Applying for credit can be tricky. On the one hand, you need credit cards if you want to build a credit history and have a good credit score. On the other, applying for too many cards too quickly can hurt you. That's because each inquiry (when a creditor pulls your credit report and score to see if you qualify) drops your score a little, says Watts.
How much depends on your previous history. Ironically, the more you need to apply for new credit -- say you're just starting to build a credit history or you're trying to recover from a bankruptcy filing -- the more inquiries will affect your score. "If someone already has significant credit problems on their report and now they're shopping for new lines of credit, that's an indicator that they're a higher credit risk," Watts says. Same with people with little or no credit because there isn't sufficient information on the report reflecting positive credit management to balance the negative impact of the inquiries.
What to do? "Take it slow," Watts says. "That's good advice for anyone, but especially if you're trying to recover or are new to credit."
TU-mid 600's, EQ (power score just shot up 69 points to 700 cuz target CO dropped) EX-mid 600's, since I started this little credit game as it is my scores have gone from in the tank to "not too shabby" in 2 months!
I almost forgot I have a BK in 1999, and 2 CO in 2001,2002, one dropped the other will be off soon. I like to write the "nutcase I'll be using the info for littigation letters"
