Let's learn about credit score bumpage.

    Every hard inquiry on your credit score- like when you apply for a credit card, will generally reduce your credit score about 5 points.  When you apply for a credit card or a loan, you are basically applying for more opportunity to rack up debt. Thus, these inquiries hurt your score. Inquiries will fall off your report in about 6-12 months.

Another way to get the hard inquiriesoff is called bumpage. Bumpage means you pull your own report frequently, and because there is only so much room on your report -think of a sheet of lined paper, you bump some hard inquiries off. Inquiries you do yourself do not count against you.

Well, you think. That sounds great! But wait. There's a catch, of course. Isnt there always? There are several adverse effects that could happen from bumpage.

Adverse effect number one is called Splitage. You can get your report all messed up, and it can actually split into two. Imagine tearing that sheet of paper in half. And what's worse, you won't know, and won't be able to control which half is given out. Some people say you can write a letter to the credit bureaus asking them to merge the report back together. But that's just more work for a situation you shouldn't get yourself into in the first place. If you are going to manipulate your credit report by doing soft inquiries, make sure you STOP! as soon as the damaging hard inquiries have fallen off. Doing things like daily pulls of your credit report can result in the splitage.

   

About the author                         Marianne Rackliffe is the owner of http://www.goodgoth.com, online retailer of alternative and Gothic clothing and footwear. This article may be reprinted provided this credit box remains intact.