Archive for the ‘free credit score reports’ Category
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Your credit score or Fico score is the most important element in your financial life these days. Landlords, employers, banks, utility companies and insurance companies all scrutinize your credit score. This credit score is what sums up everything within your credit report. Your credit scores range between 300 to 850.
Yet according to a survey recently revealed, nearly half of Americans have no idea what is on there credit report until it’s too late. According to recent studies people are mis-lead into thinking certain situations determine how high or low a credit score is. Despite all the news media and internet information the fact is the lower your credit score the more you pay. Also in some instances you get that ugly word you were told when you were young, NO. No one likes to be told no, it makes you feel like a child again, even though you are a grown up. If you are applying for mortgage and your credit score is a 610, you could get denied or pay $400.00 dollars a month more because of the risk based pricing now in the banking industry.
While all of this is sinking in, make sure you are not falling for these credit score myths:
Myth 1: Credit Card offers are hurting your credit score. Credit Card offers do not affect your credit score. Now if you respond to the offer the inquiry could lower your credit score. Fair Isaac says that too much credit does not affect your score either, but high credit card balances will lower it.
Myth 2: The higher your salary the higher your credit scores. Paying down credit card debt will lower your credit score. However the amount of money you make, or how much you have in the bank has nothing to do with your FICO score. So in other words your net worth or the amount of money you have coming in is not factored in the credit scoring process according to Fair Isaac the creator of the FICO score.
Myth 3: When you get married your credit scores get merged. When you get married this is simply not true. The only thing that gets merged are accounts you acquire jointly. If you both apply for the same card, then that card and its history shows up on both credit reports.
Myth 4: Shopping around for a loan hurts your score. When you apply for a mortgage, they will pull a recent copy of your credit report which will give a inquiry on your credit report. FICO allows you to shop for a mortgage with multiple lenders with out it hurting your fico score during a 30 window. So during this 30 day window multiple inquiries for a mortgage will only count as one inquiry according to Fair Isaac, MyFICO.
Myth 5: You only have one Credit Score. You have a credit score with each credit bureau. Your credit score could vary as much as 50 points, which is why you need to check your credit score with all 3 credit bureaus.
Myth 6: Checking your own credit report will lower your credit score. This is a question I get all the time. When you are pulling your own credit report it is considered a soft inquiry, which is not factored in the credit scoring process according to MyFICO.
Myth 7: Your age, sex, income are factored in your credit score. According to MyFICO none of this has a factor in your credit scoring process. What the FICO score model is looking for is your credit history with creditors which you owe a debt.
Myth 8: Disputing a item on your credit report will get it removed. This is a common misconception that if you dispute a item it will get it removed. If you dispute a item and you actually owe it, and its reporting within the 7 years required by law, it will not be removed. Now getting inaccuracies removed from you credit report will increases your credit score. Remember collections and charge offs report on your credit report for 7 years from collection date. If you dispute that item during that period, you are wasting your time.
Author: Mike Clover
CreditScoreQuick.com
Posted in fico score, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
When you are looking at your credit report there are weird codes on your credit report only a credit report expert could understand. We found this transunion credit report guide for codes on your credit report and what they represent. This guide was created in 2003 for mortgage brokers. I believe a credit geeks would appreciate trying to decipher credit report code.
Type of Account
O Automated
R Revolving or Option
I Installment
M Mortgage
C Check Credit (line of credit)
Date Indicators
A Automated
C Closed
D Declined
F Repossessed / Written / Off / Collection
I Indirect
M Manually Frozen
N No Record
P Paid Out
R Reported
S Slow Answering
T Temporarily Frozen
V Verified
X No Reply
(KOB) Kind of Business Classifications
A Automotive
B Banks and S&L
C Clothing
D Department, Variety and other Retail
E Employment
F Finance, Personal
G Groceries
H Home Furnishings
I Insurance
J Jewelry, Cameras and Computers
K Contractors
L Lumber, Building Material, Hardware
M Medical and related Health
N Credit Card and Travel/Entertainment Companies
O Oil Companies
P Personal Services Other Than Medical
Q Finance Companies, Other than Personal Finance Companies
R Real Estate and Public Accommodations
S Sporting Goods
T Farm and Garden Supplies
U Utilities and Fuel
V Goverment
W Wholesale
X Advertising
Y Collection
Z Miscellaneous
Here is a link to this document that list special codes and triggers that may be on a TransUnion credit report.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in credit report, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Annualcreditport.com is a government mandated site to provide a free credit report to consumers once a year. You get a 3-1 credit report with NO credit scores. But you get a FREE credit report. At CreditScorequick.com our job is to educate you about what you really need. When you go to the bank do you think the banks just pulls a credit report with no credit scores? If you thought the answer was no you were correct. The only advantage of this government mandated site is you do get a 3-1 credit report from all 3 credit bureaus, once a year. Lets assume you have already pulled your free credit report and now have decided to make a purchase 4 months later. It is suggested you pull a copy of your credit report if you are about to make a big purchase or apply for credit. So you cannot get a credit report for another year, so what do you do? You can go to http://www.creditscorequick.com/ and get your FREE trial credit report with all 3 credit scores.
Why you need to know your credit scores
Your credit scores is how any lender, bank, credit card company, auto lender, and insurance company determines your likelihood of paying back a obligation. A credit score is your risk and any given point in time. Most lenders now use FICO scores to determine this. So the question is if all of these companies look at your credit scores, shouldn’t you know your credit scores as well? The answer to that is yes.
Why pulling your credit report once a year is not good enough.
Even though annualcreditreport.com gives you your 3-1 credit report once a year, anything can happen to your credit report within a 30 day window. So if you just pulled your credit report, and someone steals your identity afterwards, you would not know about it until creditors start to call you wanting their money.
At CreditScoreQuick.com you get what you’re really need, get your free credit score report: Here is what you get:
• 3-1 credit report
• 3 credit scores
• From all 3 credit bureaus
• Credit monitoring & Alerts
• Delivered to you instantly on-line
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in free credit check, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Most educated consumers know about there FICO scores. That magical three digit number that lenders use to determine your credit risk. CreditScoreQuick has published here, an article about what determines your credit score. Many still wonder if closing credit cards or applying for a new credit card will affect their credit score.
Most consumers typically don’t know about the affects of doing what was mentioned, until it’s too late or by trial and error. In this article we want to make sure you know the affects of canceling good credit and opening too much credit too soon.
Canceling good credit cards
This is a mistake a lot of people make, and that is closing good credit card accounts. There is a misconception out there that when you close a credit card you loose your credit history with that card. This simply is not true. That history will be on your credit report for 7 years. Now there will not be any new credit history, and you also closed down a perfectly good line of credit which could lower your credit score. Fico likes to see a mix of credit, so if this was your only credit card, it more than likely hurt your scores as well.
Opening too much credit
Having too much credit does not hurt your credit score. Applying for a bunch of credit does hurt your fico scores. So for example, if you apply for a car, furniture loan, mortgage, and new credit cards all at once, you score will be lowered as a result. The fico score model sees too much credit too soon as a risk to the creditors. That is why your scores get dinged for it. Now if you are applying for a mortgage, the fico score model allows you to shop for a mortgage within a 30 day window, so fair Isaac’s scoring method allows you to shop your mortgage rate. This shopping within a 30 day window according to FICO counts as one inquiry.
So if you are getting ready to make a purchase and think you may have lowered your credit scores because of too many credit applications, go ahead and get a copy of your free credit score report to see where you stand.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in credit cards, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Monday, May 19th, 2008
With identity theft being so ramped these days and a major concern for most people, don’t worry there is new kid on the block. RSA a security firm has came up with a solution to stop cyber criminals. This new technology is cutting edge when it comes to making a purchase on the web. At a San Francisco security conference, RSA showed off a phone with unusual feature. When a web user makes a purchase or performs a banking transaction on-line, the phone receives a wi-fi signal from the PC making the transaction.
RSA’s handset, built by manufacturer HTC, then shows the transaction and waits for the user to approve it before sending another signal back to the computer, which allows the transaction to take place.
This new process is catching the eyes of the banking industry as well. Currently Bank of American has a security feature called “tokens” which is offered to there high end clients. This is offered with there cards which generate changing passwords that are required to authenticate transactions. Bank of America also currently offers a program for all there customers called “Safe Pass” which sends customers a text message to their cell phones when they bank on line, requesting that they confirm their identity.
According to Bank of America the program they use to prevent identity theft is text based which is much slower and more costlier than wi-fi.
There are currently 140 million cell phone users that text. So it’s easy to deliver this security feature.
Just to confirm, banks have always offered text messages when they suspected suspicious activity. The problem with this its is not a preventative measure.
The challenge with this new technology is bringing two-level authentication across the entire web. I will agree that it’s the best preventive measure for internet purchases that I have seen thus yet. With identity theft being a major headache, and crime growing quicker than the prevention, this is definitely an up coming solution.
As always we recommend that you get a copy of your credit report just to make sure there are no suspicious activities going on as well. Having credit report monitoring is great solution also. We just need to manage our personal information more closely these days, to have a piece of mind.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
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Monday, May 19th, 2008
 High debt will not only affect your credit report but it will affect your personal life. Living debt free does require some life style changes for the better. Having too much consumer debt is like a black cloud lingering over you. In this article we will discuss some money saving tips so you don’t have to get into a debt consolidation program or even file bankruptcy. By following some of these money saving Tips you will be able to pay down debt and save more.
• Car Pool
With the cost of gas prices sky rocketing and no end in sight, car pooling is a great way to save hundreds of dollars each month. Find a few people that live close by and start car pooling.
• Bulk Stores
There are stores where you buy everything in bulk, like groceries, furniture, computers, etc…. By using one of these stores there is usally a membership fee once a year, but the savings will quickly recoup that cost. A bulk store example would be Sams and Costco.
• Don’t eat out
Going out to eat everyday for lunch gets very costly. If you were to bring your lunch to work everyday, could save you hundreds a month. Alos not eating out everyday will not only save you lots of money, but it could save your health. Fast food is bad for you anyways.
• Coupons
By cutting out coupons in the Sunday paper you can save a ton of money. Some stores will match or beat competitor’s offers as well. Just by taking the time to cut out coupons in the Sunday paper, you could find yourself saving hundreds as well.
• Garage Sale
If you are like most people I am sure you have the pack rat syndrome. With all that STUFF you have been saving, you could probably have a garage sale and acquire a nice savings.
• Utilities
You can save money with on utility bills by doing the following
1. Turn down the heat
2. Turn up the air condition
3. Turn off lights and TVs when not using them.
4. Turn of the water when shaving and brushing your teeth
With your credit being so important these days, make sure you are heading towards the wonderful goal of financial freedom. It will be hard to get there if you are not being frugal.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in bankruptcy, debt, debt consolidation, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Monday, May 19th, 2008
 Q:
Hi Mike,
I have a question about my credit score. In today’s market what is really considered a good credit score to get the best interest rates and terms on any thing I borrow? I have always paid my bills on-time, and don’t have any collections. I was just curious what that benchmark might be. Also how often should I pull my credit report? Is once a year good enough?
Sandy Morton
New York, New York
A:
Hi Sandy,
These are some great questions. In today’s market a credit score about a 720 is considered good credit for the best rate and terms. Some lenders have their own bench mark for better rates. They might require a 740 or above to get a quarter better or so. With the current FICO score model, a credit score 720 or above is considered excellent credit. If you score is around that benchmark, I would not sweat it.
How often should you pull your credit is a question I get quite often, here is something to chew on. The current revolving credit you have, re-reports every 30 days. That means anything can happened to your credit scores and credit report within a 30 period. So since your credit score is so important these days, I would recommend pulling your credit report at least once a quarter. Pulling your credit report is just good management of your credit health, and a good way to watch out for identity theft. Remember pulling your own credit report does not affect your credit score; this is considered a consumer credit report which is a soft pull on your score.If you want your credit scores you will have to pay for them, which I recommend since they are part of the decision making process in lending.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in free credit check, free credit score reports | Comments Off
Sunday, May 18th, 2008
 There is a new trend going on in Health Care, what’s your credit score? Hospitals are starting to check credit reports to see whether a patient will pay their medical bills and which ones just need to be written off. There are concerns about whether a patient will get the quality of health care they need if their credit report has bumps and bruises on it. Is there such a thing as credit score discrimination?
Some advocates are concerned that this process could lead to some patient not getting the health care they need. Hospitals are denying this. But we have to remember Hospitals are a business too. Advocates are also concerned this might force some patients to get high interest rate credit lines to pay for medical services. This currently goes on in the Dentistry industry. In order to finance a crown, you pay high interest on the money borrowed. Nether less it looks like everybody’s credit score will be pulled if services will be rendered.
Currently some of the big players trying to sell services such as health care risk models. Equifax is one of the key players that has a score that will predict the likelihood that a patient will pay back medical obligations. With the new digital age, and the instant response of the internet, Health care organizations can get your risk in a matter of seconds.
Currently the hospital chains such as Tenet and Fair Isaac’s the developer of the FICO credit score are some of the top supporters of health care analytic s, a company that is putting together bill-collection data from hospitals for predicting patient payment habits.
This is just another example of how the wonderful credit score is so important these days, this 3 digit number is creeping into our health care sector currently.
CreditScoreQuick.com
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
 The American dream is to own a home someday. We all have this passion deep down in side. Most Americans don’t have the money to pay cash, so they turn to lender to assist with the purchase of there first or second home. With all the new guidelines in banking I will give you exactly what you need to do to secure a mortgage. I know everyone’s situation is different, but there are some steps you can take so you will not have problems in today’s lending market. This will also help you regardless of what the lending market is doing.
Know what’s on your credit report
Most people have not idea what is on their credit report. They also have not idea what their credit scores are. This is amazing to me, since the way to financial freedom is to manage your credit health. Otherwise you are probably paying too much in the way of terms and rates. Get a copy of your credit report with credit scores regularly to mange your scores.
Pay all your bills on-time
If you think paying a bill late every once in a while is ok, you might want to rethink that logic. A single late payment on any obligation will lower your credit score between 100 and 150 points. So if you had a credit score of 750, now it’s a 600 score. If you are having financial problems and think you might be late, call the creditor to make arrangements. Make sure once you work out something, that you get something in writing stating they will not report any payments late with the arrangement. So the idea is to not be late on anything. Lenders don’t like to see you late on anything, because this looks like you are having financial problems. This ultimately means you are not ready to buy in a underwriters eyes.
Save your money
When applying for a mortgage, having savings is a big plus. This shows you have stability and the ability to save money for emergencies. Most loans are run through a automated underwriting engine, and with savings in the bank could mean the difference between a approval or a denial. A good goal to have is 6 months worth of mortgage payment in the bank. If you are buying a house around $200,000 six months payment would be $12,000 in savings.
Pay your Rent on-time, and don’t break a lease.
Being able to pay rent for at least 12 months on-time is a plus. It looks better to pay rent and all your utilities on time for 12 to 24 months. This shows a underwriter you are able to handle responsibility. Lease agreements are one of those contract deals that if you break it and don’t pay the fee to break the lease it can show up on your credit report, plus the apartment complex typically will not give a good verification for rent due to the lease being broken.
CreditScoreQuick.com
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Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
 Some borrowers that have sallie mae student loans were shocked last week when they checked their credit report with Equifax, only to find that their credit scores have dropped. Some of the borrowers were delinquent, and some were not.
Here is what happened
Last Thursday May the 8th Sallie Mae made a error in the way some student loans were reported to the credit bureau. They reported graduated or extended repayment plan as arrangements for partial payment. This caused Equifax the biggest and oldest credit bureau to code the accounts as delinquent, even if they were current.
An extended payment plan allows the borrower to pay the loan out over 12 to 30 years. The standard plan usually is in repayment over 10 years. A graduated payment plan starts out as a low payment, and gradually increases every two years over a term of 12 to 30yrs.
“ There are some repayment plans that on our system are considered a partial payment. They are still in current status, but they are essentially for an extended or graduated repayment plan, and with our understanding of these industry guidelines on how to code that is where we made an error,” Says Martha Holler, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae. “
Borrowers with extended or graduated repayment plans who applied for credit or pulled their credit scores in the last three business days may have had “one or more of their accounts show up late, and had a negative impact on their credit scores,” Says Tom Joyce, spokesman for Sallie Mae
Some students that had these types of loans complained in the FICO forums that their FICO scores had dropped a total of 100 points because of this mistake.
Joyce says ” less than 10 percent” of their 10 million borrowers, or less than 1 million borrowers were affected by this mistake.
Action being taken
Sallie Mae plans on working with Equifax to fix this problem with borrowers who’s credit reports were affected. These errors will be deleted from the Equifax, and the borrower’s credit score should return to the scores they were.
Meanwhile Sallie Mae said they would provide letters to those that need them. Sallie Mae urges borrowers concerned about this mistake to call (888) 272-5543
This is a great reason to pull your credit report; you never know when a creditor is going to make a mistake. Current statistics show that 80% of credit reports have errors on them.
Get your free credit score report today !
This article was wrote: by www.bankrate.com
Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
Posted in credit bureaus, equifax, free credit check, free credit score reports | 1 Comment »
Disclaimer: This information has been compiled and provided by CreditScoreQuick.com as an informational service to the public. While our goal is to provide information that will help consumers to manage their credit and debt, this information should not be considered legal advice. Such advice must be specific to the various circumstances of each person's situation, and the general information provided on these pages should not be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.
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