9 surprising factors that can damage your credit score (and how to fix them)

From canceling old cards to cosigning loans, these surprising missteps can quietly hurt your score. Learn what affects your credit (and what to do about it) — from the experts.

Credit scores just plunged at fastest pace since Great Recession — how does your FICO compare to the new average?

Bankcard delinquency rates, for example, hit 11.7% this year, only 2% shy of the Great Recession peak. Meanwhile, credit card ...

Credit Scores Are Down—The Biggest One-Year Drop Since the Financial Crisis

The average FICO credit score fell in 2025—the largest drop since 2009—as student loan delinquencies returned after pandemic ...
Investopedia

Want To Maintain Your High Credit Score? Here Are 5 Tips

Brittany Brown is a full-time copywriter writing covering real estate and personal finance topics like budgeting, investing, credit cards, and more. She is currently working to become an accredited ...

How to shop for a mortgage without hurting your credit score

When exploring mortgage options, your credit score typically takes a hit when you obtain a mortgage preapproval from a lender ...
The New York Times

Those Missed Student Loan Payments Are Messing Up Your Credit Score

A new report finds that scores dropped the most for those age 18 to 29. Here’s how to deal with a drop in your score. By Ann Carrns Young adults, those 18 to 29, are starting to see the negative ...
WFMZ-TV

Gen Z's credit scores are dropping. Here's what to do if yours is too

FILE - A woman walks past a personal finance loan office Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Franklin, Tenn. NEW YORK (AP) — Gen Z has seen its credit scores drop more than any other generation over the past ...

5 Seemingly Innocent Spending Habits That'll Actually Hurt Your Credit Score

We all know that not paying bills on time or carrying a hefty balance on credit cards will dent our credit score. But there’s a vast world of minor, subtle behaviors and decisions that can ding a ...