THE 50% CREDIT FLAG

Most lenders get leery when theysee credit card accounts or homeequity loans on your credit reportwith balances that are more than50% of the account limit. To avoidgetting tagged as a poorer credit riskthan you really are, ask your cardissuer to raise the limit on theaccount. If that doesn't work, thinkabout putting part of the debt onanother card. Be careful with the latteroption, though; lenders also don'tlike to see a lot of new applicationsfor credit cards on your report andwill downgrade you as a credit risk ifthey see too many.