How to Calculate a Credit Score for a Loan

A number of factors go into determining a credit score. One of the most commonly used credit scoring systems is offered by Fair Issac Corp. The score that system produces is known as a FICO score. Other companies offer similar credit scoring models that are based on a person's or a business's credit history. Although calculating your own credit score is challenging, there are ways of finding what score you need to qualify for loans. Instructions...

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How to Develop a Credit History

If you are just starting out building your credit history, you may discover it is a challenging process. Lenders are hesitant to extend credit to individuals who do not already have a credit profile. This places you in the position of attempting to get credit without first having credit to show for it. To develop credit, you must build a credit history by proving to potential lenders that, although you have no previous credit history, you are a low risk borrower. This is usually achieved by offering collateral. Collateral is something your...

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How to Get a Paid Collection Item Off a Credit Report

Past-due accounts eventually turn into collection items. Collection information can be reported on your credit report for a period of seven years. Collection items can damage your credit by decreasing your credit score, making you more of a credit risk in the eyes of lenders. In certain situations you can have this derogatory information removed from your credit file; however, timing is important. Instructions 1 Negotiate with your creditor....

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Poor Credit & Jobs

Being a job seeker with poor credit is a catch-22. Many employers run credit checks on prospective hires as part of the hiring process. And, unfortunately, poor credit can sink your chances of landing a job. Critics state that such a practice is discriminatory because creditworthiness is not an indication of an applicant's job qualification. Some states propose limiting credit checks as a basis to hire and fire. Credit Checks and the Hiring Process...

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What Is Provided on My Credit Report?

Your lenders, landlords and even potential employers may pull your credit report as part of a background check when you apply for a loan, lease or job. Knowing what they are likely to see can help you know what to avoid to make your credit report look as pristine as possible. In addition, you can receive a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once per year. Identification Your credit report contains...

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How Long Do Records Stay on Credit Records?

Negative Element A credit score is lowered when a negative element on your record is reported to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion or Experian. This negative element can be any sort of financial liability tied to your Social Security number, such as a collections account for an unpaid debt, bankruptcy or a tax lien. Each credit bureau gives a different weight to these negative elements, which is why the same person can have different scores from each bureau. Deletion Negotiation A debtor may be able to negotiate a...

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How Much Will Your Credit Score Go Up After Paying Credit Cards Off?

Having a credit score higher than 700 opens up your ability to get loans and credit cards at favorable rates. One of the factors in determining your credit score is how much debt you carry. In general, the lower your debt, the higher your credit score will be. So if you can pay off your credit cards while keeping them open, you could see your credit score rise more than 100 points. Factors In a Credit Score Your FICO credit score can range from 300 to 850. This number comes from a total of five areas: Payment history (35 percent or up to...

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How to Repair Debt & Bad Credit

Eager to keep up with the neighbors, you overspent. Perhaps you are faced with immense medical bills or a layoff. Getting your act together starts today and has an impact on tomorrow. You and your spouse may wonder if trying to repair financial woes can really make a difference at this point; it can. Every beneficial step you take with your finances shows up on your credit report. Following a few simple tips can get your family in better financial...

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How Are Points Added to Your Credit Score?

Your credit score can be one of the most important numbers in your life if you want to buy something using a payment plan. Improving your credit score will give you access to loans at a lower interest rate, may lower your insurance rate and can increase your ability to borrow money. The three credit reporting agencies -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -- compile credit scores based on what is in a consumer's credit report, and their scores reflect the amount of risk to the creditor that the borrower will not pay back the loan. Remove and...

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Are Balance Transfers Bad for Your Credit?

If you have a significant balance on a credit card that carries a high interest rate, such as 16 percent or more, and you receive an offer in the mail for another card with a lower rate, you may not think twice before deciding to transfer your balance to the lower rate card in order to save money. However, if you are interested in improving a mediocre credit rating or in maintaining a stellar credit score, you should carefully consider the potential...

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How to Protect Your Credit by Restricting Access to Credit Bureaus

Whenever you apply for a credit card or loan, the potential lender checks your credit report. However, you may wish to prevent anyone from accessing your credit reports, especially if you are concerned about possible identity fraud. If you place a "security freeze" on your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports, virtually no company can immediately access your credit report. You set up a password with each credit bureau, and one of their representatives verifies that you authorized the transaction before releasing your credit file. Remember,...

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How Long Does It Take to Repair My Credit Score?

For Americans, debt practically has become a natural part of life. We have loans for school, mortgages for houses and numerous credit cards. If you hit a rough patch in life and can't pay back your loans on time, this lowers the score on your credit report. Even if the situation seems dire, you can be on the road to repairing your credit in a few months. Identification The history of credit reporting goes back hundreds of years, but the notion of a credit score is a fairly recent invention. Fair Isaac Corporation, which was founded by an...

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How to Get an Eviction Off a Credit Report

Apartment leases are legally binding agreements. Walking away from a lease or getting evicted from your apartment can damage your credit rating. In turn, it becomes harder to purchase a home, finance an automobile or obtain a credit card. There are ways to get an eviction remark off your credit report. Once creditors remove this remark from your report, your FICO score will improve and you'll qualify for better rates on future loans. Instructions...

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How to Freeze Credit History

Consumers who have been victims of identity theft often request a security freeze or lock on their credit file. A credit freeze prevents anyone from viewing your credit history. When you request a credit-reporting agency to freeze your credit file, the only way your credit report can be viewed is if you contact the credit-reporting agency, in writing, and authorize the lender to have a copy of your credit file. Instructions 1 Call the credit...

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How to Cancel Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring

Triple Advantage is a credit monitoring service offered by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. Experian runs ads enticing consumers to get a free copie of their three credit reports and their credit score. To get these items, they must sign up for a trial of the Triple Advantage credit monitoring service for a monthly fee. The only way to avoid the charge is to cancel within the trial period. You can cancel after the trial, but you will...

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How Does Retirement Affect Credit Score?

There are many factors that affect your credit score. Retirement isn't one of them. A credit score is a shorthand summary of your credit history. Your credit history includes all of your borrowing and repayment activity from the past seven years. It does not include your income. Simply retiring will not affect the score. However, a drop in income can make it more difficult to get credit, even with a good credit score. Credit Scores When you think about your credit score, you should be thinking about three numbers, not one. Each of the three...

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How to Access a Trilegiant Credit Report

Trilegiant offers a membership-based credit reporting service called PrivacyGuard. PrivacyGuard gives you access to up-to-date credit reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. These are the three major credit reporting agencies. Your credit report contains a variety of financial and personal information such as your credit score and a list of your credit cards, loans and bank accounts. Reviewing your credit report on a regular basis helps ensure...

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How Much Will Buying a Car Boost My Credit?

There's no one answer as to how buying a car will benefit -- or hurt -- your credit. Loans and credit purchases don't exist in a vacuum. The effect of any one transaction will depend on your credit history at the time. Generally, taking out an auto loan can cause a short-term credit-score drop but in many cases will eventually be an asset on your credit report. Initial Effect Shopping around for a car and a lender may lead to multiple companies...

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Is It Possible to Fix Bad Credit?

The consequences of bad credit can impact employment opportunities, insurance rates and loan approvals. And because credit scores improve gradually, some people feel that's too difficult or impossible to reverse their bad credit. This attitude can affect the effort put forth to fix bad credit. Bad credit isn't permanent, and several methods can help improve a low score. Credit Limits The majority of credit cards have a limit, and going over or nearing this limit can hurt your FICO score. MyFico.com suggests paying down debts and keeping...

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How to Check My Credit Score

Checking your credit score can be done for free in most cases, and may only cost a bit in others. If you do so for free, you have access to one report from each credit bureau once a year. Instructions 1 You can request a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. The site allows you to view and print your complete credit report free of charge, online. The site is sponsored by the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You can only do this one time per year, however. 2 Enroll into a credit report monitoring...

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How to Increase Your FICO by Over 100 Points

Your FICO score determines the interest rate, as well as the types of loans offered during the financing process. The higher the FICO score, the better the overall loan offers will be. Therefore, it is in your best interests as a borrower to have the highest FICO score possible. With a few simple tasks, you can raise your score more than 100 points. Instructions 1 Procure a copy of your credit report through a website like AnnualCreditReport.com....

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How to Build Credit History in Canada

Building a good credit history plays an important part in your financial freedom. A low credit score can make it difficult to obtain credit; all lenders in Canada use the services of credit reporting agencies. A low credit score doesn't always mean that your credit history is poor; it could be that the credit reference agencies have little knowledge about your finances. Perhaps you only have one credit card or maybe you don't use the cards you...

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Does Having a Checking Account Improve a Credit Score?

Checking Accounts Are Not Factors in Credit Scores A regular checking account will not improve or decrease a credit score. Credit scores are calculated based on credit payment history, amounts outstanding, credit history and types of credit. If a checking account includes overdraft protection or if the account has a credit card attached, timely payments will improve a credit score. Opening Checking Accounts Can Impact Credit Scores Opening a checking account can negatively impact a credit score if the bank makes a "hard pull" credit...

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Online Credit History Report

In 2011, getting a credit report requires only a computer and willingness to enter your information into an online form, but consumers had to pay for their report until the passage of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA). Online credit history reports are the quickest way to review your credit profile, but they do not provide the entire picture needed to see your credit as a lender views it. Getting Your Report Online...

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How Can I Get Something Moved From a Negative on a Credit Report to a Positive?

In life, people often try to turn negative things into a positive, but this rarely happens with credit reports. Once a negative hits your report it remains a negative for most of its life. Few, if any, negative items can improve the creditworthiness of a borrower. Identification You usually cannot turn a negative item to a positive; you can only dispute it and have the agencies remove it or wait for it to stop negatively affecting your credit history. Collection accounts, for example, do not improve your credit report even if you pay it,...

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What Does Settled Mean on a Credit Report?

It may be legal to settle your debt for less than what you owe, which is what "settled" means on a credit report, but it might mean trouble for you. Settling your debt may be better than filing for bankruptcy, but you should know all the ramifications of settling as well as how to avoid being ripped off. Settling Consequences When you settle your debt with your lender for less than what you owe, your lender reports this information to the...

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Does Delinquency on Rent Payment Affect Your Credit Score?

Delinquent payments can significantly impact your credit score if the creditor reports the delinquency. Many commercial lenders, such as banks and credit card issuers, automatically report delinquent payments to at least one credit bureau. Commercial rental agencies typically report a delinquency on your rent payment. Independent homeowners may not report the rent payment delinquency; if the issue is not reported, the late payment will not affect your credit score. Delinquency Definition In a standard credit agreement, payments are not...

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The Recession Has Ruined My Credit, What Can I Do?

From 2006 to 2009, 5.4 million more people entered the worst tier of borrowers -- called "sub-prime," according to Kathy Chu and Sandra Block of USA Today. Sub-prime borrowers either cannot acquire loans at all or they pay the highest rates the lender charges. While the sting of the "Great Recession" may last for years, you can rebuild your credit score within months. Cleaning House Review your budget and debt obligations. You must be able to meet your current debt obligations before moving onto more advanced credit repair tactics, such...

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How to Write a Letter to a Credit Reporting Agency

In some situations, we must contact one of the credit reporting agencies--Equifax, Experian or Transunion--by mail. Disputing the validity of an account is a common reason, as is requesting a copy of your credit report. Like any other important correspondence, a letter to one of the credit reporting agencies should be typed, rather than handwritten. Instructions 1 Type the letter in a common, easy to read font, such as Times New Roman or Arial. Avoid themed fonts; they are difficult to read. 2 Provide enough information to identify...

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How to Make Payments on a Hospital Bill to Avoid a Bad Credit Report

The only bills that affect your credit report are those that get reported to the credit bureaus. Hospitals and other medical providers handle billing in-house and generally do not report bills to credit bureaus. However, if you are delinquent on your payment, the hospital might send the bill to a collection agency. At this point, the collection agency reports it to the credit bureaus and it will lower your credit score. To make matters worse, even if you pay it then, the collection account continues hurting your score for seven years. Avoid this...

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Ways to Dispute a Credit Report

While your credit report is a useful tool for lenders to determine your credit worthiness, it is not infallible. Incorrect information does get recorded in your report, which is why it is important that your get your free annual copy of your credit report and review it for information that is incorrect and negatively affecting your credit score. Collect Information To correct an error you find on your credit report, you are going to have to show the credit reporting agency and the lender what the error is. They won't simply take your word...

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How to Get a Credit Privacy Number for Free

You have the option of locking down your credit report so that no one can access it without your express permission. The only exception to the credit freeze are companies with whom you already have a business relationship. When you initiate a credit freeze, you receive a credit PIN number that you can use to unlock the report. When a business wants to request your credit report, you give them the PIN number so they can unlock the report. In most cases you have to pay for a security freeze, but if you can prove that you are the victim of identity...

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How to Clear Your Bad Credit History

You can clear bad history from your credit report by writing letters to the credit bureaus. However, don't expect to completely wipe the slate clean. According to the Federal Trade Commission, only incorrect or outdated information can be cleared from your report. That means that most bad credit information will remain on your report for at least seven years under the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. But cleaning outdated or inaccurate information...

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How to Improve Your Credit Score With a Secured Loan

The effects of a poor credit rating stretch far beyond difficulty qualifying for new loans and lines of credit. Your ability to qualify for insurance, some forms of employment and housing all rest on your credit history. Even if you don't struggle with bad credit and simply want to give your credit score a boost, a secured loan can help you accomplish that goal. Because secured loans require collateral, they are less risky for lenders and easier for consumers to qualify for -- making a secured loan a clear benefit to those with imperfect credit...

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What Type of Credit Do You Need to Lease a Car?

A person's credit score -- a credit reporting bureau's measurement of his creditworthiness -- affects a person in a number of different areas of his life. In addition to affecting the interest rates that the person is able to receive on loans, a credit score will often also affect the terms that the person can receive on a leased car. With a higher credit score, the person can expect to pay less money. Leasing When a person leases a car, he is, in effect, being extended a form of credit in the form of the use of the car. Car leasing companies...

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What Is a High Credit Score?

A credit score, also known as a FICO Score, is a rating of your personal creditworthiness based on a system developed by Fair Isaac. A high score range is 720 to 850. There are five factors involved in achieving a high credit score. Payment History Fair Isaac's credit scoring model dedicates 35 percent of your score to payment history. Including on-time payments, late payments and slow payments (payment received after the due date but before...

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What Do Negative Accounts Mean on a Credit Report?

No matter how many positive accounts a borrower's credit file contains, lenders probably will focus on any potentially negative accounts. A negative account on a credit report means the borrower mishandled the account, such as refusing to pay back a debt. After a period of time, these accounts will disappear or become positive again. Identification Negative accounts are those that include a current or previous activity that suggests you are a credit risk. This may include public records, which reflect serious financial failings, such as...

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What Can I Do to Improve My Credit After Paying All of the Collections?

Paying off past-due collection accounts is a step in the right direction when trying to improve your credit rating and your financial situation. Having accounts in collections can damage your credit score. Once the accounts are paid off, you can take several steps to increase your credit scores again. Make Regular Payments One of the most effective ways for increasing your credit score is to make regular, on-time payments. Do this on all of your accounts, including utility bills, mortgages, car loans and credit cards. According to My FICO,...

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How to Increase Your FICO Score

Understanding you FICO score is the first step in improving it. Let's say you have a FICO score under 620. This means you will not be offered the best interest rates when applying for a loan and will pay significantly higher rates. People with a FICO score of 760 and above get the best interest rates, which mean they pay less. Your FICO score is based on a formula created by Fair, Isaac & Co, Inc. This formula includes proportion of balance to high credit on revolving accounts, types of credit used, insufficient length of credit history, number...

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How Can My Credit Scores Go Down?

Credit scores can fluctuate -- having a high score now doesn't mean you'll always have one. Different things affect scoring and making unwise credit decisions can cause a decrease in your score. A low credit score can stop credit applications or result in a higher interest rate on loans. For this reason, it's smart to understand what can cause your score to go down. Timeliness Credit scoring takes into account how well you pay your creditors. Calculations factor in your number of timely payments, late payments and other factors such as...

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