Are Free Credit Reports Safe?

Any credit bureau or financial company can advertise free credit reports, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns that such offers usually have strings attached. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides an official, safe way to get no-cost credit reports, but it involves using a specific website. Otherwise consumers should be cautious about purchase requirements attached to free offers. Definition Credit reports are files containing financial information about consumers, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco explains. The...

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Do You Have to Have Excellent Credit to Refinance?

Paying off a loan with another loan, called refinancing, can save you money on finance charges and lower your monthly bills. Although excellent credit maximizes the benefits of refinancing, refinancing can benefit you even if you have less than stellar credit. However, you always benefit from improving your credit before refinancing. Identification You do not have to have excellent credit to refinance. A lender allows you to apply with any credit score and then makes a decision based on your application as a whole. Because a refinancing...

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How Much Can a Credit Score Rise if I Pay an Old Debt?

Strangely, sometimes the best decision for your credit score is to not to pay off an old debt, even if morally right. You may not even have a legal obligation to pay it once it reaches a certain age. Any potential points you can get from paying an old debt is probably less important than the fact that you reaffirmed your responsibility to pay it. Considerations It takes years of good payment history and keeping debt low to build a good score,...

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Does Checking Your Credit Hurt It?

Checking your credit generates a record that appears on your credit report. The record appears at the bottom of the credit report and is visible to anyone who pulls the report. Checking your own credit score is referred to as a soft inquiry. Pre-approval marketing campaigns also make soft inquires to your record to determine eligibility. Despite generating a credit report inquiry, it is important for consumers to check their credit reports for accuracy. Effect on Credit Score The credit score remains unchanged during a soft inquiry....

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How to Remove Old Credit From Credit Report

Information stays on your credit reports from 7 to 10 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The period is the same whether the information is good or bad. It should drop off automatically after that, but sometimes it remains. You will want to remove it if it is negative because it will bring down your credit score as long as it stays on the reports. Instructions 1 Request copies of your credit reports from all three credit bureaus. Experian, Transunion and Equifax are independent bureaus, so each may contain different...

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The Most Important Credit Rating Factors

Whenever you apply for a loan or credit card, the lender checks your credit score to determine whether to approve your application and what interest rate to charge. Your credit rating considers many different components of your credit history, but they are broken down into a few major categories. Focus on the most important factors when you are trying to boost your credit score. Payment History Keeping all of your accounts in a positive status of "paid as agreed" is the single most important thing you can do to keep your credit score high....

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How to Check Your Credit in Canada

Knowing your credit rating is essential to your financial well-being, for applying for loans, for mortgages and more. A credit rating is an indicator of how well you pay off existing bills and loans, according to CIBC.com. Canadians have the right to access their credit reports for free by mail or in person, or for a fee over the phone or Internet from Canada's two main credit bureaus, TransUnion and Equifax. Instructions 1 Visit the home...

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Does the Credit Score Affect Rate?

When you're considering taking out a loan or applying for a new credit card, keep in mind that whatever you purchase will cost you the amount of the item plus the interest rate on anything you don't immediately pay off. Depending on what you buy, the difference may be thousands of dollars. To get the lowest interest rates, you must get your credit score into tip-top shape. Credit Score Think of your credit score as a snapshot of your financial history. According to Edmunds, your payment history makes up 35 percent of your credit score,...

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Increase FICO With Tradelines

According to the MyFico website, your FICO credit score is a three-digit number that ranges from 300 to 850 and is based on the information contained in your credit report. A tradeline is any credit account that appears on your credit report, and to have a good credit score, you must have positive tradelines. It's important to understand how to add tradelines to your credit report to increase your FICO score. Identification Your FICO score has five components, according to MyFico: 35 percent is based on your payment history (whether you...

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Credit Tier Rating Explained

There are six main tiers in your FICO credit score. The Fair Isaac Corporation is the major producer of credit scores, according to Bankrate.com, and a person's FICO score is what most lenders use when making the final decision on a loan. A credit score tier is a credit score range. Different tiers affect the probability of getting a loan or credit card and the interest rate that comes with the loan or credit card. Tier One Tier one credit...

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Credit Bureau Reporting Guidelines

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which was amended on July 21, 2010, set forth a standard that credit bureaus and banks had to use when reporting credit issues. Under the new guidelines, consumers had more protection and greater access to their credit history as well as recourse for any areas that were incorrectly reported. The FCRA set forth guidelines that all three major credit bureaus must follow. Purpose The purpose of having guidelines for credit bureaus is to ensure that there is both fairness and accuracy in the credit reporting...

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Repossession and Credit Rating

When a person who has borrowed money to pay for a purchase falls significantly behind on their payments, the lender will often attempt to repossess the purchase as a means of paying off the debt. Repossession, which is tantamount to a borrower defaulting on a loan, has an extremely damaging effect on a person's credit rating. Features Lenders will generally attempt to repossess objects for which a loan has been specifically issued, such as a car, a boat or a home. According to the financial reference website Paying Paul, depending on state...

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Credit Score to Be a Co-Signer

Your credit score is an important number that affects your ability to get loans and other types of credit. If you have a family member or friend with a bad credit score, you might be asked to be a co-signer. You'll need to have a good score yourself in order to be able to do this. In addition to knowing the credit score range that it takes to be a co-signer, you should also consider how doing this can affect your score. Definition A co-signer...

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Does a Credit Check by an Employer Affect the FICO?

An interview is just one step in getting the job. Many employers ask for permission to do a credit check before they hire you. Jobs in finance or that deal directly with money are more likely to require credit checks before you are hired. Some companies may also run a criminal background check before making the decision. You must give permission for these checks to happen, but if you refuse, your employer can choose not to hire you. Employer...

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Identity Theft Credit Bureau Information

If your identity has been stolen or if you want to find out if someone has been illegally using your name and private information, credit bureaus have made it simple to get a report. Suspicion of Identity Theft When one thinks that their identity has been stolen, all they have to do is call one of the three credit bureaus, Experien, Equifax, or TransUnion. This will alert them that suspicious activity may be taking place under their name. Calling Credit Bureaus When one calls the credit bureau of their choice, they will immediately...

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How to Boost Your Credit Score With a Secured Credit Card

Secured credit cards are one of the ways to increase your credit score. You use your own money to generate a credit line with the bank. The bank then issues you a Visa or Mastercard that you can use to make purchases. The regular, on-time payments you make when the monthly statements arrive build a history of responsible payment that increases your credit score. Instructions 1 Deposit money into the account that will serve as collateral for...

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How to Raise Your FICO

Even if you're a responsible person, a loss of employment or other money problems can make paying your credit cards and other bills challenging. Unfortunately, late or missed payments can wreck havoc on your personal credit score, and these habits can make it nearly impossible to obtain future financing. But regardless of whether your score is currently in the 600s or 500s, there are practical ways to raise your FICO score and become creditworthy....

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How Quickly Does a Credit Score Get Updated?

After paying off an account or making a payment, you may hope that your credit score has improved slightly. While your credit score is dynamic and always changing, it does not necessarily change right away. Understanding how the credit scoring process works can help you have realistic expectations in this process. Credit Score Changes Your credit score is changing all the time based on the information in your credit report. Your score can change every single day and even multiple times in one day, depending on what is going on in your financial...

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Consumer Credit Report Vs. Lender Credit Report

When you apply for credit or a loan, your lender will conduct a credit check to ensure that you qualify. The credit scores your lender pulls, however, may differ substantially from the credit scores you can pull on yourself. Facts A consumer credit report is scored by the credit bureaus whereas the credit reports that lenders pull are scored using the FICO model. This results in identical credit reports reflecting different scores. Significance...

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What Bills Affect My Credit Score?

A good credit score can get you a great interest rate on a mortgage or other loan. A poor credit score could leave you unable to find any lender who will trust you. Not paying your bills on time can leave a huge stain on your credit score, but if you know the bills to avoid paying late, you could make lenders love you. Medical Bills Sometimes people aquire huge medical bills when a sudden illness or accident occurs. If this happens, it's...

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Does Your Credit Take a Hit if You Close an Account?

When you don't know the way that credit rating bureaus track your spending and credit history, you can't make a sensible decision when it comes to closing a credit card. For example, although it may make logistical sense for you to consolidate your debts onto a single credit card and close out the others so that you have fewer bills to keep track of, this looks bad on your credit report. Your credit takes a hit when you close an account --- even...

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How to Clean Up Your Credit Report Before You Start a Business

Starting a business may require taking out a business loan or applying for a business credit card. Approval for either option requires a good credit history, and improving your personal credit reports help ensure that you're able to acquire financing needed to start your business. Before meeting with banks, take steps to clean up your credit report. Instructions 1 Ask creditors to remove late payments. Making a payment 30 days late may prompt your creditors or lenders to report the lateness to the bureaus. Contact your creditors to explain...

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How Can I Collect a Debt From Someone?

One of the most difficult situations to manage is when someone owes you a personal debt and you need to collect. It is particularly challenging when the borrower is someone near and dear to you. However, when it's time to collect you must learn how to do so in an efficient and professional manner. If you are unsuccessful in your attempts, you can get help from the courts. First Contact Just as a business lender attempts to make contact with the borrower who owes a debt before taking additional steps, it is important to first try to communicate...

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How to Get Seasoned Tradelines Added to Your Credit Profile

To qualify for credit, it's not enough to pay your bills on time. You have to have a track record of paying recurring bills--usually 24 months. A recurring bill is called a tradeline. The length of time you have regularly paid a tradeline is called "seasoning" or "credit depth." Not everyone you do repeat business with reports your payment history to credit reporting bureaus. You can request that the tradelines that don't show up be listed on your...

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How Do Credit Cards Affect Your Credit Rating?

How well you manage credit card debt can impact your credit report. Some actions will lower your credit score, while other strategies can give your score a boost. Credit cards can be a valuable financial tool as long as you have the discipline to keep your spending under control. Whether or not having a credit card in your pocket is a good thing is entirely up to you. Credit Utilization Ratio Your credit utilization ratio -- or how much money...

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Maximum Credit Requests Without Damaging Credit Score

Credit requests are a fact of life, whether you are seeking a new credit card, a home mortgage, or a loan for a major purchase like a new or used car. These inquiries are part of the financial data that make up your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports. Like most of the other data in your credit bureau files, they affect your credit score. Definition Credit requests that result from a credit application are known as "hard inquiries," according to the MyFICO credit-scoring website. Such inquiries become part of the applicant's...

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Does a Credit Score Affect Insurance Rates?

When you are shopping around for insurance of any kind, a number of factors can have an effect on what you are quoted for premiums. Your driving record, your age and the value of the property that you want to insure can all have an impact. One area that many people do not know can impact your insurance premiums is your credit score. Credit Score Impact on Premiums When insurance companies calculate your insurance premiums, they use many variables. Your credit score has a direct impact on what the insurance company quotes you for your rates....

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Vantage Score Vs. FICO

The credit scoring companies FICO and VantageScore are used by lenders to determine if a borrower is creditworthy. Each company utilizes their own formulas for determining a consumers credit score. HIstory Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) was established in 1989 with Equifax to create a scoring system to determine a borrowers likelihood of repaying debts. VantageScore is newer to the market and was introduced in 2006 to compete with FICO. ...

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How to Fix Credit After Rental Foreclosure

Repairing credit after losing your rental property to foreclosure can be a daunting process, but it's both feasible and legal if you're willing to spend some additional money or wait for seven years for the foreclosure to drop off your credit report. Lenders are obligated to report accurate information to the credit bureaus under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), but they aren't required to actually report any accounts. This means that any entries on your credit report, such as foreclosure, are open to negotiation. Instructions The Waiting...

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How to Clear Old Adverse Credit Information Of More Than 7 Years

The information contained within your credit report is critical to your financial integrity. If you've had delinquencies in the past, you can look forward to the day when they will be removed from your credit history, leaving you with a clean report showing only accounts in good standing. After seven years, negative credit items (aside from bankruptcy or defaulted student loans) should disappear. If they still show up on your report, you can take a few steps to have them removed. Instructions 1 Retrieve your credit report from all three...

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Solutions for College Students With Credit Card Debt

College students tend to work part time and have little extra cash. As a result, some students use credit cards for purchases such as food, gas, shopping and dining out. Credit cards are okay if used responsibly. Regrettably, a number of college students use credit cards excessively and acquire huge balances. Paying off cards and managing debt helps improve credit scores, which opens the door to future financing opportunities. Check Around for...

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FAQ on Credit Agencies

A few companies control almost all of the consumer credit rating industry, which covers about 75 percent of all Americans. The credit rating agencies cannot approve anyone for credit and the agencies themselves are dependent on lenders for data about consumers. They also often have wrong data on their reports. Who are the "Big Three" Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are the major players in the credit rating industry as of 2011. The three bureaus collect data on consumers and produce credit reports. These reports are the basis for a credit...

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What Is the Most Accurate Credit Scoring Tool?

If you want to know your credit score, you may be surprised to learn that different companies will provide you with different scores, depending on the credit scoring tool used to calculate the score. All credit bureau-related scoring tools, however, are accurate for their intended purpose. Types The two main types of credit scoring tools are the formula the credit bureaus use to calculate FICO scores and the one they use to calculate consumer...

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How Does Closing a Credit Card Account Affect Credit History?

Overview Credit Card Types Closing a credit card account does have an effect on your credit history, but this depends in large part on the type of credit card account. Sometimes closing the account can have a negative effect, sometimes a positive one--many different factors are at play. First, major credit cards are better for your credit score than smaller, department store credit cards. Having a major credit card for some length...

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Key Credit Score Information

Most lenders use the Fair Isaac and Company or FICO score to determine your overall creditworthiness. Your score is expressed numerically from 300 to 850--with 850 being the best--and takes several factors into consideration. Generally speaking, the higher your score, the less likely it is--from a statistical perspective--you will default on your loans. If you are concerned with building up your credit score to have the best possible chance of...

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Should I Pay Collection Accounts to Improve My Credit Rating?

Yes, It Improves Your Credit Score Paying off accounts that have gone into collection does improve your credit score as of 2008, according to Bills.com. Previously, paying off collections hurt your scores because a payment would make the debt look like it recently become delinquent. It Could Hurt Your Score According to Liz Weston of MSN Money Central, some unscrupulous collection agencies can hurt your credit score by making charged-off debt look newer than it really is, even though changes to the FICO score formula mostly curtailed...

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Do Federal Tax Liens Affect Credit Scores?

A federal tax lien may not be the most damaging item you can have on a credit report, but it can last far longer than any other item in a credit history. Unlike most other items on a credit report, you can remove a tax lien just by paying it. You can even remove the tax lien before paying the entire bill. Identification A federal tax lien is one of the deadliest items that can appear on your credit report. While the impact of a tax lien depends on the other factors in your credit report, such as the presence of negative accounts and debt...

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The Anatomy of a Credit Score

Whenever you try to borrow money or open a credit account, your lender uses a number called a credit score to help determine how risky you are as a borrower. If you have a low credit score, the lender may refuse your loan request or charge you a higher interest rate than if you had a better credit score. Credit scores are calculated based on credit information that falls into several categories. Payment History Your track record of making payments on your debts is the most important factor in determining your credit score. According to...

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