How Does a Credit Score Relate to Fraud Protection?

Credit fraud is rampant as thieves steal account numbers and identities by "skimming" credit cards at businesses, through malicious software installed on computers, bogus email messages and website or various other means. This endangers your credit score because fraudulent activity can hurt it badly unless you take steps to protect yourself. Definition Fraud protection is a service in which a credit bureau or private company monitors your...

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How to Dispute Something On Your Equifax Credit Report

Equifax is one of the big three credit reporting companies. They keep track of everyone's credit ratings and history. It is very common for Equifax to have incorrect information on your credit report. Here is how to dispute something on your Equifax credit report so it does not harm your credit rating. Instructions 1 Get a copy of your Equifax credit report. Never pay for this. It is your legal right to obtain a copy of your Equifax credit...

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How to Repair a Credit Report Fast

Your credit report is not only viewed by potential lenders but by employers and insurance companies. Having bad credit can result in higher interest rates, higher insurance premiums, and may result in an employer rescinding a job offer. Credit repair, in general, is not a fast process, but there is one area of the credit report that -- if you can fix it -- you can see an almost immediate rise in your credit score. Instructions 1 Look at your...

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Do Employment Credit Checks Go on Your Credit Report?

You should be concerned with credit checks, because too many can seriously damage your credit, but employment credit checks are benign. However, the credit bureaus still keep track of employment screening and authorizing employment credit checks can potentially damage your credit if it leads to identity theft. Identification Employment credit checks go on your credit report under the "soft check" section. Soft credit checks do affect your credit like a hard check -- a request for credit. The bureaus track soft inquiries for your own information...

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Does Piggybacking Help Your Credit Score?

A common strategy among consumers with bad credit is to use someone with good credit to get loans, also called piggybacking or co-signing. This can work -- somewhat. The credit bureaus have a high success rate of determining whether someone piggybacks on another person's credit for legitimate reasons or to circumvent the traditional credit scoring system. Thus, you may still have to build credit using individual accounts. Identification Piggybacking can boost your credit score because co-signing on a loan also means you share the payment...

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How to Know If Credit Report Sites Are Safe

Protecting your credit, and your financial future, is more important now than ever. The recession, paired with record-high unemployment, means that identity theft is increasing in popularity. One way to keep an eye on your credit is to get your credit reports from the three main credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. However, with all the advertising and misinformation out there, it's hard to know which credit report sites are legitimate and which are only looking to take advantage of your situation. Luckily, it's not as...

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Do You Absolutely Need Credit to Get Car Insurance?

You might not need good credit or a credit history at all to get car insurance, but here is the sobering part -- expect to pay far more than a person with good credit. Boosting your credit score pays off as long as you can put your car shopping on hold for a few months. If you apply for car insurance and the company denies you because of credit problems, you might never know credit issues were the cause. Identification You generally do not need a credit history to acquire some amount of car insurance. However, over 90 percent of car insurance...

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How to Pull Other People's Credit Reports

A credit report documents a person's history of financial payments and debt management. The information in a credit report is used to determine your credit score. Lenders and landlords commonly use credit reports to determine whether a person should be issued a loan or accepted as a tenant. Prospective employers are increasingly examining credit reports before hiring new employees, especially in jobs involving handling large amount of cash or secretive information. You can pull another person's credit report only if you have his or her permission....

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Why Are There 3 Credit Reporting Agencies?

If you have good credit, chances are you never think twice about your credit score or the companies responsible for contributing to that score. But while many people believe only three credit reporting bureaus exist in the United States---Equifax, Experian and Transunion---the truth is that thousands of them are out there collecting your financial information. History Credit reporting bureaus began when small groups of merchants began exchanging financial information about their customers. These groups grew and consolidated over the years...

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What Does a Credit Score Represent?

A credit score is a number assigned to your credit report to reflect your likelihood to default on a loan or credit account or pay-off the same. A credit score takes all of the data from your credit report, such as account information, inquiries and public records, and assesses it to arrive at your number. Account Information Your credit score takes into consideration a variety of information related to your accounts. According to the Consumer Federation of America, your payment history on credit accounts constitutes up to 35 percent of...

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How to Establish Credit With a School Loan

Your credit history is one of the main factors lenders consider when evaluating your application for a credit card or loan. Whenever you borrow and repay money, the lender reports your payment information and loan details to the credit bureaus. The credit scoring formulas consider the whole of your credit history, including how long you have been managing credit, what types of credit you have, whether you have applied for credit recently, how much you owe and how consistent you are with payments. Borrowing and repaying a student loan can help build...

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Does Applying for Credit Cards Lower Your Credit Rating?

Credit scores are used by lenders to determine if you are a trustworthy borrower. The score is based on your payment history, the amount of money you owe, the length of your credit history, the types of credit that you use and your applications for new credit. Applying for credit cards will usually show up as an application for new credit on your credit score, which can negatively impact your credit rating. New Credit Applications Score 10% of your credit score is based on your applications for new credit. If you apply for a number of new...

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National Credit Reporting Services

Most lenders use credit reporting services, called credit reporting bureaus, to check a borrower's credit scores. The United States has three major reporting agencies and a plethora of smaller, more specialized services. The big three are TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, the most common bureaus used by lenders for consumer credit transactions. TransUnion TransUnion was founded in 1968, although it was not a credit associated business until the following year, when it acquired the Credit Bureau of Cook County. This credit bureau had 3.6...

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How to Get the Best Possible Credit Rating

Although having a good credit rating always has been important, it has become even more vital as lenders tighten credit and raise lending standards. Having a good credit rating means you will be approved more easily for things like credit cards, auto loans and a mortgage. That can save you money in the long run, because lenders will give you lower interest rates on your loans. Therefore, you should do everything you can to get the best possible credit...

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Will Forbearance Status Affect My Credit Score?

Forbearance -- whether on a mortgage, student loan or other financial obligation -- provides temporary financial relief for those who are unable to make payments on their loans due to unforeseen circumstances. Under forbearance, your lender agrees to halt collection of payment for a specified amount of time. This can be anywhere from a few months to several months or even a year in the case of student loans. During this time, you are not obligated to make payments, and your lender will not make collection attempts. While forbearance is often used...

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Do Employers Check Your Credit?

Even if you have a stellar resume, relevant experience and good interviewing skills, you might not get the job if you've got bad credit. MSN reports that a 2006 poll -- the latest data available as of 2011 -- showed that 43 percent of companies check the credit history of some or all potential employees. Why Check Employers view a credit check as a way to vet employees. A good credit history shows that you are responsible with your money, which the employer assumes will translate into being responsible with your job. Additionally, an employer...

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How to Improve Your Credit After Divorce

If you suffered a nasty divorce and your credit rating has taken a big hit, you are hardly alone. Though you may not see a way out, you can indeed take some actions that will quickly get you on the road to recovery. In time, you will restore your credit and your good name. Instructions 1 Obtain copies of your credit reports from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, the three major agencies that creditors use. Go through these reports, highlighting...

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How Does an Eviction Affect a Credit Score?

The Eviction While an eviction can make your financial situation that much harder, it will not go on your credit report or affect your credit score. However, it will go on a publicly accessible search database and can secondarily affect your credit. The Eviction Database After you're evicted, your information will most likely be passed on to a public database. This public database is searchable by any future landlord. Even if your credit...

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Information to Increase Your Credit Score

If you are getting ready to apply for a new loan or credit card in the coming months, consider whether there is anything you can do to increase your credit score. Having a good credit score can secure a lower interest rate and save you thousands of dollars over the life of a loan. Timing About 35 percent of your credit score is based on making timely payments to all of your credit accounts. Set up automatic payments from your bank account...

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How to Instantly Improve Credit Scores

Improving your credit score generally requires consistent and ongoing work over a span of a few months. There is, however, one method that can create an immediate increase in your score. A good credit score is important in many facets of your life. Your credit score can affect your insurance premiums, employment, loan interest rates and even determine whether you qualify for financing. To increase your credit score in a matter of even hours, you...

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How Do I File on Someone's Credit Report?

A credit report is designed to show a potential borrower's creditworthiness--that is, the likelihood that he will be able to pay the loan back on time. Many small and personal lenders assume that they do not have the same power as large companies to report debts and delinquencies on a borrower's credit report. However, any business owner can file such reports. After the initial setup, reporting credit data is a fast and simple task. Instructions...

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Does Paying Off a Collection Negatively Affect Your Credit Score?

When you are faced with debt collectors calling you, paying off your accounts may be at the top of your priority list. In this situation, besides just getting rid of the debt, you also have to consider how it can impact your credit score. When paying off your accounts, it should not negatively affect your credit score unless you close them after paying the balances. Paying Off Old Items When a debt gets to a certain age, it passes a statute of limitations. This statute of limitations is different for every state and once the time limit...

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How to Put a Credit Alert

The Federal Trade Commission says you can place fraud alerts on your credit reports to protect your identity. The alerts will make it difficult for crooks to use your name and personal information to open fraudulent credit accounts. The alerts can remain in place for up to seven years, and during that time federal law requires potential creditors to make reasonable efforts to verify your identity or even meet with you before issuing credit in your...

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What Is the Meaning of Your Credit Score?

Credit reports are detailed dossiers of your credit accounts and financial transactions, compiled by three reporting agencies called Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Many lenders review your reports, but some prefer to use your credit score, which compacts all your report data into a simple number. Your score changes regularly, based on the information in your reports, so it is always up to date, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Definition A credit score is a three-digit number calculated by original scoring...

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How to Add Years of Positive Payment History to a Credit Score

A credit score is a rating credit agencies place on the level of risk involved with lending to an individual. Higher credit scores indicate a lower level of risk, whereas low credit scores indicate high risk. Several factors go into determining your credit score. The number of credit lines you have, outstanding debt, banking information, judgment and lien filings and payment history all have a significant impact. Adding positive payment history to...

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Can Banks Report Credit for Participating in the MHA Program?

Creditors will report a Making Home Affordable, MHA, loan which might seem like a bad item, but it usually helps borrowers keep their home and avoid more serious incidents. When the MHA program first started, the normal credit reporting codes hurt credit scores of participants. As long as you abide by the rules of your MHA program, your credit score will be fine in 2011. Identification Banks will report a mortgage in a MHA modification program. In 2011, a MHA account appears as ""modified under federal government plan" on a credit report,...

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How to Improve Credit Using the Piggyback Method

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act helped to give homemakers credit scores by adding them as an authorized user on their husbands' accounts. Being added as an authorized user of an account--known as "piggybacking"--can help you increase your credit score through association with someone who has good credit, even if you never use the account. Unfortunately, credit repair companies began using piggybacking to boost the scores of strangers' accounts....

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Can a Creditor Only Report Negative Information on My Credit Report?

Taking a closer look at your credit score is associated with an increase in creditworthiness, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Credit reports show you everything about your financial history, such as when you missed payments or how many loans you have open. Although negative information can have a major impact on a credit score, it is not the only thing reflected on it. Identification Technically, a creditor could only report negative information about an account, because the credit rating agencies require input from lenders...

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Effects of Unemployment on a Credit Score

There are no direct effects of unemployment on your credit score. However, the loss of income might affect your credit score. For example, if you have more bills than you have money while you are unemployed, this can certainly cause you to get behind in your payments, which will in turn affect your credit score. Late Payments When you are unemployed, you may be receiving unemployment benefits, which might not be enough to cover your bills. You may end up making late payments, which can affect your credit score negatively. Fees Should...

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How to Delete Things From Your Credit Report

Credit scores have become increasingly important in just about every area of a consumer's life. Credit scores, and the reports used to generate the numbers, are used for auto loans, home mortgages, health insurance premiums and even potential employment evaluations. A negative item on your report can make a huge difference in your life. You can take a number of steps to delete disputed items from your report. Get Your Reports Get your credit reports from all three of the credit bureaus so you can delete negative items off all your records....

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Can Being Added to Someone Else's Credit Card Improve My Credit?

Your parents have good credit. You, not so much. You may wonder if you could improve your credit by having one or both of your parents add you to their credit cards. Under the most recent credit scoring models, gaining access to someone else's credit card account may not boost your credit score much, if at all, even if the other person maintains excellent credit. Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and Regulation B Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and Regulation B of the Federal Reserve Board, lenders and credit granters...

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How Do Collections Affect a Credit Score?

Your credit score is affected by many things, including the way you handle your finances, obtain and use credit and make payments on your accounts. You may have an account go into collections if you skip several payments. This pulls your credit score down and leaves you open to other negative consequences. Definition Your credit score is a three-digit number derived from a compilation of financial information. Companies like FICO, the top...

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Could My Ex-Wife Use My Credit?

Your ex-wife cannot legally apply for credit under your name, but since you probably opened a few accounts with her, she might damage your credit or increase your financial obligations. Even if you have nothing to do with some charges, you could owe money due to community property laws. Thus, you may need a lawyer to sort out which expenses you and your ex jointly owe. Identification Your ex-wife cannot apply for credit under your name; using another person's information on a credit application is illegal and called file segregation. However,...

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How to Interpret Credit Score

Credit scores are often used by loan companies, banks, and other credit card companies to determine if you qualify for a loan, credit card or mortgage. They can also be used as a guideline for yourself to determine how carefully you should spend in the future. To understand credit scores, you'll need to understand what most commonly determines a credit score, and what a good one is. Instructions 1 Understand where the credit score comes from. Generally, credit scores are calculated by looking at your payment history, current debt, credit...

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