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Review reports from all three bureaus at least annually (via AnnualCreditReport.com). During debt repayment, monitor every 3-6 months to track progress and dispute errors.
The primary strategic tool is a balance transfer credit card. These cards offer a low or 0% introductory APR on transferred balances, allowing you to stop paying high interest for a period (often 12-21 months), so more of your payment goes toward reducing the principal debt.
A hard inquiry occurs when a lender checks your report for a credit application. It can lower your score by a few points and remains for 2 years (though impact fades faster).
If they have a court judgment, they can use legal discovery processes. They may also use information from previous payments you made or from skip-tracing techniques.
A single 30-day late payment can cause a drop of 60 to 110 points, depending on your starting score and overall credit history. The impact is more severe for those with previously high scores.
