What Are the Three Credit Score Reporting Agencies of the Federal Government?

There are three nationwide credit reporting agencies in the U.S.: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These are all for-profit businesses and are in no way owned by the federal government. The companies' sheer size, though, has made them widely accepted as the recognized American credit agencies by consumers and the federal government. The three companies have even established a trade organization called the Consumer Data Industry Association to establish...

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How to Delete Tax Liens Off Credit Report

The IRS, upon its discretion, may place a tax lien on your properties for your failure to pay your tax obligations within a specified time frame. This action gives the IRS legal claim on the property that is subject of the tax lien until you are able to make full payment of your tax obligations. A tax lien can seriously affect your personal credit score and will make the sale of your personal property complicated. Payment of the tax obligations does not always get reported to the credit agencies, which means the lien may still show on your credit....

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Why Do Lenders Have Different Credit Scores Than Consumers?

Before applying for a loan, consumers often pull their own credit scores to evaluate their eligibility to borrow money. You may pull your credit score before your lender does, but that does not guarantee that the credit score you pull will be identical to the one your lender will review. Facts Your credit report determines your credit score, but depending upon who you order your credit score from, it may be calculated differently. Types...

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How Can I Raise My Credit Score in One Year?

It doesn't take much time to lower your credit score, but raising it is a different story. Once creditors have been burned, it's going to take some time for you to win their trust again. One year is plenty of time to raise your credit score. All you have to do is fix the mistakes you've made and avoid making them going forward. Once you have made these adjustments, your credit score will improve steadily. Instructions 1 Examine your credit...

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Does Savings Affect a Credit Score?

When you apply for new credit, whether a car loan or mortgage, or a credit card at your favorite store, chances are that the lender will check your credit score. Your score, commonly known as the FICO score, is a snapshot of your creditworthiness based on the information in your credit report. While your credit score reveals a lot about your financial picture, it does not show everything. Calculating Credit Scores The FICO calculation is based on a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corp. Using data from your credit report, your score...

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How to Fix Your Credit Rating in Australia

Your personal credit rating in Australia can make the difference between approval for credit and an application being declined. If your credit rating is low, there are several ways to fix your credit score, including checking for errors on your credit report and ensuring your bills are paid on time. Instructions 1 Apply for your credit report online. The Australian government has given authority to two credit reporting agencies: Dun &...

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Who Can Help Me Raise My Credit Score?

A business may claim it can raise your credit score, but these claims are often false. Learning how to spot credit repair scams can save you hundreds of dollars, as can learning to repair your credit score yourself. Signs of a Scam A legitimate credit repair company will never make outstanding claims about its ability to raise your credit score, according to the Federal Trade Commission. If a company claims it can fix any type of credit problem, it's likely a scam. Avoid any company that encourages you to engage in illegal activity, such...

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Does Small Claims Court Affect Your Credit Score?

Going to small claims court does not mean the courts will enforce the judgment against you, but it almost always guarantees to lower your credit score. Small court claims are a matter of public knowledge, which means that the credit rating bureaus can find out. Negotiating with creditors before the situations require legal action could resolve the debt and save your credit rating. Identification A small claims judgment will affect your credit score because the major credit rating agencies collect public information from federal and local...

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Can Getting Turned Down for Credit Lower Your Credit Rating?

Your credit score is an important part of your financial health. Your credit score determines the difference between a high interest rate or a low one, or whether you can get credit at all. It is important that you pay close attention to your credit score and be careful about how you handle the credit you already have. Credit Score Your credit score is a three-digit number used to determine your creditworthiness.This number is also referred...

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What to Do to Fix Your Credit

The credit data in your TransUnion, Experian and Equifax reports is reviewed by banks, loan companies, landlords, insurers and human resources departments, according to MSN Money writer Liz Weston. Bad credit needs fixing to give you maximum access to loans, credit cards, housing, insurance and jobs. Some strategies take time, while others improve your credit records within a month or two. Catch Up Payments Late payments hurt your credit every month if you do not catch them up. Clear up the past due balances on your credit cards, loans...

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Definition of a Credit Reporting Agency

Credit reporting agencies provide information regarding a person's credit history and ability to make payments on time. All types of payments, including those involving utilities, cars, banking, department store credit cards and housing, are reported to the credit agencies. In addition, personal and health information, including medical history, insurance information, foreclosures, bankruptcies and even criminal information, is found in credit histories....

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How to Suppress Something on a Credit Report

Credit reports contain a wealth of information. Potentially harmful information, such as a slow payment history, a repossessed car or a charged-off loan, can make lenders and insurers avoid doing business with you because they see you as a high risk. To minimize these problems, you can suppress some negative information. You won't be able to suppress accurate, verifiable items, but you can usually get enough items removed to have a positive effect on your credit score. Instructions 1 Find grounds to challenge the items on your credit report...

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What Can I Dispute on My Credit Report?

You can dispute virtually anything on your credit report, although it is unlikely you could eliminate all negative items on your credit report by disputing them all. You probably do not want to dispute everything on a credit report just to see whether you can get the credit bureaus to remove any of them, because disputing too many items could allow the credit agencies to ignore all claims, even legitimate ones. Identification You can only dispute legitimate errors on your credit report. Disputing correct negative items seldom results in...

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What Is the Difference Between Credit Bureaus?

Because the three major credit-reporting agencies -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion -- collect different information, the credit score you receive from each one may vary slightly. The information that each reporting agency has can differ, as not all lenders and creditors report to all three credit bureaus. In addition, each credit bureau uses a different scoring model to calculate a consumer's credit score. Credit reporting agencies also analyze...

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How to Permanently Remove a Security Freeze on Equifax

If you've been a victim of identity theft or if you just want to safeguard your credit report, you can place a freeze on your Equifax file. A freeze will prevent your information from being reported to creditors and other companies. Although a security freeze can help prevent further identity theft or information dissemination to unwanted parties, you may want to lift the freeze once you're sure your information is secure. A security freeze remains...

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Importance of a Credit Report for Employment

Given the increasingly competitive and tight job market, employers generally have little trouble filling open positions and can afford to choose carefully. A credit report reveals far more than simply whether an applicant pays the monthly bills on time, it represents a reliable indicator of responsibility and discipline. Some personal circumstances that negatively affect a credit report can be beyond an individual's control, such as health problems, that should be explained up front. References Before the widespread use of credit reports...

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When Is an Unlawful Detainer Put on Your Credit Report in Minnesota?

Your ability to obtain new forms of credit depends largely on the information contained within your credit reports. Different companies collect information about your history with credit to create these reports, and any negative information on your report can hurt your chances at getting new credit. In Minnesota and all other states, credit report information, such as unlawful detainer lawsuits, is governed by federal law, though when it appears on your report differs. Unlawful Detainer An unlawful detainer is a specific kind of lawsuit,...

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Can High Balances on My Credit Cards Hurt My Credit Score?

Consumers often focus on paying their monthly minimum payment when carrying a high balance can be more damaging to a credit score. If you use most of your credit card limit, you should do what you can to eliminate as much of the balance as possible. You may not be able to avoid the impact of a high credit card balance without paying off any debt. Identification A high balance on your credit card damages your credit rating because it leads to a high credit utilization ratio, or percent of credit limit available. You should not use more than...

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What Goes Into a Credit Score?

When you apply for a mortgage, rental property, auto loan, credit card and even insurance, your credit score largely determines whether the company in question will do business with you. While multiple credit scoring formulas exist, the FICO score calculated by the Fair Isaac Corporation is the most widely used credit score in the U.S. The better you understand the factors that go into determining your credit rating, the more efficiently you can work toward building better credit. Account Payments Each payment you make to your lenders and...

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How to Get a Credit Builder Loan

A credit builder loan can be used by an individual who has a short credit history or no credit history at all. The purpose of the loan is not just to finance a purchase but to begin establishing the borrower's credit history. Many banks and lenders offer loan programs called "credit builder loans" while others do not specifically name the product. Any time you are taking a loan to build up your credit, you are taking a credit builder loan. ...

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How to Interpret the Poor & Good Chart for a FICO Credit Score

Fair Issac Corporation, commonly known as FICO, is a publicly traded company that manages and monitors the credit scores of North Americans. FICO scores are used by a variety of financial companies to judge the credit-worthiness of an individual. Due to their importance when applying for loans and mortgages, it is important to know how to interpret the rating chart on a FICO credit report to learn how financial institutions may view your credit risks....

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Will an Authorized User Help Your Credit Score?

Credit card companies that allow authorized user accounts permit current cardholders to add another individual to the account. The authorized user receives a credit card of his own and any purchases he makes are then charged to the primary cardholder's account. Adding an authorized user to your credit card can impact both the user's credit score and, in some cases, your own. How It Works Current cardholders do not add authorized users to...

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How to Dispute Negative Accounts in My Credit Report

Negative credit report accounts include things such as loans and credit cards with many late or missed payments, or accounts that went unpaid so long they were charged off by the lenders. Other harmful things include repossessed cars, foreclosed houses and legal judgments. These entries look bad when you apply for credit and lenders check your records. This type of negative mark usually stays on your credit reports for seven years, but disputing them sometimes gets them erased earlier, according to the the Divorcenet legal information site. Instructions...

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Ways to Restore Credit & FICO Score

Credit scores are calculated by the three major credit bureaus-- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion--using a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation. This score is intended to give lenders an estimate of how risky of an investment you are if they were to give you a loan. Credit scores take time to build so there is no overnight fix for a low score. However, there are a number of steps that you can take to start improving your score in the future. Improve Your Payment Record The single biggest component of your FICO score is your payment...

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What Does It Do to Your Credit if You Have a Boat Repossessed?

If you take out a loan and dont make payments as agreed, expect the bank to pursue the item you used as collateral for the loan. In the case of a boat loan, this means that the bank will send an individual to repossess your boat. The bank will then report the repossession to the credit bureaus. Thus, not only will you lose your watercraft, your damaged credit may make it difficult to qualify for another boat loan when your financial situation improves....

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How Do I Build a Credit Scorecard?

Your credit scorecard is a simple self-made record of your credit scores, taken from reports produced by credit reporting bureaus. To start building your credit scorecard you need to get your credit score regularly. Building your own credit scorecard is a good way to monitor movements and to see areas where you could raise your credit score. Your credit score is used by lenders to determine your suitability for lines of credit. The higher your score,...

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What Determines a Beacon Score?

Beacon is the trade name that the Equifax credit reporting agency uses for the FICO credit scores it provides. The other credit bureaus use the FICO scoring system as well, although TransUnion markets it under the trade name "Empirica." Beacon scores provide an estimate of the credit risk that borrowers present based on a mathematical model of the information on their credit histories. Prompt Payments A consumer's record of on-time bill payments makes up 35 percent of a Beacon score. Payments more than 30 days late seriously lower the score....

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How to Increase a Credit Score for Secured Bank Loans

Today, more than ever, a good credit score is a must if you want to get a secured bank loan. Banks are tightening up their standards and are less willing to loan money, even to people with good credit. To get the best interest rate and to increase your chances of being able to buy that house or car you've been looking at, you must ensure your credit score is as high as possible. Instructions Credit report 1 Contact Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and get your credit report. Review the information. Dispute information that is incorrect...

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How to Stop Checks to Your Credit Rating Without Your Permission

You have found some disquieting entries on your credit reports, and when you followed up with the credit reporting agencies, you learned that different companies had pulled your credit without your knowledge or permission. Each inquiry lowers your credit score. Aside from this effect, if your private credit information is widely spread, it makes it easier for someone to steal your identity. You do have legal recourse to prevent unwanted credit checks. Instructions 1 Educate yourself regarding applicable credit laws in your state. You should...

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Information on Credit Agencies

From an idea conceived in the mid-19th century by a Calvinist East Coast merchant with an aversion to credit rooted in biblical principles, credit agencies have grown to be so integral a part of life in the United States that where you're able to live -- or even work -- may hinge on the information a credit agency has gathered about you. Origin The credit agency concept is attributed to Lewis Tappan, a devoutly religious Philadelphia and...

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What Is the Best Way to Increase a FICO Score?

FICO is short for Fair Isaac Corp. All three credit bureaus, including Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, use the FICO scoring method for determining a credit score. A FICO score ranges between 300 and 850. A higher credit score indicates stronger creditworthiness, opening the door to lower interest rates and more financing opportunities. If you want to increase your FICO score, focus on improving the several different components that make up the...

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Who Reports to a Credit Bureau?

A credit bureau is an organization that tracks the credit histories of individuals. The three major credit reporting agencies are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. A credit report includes a person's identifying information, account history, public records and credit history inquiries when a person applies for credit accounts. Businesses use credit reports as a basis for lending money and extending credit. It's good to know who reports information...

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Chapter 7 Time Limit

Chapter 7 could be a way to get out of an unmanageable debt burden and potentially improve your credit score. Most of the time, bankruptcy destroys a credit score, but the national bureaus can only report a Chapter 7 for a certain amount of time. Since Chapter 7 lets borrowers off the hook for most debts, the reporting time limit for it is longer than for any other type of bankruptcy. Identification The national credit bureaus report a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for 10 years, according to Experian. A common misconception is that the bureaus report...

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