Credit Scores

Credit Scores

3 Credit lessons Every 18 Year-Old Should Learn

February 17th, 2016 by Joshua Heckathorn
The public school system doesn’t teach young adults how to use credit wisely. The responsibility to teach youth how credit works and how to use it wisely falls upon the heads of parents, but the fact is most parents either have no clue themselves or simply never take the time to pass this knowledge along to their children.

FICO Score 9: Paid vs Unpaid Collections

August 9th, 2016 by Joshua Heckathorn
90 percent of lenders still use FICO scores in some way when assessing your risk as a borrower. So if you have any interest in ever getting approved for a high limit credit card, auto loan, or a mortgage, it's a wise financial move to know where your FICO scores stand and what you can do to improve them.

Will Paying A Collection in Full Improve Credit Scores?

June 23rd, 2016 by Joshua Heckathorn
Will paying a collection account off in full improve one's credit scores?

I feel like I've answered this question hundreds of times over the past 8 years as I've moderated our Credit Talk Forum. But when I was asked the same question last week by a close friend, it once again reminded me just how confused the average consumer remains regarding collections and how they affect credit scores.

What's a "Good" FICO Score?

January 21st, 2016 by Joshua Heckathorn

Like it or not, FICO scores have become extremely important numbers in our lives.  So much so that I often refer to them as our "personal reputation" in the financial world. Disregard your FICO scores, and you may find it extremely difficult to get approved for anything from apartment rentals, auto loans, and home loans, to a new rewards credit card.  Even insurance companies are taking a look at your FICO scores these days to determine if you're a risk worth taking, so there's no doubt that keeping your scores in tip-top shape can save you a lot of hassle and money in the future.

All You Need to Know About FICO 9

September 9th, 2014 by Alice Bryant
FICO is the source most lenders use to determine a borrower’s credit score. FICO uses an extensive formula intended to assist financial organizations with making high-volume, complex financial decisions. However, FICO recently announced a new formula called FICO Score 9. Unlike the current model, FICO 9 will remove collection agency accounts which were settled or paid in full. The new formula also distinguishes between medical debt and other forms of unpaid debt.
 

10 Cities with the Top Credit Scores

August 14th, 2014 by Alice Bryant

Basically, one's credit score is a three-digit number that can be generated by a professional mathematical algorithm. It is used in order to help predict if one is at risk of failing to pay back on loans issued to them. The most popular type of credit score is the FICO score, and these scores have a range from 300 to 850. Using this system, lenders can get a better grasp on if people that are asking to lend money are more likely to pay them back or not as they are supposed to.

Credit Cards That Offer Free Monthly FICO Credit Scores

December 3rd, 2013 by Alice Bryant

Knowing your credit score is very important to maintaining good credit. However, many people don’t understand how to go about finding their score. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place where you can get your credit report for free, but this report can only be retrieved once per year. It used to be that the only way to get a genuine FICO credit score every month was to pay a service such as MyFICO.com or Equifax. Normally it costs between $10 and $20 per month.

Top 5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft (and a little-known 6th)

November 4th, 2013 by Kimberly Rotter

Falling victim to identity theft is no joke. At its mildest, a small-time crook who finds your lost wallet is able to make a few purchases before the credit cards are canceled. The credit card issuers relieve you of any responsibility for the fraudulent charges and you're left with only the creepy knowledge that someone out there might still be carrying around your driver's license and pictures of your kids.

How well do you know credit? Take the VantageScore Credit Quiz and find out!

May 22nd, 2013 by Jason Bushey

I was on CBS News this morning when an article by Kathy Kristof caught my eye. The subject was "What hurts your credit?" and, as she states right there in the title, "many have no clue."

What's a Bad Credit Score?

August 13th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

A few weeks ago I wrote about what "fair credit" means in the credit-scoring world, so I thought it would be a good idea to follow up on that post with a brief explanation of what "bad credit" means as well. After all, there's often a very fine line these days which separates the two categories. If you have bad credit, you're probably aware of the fact that your credit isn't stellar. But just how bad is it? Is it bad, poor, fair, or just below average? Well, to answer these questions you first need to take a close look at your real FICO scores.  I'm not talking about all the so-called "free" credit scores you can get your hands on by signing up for some random credit monitoring product or paying a few extra bucks to the credit bureaus after pulling your free credit reports.  Those scores are practically worthless and should only be used if you can get the scores for free too.

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