A number of misconceptions float around about credit scores; most of them are actually propagated by totally profit centered debt settlement companies. It is important to be aware of what is true and what is not, to avoid getting fooled by manipulative people. Here are some of the popular misconceptions about credit scores.
The first common misconception is that frequent checking of your credit score can cause it to fall. You have the right to get a credit report from all the three major credit bureaus under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and you can ask for it as many times as you want without your score being affected negatively.
Another wrong notion is that you would lose your credit line if you do not use your credit card. In fact, the only thing that would really happen is that your lender will stop reporting activity on your account to the credit bureaus and any unreported information can not adversely affect your score. And yes, you do not even lose your credit card, at the most, it will just be marked inactive.
People also believe that shopping for credit decreases their scores. This is no longer true and no penalty on the score is imposed if you compare rates of different loans within 30 days. But you may draw suspicion if you keep on shopping for different loans with short gaps in between.
Another thing that people are often made to believe is that the wife and husband have the same credit scores. This is not true. The credit scores of husband and wife remain separate even if they have common financial obligations. But certain habits of your husband or wife like delay in payment of bills can impact your credit score.
If you think that is difficult to challenge information on your credit report and it takes long time to resolution, then again you are wrong. All investigations on your credit report by credit bureaus have to be finished in 30 days and if they cannot verify the correctness of an entry, then they have to simply remove it. So all you need to do is send a mail requesting an investigation to the bureau and mark the mail to your creditor as well.
You can also approach a credit counseling firm without fearing that it will affect your credit score, because it will not. However, getting debt settlement done from the agencies that disguise themselves as credit counseling firms can impact your credit score as it shows your inability to handle your debt.