Having too many credit cards or loans. Generally, experts recommend having no more than 3 or 4 credit cards. Overnight Past credit problems, such as late payments, can stay on your credit report for up to 7 years from the date the original payment should have been made. Bankruptcies can be reported for up to 10 years. Try our Credit Evaluator for an approximate idea of your credit rating.
Lenders do tend to give more weight to the most recent payment information.
And no matter what your credit is like now, you can take steps to improve your credit for the future . See How to Improve Your Credit . The information in this section provides a general overview of some of the factors that affect consumer credit scores and ratings based upon information provided to us by the companies that developed credit scores. We have asked the companies that developed credit scores to allow us to provide customers like you with your score as an additional customer service but have not yet received permission. Equal Housing Lender.