Strategic Defaults Expected To Rise

Posts Tagged ‘Experian’

Strategic Defaults Expected To Rise

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Data from Experian’s 2011 Strategic Default Report revealed that in the first half of 2010, an estimated 275,000 people just walked away from mortgages they could afford to keep paying because they had become such bad investments. Read – What Strategic Defaulters Mean to Marketers | Ad Age Stat – Advertising Age

How to Get Your Experian PLUS Score Free

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Author: The Money Coach

By federal law, you are entitled to receive one free credit report annually from each of the three main credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. If you want to know what your Experian PLUS Score is, you typically have to order your credit report directly from Experian. That will cost you money, because Experian does charge you for the credit report – though once you buy the credit report, they’ll give you the Experian PLUS Score at no charge. But read on for another way in which you can obtain your Experian PLUS score at no cost whatsoever.

Getting a Free Experian Credit Report and/or an Experian PLUS Score Free

If you only want to get your free Experian credit report, here is what you need to do:

Order your free credit report. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 to order your credit report from Experian. You will need to indicate that you only want your Experian credit report at this time. You still have the option to order one free credit report every 12 months from the other two credit bureaus.

To get a free Experian PLUS score you have two options:

1. Pay for a credit report and get a free credit score. If you’ve already gotten your free Experian credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com – perhaps you got one several months ago – you can still get another Experian report. But you’ll have to pay for it. You can buy your Experian credit report by going to Experian’s own site, at http://Experian.com. And when you buy an Experian report (it now costs $14.95), the company throws in an Experian PLUS score at no charge.

2. Get a free Experian report through a bank or credit card issuer. As an alternative to buying a credit report as a way to get a free Experian PLUS score, you can try to get a free score through a bank, credit union or financial institution you’re already doing business with. Some credit card companies extend special offers during the year to cardholders for a free credit report and/or a free credit score. You can sometimes order your credit report(s) and get your Experian PLUS Score for free by registering for these offers and promotions. So check with your credit card issuer, bank or credit union to see if they are offering free Experian credit reports with the PLUS Score at no charge.

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions act (FACT Act), you are also entitled to receive a free credit file disclosure directly from the credit bureaus if you:

Are unemployed
Have been denied credit because of information that was on your credit report
Are receiving public welfare assistance
Are aware that your credit report is inaccurate because of fraud or identity theft

Elements of Your Experian PLUS Score

Keep in mind that some lenders use a generic score or a custom score developed by the individual lender. Your Experian PLUS Score is calculated based on several elements of your credit report, including your payment history, the number of inquiries or new applications for credit you’ve had recently, and the amount of debt you are carrying. Your PLUS Score can give you some indication of your credit standing and can be helpful when you’re applying for a loan or a new line of credit.

The Experian PLUS Score is calculated differently than the FICO Score and other credit scores, and therefore you might have one credit score from one company and another credit score under a different scoring model. The PLUS Score ranges from 330 to 830. Meanwhile, FICO scores range from 300 to 850 points. In all credit scoring models, the higher the score, the better your chances of obtaining credit – and getting a good interest rate.

No matter how you get your credit reports and scores – whether you pay for them or get the free – remember to make sure that there are no errors or omissions on your credit reports. Mistakes can have a negative impact on your credit score. If you do notice mistakes, you will need to contact the creditor to fix the problems and then follow up with Experian (and/or the other credit bureaus too) to make the necessary changes.

Learn how to have Perfect Credit.

How to Compare Your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Credit Reports

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Author: The Money Coach

If you’ve thought about ordering your free credit report, which credit reporting bureau should you contact? Many people wonder what the difference is between the Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports. Each credit reporting agency uses a different set of criteria and variables to calculate your credit score, and some lenders prefer to use one over the other. If you were to order a credit report from each credit bureau, you might find that your credit score varies by as much as 40 points between them. The three credit bureaus did develop the VantageScore In 2006 to eliminate this problem, but many lenders still use the FICO score five-factor formula.

Here’s a brief summary of the key elements of your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports, and what makes each one unique:

Key Elements of Your Equifax Report

Uses the Equifax Credit Score calculation, a proprietary model used by Equifax
Equifax Score ranges from 280 to 850 where higher scores indicate lower risk
Is calculated slightly differently than the standard FICO Score
Equifax calls the FICO score the BEACON® Score

Key Elements of Your Experian Credit Report

Uses the PLUS Score credit scoring system
Experian Score ranges from 330 to 830 where higher scores indicate lower risk
Part of Experian’s National Score Index used to calculate consumer financial statistics around the country
The FICO score is often called the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model

Key Elements of Your TransUnion Credit Report

Uses the standard FICO scoring system, also called EMPIRICA®
Calculated based on several elements, including your payment rack record, credit history, types of credit used and total amount owed
FICO score range is from 300 to 850

Understanding Your Credit Scores

If you are about to make a major purchase and know you will be applying for a loan or a credit card with a high credit line, you can check your credit score from all three credit reporting agencies a few months before your purchase. These three scores can give you an accurate view of your credit standing, and you will have time to make requests for changes if you notice mistakes or errors. Most people who have a credit score above 700 across all three scoring systems are pre-qualified for big loans.

Just keep in mind that most lenders take more than just your credit score into account when making their credit decisions. Each lender uses a different method to determine your creditworthiness, so a high credit score alone – regardless of which scoring system is used – doesn’t guarantee that you will receive the loan or line of credit.

What’s the Best Way to Get Negative Information Removed From My Credit Report

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Author: The Money Coach

Question: One of my subscribers had a question. She asked, “What’s the best way to have negative information removed from my credit report?”

Answer: Negative information can legally stay on your credit report for seven years. For some negative information, such as a bankruptcy, it can be as long as 10 years. The subscriber didn’t say if this is correct negative information or if this was inaccurate negative information, and so that demands a little bit more explanation.

Certainly if there was an error that was reported about you to Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, you should dispute that negative information in order to have it removed from your credit reports. The single best way to have negative information that is inaccurate removed from your credit reports is to contact the creditor directly, who said something erroneous and negative about you.

So if that was a utility company, a credit card company, perhaps your mortgage lender, an auto loan company, a finance company, a charge card company, a retailer, if any of them posted any negative information about you, such as you paid late allegedly; you had an account go to collections; you perhaps were 60 days or 90 days or more behind on your bill; any such negative information which indicates that you did not pay as agreed, and if that information is erroneous, contact that creditor first to try to have them to remove the information.

The reason I suggest going to the creditor first is that when they delete the information, they will update their records and that information is less likely to be reposted to your credit reports later. Sometimes, consumers want to go directly to the big three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, in order to get negative information removed, and you might be successful in doing that.

However, frequently what a lot of people will find is that a month, two months, three months down the road that negative information might pop up on the credit reports once again. So that’s why it’s always best to go right to the source, to the creditor who has posted information about you.

Now if the information is outdated, you are also legally entitled to get that information removed from your credit report. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if it is outdated, let’s say it is more than seven years old, then yes, you can contact the bureaus directly for that and say listen, “This is something negative; this is outdated, old information on my credit reports. Please delete this information immediately.”

You can do so by contacting the credit bureaus online. Each of them maintains a website. They also have mailing addresses for Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion that you can write to them directly to get negative information removed. I always suggest, though, to consumers that to have negative information that is inaccurate or outdated removed most expeditiously, it is best to use the online dispute services that are offered by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Negative information that is correct on your credit report, you don’t have a legal way, certainly, of getting the credit bureaus to remove that information. If you have negative information such as a collection account that is say three years, four years, five years old on your credit report and you contact your old creditor or perhaps the collection agency that previously handled the account, you might be able to negotiate a lump sum settlement with them to do something called a PFD, a pay for deletion.

This essentially means that you recognize that you had a bill that went past due. You may not have the entire amount to pay but you do have something that you can pay. In many cases, if it is a debt that is many years old‑three, four, perhaps may be five years old‑ that old creditor or collection agent, frankly, might be pretty happy to hear from you, because now they are going to get some money. After all these years when the debt has been written off as uncollectible, they are going to get some money instead of no money.

So sometimes, if you will offer them 0.25 on the dollar, 0.50 on the dollar, somewhere around there, they might be willing to delete that negative information from your account. If you are thinking of doing this strategy, get an agreement in writing upfront from the creditor or collection agency before you turn over a check or any kind of money to pay to have negative information removed from your credit report.

Key Differences Between Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Credit Reports (askthemoneycoach.com)
What Is the VantageScore and How is it Different from the FICO Credit Score? (askamoneyexpert.com)
5 Tips if You’re Facing Court Action from a Debt Collector (askamoneyexpert.com)

Ask The Money Coach

Posts Tagged ‘Experian’