"Then, looking for new credit will be seen as an alarm because statistically, before people declare bankruptcy and default on everything, they look for a life preserver," Watts says. Also, if you have a very young credit file, an inquiry can count for more than if you've had credit for a long time.
A lender may consider all those factors when deciding whether to approve a loan application, but they aren't part of how a FICO score is calculated, Watts says.
Watts says that the need for accuracy in credit files is one reason why it's good for consumers to learn about credit scores.
"There's a hope that as consumers know about credit reports and scores, they'll do more to correct errors and provide more oversight," he says. "If consumers can police the accuracy of their own reports, everybody gains."
Want to get an approximation of your score? Bankrate and FICO have teamed up to create the free FICO Score Estimator.
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