Samantha Monroe asked:




People who are keen on maintaining high credit score know the importance of a credit report. Having a very detailed credit report is the first step towards ensuring your credit score remains high.

Getting a detailed report from any of the bureaus may cost you some money. If you are really serious about keeping a check on your report, then you would know you need a real report and won’t find it difficult to spare $20 to get a very detailed report.

After getting a detailed report, you should continue in that same vein by going through the report with a fine comb and identifying EVERY wrong entry no matter how small. Every entry that is incorrect should and must be corrected for the sake of your credit score. NEVER over look anything.

Now you have all the wrong entries you have found and are ready to dispute. One important thing to bear in mind is that your letter MUST be concise because the bureaus have a huge amount of letters to treat so they do not need long letters as any such letter stands a risk of not being processed.

One big problem you may face is using the right identifying information for a given bureau as different bureaus have different identifiers. Send the right information to the right bureau.

Another sad truth here is that many people have tried to dispute without success and have had to repeat a number of times. Your letter may not even be processed so you should be ready and willing to keep sending.

Disputing a credit report, removing a judgment or generally repairing your credit does not have to be such a drag or a mission impossible. You can engage the services of professionals to take the burden off you while achieving results you may never be able to achieve on your own. Save yourself the heartache and disappointment of having you credit bureau dispute letter rejected or not processed by allowing professional handle it for you.

Judith

Christopher Wright asked:




Each time you apply for credit, whether for a car, credit card, or whatever, an inquiry is left on your file. This tells potential creditors who and where you have been applying for credit with. Too many inquires within a certain period of time is bad for your score. It becomes even worse if you have many inquiries, but no accompanying open accounts for them. A creditor may think that there was good reason why you were turned down by other creditors and deny you based upon that assumption.

You are granted exception when applying for a car loan or home mortgage. As long as these inquiries come the same type of lender within 30-45 days, they are counted as one inquiry. The time span has changed over the years. I read from a credit bureau representative that the time span was changed because people began taking longer and researching more when making important purchases.

Of course, inquiries can be challenged just like any other account. They usually stay on your record about 24 months. Credit inquires done by yourself are not shown to potential creditors, therefore won’t affect your score. Also soft inquires, done by other companies won’t affect your score either. The bureaus make money from selling the information they’ve gathered on you and everyone else. A company my buy a list created based on specific criteria. Age, geographic, credit score range are just some of the factors that may be used to compile a list.

One method that may work best if the dispute method fails is to simply ask the creditor to remove it from their records. When the bureau’s computer comes to get the monthly information, the inquire won’t show anymore. First, make sure you have been paying on time. Second, it helps if you have a valid good reason, such as purchasing a house.

Angel

Delia Galley asked:




The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the Nationwide Consumer Reporting organizations (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) to provide you with one free credit report every 12 months per your request. This means that you are entitled to three free credit reports per year, if you deem it necessary. You can stagger the requests or order all of them at the same time.

Each of the National Consumer Credit Reporting bureaus have a unique credit report format, but in essence they provide you with the same information. When you receive your free Equifax credit report use the following guidelines to read your report:

Personal Information

This section will detail your personal information: Name, Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, any former names, death notice information, current address, previous addresses, any other identification numbers that you may have, current employer and previous employers.

You will also find information about any fraud alerts that you may have against your credit report.

Account Information Summary

You’ll find a list of all your accounts here. Additional information will include account type, account number, date account was opened, account balance, any past due amount, account status and credit limit.

Inquiries

Any inquiries against your credit file will be listed in this section. This section is divided into two subcategories: (a) Inquiries that display to companies and may impact your credit score. (b) Inquiries that do not display to companies and do not impact your credit score.

“Inquiries that display to companies and may impact your credit score”
These are inquiries by potential creditors who are assessing whether to extend you a line of credit or not. Your credit score will be minimally affected and therefore these inquiries should not be of major concern, unless there are some red flags. The name of the company that requested the information and the date they requested it will be listed.

“Inquiries that do not display to companies and do not impact your credit score”
Unlike the previous inquiries – these do not “hurt” your credit score. They include inquiries for pre-approved credit lines, insurance, or account reviews by existing creditors. The name of the company that requested the information, the date they requested it and the type of inquiry will be listed.

Collections

Any accounts that have gone to collections will be listed here along with the name of the creditor, date reported, creditor type, your account number, original amount, dates of delinquency, outstanding balance and status information.

Public Records

Bankruptcies, liens or judgments information from federal, state or county court records will be listed here. Each public record will indicate the type of record, case number, amount in default and any relevant information associated with that particular case.

You may also find the following credit report terms helpful:
CURR ACCT – Account is current in payments and in good standing.

CUR WAS 30-2 – Account is current was 30 days late twice.

PAID – Account has been paid off and has a $0 balance and is inactive.

CHARGEOFF – Unpaid balance on account was reported as a loss by creditor and the creditor is no longer seeking reimbursement.

COLLECT – Account is severely delinquent and assigned to collections.

FORECLOS – Property was foreclosed.

BKLIQREQ – Debt was forgiven due to Chapter 7, 11 or 13.

DELINQ 60 – Account is 60 days delinquent.

INACTIVE – Account is inactive.

Sample Equifax credit report


Samuel

Adam Tijerina asked:




Due to the recent credit crisis and housing collapse leading rules have changed dramatically. Despite historically low mortgage rates, most people cannot qualify for them without a really good credit score. This is why it is very important to get your free credit scores and know where you stand and know where you have to improve to get the lowest mortgage rate.

So where can you get free credit scores?

Several sites now offer free “credit scores” which are based off of scoring formulas similar to the national credit bureau formulas at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. The accuracy of these scores is debatable. Comments on a recent Wall Street Journal article stated these scores are not reliable when it comes to mortgages and refinancing.

These sites are credit.com, creditkarma.com and quizzle.com. They can provide you with an estimated score range instead of an exact score and you can expect loads of advertisements all over the site with many offers you are encouraged to sign up for.

Why doesn’t the government provide free credit scores in addition to free credit reports?

The easy answer is they were not part of the arrangements with the credit reporting agencies who are now required by law to provide them for free. They are only required to provide your free credit reports and that’s just what they do. They can still make money selling you the credit scores and that’s just what they do.

You can expect to pay around $8-$10 for each credit score so that’s around $24-$30 each time you want to check your scores. And then the experts tell you to check them every few months so you can easily spend over hundred dollars over the course of a year.

So where does that leave you?

You can go to sites that you see advertised on TV and sign up to get your free credit reports and scores from all three credit reporting agencies.

Doing this will allow you to monitor your credit score on an ongoing basis so you can check your credit worthiness in less than a minute instead of having to sift through 20 to 30 pages of your credit reports trying to decode all the abbreviations.

Getting your free credit scores this way does not lower your score because it is a soft inquiry instead of a hard inquiry which can lower your score. And you will be able to keep track of any suspicious activity in your credit report that could affect your score or result in identity theft.

Kevin

Zach Ford asked:




More than one million American citizens for good reasons check their credit through the internet every year. In order to maintain a healthy financial history it is important to be informed about your credit score. There are things that are considered when determining your credit rating and sometimes there are errors may occur in the process which is not your fault. Monitoring the credit rating will help you to detect faults and find out what could be wrong. Therefore be part of the million using this service by requesting for free credit report today.

Credit score digits are written in three digit number that range between 300 and 850. This is determined by your past and present financial activities. These activities are always recorded and stored in a credit report. 700 is a good rating and you should make it your target if you have not yet reached it. Reports have details of your payments of bills, credit card balances, and unpaid debt among other factors used for calculating your rating. One of the important factors is whether you make your debt repayments on time or not. You should therefore ensure you repay your debts.

Many people do not know that there are in fact three types of credit scores. existence of these three credit scores. These are maintained by three different credit reporting companies. There is TransUnion, Experian and Equifax which are the largest credit agencies in the United States. They calculate credit score differently. TransUnion uses FICO score, Experian uses PLUS score system and Equifax uses ScorePower score. Choose the one that uses the three scores. This will give you accurate information of your credit position.

Having information about your credit score you will know the type of loans you can apply for and the interest you are likely to be charged. You will also know the ares in your finances that need to be worked on. This is an important step in repairing your credit. You can save thousands of dollars when you have high credit ratings by getting low interest rates on loans each year. You should make an effort of getting a copy of your score and report. This is very important and useful for you.

Marian

Thomas Mathews asked:




Before I reveal to you “whats a good credit score” you need to know that all 3 credit bureaus have a credit score for you and they will usually vary 10 to 40 points depending upon the number of bad credit items that are on each specific credit report.

Why does each credit bureau have different scores for you? Because not all creditors report to all 3 credit bureaus; therefore, you may have more bad credit items on a report than the other two, thus the report with the most bad credit items on it will have the lowest score.

Most mortgage lenders look at what is known as the Fair Isaac or FICO Score. A FICO score can range from 300 (very bad) to 850 (very good). The median is 723, according to Fair Isaac statistics. Recently, the 3 main credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax have developed their own combined score to compete with lenders that use the FICO score and they are trying to encourage lenders to use their new scoring system that they call the “Vantage Score”. It ranges from 500 (very bad) to 990 (very best) and like the FICO score it is based on the review of all 3 credit bureau scores along with their own proprietary formula.

So whats a good credit score?

The bottom line to having a good credit score irregardless of whether it is an Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, FICO or Vantage score is – the more “bad credit” items that you have reported on your 3 credit bureau credit reports the lower your credit score will be on your FICO and or Vantage score. It is that simple.

The key to achieving a good credit score is to be able to get any and or all of the bad credit items removed from each of the 3 credit bureau credit reports. More on how to get that done later.

How Is A Good Credit Score Calculated?

Your credit score is simply a number representing your life as it relates to your past and existing debt. Each credit bureau, FICO and Vantage has it’s own proprietary algorithm that they closely guard but there is general information available as to how they all calculate their score for you. Like it or not Creditors use your credit score no matter where it comes from as the indicator of your creditworthiness. Your credit score is calculated using five key categories.

How the Scores Are Calculated

1) 35% of your Score is devoted to Payment History. This would include missed payments, collections, bankruptcies and the like. The older the information the less of an impact on your overall score.

2) 30% of your Score is based on Utilization. This is the amount of credit you have in used as compared to your available credit. The recommendations point to less than 10% of your available credit be utilized.

3) 15% of your Score is impacted by your Credit History. Effectively how long you’ve had accounts open and obviously takes some time to build.

4) 10% of your Score is based on Inquiries. If you apply for various forms of credit and then don’t get that credit it will impact you negatively. Checking your own credit does not impact this number.

5) 10% of your Score is determined by Types of Credit. This would be different forms of credit such as mortgages, auto loans, revolving credit and installments.

Did you notice that there Is something Missing? You’ll note that there is no consideration for your actual income in this model. Interesting to say the least don’t you agree? Your income doesn’t have anything to do with calculating your credit score. Lenders do.

Whats a Good Credit Score?

How many times am I going to make you ask me “whats a good credit score” before I answer? OK, ok. The short non-scientific answer is 760 or above. That’s the score that is going to get you the best interest rates possible on a mortgage, auto loan or many other forms of credit. That doesn’t mean that each lender will offer you the same rate if you have that magical 760 score. It will depend upon the amount of money a particular lender has available at the time that you apply for your loan that will dictate what the loan rate they will offer you.

If your score is 760 or above then I recommend that you monitor your credit scores and if drop for some reason you will know immediately and you will be able to do what needs to be done to get it back to that magic number. Why is that important? Because if you allow it to drop within 30-60 days you’ll see many of your loans and or credit card rates slide upward. How can that happen you ask? The “fine print” on every loan or credit card agreement will usually allow the lender to adjust your rate without notice if your credit score changes.

If your credit score is far below the magical 760 score then you may want to learn how you can force all three of the credit bureaus to give you a good score. There’s a way to do that. Let me know if you are interested.

Lydia

Hector Milla asked:




Short answer, 7 years. When your home goes up on the foreclosure list, the lender then sends your information to the credit bureau to report you on your non payments. Your credit report will show details of your failure to pay your mortgage to the lender. It will read that you were late in making your mortgage payments, and it will also highlight every time you were negligent in paying your mortgage for whatever months you did not pay.

A report ordered by a lender, a school, or a job from a credit reporting bureau will disclose your payment history or existing credit accounts. The credit report that was ordered will be used to help evaluate their risk in helping you. The fact that your credit is now in bad standing will effect your chances in receiving another loan. You’re now considered high risk, and many institutions that are required to evaluate your credit history will not take a risk with someone who has had their home foreclosed on.

Your foreclosed home will show up on your credit report history, and that history will be on your credit report for seven years. However, homes that were foreclosed some years ago will not have much effect on your credit score as a new home that has been recently foreclosed on. It is imperative to know that a home that has been foreclosed will show up on all three credit reporting agencies, which are Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. There is typically no going around the seven years hit on your credit.

Charlotte

Mike Clover asked:




Do you want your credit score to plummet, go ahead and co-sign for someone. I personally believe this is a huge problem. With your credit score and credit report being the roadmap to financial health, the question is can you really afford to co-sign for friends and family. Over the years I have seen more problems with this issue. Here is how a co-signer can affect your personal credit.

Late Payments
If you co-sign for a family member your credit report could be at risk. If for some reason the family member is late on an obligation you co-signed for your credit score just dropped about 100 points. Most people don’t thing about this, but it happens all the time. Anytime someone is late on a obligation that reports to all 3 credit bureaus, that bad mark will be on there for 7 years. It’s not worth it. If you have to co-sign for someone make sure you are not getting ready to make a big purchase, because it could affect your purchasing power as well. Some banks like to see a payment history in good standing usually around 12 months on co-signed obligations. They also typically like to see proof that the payment is coming out of the person’s bank account you co-signed for. So co-signing opens up all kinds of worms in the world of finance.

Income to Debt Ratio
Once you have co-signed on a loan for a friend or family member it could affect your ability to get a loan for something else. That added debt that is showing up on your credit report is technically your responsibility as well. Let’s assume you have this car note you co-signed for and the payment is $500.00 a month. You have now added this debt to your portfolio of debts in a underwriters eyes. In order to buy something else an underwriter may require a good 12 month payment history by the other party to disallow a debt from your portfolio of obligations. So with this being said think real hard before you co-sign on anything. I don’t recommend it. There are ways for someone to get there credit established so they can get loans in there own name. The internet is a great resource. There is anything you can imagine on the web to help you achieve just about anything, including getting your own credit established so you don’t need a co-signer.

Gilbert

Marilyn Katz asked:




Do you know what a credit rating is? Furthermore, do you know what your own personal credit score is? Most people don’t think they need to worry about it. They do. Even if you don’t ever borrow money you need to be concerned. Let’s say you need to buy a new car, and like most of us, cannot pay cash for it. You will need a car loan. At some point in your life, you will probably want to buy a home. You will probably need a mortgage! The most important factor the lender considers is your credit history and credit score. This wil factor into the interest rate offered to you. You need to understand this important part of your financial life in order to manage it to work in your favor. If you ignore it, it will probably work against you.

A credit rating is issued by an agency. The rating is a measure of how you have handled your finances. A credit report contains information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting agencies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment or renting a home.

There are three major bureaus. Each company determines your personal score based on a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation. Each agency uses a slightly different term for their score. Equifax calls their score “Beacon;” Experian calls their score “FICO;” and Trans Union calls their score “Empirica.” Since lenders do not usually report account activity to all bureaus your credit score may vary.

The rating takes into account activity related to revolving and installment based credit that is not secured by hard assets. This includes your credit cards, term loans, trade accounts, public utilities, lines of credit etc. The agencies may not use the same scoring system so even if all the information is exactly the same the score may vary. The rating system provides you with a credit score between 300 and 900 and a higher score indicates a lower credit risk. A score of 650 or higher is usually considered good credit by most lenders.

What Factors Matter?

Payment History -Were payments made on time? – 35%

Amounts Owed – Is the balance owed close to the limit? – 30%

Length of Credit History – How long have your accounts been open? -15%

Taking on more debt – How many new accounts have been opened/? – 10%

Types of credit in use – Mortgage, auto, consumer finance accounts, revolving and installment loans -10%

What is not calculated?

Your race, color, national origin, sex, age, marital status Your salary, occupation, job title, employment information or home address The interest rate on your charge accounts Any items such as child support, rental agreements, credit counseling participation Is your credit score always accurate? No. It is estimated that almost 80% of credit reports contain errors. So if you want to correct these errors you will have to get a copy of your report. Fortunately, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies (mentioned above) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request once every 12 months.

Barbara

Rachel Altman asked:




A bankruptcy can have a devastating effect on your credit score. A bankruptcy listing on your credit reports to many lenders is the only thing they need to see to determine you are completely unworthy of credit.

Many people will tell you that it is impossible to remove a bankruptcy from your credit reports. The truth is that you can dispute a bankruptcy the same as you can any other type of derogatory account on your credit report.

Note that whether the account is “really” yours or not has no bearing on the credit bureaus responsibility to verify it. If it cannot be verified, it must be deleted. Period. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the burden of proof is on the credit bureau.

Please let it be clear that it’s never ever wise to be dishonest when communicating with credit reporting agencies, plus it is totally unnecessary. There are many ways to dispute the bankruptcy without lying.

Did you know that the credit bureaus don’t even investigate public records? The courts will only verify such records in person. The credit bureaus will claim that they have a system to verify such records, but when it comes down to it, they don’t. They also know that if a consumer were to seek litigation and financial damages in a court of law, they would be in big trouble.

I had my bankruptcy removed from 2 out of 3 of my credit reports. The one that would not remove the bankruptcy claimed that they verified it electronically and that it’s public record. It is indeed public record; they were right about that part. But, I asked them who they verified it with and they said they verified with my local courthouse. That’s impossible since the local courthouse confirmed that they only verify public records in person – not electronically, not through the mail, and not over the phone.

This particular credit bureau is much harder to work with than the others. They are very adamant about keeping items on your credit report whether they are accurate or not. This credit bureau has also been sued the most. And as long as they refuse to properly investigate accounts according to federal law, they will continue to get sued the most.

Vincent