How to Read Aging History on Credit Reports

Each person is entitled to an annual free report on his credit from each of the three main credit-reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Information about identifying information, credit history, public records and credit inquiries is included in the report of each agency. Although each of the three covers the same basic areas, their report formats differ. The information contained in the reports also varies based upon whether the creditor reports information to a particular agency. An important area to review is the aging history...

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Does an Apartment Guarantor Affect Credit?

Qualifying for an apartment on your own can be difficult, especially if you have a limited credit history or have recently started a new job. A guarantor, or cosigner, can help you qualify for the apartment of your dreams. While having a guarantor does not impact your credit, it you fail to uphold your lease agreement, both you and your cosigner's credit may suffer. Guarantor Guarantors are usually parents or other relatives but may be any...

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How to Increase My Credit Score With a Merchant Line of Credit

A merchant line of credit is an additional credit line used for business or corporate financial purposes. Because a merchant line of credit acts like a regular line of credit, a merchant line of credit and business credit card have the potential to affect both your personal credit score and your business's credit score (i.e., PayDex, the numerical credit score assigned to businesses by credit bureaus). Instructions 1 Understand how a merchant line of credit interacts with your personal credit score. A merchant line of credit will not directly...

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Does Cashing a Bad Check Affect Your Credit Score?

It may not be as embarrassing as actually writing a bad check, but cashing a bad check may cause headaches, especially when the original check writer fails to make good on the draft. In most states, the person who cashes the check is responsible for it, and depending on the severity of the situation, the person who cashed a bad check could end up with a debt judgment that appears on his credit record. Responsible Parties Although the laws...

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How to Dispute Late Charges Reported to Credit Bureaus

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows you to dispute incorrect entries on your credit report. Military Money says the credit bureaus make mistakes frequently, as do the companies that report your financial information. This could include incorrectly reported late charges, which will bring your credit score down. You can dispute these charges and force the credit bureaus to remove them if they are truly in error. Instructions 1 Determine which credit bureaus are listing the last payments. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each compile...

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Does Getting a New Credit Card Raise Your Credit?

Building credit is essential if you are interested in obtaining financing and attractive interest rates in the future. To build up a credit profile, many people open credit card accounts. While opening a card account may not directly affect your score by a certain number of points, it can help increase your score indirectly. Credit Utilization Ratio One way that opening a credit card account could potentially affect your credit score is by altering your credit utilization ratio. This ratio is a measure that looks at how much open credit...

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How Lines of Credit Affect Your Credit Score

Maintaining a high credit score requires finding the right balance between credit and debt. Having lines of credit, such as credit cards, is a way to establish credit. Various factors determine a credit score. Raising a credit score involves more than just making timely payments. Depending on how it is managed, the line of credit has a positive or negative affect on a credit score. Payment History Most creditors report customer information to credit bureaus on a monthly basis. Payment history impacts a credit score the most, accounting...

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Quick Ways to Get a Credit Score to 700

A good credit score can make the difference in being approved for a loan. Even if you have had circumstances that have caused your credit score to decrease, there are steps that you can follow to raise it to 700. Secured Loan If you need a loan, you could applying for a secured loan at your bank and by making payments on time, you will raise your credit score. Open a savings account and deposit a secured amount into the account, maybe $500 to $600. After you have opened the savings account, apply for the secured loan. Link the loan to the...

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How to Delete Inquiries in a Credit Report Dispute Letter

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires creditors to report complete and accurate information to the three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. The Federal Trade Commission requires the three credit bureaus to provide a consumer with a free copy of his credit report each year. Any consumer who finds inaccurate information has the legal right to dispute this, and if the creditor cannot verify the information or does not correct it, the...

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Ways to Rebuild a FICO Score

FICO scores are the most commonly used credit score by banks and other lenders in determining how creditworthy a borrower is. The higher the score, the less likely the borrower is to default on a loan, which makes the borrower a greater credit risk. Banks are more likely to accept applications for loans from people with higher scores and offer them lower interest rates. If you have a low score, it will take time but you can rebuild your FICO score. Start Making Payments on Time Your payment history accounts for the largest portion of your...

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How to Remove Bad Credit After 7 Years

Negative credit accounts, such as charge-off accounts or collections, have a limited amount of time that they can appear on your credit report. After seven years, most negative accounts are automatically deleted from your credit report, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Certain types of accounts take longer to drop off of your report, such as bankruptcies or judgments, which take 10 years. If the old negative accounts do not fall off of...

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How Frequently are Credit Scores Updated?

Most people have heard of a credit score. They know there is a "magic number" that can affect their ability to get a loan or mortgage and the terms they will be offered if they are approved. However, they may not know how often this number is updated. Credit scores are fluid and change frequently because they are based on your financial information. That changes rapidly as you make or skip payment, open new accounts and do other activities. You can...

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How to Put Rental History on a Credit Report

A potential tenant's credit report is an important tool in determining how much risk you are taking in renting to them. Many property owners require a clean credit report for all of their tenants. If you own a property that you rent out, adding rental history to a tenant's credit report can be an incentive for them to rent from you or a deterrent from making late payments. Instructions 1 Keep detailed records of your contracts and transactions with your tenant. This includes the rental lease, any lease addendums and payment receipts. You...

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Does Breaking a Cell Phone Contract Affect Your Credit Score?

Breaking a cell phone contract only affects your credit score if the carrier files a report with any of the three credit reporting agencies. TransUnion, Equifax and Experian compile consumer information given to them by creditors and consumers, as well as information found in public records. Your credit score is a mathematical calculation of the negative and positive information contained in the credit report. Cell Phone Carriers Not every cell phone carrier reports monthly account payments to the credit bureaus. If your cell phone carrier...

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What Is an Alternative to a Credit Report?

A credit report details the credit actions of an individual in the past, so that current lenders can get a good idea of the potential borrower's risk and trustworthiness. Credit reports do not record every credit account ever opened by the borrower -- there is typically a cutoff date so the report only lists credit extending back seven years. But within this limit the report provides detailed information that helps lenders make decision about how to offer credit and what interest rates to charge. Some borrowers with less-than-healthy credit are...

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Why Does a Teen Need to Start a Credit Score?

One key component of a person's financial life is his credit score, a three-digit number ranging from 300 to 850 that consumer lenders use to approve or deny applications for loans or credit cards. Teenagers and young people generally do not consider finances, preferring to focus on school, social activities and other aspects of life. Nevertheless, establishing a good credit score as a teen carries many advantages. Student Loans Many students rely on loans to pay for the costs of attending college or university. Although college students...

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How to Request a Credit Report by Mail

A credit report is the key to understanding and improving your credit rating. It lists addresses of residences, car loans, mortgages, credit cards, late payments and bills not paid off. Each of these affects an individual's ability to successfully apply for loans, credit cards and even apartments. These reports offer a roadmap to improving credit scores. Federal law requires each of the three credit rating companies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion,...

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What Can Cause Someone's Credit Report to Be Blocked or Frozen?

A credit freeze, also known as a credit block or security freeze, happens when someone tells a credit reporting agency to stop releasing information about his credit report. Only consumers can order a credit freeze, and only on their own credit reports. Credit freeze laws differ between states, so talk to an attorney in your area if you need advice about blocking your credit information. Credit Reports There are three companies that every consumer should know about: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These companies collect information and...

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Is Credit Affected by Repossessed Vehicles?

Vehicle repossessions cause problems by taking away a person's transportation, which may be needed to get to school, a workplace or other important destinations. There is also a major, long-lasting impact on the person's credit records. Lenders view repossessions as negative and weigh them with other factors in credit decisions. Definition A vehicle repossession is an action in which a car loan company claims the vehicle because the debtor defaulted on the payment contract. Carreon and Associates, a law firm focusing on credit issues, explains...

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Can a Collection Agency Legally Delete Paid Accounts?

Although the major credit reporting bureaus don't like to widely publicize this fact, a collection agency can legally delete a paid account, called a "pay for deletion." However, a pay for deletion probably does not help your credit much. In some cases, attempting a pay for deletion is worse than just paying the debt. Identification A collection agency can delete an account. The debt collector can write the credit bureaus and state that the account was listed in error. Most collection agencies usually only agree to this arrangement when...

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Building a Credit Score After Bankruptcy

A bankruptcy is a federal court proceeding where the assets of a debtor are liquidated and the debtor is relieved of further liability. It is listed on your credit report and is perceived as a negative to prospective lenders. According to Fair Isaac, inventors of the FICO credit-scoring model, FICO scores range from 300 up to 850. A bankruptcy can lower your score by as much as 365 points. Repairing your score will require the reestablishment of...

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What Makes Up Your Insurance Score?

When shopping for insurance, the rates that insurance companies charge you can be drastically impacted by your credit history. Your insurance score is a numerical representation of your credit history that is calculated by insurance companies. Your score comprises several important pieces of information in regards to your credit history. What is an Insurance Score? Your insurance score is very similar to your credit score that is calculated by credit bureaus. While this score is similar, it is not the same score that the credit bureaus...

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How to Erase Old Information in Your Credit Reports

If you have information on your credit report that is more than seven years old and 10 in the case of bankruptcies, you can request the credit bureaus remove the information. Before you begin the process of removing old information from your credit report, first consider whether it's necessary. Of course, you want to remove any old negative information, but usually, it's a good idea to keep old positive information on your reports. The reason why is because even though the information is older, lenders still look at these accounts as a measure...

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Is There a No-Obligation Free Credit Score?

You are entitled to a free credit report each year from all three major credit bureaus, but unless you pay for it, you are still in dark about your risk rating on the FICO scale -- the most popular credit score in the United States. While the credit bureaus and the Fair Isaac Corporation sometimes offer free credit scores, they are often conditional. In 2011, you may be able to get a risk-free credit score, but there is no guarantee.) Identification The credit bureaus and Fair Isaac sometimes offer a free credit score when you try out one...

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How Is the FICO Score Calculated?

Components There are five components that determine the FICO score. The most important is a consumer's record of on-time bill payment, which counts for 35 percent. A payment that is more than 30 days late is especially damaging and may lower a FICO score by up to 100 points. The total amount of debt compared to income is next, accounting for 30 percent of the score, and the length of a person's credit history comes next at 15 percent. The recent past is weighted heavily, so a good credit record for the past 2 years will usually give you a...

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What Is the Best Way to Repair a Credit Report?

Credit reports are important to nearly everyone, regardless of financial situation. Obtaining auto loans, financing a home or paying for a college education can require a positive credit report. Many other items, such as auto insurance rates, utility deposits and job searches, can be affected by a negative credit report, resulting in higher payments or lost employment opportunities. Consumers have the ability to correct or repair negative information...

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Where Can I Get a Free Credit Report & Not Have to Sign Anything?

Many websites advertise free credit reports. Unfortunately, most of these free credit reports have a catch that renders then not "free" at all. All consumers, however, are entitled to one free credit report each year under the Fair Credit Reporting Act without having to sign anything or risk falling victim to an Internet scam. Facts By visiting AnnualCreditReport.com, you can access a free copy of your credit report from Experian, Equifax...

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FICO Score History

FICO has served as the most popular and trusted credit scoring model since the middle of the 20th century. The name FICO is derived from the developer of the scoring model, Fair Isaac & Company, Inc. The basic FICO scoring system is the basis for credit reporting models used by the three standard credit reporting bureaus in the United States. The Beginning The FICO storing model was developed during the 1950s. According to the Daily Interest...

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A Credit Check When Opening a Bank Account

Banking history almost never affects credit history because there is a separate reporting system for that, but opening an account could require a credit check. Credit checks are usually an insignificant item on a report, but several small ones can do terrible damage and even prevent approval for a loan. Thus, consumers should find out about credit check policies of a bank before opening an account. Identification Financial institutions often use credit checks to ascertain the creditworthiness of anyone applying for an account, because checking...

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About Reporting Late Payments to Credit Bureaus

Maintaining a good credit score is an important aspect of your financial well-being. Credit scores will determine your ability to get loans and insurance policies at favorable rates, and can even impact your chances of landing a new job. Late payments to your creditors are reported to the credit agencies and may have a significant impact on your credit scores. When Are Late Payments Reported? Most late payments will not be reported to any of the three major credit reporting agencies until the payment is more than 30 days past due. The credit...

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When Do Derogatory Items Fall Off an Experian Credit Report?

Any individual's credit report is assembled by financial services companies called credit reporting agencies. These reports detail the loans a person has taken out and are used to form their credit score. Although credit reporting agencies, including Experian, are private companies, the information they place on these reports is regulated by federal law. Most negative items must be taken off after seven years. Credit Reports According to federal law, the information that credit reporting companies include in a credit report must be accurate....

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Help Fixing My Own Credit

Your credit score affects your ability to qualify for loans, insurance, apartment leases and in some cases, employment. Factors such as your payment history, how long you've had credit and your credit balances contribute to your credit rating. Although you can't legally remove accurate negative information from your credit report, you can take other steps to improve your credit rating. Free Credit Report Before you can improve your credit...

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Does Getting Prequalified at Many Places Hurt Your Credit?

Receiving dozens of preapproved or prequalified offers may not affect your credit score at all. But you may end up hurting your score in the future if you take a company up on its offer. Prequalified offers may increase your risk of identity theft, which can annihilate your credit score. Also, preapproved and prequalified offers do not necessarily mean you qualify for an account. Preapproved Credit Cards Preapproved credit cards do not hurt your credit score because the company offering the line of credit did not receive your consent to...

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Does Getting Denied for Auto Financing Affect Your Credit?

Having your application for credit denied, whether its for a new credit card or for a large purchase such as a car or home, is frustrating and disheartening. While not having the funds you need can be a challenge, you may also worry about the denials effect on your overall credit. Fortunately, if your auto loan application is denied, it has a limited impact on your credit report and score. Credit Inquiries When you apply any type of new credit, including auto financing, and the lender declines to extend financing, only the fact that you...

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How to Improve My Credit From Medium Risk to Medium to Low Risk

Your credit rating is based upon your credit score. The higher your credit score, the better your rating and the lower your risk. Lenders looking at a loan application are concerned with your past credit history, especially your track record with regard to making payments on time. Cleaning up your credit report and practicing good money management are two ways to improve your credit from medium risk to medium to low risk. Instructions 1 Check your credit report. Using a site such as AnnualCreditReport.com will allow you to see your report...

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How to Build Credit Faster

There are ways to build credit from scratch. Since some credit card companies and lenders are leery to extend credit to first-timers, building a credit score fast requires knowing where to look. Whether you're a teenager starting out or you're recovering from a bankruptcy, it's possible to obtain a good rating in a short amount of time. Instructions 1 Check your credit report. Your personal credit report reveals your past and present history....

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How Does Credit Collection Ruin a Credit Rating?

If you leave a credit card debt unpaid, the credit card company will send the account first to its in-house collection department and then to a third-party collection agency. Collection accounts appear on your credit report and, depending on the other information contained within your credit records, can ruin your good credit history. Credit Reporting In-house collection departments are owned by the credit card company. When a credit card company transfers your unpaid balance to an in-house collection department, it doesn't appear on your...

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Tips on Removing Items From Your Credit Report

Your reports from the TransUnion, Equifax and Experian credit bureaus hold significant power because they influence decisions by banks and other lenders, insurers and even employers. You have some power over your reports because the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) spells out circumstances under which you can get items removed from them, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Improve your credit score by erasing every negative entry possible. Review Reports Carefully The FCRA empowers you to challenge any mistake on your credit...

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