Since gaining credit is about paying or utilising money of which you don’t have lenders when they give you money they’ll need to know if you’ll pay it back. 

And that’s what your credit score is for to show whether or not you’ve a history of financial stability and responsible credit management. 

Therefore paying your bills on time for each account on your credit report can have an effect on your credit rate as paying late has a negative effect on your score. 

•If you’ve paid late, how late were you – 30 days, 60 days or 90+ days? The later you are, the worse it is for your score. 

•Have any of your accounts gone to collections? This is a red flag to potential lenders that you might not pay them back. 

•Do you have any charge offs? Debt settlements, bankruptcies, foreclosures, law suits, wage garnishments or attachments, liens or public judgments against you? These items of public record constitute the most dangerous marks to have on your credit report from a lender’s perspective. 

•How many new accounts you’ve applied for recently and when the last time you opened a new account was? This is because if you’ve opened several accounts recently and the percentage of these accounts is high, you could be a greater credit risk. People tend to do so when they’re experiencing cash flow problems or planning to take on lots of new debt. 

•Length of Credit History this is how long you have been using credit. For how many years have you had obligations? How old is your oldest account and what’s the average age of all your accounts? 

A long credit history is helpful if it’s not marred by late payments and other negative items. But a short history can be fine too as long as you’ve made your payments on time and don’t owe too much.