We all know how important having credit is, but more important than having credit is keep a good credit rating. In today?s world credit is a necessity without which, having many of the comforts that we have come to take for granted would not have been possible.

The American culture is based on consumption. Majority of the Americans spend more than they earn. The deficit is made up by purchasing goods and services on credit cards which are offered by various financial institutes. These financial institutes evaluate your credit worthiness by looking at various variables such as, income, age, credit history etc.

I have had a credit card ever since I was nineteen, almost six years now, and in this time frame I have never made a late payment or given the financial institute a chance to lower my credit score. But last week I was in meeting with my personal banker discussing the possibility of getting a small business loan, when he decided to check my credit rating. I was alright with this because I had recently secured a fifty thousand dollar loan and knew that my rating was immaculate. After running a credit score I was surprised to find that my rating was down graded. Angry I decided to call the credit burro and my bank. What I herd surprised me!

Apparently about 3 years ago I had rented a book from the local library, and returned it late. Three years later the fine was thirty five dollars, and the library decided to hand over the collection process to a collection agency without informing me of the out standing fine or of their actions. This had trickled down and made a mark on my credit standing. I eventually got the problem fixed and after months of bickering and fighting managed to get the late fee incident off my report.

There is a silent movement taking place in many cities. As cities face rising deficits they need to come up with new ways of bringing in money without raising the taxes and other practices that have been used to fund city spending. Many cities are now collaborating with libraries and video stores to bring up past due accounts or late fees. Many of these late fees are now being handed over to professional collection agencies for collection. This is some thing you need to consider the next time you decide to scam you local library or forget paying you late fee.

Regards