Unreturned Library Books Might Hurt Your Credit

Some people think nothing of keeping a library book out past its due date. It's not like the library has some kind of book police to arrest you for an $8 book. While you might not be jailed for late library books, your credit score could definitely take a hit.

Libraries are sending fines to collection agencies. If you have fine that's sent to collections and that agency reports to a credit bureau, your credit score will take a hit. It doesn't matter if the amount is only $15, a collection is a collection in the eyes of credit scores.

It may sound like overkill, but unreturned books cost libraries because they have to spend money to replace those books. Not only that, it wastes your tax dollars since libraries are government funded.

If a collection is placed on your credit report, you may be able to have it removed by negotiating with the creditor. Read Remove Collections From Your Credit Report.