How Important is Good Credit

Too often, people overlook the importance of their credit rating and how it affects many different things in their life. Your credit rating can affect the interest rate for loans that are made available to you as well as your employment and housing opportunities. Sometimes, blemishes on your credit history will start to show adverse effects when you need to purchase a car, when you would like to move into a new house, or when you need a loan to handle a financial emergency. If there are blemishes on your credit history, you will be paying extra in the form of higher interest rates, shorter loan terms, and additional fees for obtaining the loan itself.

What Creates A Poor Credit Rating?

A poor credit rating usually occurs for one of two reasons. The first is a number of missed payments or a pattern of late payments, which can lead to repossession and/or collection efforts directed toward the account holder. The low credit rating will affect any purchases that require a line of credit and is a reason for the rejection of a credit application by most lenders.

The reason lenders deny credit applications based on a poor credit rating is because they gauge their risk of lending money to you based on your previous practices dealing with debt obligations. By simply looking at your credit history, lenders can determine if you have abused your ability to obtain credit and your level of responsibility when handling your debts after receiving lines of credit. If a lender has determined that you are a credit risk based on your credit history, they will most likely deny your application for any type of financial assistance that you seek.

The second reason that a poor credit rating can occur is too many open credit accounts or maxing out the credit that you have obtained. Too many credit obligations can cause an individual to fall behind on payments or simply miss payments all together if some sort of financial hardship occurs. If lenders believe that an individual is living on a circle of revolving credit rather than using credit to supplement their income, the lenders will determine that the person will not have the money to repay any additional lines of credit that they extend to the person.

It is important for every person to know where they stand with their credit rating. The credit market is more stringent today than it has ever been and it is vital to have a desirable credit profile if you need to use credit in the future. If the person is aware of the standing of their credit rating, the easier it will be for them make the right financial decisions the future.