Ever wonder what the criteria is for having bad credit? The following items will hurt your credit score: 1) you are late making a payment on anything. 2) If you forgot or didn't make a payment. 3) A financial agreement wasn't completed and this information was relayed to any type of credit reporting agency 4) you co-signed for someone and they have backed out of their agreement, leaving you with the debt. 5) While closing some accounts is a good idea for you, it could potentially hurt your credit score. Some of those items are very common sense, while others may come as a surprise to you. Just remember that whenever it comes to making financial decisions, there is always a consequence whether it be good or bad.