What Are the Consequences of Having a Low Credit Score?

In some respects, your credit score is like your financial calling card. It tells potential employers, landlords, and others a great deal about you. If your credit score is high, life just seems to go easier for you. If your score is low, the opposite is true. The trouble is that many people really don’t understand the consequences of having a poor credit score. If you’ve got a poor credit score and you’re wondering if it’s worth it to try to clean it up, here are the top four reasons why you should.

1. Job Difficulties

Isn’t it ironic that the very thing that could eventually improve a poor credit score - a good job - may also be the thing that’s elusive to the person with poor credit? However, that is the case. This holds especially true for some government jobs or positions at banks and other lending institutions. Although studies have shown that a poor credit rating does not mean poor job performance, many companies still use it as a barometer for hiring.

There are some things you can do about this predicament. You may try to move up within the company you already work in, if that’s possible. If it’s not or if you just need a change of pace. With the help of certain companies, like Lexington Law, credit repair is possible. When you start working with a credit repair company, though, make sure to ask them to be straight forward with you about what they can and cannot do for you and your credit score. Ask them to go into detail about the steps that they will take to help improve your score. Also, it might be a good idea to ask what you can do on your end as they are helping you out. When it comes to getting a good job, the cornerstone for a new credit rating and financial solvency, it makes sense to take such steps. After all, it’s difficult to improve your financial lot without a good job.

2. Apartment Woes

Landlords look seriously at a potential tenant’s credit score before renting to him or her. These business owners reason that if your credit score is low, you may have trouble paying your lease. You may be forced to pay more upfront. However, it can become very possible that a potential landlord just decides not to rent to you at all. That type of scenario can put you in a real pickle if you need to get into an apartment or house real quick. If you do get into a place, though, it’ll be a very good chance that the place you end up in is very low quality.

3. Buying a Car

Those who are financially savvy may want to take public transportation to save on money and gas. Those who have poor credit may take public transportation because they can’t get a car loan. While some may feel that there are always creditors who are willing to loan money to someone with bad credit, usually when it comes to buying a car under these circumstances, you’ll wind up paying more. These types of lenders will finance cars for people with bad credit. However, the terms of financing are usually outrageous.

4. Difficulty Getting a Loan

The trouble you’ll have with loans if you have bad credit is two-fold. You may not get one at all. If you do wind up getting approved for one, despite having a low credit score, you may pay more in interest. Adding just a couple of percentage points to your loan can cost a great deal of money in the long run.

However, that isn’t all. Your credit score can seriously affect the terms of even a collateral loan like a home loan. If you have poor credit, you may be asked to pay more upfront for your mortgage, to the tune of 15% or 20%, whereas someone with excellent credit may get asked to pay only 5% to 10%, even for the same house.

A poor credit score can seriously hamper just about every aspect of your life, from how much you pay for a car to your ability to rent or buy a house. It can also affect your job prospects, which in turn, can further damage your credit score. While many of the fixes for a low credit score are long-term solutions, there is some credit repair help that you can get immediately. Although it may require a little legwork on your part, the improvement to your financial situation can be exponential.