If you get a FICO credit score, or any other credit score, be sure to read the analysis or summary that comes with your report, explaining why your credit score is a certain number. Watch out for these types of negative statements: Amounts owed on revolving accounts is too high Amount past due on accounts […]
What Are Some Reasons That My Credit Score is So Low? Read More »
For a single loan, payday lenders routinely charge interest rates of about 400% on an annualized basis. That’s a ridiculously high price to pay for “credit.” So why would someone willingly go to a payday lender when they’re short on cash, when they could just use a credit card to pay for something, or even
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There are roughly 50 million adults in the United States who operate outside the credit mainstream*. They have no checking account and no credit file whatsoever. Many never had a credit card; never took out a mortgage; never had a student loan; never paid a car note. Nothing. Granted, a lot of these individuals are
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From a credit standpoint, the type of debt you’re carrying matters tremendously when it comes to your credit score and your overall credit rating. What precisely counts as “bad” debt? Nearly 100% of the time, it’s credit card debt. Yes, if the balances on your Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover cards have gotten out
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Debt is such a huge problem in America. We’re up to our eyeballs in debt of all types: mortgage loans, credit cards, student loans, automobile loans. You name it – we’ve got it. The average size mortgage in the U.S. is about $200,000 – and this number is smaller than it was due to the
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Many consumers believe a host of myths and misconceptions about their credit scores. Some of the biggest fallacies surrounding this topic involve race, income and other factors that do not impact your credit rating at all. Here are some other common myths. Fact Vs. Fiction About Credit Scores FICTION: If I check my credit report
What are Some of the Biggest Myths About Credit Scores? Read More »
There is a lot of misinformation about what goes into your credit score. However, officials from Fair Isaac Corporation (the company that created FICO scores) have said many times that this is the heart of what happens: Your credit files – currently those from Equifax and TransUnion – are reviewed. Certain information (roughly 22 items)
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In order for a bank to declare that it is FDIC insured, it must meet certain financial requirements imposed by the FDIC. Specifically, banks must maintain healthy, federally-mandated “capital ratios.” This refers to the amount of capital (or dollars) a bank must have set aside in reserves in order to guard against future, potential losses.
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Q: How did the mortgage meltdown and wall street’s woes lead to the credit crunch? A: The economic crisis that initially began when sub-prime mortgages started unraveling in 2006 and 2007, became a full-scale financial meltdown in 2008, and continues today to have a huge impact on the overall economy, as well as on you
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Out of the roughly 220 million Americans that have credit files maintained by the “Big Three” credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), about 1 out of 5 individuals have very poor credit, bad credit, or “deep subprime scores,” according to Experian. Research from the credit bureau found that between the third quarter of 2006 and
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Many people know that they can go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com and get a free copy of their credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. But most consumers are unaware that tens of millions of individuals are also legally entitled to get more than one free credit report each year.
How Can I Get a Free Credit Report, Again? Read More »
Q: Should I get all three credit reports at once, or view them at different times over the year? A: Once you are ready to request your free credit reports from the credit bureaus via http://www.annualcreditreport.com, you have the option of getting those reports in one of two ways: all at once, or over a
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If you want to acquire top-notch credit, the first step in doing so is to: a) Pull each of your credit files from the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; and b) Get your credit scores, which are marketed by various companies, and calculated based on the information contained in your
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The process of reading and deciphering your Equifax, Experian or TransUnion credit reports may seem daunting at first, especially when you have to pore over pages of listings about your credit accounts. But you can easily master the information in your credit files, once you know what to look for, in terms of how your
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An inquiry in your credit file (credit inquiries) is a record of any application for credit that you made. For example, if you seek a mortgage, student loan or car loan, or even if you apply for a credit card or perhaps request an increase in your current credit card limit, any of these actions
How Do Inquiries In My Credit Report Impact My Credit Score? Read More »
