

Most lenders will work with you to a point, and they are usually willing to let an “oops” here and there go. Just try to bring the account current as soon as you can, and don’t skip payments. If you can only afford to pay the minimum, do that. It’s better than doing nothing at all!

If you know ahead of time that you won’t be able to pay on schedule, call your lender and explain your situation. Hopefully, they’ll be understanding and give you a little “wiggle room”. It doesn’t always work, but if you’ve had a history of on-time payments for years, it can go a long way.

- Spending most or all of your credit line. Just because some guy in a suit somewhere has arbitrarily decided that it would be OK to lend you thousands upon thousands of dollars, doesn’t mean that you should spend it all. Don’t overindulge and buy a bunch of stuff that you really can’t afford. Curtail your spending, because your debt-to-credit ratio counts for another 30% of your credit score. It’s a good idea to keep your debt at or below 10% of your total credit limit. Anything up to 30% is OK to the lending world, but above 50% is not so appealing to banks and lenders.

- Forgetting your past. It may seem like the right thing to do, but dismissing your credit history-even if it happened years ago- isn’t such a good idea after all. The longer your credit history, the higher your score should be. A lot of people routinely cancel old cards that they don’t really use anymore, and then they are shocked to discover that their FICO score has been damaged. The length of your history accounts for 15% of your score, and closing old accounts is detrimental to your debt-to-credit ratio, that we discussed in the last segment. If you must cancel a card or two, start with the accounts that you’ve had for the shortest time.

- Signing up for a lot of cards. Most of us receive a ton of credit card offers, and it’s tempting to sign up for one or more of them. Sometimes it makes sense to shop around, but in this case it is better to stick with what you already have. Creditors like loyal customers, and if you go around asking for loans from other companies they might get antsy. New credit apps are 10% of your score, and if lenders see that you’re making multiple applications within a short time, they’ll close their pocketbooks and your score will go down like a sinking ship.

Don’t think that borrowing money will increase your score, and don’t buy into the old myth that says you have to have a balance on your cards to prove that you have credit. Also, variety can be a good thing. Having a diverse credit portfolio constitutes 10% of your credit score. Aim for a combination of car loans, perhaps a mortgage, and some revolving debt (usually your credit cards). There’s only one problem with diversifying your portfolio- a risk that you’ll damage your credit score simply by applying for loans, as mentioned above.

As there are many ways to damage your credit score, there are only really two surefire ways to mend it. One is time. Most credit blemishes disappear from a report after seven years. The other is paying your bills on time, every time. Doing so will increase your trustworthiness with your creditors, and the responsible use of your credit will look good to any lender you may encounter in the future.

Always, always try to pay your bills on time. 35% of your FICO score is your bill payment history, and consistently being late with payments will bring your score down. The only thing that’s worse than paying late, is not paying at all. Not paying on time will also result in late fees and other assessments by your credit card company. Paying on time, month after month, will not only keep your score from declining, but may improve it. Not paying for months on end will probably result in your account being charged off, and possibly sent to a collection agency.

Having an account sent to collections is very damaging to your credit score, and also to your future chances of getting credit, because it shows lenders and credit card companies that you don’t fulfill your end of the contract. Paying your bills on time will save a lot of money and stress in the future.

If the debt is unmanageable, it might be time to speak with a DuPage Bankruptcy Attorney.

Having your home go into foreclosure is also a crushing blow to your FICO score. Most homeowners that fall behind end up going through it. Foreclosure hurts your score, and makes lenders afraid to lend money to you at all. Bankruptcy is the “kiss of death” for a credit score. Try alternative strategies, like seeking credit counseling, before deciding to file for bankruptcy. Getting a judgment is really bad, too. A judgment shows lenders and creditors that you not only didn’t pay your bills, the court was forced to get involved to make you pay off the debt. Judgments hurt your score, but a paid judgment is better than an unpaid one.

High credit card balances and maxed-out credit cards are also something to avoid. Carrying a high balance in relation to your credit limit, brings up your percentage of credit utilization and brings down your score. Maxing out a card will increase your credit utilization to 100%, which is probably one of the least ideal things you can do for your credit score.

Closing an account will also negatively affect your score. When you close a credit card account that still carries a balance, your credit limit goes all the way down to $0 while your balance remains. This basically has the same effect as maxing out a card- causing your score to go down. Conversely, if you have one or more cards without a balance, closing them will increase your credit utilization.

Applying for many credit cards will definitely damage your FICO score. Multiple inquiries into your credit history within a short period of time will cause your score to drop. To avoid it, try to keep applications to a minimum.

Credit scores affect many parts of our lives, and it’s important to do everything you possibly can to not only keep your score from going down, but to bring it up as well.