While there are several items on your credit report that can hurt your credit rating there are some entries that are absolutely devastating and should be avoided at all costs. Some of the entries that should not be found on your credit are as follows:

· Charged off accounts.

The charge off of an account happens when an account is delayed by more than 180 days. Usually a lender does not report an account as late till it’s more than 30 to 60 days late. However if the account gets late by more than 180 days then the lender usually charges of an account and reports it to the credit bureau as such. A charge of accounts is very negative for your credit score as it means that not only have you just missed a particular payment but are likely not to be making any more payments towards the account. A lender charges of an account only as a last option when he has given up all hope of recovering any money from you and usually passes off account to a collection agency. You should avoid your account getting a charged off status on the credit report.

· Collection account.

A collection account is usually reported to the credit report after the account has been charged off by the lender and sold off to the collection agency. Have a collection account means that the lender has given up all hope of directly trying to recover the money from the consumer and is taking the help of a collection agency to recover whatever he can. A collection account is very negative information on your credit report as it shows that all other efforts off making you pay your debt have failed. While a new collection accounts may not be reported to the credit bureau in circumstances the original creditor may place a note in your original account saying that your account has gone into collection.

· Bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is considered to be last resort for a person who is unable to pay off any of his debts. It represents a person who is facing severe financial trouble and needs to be absolved of all his financial obligations. A bankruptcy can stay on your credit report for a period of 7 to 10 years and during the duration that it is present on your credit report you can find it very difficult if not impossible to qualify for new credit. Even when the bankruptcy has ceased to be on your credit report it may still impact future credit applications.

· Foreclosure.

Foreclosure of a home occurs when a person is unable to carry on paying installments for his mortgage loan. Since a home mortgage loan is one of the most important loans that a person is likely to take in his lifetime being unable to make payments towards it signifies severe financial trouble which may be a result of bad financial circumstances or poor credit management. Either way once a foreclosure happens and is reported on your credit report you are considered to be a bad risk by most of the creditors.

· Tax liens.

The information for a tax lien is collected by the credit bureaus from public records. When you don’t pay the tax on a piece of property the government can seize the property and auction it off in order to recover the tax. Even after the auction has happened you are still responsible to pay off the mortgage on your home. Any other kind of unpaid taxes also result in a tax lien entry being made on your credit. Entries for tax liens are very negative because they stay on the credit report for longest your time. An unpaid tax lien can stay on your credit report for a period of 15 years while paid tax liens will stay on the credit report for a period of 10 years.

· Judgments from the federal court.

A judgment passed against you by federal court of law is conceptually a very negative item to be on the credit report by mostly all lenders. Not only does it means that you did not pay your debt on time but it also proves the fact is that you are unwilling to pay your debt as a result of which the court had to step in to make you pay the money that you owe it to the lender. Only a judgment that is fast against you and requires you to pay the money back to the lender will be recorded on the credit report. Any lawsuits that you went against the lender will not be reported on your credit report. It is advice that any court judgment that is fast against you should be satisfied and money should be paid to the lender as quickly as possible because a paid judgment is better to have on your credit report as opposed to an unpaid judgment.