Joshua Heckathorn

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Joshua Heckathorn

Joshua Heckathorn is a credit expert and has been featured on CNNMoney, FOX Business, Yahoo Finance, The Street, and many other national publications during the past twenty years.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Management (Finance) from Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business and earned his MBA from Seattle University.

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Recent Blogs

Fiore Pokes Fun at Credit Card Reform

January 14th, 2010 by Joshua Heckathorn

In response to the CARD Act, credit card companies are desperately seeking to boost profits by resurrecting old fees and creating new ones.

The long-lost inactivity fee is one that's been receiving a lot of attention in the media lately.  Use your card too much, and you end up in debt.  Use your card too little, and your credit issuer will slap you with a nasty inactivity fee for basically not being profitable enough.

The Inactivity Fee Returns

January 8th, 2010 by Joshua Heckathorn

Photo by Photos8.com 2010 already looks like it's shaping up to be the year of ever-expanding fees for credit cardholders. While legislators are still celebrating and patting themselves on the back for passing the CARD Act of 2009, consumers, on the other hand, haven't experienced much to be happy about at all. Credit limits continue to get slashed, interest rates are on rise, and credit issuers are resurrecting old fees or adding new ones in an effort to recapture lost profits.

Party Like It’s 2009

December 30th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

party balloons  Remember partying like it was 1999? Yeah, that was ten years ago. Since then you may have been able to hide your collection of Limp Bizkit CDs, stop wearing jean shorts and change your “Rachel” hairstyle (frosted tips for guys), but unfortunately you can’t remove that barbed wire tattoo from around your bicep. Show of hands —who else thought this decade would be dominated by Sisqo and his Thong Song (parts 1-5)? Ok, maybe I’m the only one.

Tsongas' Amendment Seeks Level Playing Field

December 15th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

[caption id="attachment_1107" align="alignleft" width="207" caption=" "]US CapitolPhoto by dbking[/caption]

It's been ten months since I first wrote about Experian ending it's partnership with Fair Isaac. Since then, consumers have been unable to purchase their FICO scores based on Experian's data, while lenders' access to the scores has remain unchanged.

The fact that individuals can only purchase two of their FICO credit scores while lenders can still access all three has not only outraged consumers across the country, but also many consumer advocacy groups and representatives in Congress. If any credit bureau wants to sell their credit scores to lenders, consumers should have the ability to purchase those same scores too. It's only fair, right?  There needs to be a level playing field between consumers and creditors.

How Closed Credit Cards Affect Your Credit Score

December 8th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

creditcards Dear Creditnet: I haven't used my credit card in a long time, and I think they may have closed it on me. The expiration date on my card passed a few months ago, and they didn't send me a new one. It had a pretty large credit line. Was my credit score dinged? Answer: You never received a replacement credit card in the mail, but that doesn't necessarily mean your account was closed. The bank may have made an error and failed to send a new card, or perhaps the card was lost in the mail? You need to do some legwork first to determine the true status of your account.

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