Money Advice Guide

Your credit report is the information provided to the credit scoring system lenders use to determine their financial risk in granting you a home loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC). Credit bureaus, or consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), collect, package, and sell what is commonly known as your “credit report” or “credit profile” to companies seeking information about your financial matters. However, these reports can contain inaccurate, incomplete, outdated and sometimes even misleading information that can lower your credit score, also known as your FICO score, and can cause you to be denied a line of credit or debt consolidation loan, or to settle for a “bad credit” loan with high interest and poor terms.

There are hundreds of credit bureaus across the nation, but they are generally are affiliates of, or subscribers to, these three bureaus: Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax

What is a FICO score?

FICO is a credit scoring system developed by Fair Isaac & Co. According to myFICO.com, a division of Fair Isaac, you have three credit scores that range from 300 to 850, one for each of the three credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Each score is based on information the credit bureau keeps on file about you (credit reports). As this information changes, your FICO credit scores tend to change, as well.

How Can I Increase My FICO Score?

Increasing your credit score takes time. The following are ways you can work towards increasing your FICO credit score.

Pay your bills on time to raise your score. Late payments and collections lower it.

Do not apply for credit frequently. Having too many inquiries worsens your score.

Reduce your credit card balances. Being “maxed” out affects your FICO score negatively.

If you have limited credit, obtain additional credit. Not enough credit can negatively impact your score.

Get a copy of your credit reports from each of the above-listed CRAs and check them for accuracy. If any information is incorrect, dispute it, so it can be corrected. This is known as “repairing your credit.”

Isn’t Credit Repair Illegal?

Credit repair is only a concern when anyone tries to have accurately reported derogatory information illegally deleted from their credit reports. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that both the consumer reporting agency and the information provider (company or organization that provides information about you to a CRA) are responsible for correcting inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information in your report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Disputing Items on Your Report

You can dispute inaccurate, incomplete or outdated items online, but the FTC suggests that you dispute them by mail. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. Clearly identify each item you dispute, explain why you dispute it, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items circled. Send your letter by certified mail, “return receipt requested,” so you can document what the CRA receives. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.

You could also contact the information provider directly (in writing) to dispute the items. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. If the information is found to be inaccurate, the information provider must update the item with the CRA or have it deleted.

Maria Ny is an experienced free-lance writer from San Diego, California. She writes articles covering a broad range of subjects ranging from Bankruptcy Reform, Credit Repair to mortgage refinancing. Check out her featured articles at http://www.bdnationwidemortgage.com/

Equifax- P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, Georgia 30374 (800) 685-1111 http://www.equifax.com

Tags: bad credit, credit score, heloc, home equity line of credit, home equity loan, refinance, second mortgagebad credit, credit score, heloc, home equity line of credit, home equity loan, refinance, second mortgage

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If you’ve ever experienced financial problems in the past then the chances are that any mistakes you’ve made (whether you know you’ve made them or not!) will be recorded on your credit record. In many cases these mistakes will occur as a result of financial problems you may have experienced - but often you can get a bad credit history without really doing anything wrong.

The majority of problems that will give you a bad credit record will happen if you have problems managing your finances. So, if you miss a credit card payment, default on your mortgage, are declared bankrupt or are given a CCJ (county Court Judgement) against you for one reason or another then this will all show up on your credit rating, for example. These kinds of issues will all count as negatives.

But, other issues can give you bad marks on your credit rating. For example, simple factors like your marital status and whether you have children can give you plus or minus points. The fact is that it isn’t just what you do with your money that comes up on your credit rating - you can have a rating that is less than perfect from a lender’s point of view even if you have never had a financial problem before in your life!

But, there is a key issue here - no matter where your bad credit rating came from. If you have a less than perfect credit score then you look less attractive to lenders when it comes to taking out loans and other forms of finance. The first thing that the majority of lenders will do when you apply for a loan is to look at your credit rating - if they don’t like what they see then they could well turn you down flat. And, things could then go from bad to worse as every rejection that you get when you apply for finance also goes on your credit rating!

Luckily, most lenders will take a better view of bad credit ratings now than they may have done in the past. And, if you find that a mainstream lender won’t deal with you on this basis, then you need to remember that you do have other options when it comes to taking out loans. There is now a whole sector of the lending industry that solely specialises in working with consumers with bad credit so it may be that these specialists will be better placed to help you out.

One last tip - don’t let your bad credit rating cause you further financial problems. Some bad credit specialists have muscled into the market with high interest rates and deals that are not as good as they could be. But, there are hundreds of reputable lending sources that you can work with - the key is just to find them. This is made much easier nowadays if you online to compare rates and deals. Your key aim here is to get the lowest interest rates and the fairest deals you can - after all, you don’t want to make a bad situation worse!

About The Author
Gary Tallon is a finance writer of over ten years experience in finance and the bad credit loans http://www.bad-credit-loans-quote.co.uk/ industry.

Tags: bad credit, credit rating, credit recordbad credit, credit rating, credit record

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