Does freezing credit card interest affect credit rating

crazyhaggid

I have been googling this and looking here but I cannot find a concrete answer to this question, will asking to freeze the interest on my credit cards have an affect on my credit rating?

My OH's business has been slowly failing and we ended up relying on credit cards to make ends meet, we are now at a stage where they are all maxed out. I want to try and clear some of the debt on them but the interest is making this impossible. I was thinking of writing to them and asking them to freeze the interest but as I have a mortgage I don't want my credit rating affected, as I painfully know from when I was younger having a blemish on your credit history affects the mortgage rates you can qualify for.

[Deleted User]

The arrangement would be visible on your credit files so most lenders would see you as being much higher risk. As a general rule, you would be better off defaulting if the arrangement is for more than a month or two.

Better to head to the DFW boards and get advice on tacking your debts as a whole.

crazyhaggid

[Deleted User] said:

The arrangement would be visible on your credit files so most lenders would see you as being much higher risk. As a general rule, you would be better off defaulting if the arrangement is for more than a month or two.

Better to head to the DFW boards and get advice on tacking your debts as a whole.

Thanks for the reply, it makes no sense to me how the credit ratings work. When I was younger and made redundant, I defaulted on one debt and had an arrangement on the other. Once I had paid them all off I found the default expired five(?) years after it was put on but the arrangement expired five(?) years after the last payment! I would have been better off defaulting on both debts. 

MovingForwards

A default is 6 years from the date it was put on.

AP marker is 6 years from the date the account was settled and closed.

Most mortgage lenders allow you to pick another fixed rate online, without the need to go through affordability and credit checks.

Head over to the DFWB board as the members are supportive.

[Deleted User]

crazyhaggid said:

Deleted_User said:

The arrangement would be visible on your credit files so most lenders would see you as being much higher risk. As a general rule, you would be better off defaulting if the arrangement is for more than a month or two.

Better to head to the DFW boards and get advice on tacking your debts as a whole.

Thanks for the reply, it makes no sense to me how the credit ratings work.

Credit ratings are unique to each lender, in the way that they assess your risk. But not being able to make contractual payments is a big red flag to any lender.

But whereas a default drop off after 6 years, an arrangement will be visible for 6 years after closure (or coming off the arrangement). That's why defaulting is often better, as an arrangement is just a polite way of saying default.

crazyhaggid

now I'm really confused, I just read this on moneynerd:

Does freezing my credit card affect my credit score?

Stopping interest on credit cards will not affect your credit file

[Deleted User]

This is nothing to do with your credit score.

It's the reporting of an arrangement on your files, and how lenders view that.

The site you linked to gets fees from referring you to debt management companies. They're not concerned with explaining the impact on your credit files.

[Deleted User]

crazyhaggid said:

now I'm really confused, I just read this on moneynerd:

Does freezing my credit card affect my credit score?

Stopping interest on credit cards will not affect your credit file

You don't have a credit score, the gimmick number is never seen by anyone but you. Once a file is marked with something negative, lenders will see it and judge you based on how they rate such a marker, the score you see is never used.