Your credit score can have a major impact on your life. Not only do creditors typically check your score when deciding whether or not to approve your application and what interest rate to charge you if you are approved, but landlords, insurance companies, and even employers often check it as well.

If your credit history isn’t all that long or spotless, adding a credit account with a long, positive credit history to your report will certainly boost your score but how do you all of a sudden add an old account to your credit report?

Having a foreclosure on your credit report is like dropping a bomb on your credit score — almost cutting it in half in some instances. Your FICO Score will take a big hit that could remain on there for as much as seven years.

Divorce decrees do not relieve either party of joint financial responsibility. The purpose of divorce is to split off emotionally, and financially, from your ex-spouse. If you aren’t careful, your ex-spouse’s handling of your once-joint credit accounts can haunt your “FICO Score” and “Credit Rating” for years. If you had joint debts which existed before your divorce, and these accounts are not both paid off and closed, you are just asking for trouble.