The Credit Score Blues
There are different things you have to understand regarding credit and credit score. By having proper and enough information about credits, you can make your way into building a good credit score. Certainly, you are familiar with credit scores.
Do you know your current credit score? Take a look at this interesting music video about credit scores. The video will talk about not only credit but also important things like how to check your credit score. You will be educated through music and know how credit score works.
Also, you will be introduced to the normal credit score range and what is needed to understand about this stuff. Included in the video are some tips you might want to remember for you to be guided in the future use of your credit.
Enjoy and watch this interesting music video called the credit score blues.
Categories: Credit Score Videos Tags: Blues, Credit, Score
Turbo Credit Software Download (Consumer Edition – Credit Repair)
Turbo Credit Software Download (Consumer Edition – Credit Repair)
- Empowers American consumers to manage their own credit in the privacy of their own home
- The Turbo Credit system is a similar system that financial, credit and debt professionals utilize for their professional fee-based services
- Turbo Credit allows American consumers to personally manage their credit just as millions of Americans use software programs to manage their money, budget and personal finances
- Turbo Credit will help get the most up-to-date and current credit report possible that will also maximize and improve credit scores.
- Turbo credit cost only .95 and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee
Turbo Credit is a patent-pending software program designed to challenge and dispute any negative items that appear on a credit report. Turbo Credit features the TurboDispute Generator which generates dispute documents for Transunion, Experian and Equifax in minutes.
Turbo Credit also includes TurboStop, an interactive software document that will legally stop the harrassing and annoying calls from the creditors.
Turbo Credit will help get the most up-to-date and current credit report possible that will also maximize and improve credit scores.
The Turbo Credit Advantage:
Empowers American consumers to manage their own credit in the privacy of their own home.
The Turbo Credit system is a similar system that financial, credit and debt professionals utilize for their professional fee-based services
Turbo Credit allows American consumers to personally manage their credit just as millions of Americans use software programs to manage their money, budget and personal finances
Turbo Credit provides the tools that can help consumers:
Lower interest rates and get approved for home loans, auto loans, credit cards, etc., while getting the accurate credit report they deserve by law
Challenge and dispute fraudulent and false information
Improve credit scores by helping to remove inaccurate and erroneous information such as late payments, collections, charge-offs, judgments, inquiries, etc . . .
Fight identity theft issues that appear on credit reports
Turbo Credit helps the law work for you!
It’s the law! Information must be accurate and verified before it is entered on credit reports!
If “reasonable procedures” have not been correctly followed by creditors or the credit reporting agencies, then any verified inaccuracies must be removed from their credit reports as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Turbo Credit helps protect American Consumers rights guaranteed by the FCRA.
List Price: $ 99.95
Price:
5 Common Credit Score Myths
Article by Darell B. Provost
Your credit score is an integral part of your financial life. It is important that you understand what it’s all about. Lenders, landlords, insurers, utility companies and even employers look at your credit score. It is derived from what’s in your credit reports, and it ranges between 300 and 850. Yet, according to a survey that was recently conducted, nearly half of all Americans don’t know how these scores are derived or even what factors are used to come up with them. For example, if your credit score is 580 you are probably going to pay nearly three percentage points more in mortgage interest than someone who had a score of 720. Or another way of looking at it, if you had a $150,000 30- year fixed-rate mortgage and your credit score was good enough to qualify for the best rate, your monthly payments would be about $890. This is according to Fair Isaac, the company that created the FICO score and who the rate is named after (Fair Isaac COrporation). If your credit is poor, however, it is very likely that you would have to pay more than $1,200 a month for that same loan. With so much depending on the credit score, it’s important to understand what it is all about and what are the things that affect it.Unfortunately, people commonly have a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings about their credit score. Here are five of the most common credit score myths and along with it the true facts:
MYTH #1: The major bureaus use different formulas for calculating your credit score. FACT: The three major credit bureaus – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian — give the score a different name. Equifax calls their score the “Beacon” credit score, Transunion calls it “Empirica” and Experian gives it the name “Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model.” They all use different names for the credit score, but they all use the same formula to come up with it.The reason that the credit score you receive from each bureau is different is because the information in your file that they base the score on is different. For example,the records that one bureau is using may go back a longer period of time, or a previous lender may have shared its information with only one of the bureaus and not the other two. Usually the scores are not too far from each other. Unless there is a big difference between what each bureau says is your credit score, many lenders will just use the one in the middle for the purpose of analyzing your application. So, for this reason alone it is a good idea to correct any errors that exist in each of the three major credit bureaus.
MYTH #2: Paying off your debts is all you need to do to immediately repair your credit score. FACT: Your credit score is mostly determined by your past performance more than your current amount of debt. It will definitely be very helpful to pay off your credit cards and settle any outstanding loans, but if yours is a history of late or missed payments, it won’t remove the damage overnight. It takes time to repair your credit score. So definitely pay down your debts. But it is equally important to consistently get in the habit of paying your bills on time.
MYTH #3: Closing old accounts will boost my credit score. FACT: This is a common misconception. It’s not closing accounts that affects your credit score, it’s opening them. Closing accounts can never help your credit score, and may actually hurt it. Yes, having too many open accounts does hurt your score. But once the accounts have been opened,the damage has already been done. Shutting the account doesn’t repair it and it may actually make things worse. The credit score is affected by the difference between the credit that is available and the credit that is being used. Shutting down accounts reduces the amount of total credit available and when compared with how much credit you can use your actual credit balances are made to seem larger. This hurts your credit score. The credit score also looks at the length of your credit history. Shutting older accounts removes old history and can make your credit history look younger than it actually is. This also can hurt your score. You generally shouldn’t close accounts unless a lender specifically asks you to do so as a condition for them giving you a loan. Instead,the best thing you can do is just pay down your existing credit card debt. That’s something that definitely would improve your credit score.
MYTH #4: Shopping around for a loan will hurt my credit score. FACT: When a lender makes an inquiry about your credit, your score could drop up to five points. Some borrowers think that if they shop around by going to a number of different lenders that each time a lender does an inquiry it will generate another reduction in the credit score. This isn’t true. For credit score purposes, multiple inquiries for a loan are treated as a single inquiry, as long as they all come within a 45 day period. So it is best to do your rate shopping within this 45 day window.
MYTH #5: Companies can fix my credit score for a fee. FACT: If the credit bureaus have accurate information, there’s nothing that can be done to quickly improve your score if in fact you have a history of not handling your debts well. The only way to have an effect on your credit score is to show that you can manage your debts in the future. Also,if there are errors in your file, you can contact the bureau yourself. You don’t need to pay someone else to do it. Each of the major credit bureaus has a website which clearly explains what you need to do to correct an error. So, the best ways to improve your credit score are: pay down the debt,pay your bills on time, correct existing errors on your credit reports in each of the three bureaus and apply for credit infrequently.
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Categories: Credit Score Articles Tags: Common, Credit, Myths, Score
What is the minimum credit score required to get a Amazon Visa Rewards card?
Question by Le All Knowing…………Mostly: What is the minimum credit score required to get a Amazon Visa Rewards card?
I am 20, and according to Experian, my credit score is 712. According to Equifax & TransUnion, my credit score is 700. What is the minimum score required to get that type of card. Also, what is the credit score required to get a Amazon Store Card?
I already have a credit monitoring program. I don’t need any others. I just want my question answered.
Best answer:
Answer by KMcG
No idea what that score would be, but you shouldn’t have any problems with a score that high.
Add your own answer in the comments!
The Road to 850 (Proven Strategies for Increasing Your Credit Score)
The Road to 850 (Proven Strategies for Increasing Your Credit Score)
This is one book you must have! As a result of the credit crisis, many financial institutions have raised their credit score requirements. Credit scores are impacting everyone from every angle.
The Road to 850 provides a much greater background and understanding to the credit scoring system than any previously published book. In fact, The Road to 850 has been given the coveted endorsement of the AFCPE – American Financial Counseling, Planning and Education Association in June 2009. In its review, they write, The Road to 850 “covers in detail the vast credit industry and navigates with ease the questions that plague even “qualified” people.” It is “highly recommended for financial and credit counselors as well as all individuals wanting to increase their scores-which would be everyone.”
The Road to 850 describes how credit risk is scored. It explains the four critical ratios, the four important dates and the four levels of delinquency. Lastly, it provides 94 proven strategies and identifies the requirements for a credit score in the golden range — 760 to 850.
The Road to 850 has received many additional rave reviews from readers:
“What an excellent book! Easy to read. Thanks a lot for giving us the opportunity
to get to 850!”,
“My book is filled with great information, some of which I have never heard
before despite an abiding interest in the subject and previous research. I’d
recommend it to anyone who wants to raise his score, even if it’s already a high
one. This book is priceless.”
The Road to 850 has been highlighted by Kurtis Ming (KOVR / CBS in Sacramento), Nicole Crites (KPHO / CBS in Phoenix), Bill Gephardt (KUTV / CBS in Salt Lake City), Paula Ebbers (WBZ / CBS in Boston) and a host of other national television and radio reporters.
Whether you have a 725 or a 525 credit score, this is one book you must have! A companion of The Road to 850 is the video series, The Quest for 850. You can also order this 4-set video at Amazon.
List Price: $ 18.95
Price:
Categories: Credit Score Products Tags: Credit, Increasing, Proven, Road, Score, Strategies
Are Your Credit Scores Hurting You?
Article by Jordan Crouter
Don’t believe anyone who tells you that credit scores are irrelevant to your financial health. But you also should not believe that credit scores are any reliable indication of your financial health. You can be a multi-millionaire with no credit score or someone with excellent scores who’s on the brink of a financial meltdown. Indeed, economists currently are worried about a steep rise in foreclosures among “prime” customers, those who had good credit when they got their mortgages but who took on too much debt or lost their jobs in the recession. The confusion over what credit scores are, and what they do, leads to some unfortunate attitudes:
– Some people dismiss credit scores entirely, either believing scores have no effect on their finances or out of a general disdain for credit and debt.
– Others understand that scores are important but believe that if they handle their money well, their scores automatically will be good.
– Still others are positively obsessed with their scores, focused on boosting them as fast as possible without considering how their actions might affect the rest of their financial lives.
All of these folks are misguided and could be risking some serious fiscal fallout. Let’s take these myths one at a time.
Myth No. 1: Credit scores don’t matter.
Here’s the truth: Credit scores are increasingly critical to the financial lives of most people.
In today’s credit crunch, only people with good scores are snagging the best rates and terms on mortgages, credit cards and other loans. They can effectively fight back against the credit card rates increases and limit cuts so prevalent today. Meanwhile, many people with bad scores are paying far more for credit or being turned away entirely.
Even if you’ve paid off your home and never plan to borrow another cent, you may still need to be concerned about your numbers. Credit scores are used by insurance companies to determine premiums and by landlords to evaluate applicants. (Employers often review credit information as well, although they tend to look at your entire credit report, rather than just a three-digit credit score.)
Furthermore, you can have great scores without being in debt.
While having installment accounts such as mortgages and auto loans can boost a score, they’re not essential.
You can achieve a score of 750 or above over time just from credit card accounts that you pay off in full every month, according to FICO, the company formerly known as Fair Isaac that created the leading credit scoring formula. In other words, you don’t have to pay a dime of interest to get and keep good FICO scores.
Myth No. 2: Great finances make great credit scores
I wish.
Credit scores were designed to help lenders gauge a borrower’s risk of default. That’s it. The only information used is what’s in your credit report. The formula is particularly affected by:
– Whether you pay your bills on time.
– How much of your available credit you’re using.
– How long you’ve had credit.
– How recently you’ve opened a new account.
– The mix of credit you use.
Here’s what does not go into a score:
– Your income or how much of it goes to pay debt.
– Your net worth.
– Your retirement account balances.
– Your investment returns.
– Your employment history or prospects.
– Whether you live within your means.
– Whether you pay your credit card bills in full each month or carry a balance.
The bottom line: If you don’t have and regularly use credit, the scoring formula will have a tough time assessing your creditworthiness. That’s how folks who’ve paid for everything with cash wind up with low scores or no scores.
It’s also how people who don’t carry balances can score lower than they deserve. If they use up most of their available credit each month, that can ding their scores even if they pay their bills in full. Savvy credit users continue to pay their balances, but make sure they use only a fraction of their available credit at any given time: 30% is good, under 10% is better.
Score creators — and lenders — don’t particularly care that the credit scoring system isn’t fair to the unwitting or the credit-averse. What they care about is that the formula works in general to help separate the good risks from the bad. If you get unfairly lumped in as a bad risk because you don’t use credit “right,” it’s no skin off their noses, but it could ultimately cost you a bundle.
Myth No. 3: Great credit scores make great finances
Look again at that list of what isn’t included in your score. Some of the most important gauges of your financial well-being are missing from the credit-scoring algorithm.
That’s because credit scores were never designed to be an indicator of your overall financial well-being. They do not measure your worth, monetary or otherwise.
You can take pride in a good score, of course, but you shouldn’t assume it means your finances are sound. In fact, some of the things people do to boost their scores can come back to bite them.
One of the quickest ways to increase your score, for instance, is to pay down credit card bills. Some people do this by taking out 401k loans to pay off debts. The debts effectively disappear from their credit reports, because 401k loans aren’t reported to the credit bureaus, and as a result borrowers may see a substantial increase in their scores.
But if these borrowers later lose their jobs, they could be in a world of hurt. In most cases, the loans become due shortly after employment ends, and any unpaid balances become inadvertent withdrawals, triggering big tax bills. The money can’t ever be put back into the 401k, so these borrowers lose out on future tax-deferred returns as well.
Other people use their great scores to pile on cheap debt. People with excellent scores still get 0% balance-transfer offers on credit cards, low rates on auto loans and below-prime rates on home equity lines of credit.
But at some point, that debt load can topple them. Even a small setback — a higher interest rate, a cut in hours at work, a lowered credit limit — can be a crisis when you’ve borrowed too much. People who resisted the urge to load up on debt are likely to do better in this recession than those who didn’t. As with everything else in the personal finance world, you have to look at the big picture — and your credit score is just one of the factors you need to manage.
Are Your Credit Scores Hurting You?
Jordan Crouter
cell: 949-310-6998
www.jordancrouter.com
About the Author
I am on a personal MISSION to empower all of you frustrated stuck entrepreneurs & give you the strength, courage & support to finally turn all of your dreams into reality!
Categories: Credit Score Articles Tags: Credit, Hurting, Scores
How can you raise you credit score even when you pay on time?
Question by amhjp1820: How can you raise you credit score even when you pay on time?
Ok, past credit messed me up. I have a judgement that’s almost paid off. I am trying to raise my credit score. I have 3 new accounts that I’ve paid on time for over 1 year. I read that one way to raise your score is to “piggy back” on a relatives good credit (have them add me to one of their good accounts and not use it) Is this safe, is it legal? I would love to hear constructive ways to increase my credit score. Please don’t judge me. Almost all of my “bad” credit accounts have been paid off. I put my sons first when the divorce came. They lived in the house that I paid for while I lived in a basement.
Best answer:
Answer by Sugarbaby
Did you know each time someone checks your credit score it goes down? I didn’t know this until they told us.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Improve Credit Score
Are you having problems with your credit score? Do you want to know how you can improve? Do you want to learn ways you can raise your credit score?
The video you are about to see will teach you how you can have a better credit score. Also, the video will give you a solution on how you can handle and start doing things that will improve your credit score.
This video will be worth your while for it will make you have a handy, easy and manageable credit account. Options will be provided for you on how you can repair your credit. Be one of the people who can make their credit score perfect and belong to a group that can solve credit issues.
So enjoy and learn more how you can improve you credit score and start making changes.
Categories: Credit Score Videos Tags: Credit, Improve, Score
How do you lower your credit limit without lowering your overall credit score?
Question by Tim: How do you lower your credit limit without lowering your overall credit score?
I have only have one revolving credit card, and I have a very high credit score. Because of this overall score they subsequently increase my credit line, even though I don’t ask for or use this revolving line of credit. Question? I have been told if you ask for a credit line decrease they lower your overall credit score? Why? What can you do to minimize a lowered credit score?
Best answer:
Answer by missoctober003
I say keep the cards open because with a low balance on the card and a high limit it definitely makes your credit look better. Don’t worry about having that much credit in your name unless you plan on purchasing a loan from a bank. You aren’t using the card anyway, right?
Add your own answer in the comments!
Financing A Home: Improving Your Credit Score
Article by Gary McArdle
Today there are many homes for sale with low prices and low interest rates. Housing is more affordable now than it has been in many years. Considering the current market, why isn’t everyone snapping up homes? The truth is, many first time home buyers are jumping into the market and getting in on this affordable housing opportunity. Real estate investors are also very active as they see this unique opportunity to build their wealth. The unfortunate reality for everyone right now is that even though homes are more affordable now than in many years, lenders are very picky about who gets a loan and who does not. And your credit score is one of the primary indicators of whether or not you will get approved for a loan and what your interest rate will be.
Just a few years ago a borrower with a credit score as low as 500 could buy a home. Today that score needs to be a minimum of 620 to 640. And to qualify for the best interest rates you better have a credit score in the 700’s. No matter what your credit score is, you should know it. If it is not close to 750 you should resolve to get there and here are some easy tips to help improve your credit score.
Let’s take a look at what information on our credit report determines your score, then we will give suggestions on how to improve in each of those areas
35% or your credit score is attributed to your payment history which not only includes actual payments to your creditors, but it includes things such as collections, judgments and tax liens. With this in mind you always want to make sure you make your car, credit card and loan payments on time. Many lenders also require verification of rental payment history, so you will want to make sure you pay your rent on time as well. By the way, a payment is considered on time if it is paid within 30 days of the due date. If you have collections, judgments or tax liens on your credit, you will have to provide proof that these were paid. If there are unpaid collections you can in many cases negotiate a settlement for less than what is owed. From a credit scoring standpoint this is almost as good as paying in full as long as it is reported as satisfied in full on the credit report.
In addition, you can make a payment arrangement for tax liens and after 12 months get those rated for your credit report which will help. Judgments are required to be paid in full at the close of a loan, and you will need to get it paid and the credit report updated in order to improve your credit score. In many cases with a history of late payments we have to say, time heals all wounds. In other words, it may just take a year or so of making your payments on time to get the credit score you need. If you have items on your credit report that are incorrect, then you can dispute those items to get them corrected with the credit bureau.
30% of your credit score is attributed to how much you owe on your credit card as a percentage of total credit limit. Let me give you an example: If you have one credit card with a ,000 limit and you owe 0 on this card, your percentage of credit usage is 75% and your available credit is 25%. The lower the usage percentage the higher your credit score will be (all other factors being equal). There are 3 ways to improve this number. You can accomplish this by paying your credit card down as soon as possible. You can request an increase in the credit card limit. And you can also open up new cards. For the last two, you will need to exercise some caution however. When you request an increase in your credit card, you should ask your credit card company if they can do this based on the merits of your payment history with them. If not they will create a credit inquiry which can lower your score just a little bit. In my opinion it would probably still be worth the credit inquiry deduction from your credit to get your credit limit increased. I believe that in most cases you would have a net gain in credit score, but there have been times when I’ve seen it drop at least in the short term. By the way, do not increase the balance on your credit card when your limit goes up or you will have just undone the improvement, but now you owe more money and still have a low credit score. Similarly, when you open up a new credit card, you end up having a couple of strikes against you which is the credit inquiry and the new credit account. More about both of these in a moment.
15% of your credit score is attributed to your length of credit history. So Let’s have another example: Let’s say you have 2 credit cards. You have had one of the credit cards for 5 years and the other card for 3 years. So on average your credit cards are 4 years old, and so your credit score will reflect this 4 year average length. Now if you open a new card, you reduce your average down to about 2.7 years from 4 years. So initially at least this can have the effect of lowering your average length of credit and reduce your credit score accordingly. That is one of the reasons that opening new credit is not a quick fix for bumping your credit score up. However lets take a look at it a year from now. In one year from opening the new credit card your average length would be at 3.6 so if this is part of a longer term strategy then it would probably be a good strategy to follow.
10% of your credit score is attributed to new credit, so once again you can see that opening a new credit account not only lowers your average length of credit, but it also counts against you on a stand alone basis as well. This is also why an inquiry affects your credit score as well. When there are inquiries, it is “assumed” by the system that you are acquiring new credit whether you are or not. For example, if you had your car at the dealership to be fixed and while you were waiting you were taking a look at a new car and ended up making an offer which the dealership knows you will be financing, they will make sure to run your credit (with your permission of course). So even though you end up not buying the new car, the credit inquiry is on your credit report and will slightly lower your credit score. By the way, all inquiries reported in a 30 day period from similar companies will be treated as one credit inquiry. So if you are going to be buying a car or shopping for a mortgage, try to get all of the inquiries put in within 30 days to lessen the effect of multiple inquiries.
The last 10% of your credit score is attributed to the types of credit used, or what we call credit mix. It is good to have both credit cards, car loans, mortgages and installment loans on your credit report. For most people it will take time to accomplish all of these, but beware that someone who always uses high interest rate, high risk lenders will have lower credit scores as well. I cannot mention them by name of course, but it is the lenders who would be considered a finance company, and makes high interest rate and unsecured loans for household goods that will decrease your credit score. Now it is not bad to have an account with this type of company. Many of them work with stores to offer no interest, no payments for 90 days or longer. As long as you are not using them with regularity. Once established you should be able to qualify for reasonable rate credit cards or even an installment loan at a bank or credit union with a competitive rate as well. So bear in mind as you build your credit and credit score that these factors all contribute to your overall score.
A couple of other thoughts for you. Many folks ask me what this or that will do to your credit score and unfortunately no one can tell you exactly as credit scoring is somewhat like Kentucky Fried Chickens secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. It is a closely guarded, highly sophisticated set of algorithms that combines all the above stated factors and reduces them down to a simple 3 digit number that is supposed to represent your likelihood of paying back the loan or credit card you are applying for. You may want to connect with a lender who can assist with guiding you through the process of improving your credit score. There are also a large number of companies who will, for a price, work on your credit score for you. There are no guarantees with these services and in addition, they are usually fairly expensive and many of them are just plain rip offs, so you would need to approach this avenue with a great deal of caution.
Finally, as a consumer of credit services and possibly as someone who want so purchase a home, you should make it a priority to take control of your finances and your credit score and find out what your credit score is and work hard to bring it up or maintain it.
Gary McArdle is a Branch Manager/Mortgage Consultant in Gig Harbor, WA and originates loans in Washington and Oregon. He has been involved in finance for the last 30 years and in the home loan business for the last 20 years. He can be reached by email at gmcardle@windermere.com
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