7 Ways to Wreck Your Credit – Not Paying Fines or Other BillsPosted on October 15, 2009

Did you know that not paying overdue book fines at the library can hurt more than your book-borrowing privileges? It can damage your credit score, as well as unpaid parking tickets.

Public institutions can use credit to get people to pay their fines and fees. If someone has unpaid parking tickets, it could be killing their credit score without them knowing it. If you decide to not pay your cell phone bill or garbage collection, those companies can send your account into collection. When you have an account with a merchant that doesn’t report directly to the credit bureaus, there is a difference between positive and negative reporting. Most of these service providers don’t report positive information. The minute you stop paying your bill, they can outsource that debt to a collection agency who will report it.