You might be surprised by some of the things that will hurt your credit score. Over the next two blog posts, I’ll reveal the top ten things that will hurt your credit score, in no particular order.

Things That Will Hurt Your Credit Score #1:

No credit.

I always say that no credit is just as bad as bad credit. The credit-scoring systems have certain criteria by which they determine a person’s credit score. Without that information, they have no way of telling whether a person is creditworthy. Better safe than sorry, they think, and they assign a poor credit score to that person.

Ideally, you should have between three and five credit cards, an installment loan, and a mortgage.

Things That Will Hurt Your Credit Score #2:

Bankruptcy.

You probably already know that a bankruptcy is one of the worst things that can happen to your credit score. Not only does the bankruptcy hurt your score, but so do the late payments and collection accounts that led up to the bankruptcy.

Here’s what you don’t know: You can repair credit after bankruptcy in as little as two years!

Things That Will Hurt Your Credit Score #3:

High credit card balances.

Your credit score is comprised of 22 criteria, and a whopping 30 percent looks at your outstanding debt. Among other things, the credit-scoring bureaus want to see a low balance-to-limit ratio. If you carry a balance that exceeds 30 percent of your credit card limit, your score could be lowered. For instance, if you have a limit of $1000 on your MasterCard, keep your balance below $300 at all times.

Things That Will Hurt Your Credit Score #4:

An incorrect credit limit.

Here’s a dirty little secret that will hurt your credit score:  Almost half of people have a credit card limit that is being incorrectly reported to the credit-scoring bureaus. Say, for instance, that your MasterCard has a $1000 limit. The credit card company might be reporting your limit as only $500.

Now let’s imagine that you have a $250 balance on that credit card. This is only 25 percent of the $1000 limit (see #3). But because of the credit card company’s mistake, your balance-to-limit appears to be 50 percent!

Failing to correct this mistake is one the ten biggest credit mistakes to avoid.

Things That Will Hurt Your Credit Score #5:

A foreclosure, repossession, judgment, or lien.

Ouch. Each of these things will cause your credit score to drop. The key to recovering after a foreclosure, repossession, judgment, or lien is to be proactive. You can raise your score to 720 in just two years if you start the process of rebuilding your credit score.

Too often, though, people feel overwhelmed by their finances, so they adopt a do-nothing approach and hope the problem just disappears. This only delays recovering. Instead, decide that you are going to take simple steps to rebuilding your credit, and that you are going to start today. If you follow an easy plan to rebuild your credit, your score will start to increase, and in just two years, you can enjoy all the perks of a 720 credit score.

Be sure to come back next week for #6 through #10 of the top ten things that will hurt your credit score.