Credit|stellercredit.com
Feb
15
Neerdowellian asked:
I’m trying to find the best mortgage rate to buy a house, therefore there are several mortgage companies running my credit. How in the world am I supposed to shop for a good rate if every inquiry damages my score? Isn’t that the dumbest thing?
RUBIN
I’m trying to find the best mortgage rate to buy a house, therefore there are several mortgage companies running my credit. How in the world am I supposed to shop for a good rate if every inquiry damages my score? Isn’t that the dumbest thing?
RUBIN
Feb
09
Filed Under (Finance) by credit
Debbie Dragon asked:
There are three major credit reporting agencies within the United States: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. These are the organizations that lenders go through to verify potential borrowers credit worthiness.
Federal Law indicates that individuals are able to receive one copy of their credit report from each of the three agencies annually, and at no charge. It’s a good idea to look it over once a year to make sure there are no errors or omissions.
How do you read a credit report? There are abbreviations and numbers and codes, and for people who are looking at them for the first time, they can be a little confusing.
Obtaining Credit Reports
In order to get your free credit reports each year, you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com, which is the only authorized source for free annual credit reports under the September 1, 2005 federal law. If you go directly to the credit reporting agencies, there will be a charge to view your report- unless you qualify for another criteria to view a free report (being denied credit, for example).
If you want to monitor your credit report more often than annually, you can sign up for reports at any of the three credit reporting agencies, and pay about $10 per report. You will want to view the report at all three agencies, unfortunately, because the information is not exactly the same and you need to check for errors at all locations.
Reading Credit Reports
Credit reports are divided into four different segments: identifying information about the individual, credit history, public records, and inquiries made to the credit file.
Identifying information should include your name and address, and social security number. If you see a few variations of your name or more than one social security number, it’s because one of your creditors has reported it incorrect, but that information should remain because taking it off can hurt the connection between the report and the creditors who use it.
Identifying information also includes your employer(s), driver’s license numbers and sometimes your spouse’s name.
Credit history includes a list of individual accounts and account numbers (which may be encrypted). Information for each account will usually show the date it was opened, the type of credit (mortgage, car loan, installment, revolving), total amount of your loan and the amount you still owe, as well as the status of the account (open, closed, paid as agreed, inactive) and how you’ve been making payments on the account (on time, 30 days late, 90 days late, etc).
Public records is a section that you hope has nothing in it. This section provides details for bankruptcies, tax liens and judgments. This section will lower your credit score faster than anything else can.
Inquiries provide a list of “hard” inquiries- credit you’ve applied for and can affect your credit score- although FICO ignores most inquiries when coming up with their scores for individuals, and “soft” inquiries from credit card lenders who check your file before sending out promotional credit card offers. Soft inquiries do not raise or lower your credit score.
What to Do with Mistakes on Your Credit Report
If you find mistakes on your credit report- such as incorrectly reported amounts on an account, or an account that doesn’t belong to you, you can fill out the dispute form included on a mailed copy of a credit report, or use an online form to dispute the discrepancy online.
The credit reporting agency must then verify the information within 30 days of your filing the dispute (or the mistake must be removed). If they find it to be correct, and you still disagree- you can contact the creditor directly to have it corrected. If they find the information you’ve disputed to be incorrect, they are required to remove the item from your credit report.
JOHNNIE
There are three major credit reporting agencies within the United States: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. These are the organizations that lenders go through to verify potential borrowers credit worthiness.
Federal Law indicates that individuals are able to receive one copy of their credit report from each of the three agencies annually, and at no charge. It’s a good idea to look it over once a year to make sure there are no errors or omissions.
How do you read a credit report? There are abbreviations and numbers and codes, and for people who are looking at them for the first time, they can be a little confusing.
Obtaining Credit Reports
In order to get your free credit reports each year, you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com, which is the only authorized source for free annual credit reports under the September 1, 2005 federal law. If you go directly to the credit reporting agencies, there will be a charge to view your report- unless you qualify for another criteria to view a free report (being denied credit, for example).
If you want to monitor your credit report more often than annually, you can sign up for reports at any of the three credit reporting agencies, and pay about $10 per report. You will want to view the report at all three agencies, unfortunately, because the information is not exactly the same and you need to check for errors at all locations.
Reading Credit Reports
Credit reports are divided into four different segments: identifying information about the individual, credit history, public records, and inquiries made to the credit file.
Identifying information should include your name and address, and social security number. If you see a few variations of your name or more than one social security number, it’s because one of your creditors has reported it incorrect, but that information should remain because taking it off can hurt the connection between the report and the creditors who use it.
Identifying information also includes your employer(s), driver’s license numbers and sometimes your spouse’s name.
Credit history includes a list of individual accounts and account numbers (which may be encrypted). Information for each account will usually show the date it was opened, the type of credit (mortgage, car loan, installment, revolving), total amount of your loan and the amount you still owe, as well as the status of the account (open, closed, paid as agreed, inactive) and how you’ve been making payments on the account (on time, 30 days late, 90 days late, etc).
Public records is a section that you hope has nothing in it. This section provides details for bankruptcies, tax liens and judgments. This section will lower your credit score faster than anything else can.
Inquiries provide a list of “hard” inquiries- credit you’ve applied for and can affect your credit score- although FICO ignores most inquiries when coming up with their scores for individuals, and “soft” inquiries from credit card lenders who check your file before sending out promotional credit card offers. Soft inquiries do not raise or lower your credit score.
What to Do with Mistakes on Your Credit Report
If you find mistakes on your credit report- such as incorrectly reported amounts on an account, or an account that doesn’t belong to you, you can fill out the dispute form included on a mailed copy of a credit report, or use an online form to dispute the discrepancy online.
The credit reporting agency must then verify the information within 30 days of your filing the dispute (or the mistake must be removed). If they find it to be correct, and you still disagree- you can contact the creditor directly to have it corrected. If they find the information you’ve disputed to be incorrect, they are required to remove the item from your credit report.
JOHNNIE
Feb
08
Filed Under (Credit) by credit
Helen Hecker asked:
If you want to get rid of negative credit you can easily take a few steps to completely turn it around and see a significant improvement in your credit score. Thousands of people face the same problems and assume it takes a credit professional or credit repair service to do it for them. These offline and online credit services don’t come cheap and often people spend their hard-earned money trying to fix negative or bad credit.
First of all you may not know what is actually on your credit report today. You may assume you have bad credit based on your payment history in the past or you haven’t had the courage to get a copy of your credit report even though it’s free. Many resist this because of the fear of what they think they may find. However you may be surprised. There may be entries on your credit report that are totally false and can be easily corrected or there may be entries you can easily change with a little documentation.
Really it’s not that difficult to get these corrections taken care of on your credit report. You can actually take care of it pretty fast and it won’t cost you a dime other than a first class stamp. In actuality you can do a better job than any credit repair clinic because you’re in the position to actually add some positive credit marks to your report if you know how to do it and I’ll explain below.
Okay these are the 3 simple steps to repair your credit history.
1. First get a copy of your free credit report if you don’t already have a CURRENT copy. Everyone is entitled to a free credit report every year according to federal government laws. You can get an absolutely free annual credit report online instantly at the approved Web site: type in ‘annualcreditreport’ and then a dot and then com. You’ll be able to print it out as soon as you provide identification.
You can also call 1-877-322-8228. When you call you’ll get an automated service. Know what phone number you’re going to use as that is a requirement in the process. However it will take about 15 days to get the report. You can also write but instant online or calling is easiest. This free service is sponsored by the three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Now you must know that you won’t get your credit rating or score when you get the report. There is an additional charge to get a score. However if you recently applied for credit and were turned down, call the lender and ask what your score is. You can usually find out that way for free.
Once you have your credit report in hand, sit down and note any negative items or anything that doesn’t seem right to you. You may find a few mistakes, sometimes even with your birth date or other personal information. These are easily corrected. There can be some totally false information such as credit information for someone else with the same name or similar name.
2. Write a dispute letter. It’s easy to write a dispute letter. If you’re not sure how to do this, sit down and pretend you’re writing a letter to a friend. It does not have to be fancy and it can be in your own handwriting if legible or typed out. Don’t make it too hard. Make a list of the bad credit marks or wrong information that you want to dispute. Make sure to keep it as short as possible and don’t add any fluff. Get the facts as you know them. If you have any documentation to include to ‘back you up’ then add this or include copies with your dispute letter.
When the credit bureau gets your letter they will do an investigation and will either verify the item in question and remove or fix it - or they will be unable to verify the negative credit information to remove it.
If they notify you that they are unable to verify any negative credit mark thus not removing it, then you can still dispute it by sending another letter asking how they arrived at their decision. This is called a ‘method of verification’ or sometimes ‘procedural request’. If the dispute is regarding a creditor the credit reporting bureau and the creditor must both provide you with adequate proof of their decision. Otherwise they are required by law to remove the negative credit mark from your credit history.
3. How to get positive credit marks on your credit report. This is simple to do over a period of a few months to start building a positive credit history. Get department store and/or gas credit cards and use them. Pay them off on time. Make note that these usually come with higher interest rates so compare rates first. Pay a little more than you owe and pay a little early. Paying online ensures that your payment arrives and is not lost in the mail.
Keep a bill calendar and write on it when payments are due and another notation on the calendar a few days before so that you make the payment online early. If you wait till the last minute, the Web site may be down for maintenance or their may be other network issues. But in any event make sure to make the payment before it’s due. Try to get an installment type of loan or automobile loan through your bank or credit union.
Be aware that if you try to buy a car or other vehicle that the car dealer will contact several lenders to get the best interest rate and EACH one of these will contribute a mark to your credit report. This can affect your credit score, also called FICO. So try to get a pre-approved loan before you head to an auto dealer. If you can do this over a few months you will build up a recent and good credit history fast. No credit repair service will be able to build up this positive history for you.
For additional help removing or erasing negative credit you can easily get a good credit repair guide that will help you read and dispute the report and will cost pennies as opposed to a credit repair service which can cost you significantly. And a service can’t do it as well as you can or add positive credit marks to your credit history. Sit down now if you already have the credit report right and do a quick letter before you start dwelling on it. You can do it! And YOU can do the best job. The faster you take action the sooner you’ll see a turnaround.
WILSON
If you want to get rid of negative credit you can easily take a few steps to completely turn it around and see a significant improvement in your credit score. Thousands of people face the same problems and assume it takes a credit professional or credit repair service to do it for them. These offline and online credit services don’t come cheap and often people spend their hard-earned money trying to fix negative or bad credit.
First of all you may not know what is actually on your credit report today. You may assume you have bad credit based on your payment history in the past or you haven’t had the courage to get a copy of your credit report even though it’s free. Many resist this because of the fear of what they think they may find. However you may be surprised. There may be entries on your credit report that are totally false and can be easily corrected or there may be entries you can easily change with a little documentation.
Really it’s not that difficult to get these corrections taken care of on your credit report. You can actually take care of it pretty fast and it won’t cost you a dime other than a first class stamp. In actuality you can do a better job than any credit repair clinic because you’re in the position to actually add some positive credit marks to your report if you know how to do it and I’ll explain below.
Okay these are the 3 simple steps to repair your credit history.
1. First get a copy of your free credit report if you don’t already have a CURRENT copy. Everyone is entitled to a free credit report every year according to federal government laws. You can get an absolutely free annual credit report online instantly at the approved Web site: type in ‘annualcreditreport’ and then a dot and then com. You’ll be able to print it out as soon as you provide identification.
You can also call 1-877-322-8228. When you call you’ll get an automated service. Know what phone number you’re going to use as that is a requirement in the process. However it will take about 15 days to get the report. You can also write but instant online or calling is easiest. This free service is sponsored by the three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Now you must know that you won’t get your credit rating or score when you get the report. There is an additional charge to get a score. However if you recently applied for credit and were turned down, call the lender and ask what your score is. You can usually find out that way for free.
Once you have your credit report in hand, sit down and note any negative items or anything that doesn’t seem right to you. You may find a few mistakes, sometimes even with your birth date or other personal information. These are easily corrected. There can be some totally false information such as credit information for someone else with the same name or similar name.
2. Write a dispute letter. It’s easy to write a dispute letter. If you’re not sure how to do this, sit down and pretend you’re writing a letter to a friend. It does not have to be fancy and it can be in your own handwriting if legible or typed out. Don’t make it too hard. Make a list of the bad credit marks or wrong information that you want to dispute. Make sure to keep it as short as possible and don’t add any fluff. Get the facts as you know them. If you have any documentation to include to ‘back you up’ then add this or include copies with your dispute letter.
When the credit bureau gets your letter they will do an investigation and will either verify the item in question and remove or fix it - or they will be unable to verify the negative credit information to remove it.
If they notify you that they are unable to verify any negative credit mark thus not removing it, then you can still dispute it by sending another letter asking how they arrived at their decision. This is called a ‘method of verification’ or sometimes ‘procedural request’. If the dispute is regarding a creditor the credit reporting bureau and the creditor must both provide you with adequate proof of their decision. Otherwise they are required by law to remove the negative credit mark from your credit history.
3. How to get positive credit marks on your credit report. This is simple to do over a period of a few months to start building a positive credit history. Get department store and/or gas credit cards and use them. Pay them off on time. Make note that these usually come with higher interest rates so compare rates first. Pay a little more than you owe and pay a little early. Paying online ensures that your payment arrives and is not lost in the mail.
Keep a bill calendar and write on it when payments are due and another notation on the calendar a few days before so that you make the payment online early. If you wait till the last minute, the Web site may be down for maintenance or their may be other network issues. But in any event make sure to make the payment before it’s due. Try to get an installment type of loan or automobile loan through your bank or credit union.
Be aware that if you try to buy a car or other vehicle that the car dealer will contact several lenders to get the best interest rate and EACH one of these will contribute a mark to your credit report. This can affect your credit score, also called FICO. So try to get a pre-approved loan before you head to an auto dealer. If you can do this over a few months you will build up a recent and good credit history fast. No credit repair service will be able to build up this positive history for you.
For additional help removing or erasing negative credit you can easily get a good credit repair guide that will help you read and dispute the report and will cost pennies as opposed to a credit repair service which can cost you significantly. And a service can’t do it as well as you can or add positive credit marks to your credit history. Sit down now if you already have the credit report right and do a quick letter before you start dwelling on it. You can do it! And YOU can do the best job. The faster you take action the sooner you’ll see a turnaround.
WILSON
Feb
05
Filed Under (Finance) by credit
Mike Clover asked:
What is in a credit report? A credit report is a snapshot of your current obligations to creditors. These creditors include credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, and retail stores. Lenders are permitted by law to check your credit report and review it in order to determine whether or not to grant credit to you. In order to build a credit report all you have to do is establish credit in the form of a bank loan, credit card account, car loan, mortgage, or studen loan. Information on your credit report comes directly from your history with accounts you currently have outstanding loans with. Whether you pay your obligations on time or not, lenders will report that information to the credit bureaus. There are four categories.
1. Your personal information: Your credit report identifies you will the following information.
” Your name
” Social Security number
” Current address ” Previous address
” Birth date
” Current employer and previous employers
” Phone number
2. Your credit history: Your credit history will show your payment history with current lenders such as:
” Credit Card companies
” Mortgage companies
” Retail stores
” Finance companies
3. Inquiries: This is where lenders are finance companies have requested your credit report. The rule of thumb is the less inquiries the better.
4. Public Records: Your credit report lists any obligations that may affect your credit including the following:
” Judgments
” Tax Liens
” Bankruptcies
Credit Reports are now available to any organization that is trying to grant you credit, or a company considering hiring you. Your personal credit report is so important during this day and age that you need to have a current copy to see what they are seeing. Even landlords are pulling credit in order to grant you permission to rent from them. With all this in mind, it is highly recommended that you have recent copy of your credit report, so that you are aware whats being reported in regards to your personal credit history. Most of the companies that provide credit reports, dont understand credit, they just sell you a credit report.There are also websites that offer a credit report for Free but fail to mention that you will not get a free credit score. Make sure when you obtain a copy of your credit report it comes with all 3 reports and score. It makes no sense to get copy of your credit report without your scores since creditors look heavily at your credit scores. Remember “your Credit is your Life.”
JUDE
What is in a credit report? A credit report is a snapshot of your current obligations to creditors. These creditors include credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, and retail stores. Lenders are permitted by law to check your credit report and review it in order to determine whether or not to grant credit to you. In order to build a credit report all you have to do is establish credit in the form of a bank loan, credit card account, car loan, mortgage, or studen loan. Information on your credit report comes directly from your history with accounts you currently have outstanding loans with. Whether you pay your obligations on time or not, lenders will report that information to the credit bureaus. There are four categories.
1. Your personal information: Your credit report identifies you will the following information.
” Your name
” Social Security number
” Current address ” Previous address
” Birth date
” Current employer and previous employers
” Phone number
2. Your credit history: Your credit history will show your payment history with current lenders such as:
” Credit Card companies
” Mortgage companies
” Retail stores
” Finance companies
3. Inquiries: This is where lenders are finance companies have requested your credit report. The rule of thumb is the less inquiries the better.
4. Public Records: Your credit report lists any obligations that may affect your credit including the following:
” Judgments
” Tax Liens
” Bankruptcies
Credit Reports are now available to any organization that is trying to grant you credit, or a company considering hiring you. Your personal credit report is so important during this day and age that you need to have a current copy to see what they are seeing. Even landlords are pulling credit in order to grant you permission to rent from them. With all this in mind, it is highly recommended that you have recent copy of your credit report, so that you are aware whats being reported in regards to your personal credit history. Most of the companies that provide credit reports, dont understand credit, they just sell you a credit report.There are also websites that offer a credit report for Free but fail to mention that you will not get a free credit score. Make sure when you obtain a copy of your credit report it comes with all 3 reports and score. It makes no sense to get copy of your credit report without your scores since creditors look heavily at your credit scores. Remember “your Credit is your Life.”
JUDE
