Bad credit is when you have a low credit score. Bad credit prevents you from getting a good interest rate on a home loan, a car loan, a student loan or a personal loan. Bad credit will make a potential landlord think twice about renting to you. How can you get bad credit? If you’re late making payments or have a debt to income ratio that’s too high you may have bad credit. Learn how bad credit affects your financial life and how you can move from bad credit to good credit.