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February 22, 2011

Understanding Credit Report Score

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Auto Loan Lenders, Best Interest, Credit Card Companies, Credit Report Score, Credit Reports, Credit Score, Credit Scores, Creditor, Equifax, Experian, Finance Companies, Home Loan Lenders, Interest Rates, Mistake, Money Card — admin @ 10:18 am

Gary Gresham asked:

Understanding credit report scores is important when you see your credit report because you need to be able to make some sense of it.

Your credit score is used by anyone loaning you money such as credit card companies, home loan lenders, auto loan lenders and finance companies. They all use your credit score to determine your credit risk. The interest the lender charges you is based on your credit risk. So you can see how understanding credit report scores is information that can save or cost you money.

You need to find out what your credit score is before you talk to any lender in case there is something on your report that you may question. You don’t want the lender to find a mistake that you aren’t aware of. If you find a mistake, it takes at least 30-60 days before you see corrections in your credit reports and scores.

You have probably heard that checking your credit will bring down your score. But checking your own credit report and score is counted as a “soft inquiry” and doesn’t harm your credit score at all. Only “hard inquiries” from a lender or creditor, made when you apply for credit, will bring your credit score down a few points.

Your credit report should have the three main credit services Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and each service will give you a different credit score.

The credit scores will range between 300 and 870 with each credit service giving a different score. The higher your score is the better, because as your credit score increases, your credit risk decreases.

The average high approval score where the best interest rates are offered is 680 or above. The credit score the lender uses comes from the middle score or an average of all three scores is sometimes used.

Don’t be surprised if you find an error once you get your credit report. Statistics show that 70 percent of credit reports contain serious errors. Those errors are what you want to clear up because they will affect your credit score.

If you find a mistake, you have the right to dispute the information free of charge. Contact the credit bureau that provided the information and dispute the inaccurate information.

Below are the names, addresses, phone numbers and web sites of the three credit bureaus TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

Equifax Credit

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374

Equifax 800-685-1111

http://www.equifax.com

TransUnion

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

Trans Union 800-888-4213

http://www.transunion.com

Experian

P.O. Box 2002

Allen, TX 75013

Experian 800-682-7654

http://www.experian.com

You can also contact the creditor direct and ask that the corrected information be provided to the credit bureaus.

If you suspect any fraud, contact all three credit bureaus immediately and place a fraud alert on your report. Then, contact your credit card companies and bank to protect your accounts.

Understanding credit report scores and checking your credit report at least once a year will keep fraud in check and keep your credit score safer.

Copyright

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February 19, 2011

Credit Score – Quick Ways to Boost My Equifax Score

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Charge Offs, Collection Accounts, Collection Agencies, Credit Cards, Credit Report, Credit Scores, Creditor, Current State, Delete, Equifax Credit Score, Fraction, Lenders, Revolving Accounts, Third Party, Three Main Credit Bureaus — admin @ 7:39 am

Tony Banks asked:

Your Equifax credit score is probably the most popular of the three main credit bureaus. The other two are Transunion and Experian. Some lenders look at all three scores when making a decision to approve you for a loan but working on one score usually affects the others as well.

The strategy to boost your Equifax score will depend on the current state of your credit report. If your credit report has a few recent negative items such as charge-offs and collection accounts you want to challenge these items with the credit bureaus to have them deleted from your reports.

The more recent a negative is on your report, the more damage it will do to your scores. If a challenge is unsuccessful you can take another approach. This would be to deal directly with the creditor or collection agency. Just about all collection agencies have one main purpose which is to get paid.

Third party collection agencies usually buy the debt from the original creditor at a fraction of what the original price which means that you can negotiate a lesser amount to pay them to settle the debt. REMEMBER that you are doing this to boost your credit scores so in exchange for coming to an agreement with them you will ask them to delete their entry on your credit report.

On the other hand, if you have a fairly okay credit score and you want to boost it, your approach would be to strength the credit that you already have which can be done by paying down high balances on your credit cards as well as opening a new credit account to add to your available credit IF you don’t already have too many credit cards or revolving accounts.

Lewis

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February 15, 2011

Cleaning Up Bad Accounts on Your Transunion, Equifax and Experian Credit Files

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Charge Offs, Court Judgments, Creditor, Debt Collection Practices, Dispute Procedure, Equifax, Equifax Credit, Experian Credit, Fair Debt Collection Practices, Good Understanding, Late Payments, Names And Addresses, Restoration Kit, Significant Improvement, Transunion Credit — admin @ 9:07 am

Tony Banks asked:

The process of cleaning bad entries from your file is very doable so long as you stick to the rules. Yes, there are rules guiding this process and you can achieve significant improvement on your credit rating if you really follow the procedures.

You’ll be needing a good understanding of how to handle bad accounts such as collections, charge-offs, foreclosures, late payments, court judgments, inquiries and even wrongly spelt names and addresses. You want to be sure you’re doing it the right way, else your effort might be wasted. This is where your restoration kit comes in handy. It is a document that is used by many consumers across the country to clean up negative accounts from their credit files when they switch into a self-help repair mode. It is also known as a do-it-yourself technique. It is the alternative method to hiring an expert repair agency to help in restoring your file.

Some of the things you’ll learn to clean up negatives on your file include the laws of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act among others. This is what the repair agencies can recall without consulting the books and one of the reasons they are considered experts in their job.

To erase negative items from your report, you’ll be drafting letters and sending them to bureaus as part of a dispute process if there’s any account on your report that is believed to have been a mistake of the bureau. However, some mistakes could originate from the information furnisher that sends info to these bureaus. In this case, you’ll discover that even though a bureau may notify you that the negative account on your file is correct upon conclusion of their investigation, repeating the same dispute procedure with the original creditor (or information furnisher) will solve the problem.

Linda

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February 9, 2011

Credit Restoration Step 1 of 5 – Knowing Your Credit Reports

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Credit Bureau, Credit Reporting Agencies, Credit Restoration, Creditor, Creditors, Equifax, Experian, Free Trial, Information Inquiries, Interest Rate, Major Credit Reporting Agencies, Monitoring Service, Payment History, Several Ways, Trans Union — admin @ 11:37 am

Matt Triplett asked:

You can’t fix a problem until you know what it is right. A majority of all Americans have never ordered their own report and half of those have never seen their own report. The scary part about that is according to studies 79% of all credit reports have errors and 25% of those errors are severe enough to deny you credit. So even though you pay all your bills on time every time, there still could be something on your report that isn’t even yours. Even if you have never been denied credit, these errors could be causing you a higher interest rate.

There are 3 major credit reporting agencies in the United States.

Experian Equifax Trans Union

Creditors submit your payment history to 1, 2, or all 3 bureaus each month. So depending on which creditors are reporting to which bureau, you should have 3 different scores. You can usually get a 3-in-1 credit report that shows all 3 bureaus along with an average score from all 3.

There are several ways to get a copy of your credit report. Order each one directly from the bureaus websites. If you have been denied credit recently you are entitled to a free credit report, that you can order from the bureau directly. If you have applied for credit recently from a local creditor, they can give you a copy if they have ordered it. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com This is a government run website that will give you a free report from each credit bureau each year. Order a 30-day free trial of credit monitoring and get a free copy of your reports with it. Just make sure you cancel with in 30 days or you will be charged for the monitoring.

Some reports are harder to read than others. Usually a 3-in-1 credit report from a monitoring service is more user friendly and better laid out. Now you need to review all the information on your report and make sure it is accurate. This includes all the personal information, inquiries, accounts, former names, former addresses, employment, and so on. Having an accurate report is the best way to assure you a fair judgment on your payment histories.

William

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December 9, 2010

How To Delete Bad Credit From Your Credit Reports, Legally!

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Accurate Credit, Credit Bureaus, Credit Reporting Act, Creditor, Equifax Credit Report, Equifax Report, Experian Credit, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fixing Bad Credit, Investigation Results, Lunch Room, Minor Search, Neighborhood Search, Searching The Internet, Trans Union — admin @ 6:17 pm

Tim Irish asked:

It’s funny, you never hear any lunch room conversations about credit repair, or fixing bad credit, however there’s this huge population of consumers searching the Internet search engines looking specifically for those terms. For example, just a quick two minute query of a popular keyword tracker proved these daily search results:

The term “delete bad credit” was searched 21 times just yesterday in one minor search engine

The phrase, “bad credit” was searched a whopping 557 times in one 24 hour period, on one search engine.

The worst part is, if you run over to your friendly neighborhood search engine of preference, and you seek answers of whether or not its possible to repair your credit legally, you will be simply amazed at the contradicting advice. So, rather than speak about what others have written, and claimed, let me share with you what I know to be true from actual results I’ve experienced.

Yes, you can delete bad credit from your credit reports, and do it legally. Here’s how:

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act passed by US congress, you and I as consumers are entitled to a 100% accurate credit report. In other words, all data contained within your credit reports, by law, must be verifiable, accurate, and fit the time lines of reporting guidelines. You have the right to dispute any outdated, unverifiable, or incorrect information with the credit bureaus. They in turn have 30 days to contact the original creditors and reply with investigation results. If the original creditor is unable to respond with verifiable evidence validating their reporting, the item must be deleted from your credit report, or updating per your demands.

Step 1: Obviously, first thing you’ll want to do is order your credit reports and you can do this for free from www.annualcreditreport.com. This site allows you to access your Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax credit report 1 time each for free, every 365 days. If you’ve already used your free access within the last year, the option to download your reports is available at a nominal fee.

Step 2: You’ll review your credit reports side by side. By looking at Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax side by side (note, this is not the tri-merged 3-in-1 credit reports, but rather a separate credit report from each credit bureau), you are able to view at a glance inconsistent, account reporting information.

For example, if you have ABC Collections account reported on all three credit reports, you can quickly review the data of that account for differences in how it is reported between each of the three credit reports. You may find that one report shows the balance due of $582, and another credit report shows the balance as $992. This is not unusual, and many times can result in poor data integrity when dealing with so many parties involved in reporting it. (e.g. Original creditor, collections division, collection agency, and credit bureau.)

Now that you’ve quickly found some obvious inconsistent, and erroneous reporting of that trade line, that is grounds for challenging the credit bureaus for reporting verifiable, accurate data. A great majority of the time, when challenging granular level data, such as wrong balance, or last date of activity incorrect, etc, rather than dispute the account as “not mine” as so many ebooks, and services promote.

You challenge only real factual inconsistencies recorded in the data, that makes the original creditor check real specific data and hold them to responding within 30 days. This is much more successful, and completely legal. You are entitled to a fair and accurate credit report, and if in making sure your report is accurate that you end up deleting bad credit, who are we to argue?

Follow a systematic action plan, tailored to your credit files, and you’ll see results faster than any other credit repair method. My entire system was built around this model, and I’ll never look back. Create your own credit repair blueprint today!

Tracy

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November 18, 2010

8 Ways to Boost Your Credit Score

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Contest Of Wills, Credit Bureaus, Credit Report, Credit Score, Credit Scoring, Creditor, Darkness, Experian, Inconsistencies, Inquiries, Knowledge Is Power, Madness, Perfect World, Trans Union, Zero Balance — admin @ 2:44 am

Dan A. Mason asked:

Ah credit, what a mysterious thing you can be. In a perfect world, the credit reporting agencies (Trans Union, Experian and Equifax) would give us clear cut guidelines as to how they calculate your credit score and convince us that there is a method to their madness. Alas, they leave us lost in darkness to fend for ourselves.

If you have ever had to deal with any of the credit agencies in correcting duplicates, outdated accounts or flat out erroneous information, you know this is no simple task. It is often a several month long, knock down, drag out contest of wills to see who gives in first. That being said, there are some specific things you can do to proactively improve your overall credit and therefore your credit score.

1) Knowledge Is Power

To begin to understand and improve your credit, you must first know where you stand right now. You are entitled to one free copy of your credit report per year. Go to annualcreditreport.com to obtain yours. Go through the entire report from each credit agency looking for errors, inconsistencies or omissions to ensure you know where you stand right now.

2) Get Up To Date

Many accounts will simply stop reporting to the credit bureaus once they are paid off. So, rather than showing paid in full with a zero balance, it will report the last balance prior to receiving the payoff. Be sure all paid accounts show paid in full, report a zero balance and show account as closed.

3) Inquire Within

Each time a creditor pulls your credit, it is reported on your credit as an inquiry. Inquiries generally remain on your credit for 90-180 days. Excessive inquiries can dramatically lower your credit score. It is important to only allow a company to pull your credit report after you have done your shopping and only if you are serious about opening an account with them.

4) Collections – Part I

Collection companies are notorious for listing the same collection account on your credit numerous times. This can trick the credit scoring programs into thinking you have more derogatory items than you actually do and therefore drag down your credit score. Be sure that any current or previous collections only appear once and the status of the account (outstanding or paid in full) is accurate.

5) Collections – Part II

If you do have current outstanding collections or charge off accounts, don’t rush in and pay them off prior to refinancing or purchasing a home It can actually hurt you in the short term. Here’s why:

Many collection accounts report once the account is created and then do not report again. So, a collection account from 3 years ago may only have reported when it was created and not since. So, it may not be hurting your credit score as badly as an account from say 3 months ago. But, if you payoff that 3 year old collection today and then get that collection company to report to the credit bureaus that it is paid in full, you are asking a 3 year old derogatory account to report current information. While this information may be positive in some aspects (the balance was paid in full) it is negative in others (a 3 year old collection is now reporting as a current collection). So, the net result may actually be a lower score.

From a long term perspective, it certainly makes sense to settle or pay all collections in full. However, don’t rush out and do this a few weeks before you apply for a new home loan. You may actually be doing more damage than good.

6) A Balancing Act

The most overlooked aspect of anyone’s credit is often their account balances. More specifically, their balances relative to their limits. A maxed out credit card, even though it may be paid perfectly every single month, will drag down your credit score. It is important to keep your credit card balances at or below 50% of their limits. You will see a significant improvement in your credit score if you can consistently keep the balances below half of their limits.

7) Oldy But Goody

The length of time you have had credit will also have an impact on your score. So, don’t be so quick to close that credit card you opened in college. It may actually be helping you qualify for better interest rates now. In addition, a new car loan, credit card or even a new home loan will reduce your credit score once it is opened. Over time, as the account establishes itself, it will only help to increase your score as you prove your ability to make the payments on time each month. However, the immediate impact upon your credit score is a reduction due to the creation of a new un-established account.

The Shallow Or The Deep End

It is important to have credit, but not too much credit. How much is enough and how much is too much? There is no exact answer to this question, but you have to use common sense. A good general rule of thumb is that you need to have a minimum of three active tradelines. That does not mean that you have to go run up balances on three credit cards, but you must show some activity on at least three accounts in the last 12 months. These accounts can be mortgages, car loans, credit cards or student loans. Often using a credit card to make a purchase and then paying the balance off in full will satisfy this requirement. You do not need to carry a balance, but you have to prove your ability to make timely payments. Using credit wisely means not over-using credit. While it may seem tempting to accept every 0% credit card offer you get in the mail, excessive open tradelines will lead to lower credit scores and turn downs from mortgage lenders. Keep your number of tradelines to a reasonable level and don’t let yourself be tempted into overloading yourself with debt just because it is at a good interest rate.

While no one can say how much each of these items will raise or lower your score, it is important to know that each one will have an effect. So, go employ your newfound knowledge and watch your credit score soar.

Terri

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November 17, 2010

How Do the Credit Bureaus Affect Me and My Chances of Getting a Mortgage Loan?

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Accountant, Bad Debts, Bankruptcies, Charge Offs, Credit Bureaus, Credit Report, Creditor, Financial Lifestyle, Getting A Mortgage, Good Books, Important Decisions, Interest Rate, Negative Entries, Oars, Slate — admin @ 8:55 pm

Tony Banks asked:

Imagine our society without Experian, Equifax and Transunion… Get the picture If this happened, there’ll be no company to record your bad debts, collections, charge-offs, bankruptcies, etc. You could care less if your creditor goes bankrupt because of your inability or unwillingness to pay. Yes, you and millions of other people like you. That’s because there’s no bureau to keep its radar on you.

Your relationship with these reporting agencies is that of an accountant/accountable. The bureaus keep an account on your financial lifestyle and spending pattern which they sell to financial organizations wanting to make important decisions concerning you. This is the way they make their own money, and this is why you want to be in their good books.

Trust me on this one, if your financial activities are good enough, the bureaus will be informed about it by the appropriate authorities and they slate this down on your credit report and also translate it to some points which will be added to your total score.

Your FICO score with the reporting agencies is a big factor in determining if you will get a mortgage loan from a bank when you apply for one. The figure that is good enough to guarantee you this kind of loan is 700. That does not mean you should rest your oars when you have a score such as this. Remember that the higher your score, the lower the interest rate you’ll pay when the loan is due for repayment.

The clear picture, therefore, becomes that the way you are rated and what the reporting agencies enter into your file goes a long way to impact your chances of mortgage credit. It, therefore, becomes important and in your own interest to ensure that you do not have negative entries that will affect your good rating with the reporting agencies.

Cleaning bad entries from your file isn’t much of a task if you take it seriously, which you should. Try a self-help or an agency service repair method.

Bruce

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