How To Get Your Credit Score For Free

Want to know how to get hold of your Credit Score for free? Here you’ll find some tips and advice from an attorney.

The first thing to know is that you need to be truthful, but still cover over the bleakest part of your finances and accounts. Go into detail on any sickness, discharge, accidents, recovery and back taxes.

When you need to consider a bankruptcy, consider carefully. It is best if you don’t incur any other debt or credit after declaring, because if you do, you may not be able to discharge them in bankruptcy. Moreover, do not reveal where you are working or where you bank. You don’t want this information to cause you trouble should someone get a judgement against you — by providing this information you’ve made their task much, much simpler.

Cleanly answer the questions and queries but make no other comment. Rather than sending a check from your bank, get a money order or cashier's check so as to protect the name of your bank. What you want to do here is make your Credit Score zero. When you want to consider an attorney, always bear in mind that though an attorney carries influence and can do a fine job, they cost a lot of money. In addition, do not hire one unless you are indebted a great deal and have a sensible chance of a very fine deal.

If you do have to pay a lawyer, sometimes what you set aside in arrangement is what you lose in the end. And when you are contacted by more than one creditor for the same debt, it almost certainly means the debt was sold a second time and you have avoided the first collector very well. In other words, you’ve made yourself hard to get a hold of, so the debt has been able to get incredibly old debt already. Moreover, many secondary and tertiary collectors at this phase might be willing to accept 40-55 cents on the dollar and probably even less. When the collector agrees to resolve for less, be sure it is also designated on your credit report and statement.

In addition, you may have tax complication on the debt owed. And any write off of $500 or more is considered profits to you the consumer. The creditor will send you and the IRS a form towards the end of the tax year. So get out of your debt any way you can. If at all possible, struggle to work out a repayment plan to get out of your debts. And if it so happens that the interest rate is too high, and you can’t practically get out of debt for the next 5 or 6 years, you might want to consider credit counseling.

How To Get The Right Credit Score

Imagine that you are going into a lender's office prepared to apply for and receive a loan. You know what your credit scores are and you even got one score from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax. Experian, and TransUnion. You are shocked when your loan is denied, or maybe you were approved, but the interest rate is much higher than you anticipated. How can that be you say? My credit score is good, I know I checked. Maybe it's not as good as you think. It all depends on there you got it and what kind of credit score it is.

The fact is there are several different credit scoring methods. Credit scores calculated from the same credit reports can differ substantially from credit scoring method to credit scoring method. So how can you ever know what your credit score really is? Well, luckily, 75% percent of lenders use FICO scores exclusively and you can purchase FICO scores yourself--you just have to know where to go. ( myfico.com)

FICO credit scoring is a numeric method of scoring your credit worthiness developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Your credit score is a number between 300 and 850 that tells creditors how likely you are to pay your bills. The higher the number, the better it looks to potential lenders and creditors.

The three major credit bureaus each have their own version of the FICO score: 1Equifax uses the Beacon system, 2TransUnion uses the Empirica system, and 3Experian uses the Experian/Fair Isaac system. Despite each credit bureaus' use of their own versions, all systems are based the original Fair Isaac FICO scoring method, so each credit score calculated with these systems are generally called FICO scores. However, although most lenders do use FICO scoring, some lenders may have their own scoring methods.

Adding to the confusion is the credit bureaus themselves. Recently, Experian revealed that the national average credit score of its consumers is 678. This is very misleading to the average consumer. When you buy your credit report and score directly from Experians website, you are getting what they call the "PLUS Score," which is NOT a FICO score, and is NOT used by lenders anywhere. (Equifax is the exception--you can buy your FICO score directly from them at their website; however, the only place to get all three scores together is at myfico.com.) The 678 PLUS Score reported by Experian is actually the average of consumers' PLUS Scores, not their FICO Scores.

It can be clearly seen that the PLUS Score (and all Non-FICO scores) are useless. Not only that, but such hype misleads consumers into purchasing their PLUS Score thinking that they are getting the same credit score that their lender will use. Non-FICO scores are worthless not matter what the credit bureaus or any website selling non-FICO scores claim. Even a few points difference in your credit score can mean confronting the reality of the loss of thousands of dollars out of your pocket--a loss that you probably didn't plan for. The next time you want the most accurate credit score available, do yourself a favor and get the industry standard: the FICO credit score.

How to fix your credit score and qualify for a home loan

One might be wondering why some lenders turn down a mortgage application while some others might consider it fit for approval. The answer may well lie in the credit report and the credit score to be precise which plays a crucial role in loan sanctioning.

Credit history is an important factor affecting loan granting decisions by the lender or mortgagee. As part of the pre-approval process a detailed investigation is carried out into your financial history whereby the lender assesses your finances, your credit history and your investments. Your debt ratios are compared with the lender’s standard while deciding on the loan approval. Your level of debt or credit history is taken as a parameter for judging your ability to make the monthly repayments. The credit history as represented by your credit report plays a very crucial role since some lending institutions may even turn you down because of incompatibility with their lending standards. Too much debt and poor credit rating is a common reason cited for turning down a mortgage application.

At times your application may not be rejected altogether but you may have to settle for a loan amount lower than what you desired or expected. The other terms and conditions of the loan might also not have proved worthwhile for you. All these could have been avoided had you been a little more careful and vigilant while placing your documents about your personal finances as reflected by records of your earnings, monthly expenses and debts. Among these documents the credit report is of prime importance which reveals your credit score.

While considering your application the lender will also get to analyze your credit report. This provides all details about your financial history, payment records, total debts and bankruptcies (if any). This information is used to work out your credit score or FICO score (a rating of Fair Isaac and Company). This is a composite number-a numerical rating of your credit worthiness. These scores may range from 300-900. However, most people’s score fall between 600 and 700. Higher credit scores make you more appealing to the lender. Thus, you will be more likely to be offered better rates and loan terms.

A number of factors can affect the credit score. They can be broadly classified as:

a) The length of time you have had credit, outstanding credit, methods to repay this and how close you are to your credit limits.

b) Problems with credit which you may be having like late payments and bankruptcies. The number and frequencies of your delinquencies is to be considered.

It may be noted that almost 80% of credit reports contain errors. Getting for yourself a copy of the report beforehand will enable you to take steps for improving your score.You will be availed of the opportunity to review the report and rectify the score to quite an extent.

Some steps which can be taken in this regard are:

a) Finding out credit cards which are not needed anymore and closing the corresponding credit accounts.

b) Settling outstanding accounts, if any.

c) Paying out your bills, debt payments on time and in full and reduce your outstanding credit.

d) Verifying all listed account numbers and getting assured that they are yours.

It may be noted that minor credit problems or problems cropping up due to illnesses or temporary loss of income due to some unpredictable occurrence will restrict your chances of getting the aspired loan only from some high-cost lenders. Other lenders will hopefully be considerate enough to overlook such minor problems.

In spite of the best efforts there may still be certain negative indications in the report which could not be done away with. In such case you need to explain the situation to the lender. If at all it cannot be explained then, perhaps, you have to make greater down payments.

Getting to know how credit record affects loan prospects, proceed towards making improvements in your credit report. Your loan prospects will improve, no doubt. It will take you a long way towards securing your desired mortgage loan.

How to Evaluate and Raise Your Credit Score

Why do some people get offers for pre-approved credit cards and others don’t? What do car dealers know about your financial health that you don’t know? The answer is your credit score.

Your credit score is a number generated by a mathematical formula to estimate how likely you are to pay your bills. Based on the information in your credit reports from the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, your credit score has been a factor in your ability to qualify for loans and good interest rates for more than twenty years. Lenders compare your credit report with millions of others to determine your score.

While there are a variety of credit scoring methods available to lenders, the most widely used is the FICO score. Based on a scoring system developed by Fair, Isaac & Co., FICO scores range from approximately 300 to 800 points and are provided to lenders by the three credit bureaus. You also have access to your FICO scores but will be charged a fee by each credit agency providing your report.

According to Fair Isaac, the credit scores of the American public are divided as follows:

• 499 and below 1 percent
• 500-549 5 percent
• 550-599 7 percent
• 600-649 11 percent
• 650-699 16 percent
• 700-749 20 percent
• 749-799 29 percent
• 800 and above 11 percent

A score of 720 or higher will probably get you the best interest rates on a home mortgage. Your credit card company looks at your credit score to decide whether or not to raise your credit limit or charge you a higher interest rate. The higher your credit score, the better you look to lenders and the lower your interest rates.

Several factors affect your credit score including your payment history, the length of your credit history, any outstanding debt, how long and how often you’ve had derogatory credit information, such as bankruptcies, charge-offs, or collections, and the amount of credit you are using compared to the amount of credit available to you.

So how do you raise your credit score? Well, the first thing to do is to order a copy of your credit report with the score included from each of the three credit bureaus. Review your reports and note any discrepancies. Correcting blatant errors is the first step to repairing your credit, and changes can take up to three months to be recorded.

Next, remember to pay your bills on time. It may seem like a small thing at the time you’re writing that monthly check, but an accumulation of timely payments says a lot to a potential lender looking for a reliable client. Prompt payments in the last few months can actually make a big difference in your credit score.

While collections, bankruptcies, and late payments have the greatest negative effect on your credit score, your debt is a factor as well. Keeping your account balances between 25% and 50% of your available credit signals a responsible borrower. For example, if you have a credit card with a $2000 limit, keep your debt below $1000. For this reason, consolidating your credit card debt can actually lower your credit score, as it raises the ratio of your debt to your available credit. The best solution is to simply pay off your existing cards as quickly as possible.

Excessive inquiries over a short period of time also damage your score. When lenders, banks, or credit card companies check your credit report, the inquiries are recorded. Several of these “hard inquiries” in the same time period may signal to other lenders that you are opening multiple accounts due to financial difficulty.

If you discover that you have accounts on your report that you didn’t open, or your public records such as tax liens or judgments that are not yours, you may be a victim of identity fraud. It is up to you to deal with the damage that can happen to your credit score because of this criminal activity. Being aware is your first step, but when the items end up on your report, you have no alternative but to clean it up.

Overall, give yourself time to build a good credit score and even more time to correct serious problems. The length of your credit history is another determining factor in a good score. Lenders want to know that you are able to maintain prompt payments and good standing for a period of time. So check your reports yearly, do your due diligence, and your score can improve.

How I Raised My Credit Score 40 Points In 24hrs. And Saved $658 A Month In Interest

It’s never easy to talk about credit. Not with friends, not with family, not online, and, most of all, not with myself. Yes, I let a monthly payment go by here and there. I’ve maxed out my share of credit cards. I’ve bought cars that I really couldn’t afford. I ate out. A lot. At expensive restaurants. And I always ordered the lobster. I always knew, in the back of my head, that I was teetering on the brink of credit destruction. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to admit that my credit was going downhill. I continued applying for credit cards anyway. I didn’t want to run them up, honestly. It just happened.

One day, reality gave me a swift kick in the rear. I grew weary of renting, so I decided to pursue the proverbial American Dream and purchase a home. I sort of knew that my credit was troubled, but I kidded myself into thinking that it couldn’t be that bad. I went to a mortgage company to finance my dream. When I got there, I filled out an application, and they pulled my credit report. I truly was not prepared for what the loan officer said to me next. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, “your application has been declined.” I was absolutely stunned and numb. I could not believe my ears. My dreams were decimated in mere seconds. I left the office so dumbfounded that I didn’t even remember the drive home. I got back to the apartment and I torched every Homes For Sale magazine in the fireplace.

From that very moment, I resolved to clean up my act. Not knowing much about credit, I had to swallow the last ounce of pride I had and called up the loan officer I met with. They have general guidelines for approving mortgage loans, he explained. One of the major factors that go into an approval is your credit score. Quite simply, the higher your credit scores, the better your chances of being approved. What’s more, the higher your score, the better the terms of your mortgage; that is, better interest rates, better payments, and lower down payments to name but a few. In my particular case, my score was low. Their minimum requirement is a score of 620. My score was 604.

The only way that I could get an approval for a home loan, he said, was to raise my credit scores. The good news, he said, was that he could refer me to their sister company. They specialized in approving mortgages for people with challenged credit. In fact, they have been known to approve loans for people with scores as low as 500!

With a glimmer of hope, I contacted the company he spoke of, known as a “subprime lender.” Sure enough, they had good news for me. “We received your application from our sister company, and I’m happy to tell you that we are able to approve you for a mortgage!”

Something didn’t feel quite right, though, so I asked about the terms of the mortgage he approved. It turned out that their loan was going to cost me a whopping $7896.00 in additional interest for the first year, which amounted to roughly an extra $666.00 per month! That was about twice what I used to pay on my car. Think about that…because my scores were so low, I had to pay the equivalent of two car payments in order to purchase a house. Heck, I could’ve bought a Mercedes with that kind of money, although I probably wouldn’t have been approved for a car loan anyway. Not only would the extra interest have a disastrous impact on my bank account, it would price me completely out of my dream home – a terrifying thought indeed.

While I celebrated the approval, I shuddered at the terms. I begrudgingly went forward with the lending process. Although I loathed that extra interest, I hated the thought of not owning a home even more. In the meantime, I resolved to find another way. Either I could sign their loan and pay almost $8000 extra just in interest, or I could try again with the first company after raising my score. To me, the choice was clear. At the time, there wasn’t much I could afford anyway, let alone two cars’ worth of payments. I resolved not to pay any more than was absolutely necessary to purchase the house. I had to repair my credit! With no money in the bank and no room on my credit cards, I simply could not fathom spending $400-$500 on a credit repair agency. My creativity had to exceed my financial means for me to get the results I needed.

I was able to obtain a “tri-merge” credit report and found my aggregate scores were 604, 576, and 606. A tri-merge refers to a single credit report that contains information, including scores, from the three major credit reporting bureaus; namely, Experian (formerly TRW), Equifax, and TransUnion. Each has a unique formula for scoring your credit. Many mortgage companies will use a tri-merge report to determine whether your creditworthiness deserves an approval. Depending on the mortgage company, they will consider one of your three scores and go from there. In my case, the loan officer advised that I needed to get one of the numbers up to at least 620.

Throughout the course of my research, I found a lot of resources that explained the credit repair process. One of the most common methods is to write letters to the credit bureaus, disputing the erroneous information on my credit report that caused my scores to decline. In fact, the credit bureaus themselves explain this process. Basically, you scour your report and locate invalid entries, such as an incorrect credit limit, or even an entry that’s not yours. Then, you write a letter to the credit bureau explaining that the information is wrong and ask for it to be removed. If they manage to confirm that the entries are correct, then it stays on the report. If they can’t confirm it, off it goes. Make no mistake; this technique is quite effective if done correctly. The problem is credit bureaus, by law, have thirty days to investigate the information. That doesn’t even include the time it takes to mail my dispute, and for them to mail an answer back letting me know what happened. At best, it would take about 40 days before I knew anything. I simply could not wait that long. Plus, there was no guarantee that they would remove the information anyway.

Undaunted, I continued my quest to boost my credit scores quickly and inexpensively. Time was running out, however. The closing for the subprime mortgage was only days away. My persistence was rewarded when I managed to discover little-known methods that I utilized to increase my score. As a matter of fact, my Equifax score went from 604 to 644 in only 24 hours! Like a thermometer next to a blue-hot flame, my score shot up 40 points, literally, overnight. I went back to my loan officer, and he was flabbergasted. Never had he seen anyone raise their credit scores so quickly and dramatically. He put my application back through. Miraculously, I was approved!

I saved myself hundreds of dollars a month, and thousands of dollars a year by being able to raise my credit scores. The best part is that, because of the techniques I used, it only took a matter of days and not months like the credit bureaus would have you believe. There’s an adage that says “Cash is king.” These days, it’s more accurate to say that “Credit is king.” Your credit scores have so much impact on your life that it would be catastrophic to take them lightly. By raising your credit score, you can experience the same kinds of savings that I achieved. You’ll be able to better afford that dream home or dream car, and you’ll realize the benefits for years and years to come.

How Did Your Credit Score Today?

Keep Your Credit History Clean - Remove A Negative Credit Record From Your Credit Report.

It can make a difference of up to 18% in loan repayment costs.

For example, on a 30-year, $150,000 fixed rate mortgage, a borrower with the best credit score, 760-850, will pay 5.59%, or $860 per month, while someone in the worst score range will pay 7.18%, or $1,016 per month.

This can make a big difference to the household budget, so it's to your advantage to keep your credit score as low as possible.
The 3 major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union are similar and feature a "Credit Score", which is derived from credit report information submitted to them about you.

Uner the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a credit scoring system may not use characteristics such as race, sex, marital status, national origin or religion as factors, though they are allowed to use age.

Credit scores are determined by your bill-paying history, the number and type type of accounts you have, late payments, collection actions, and outstanding debt. The total number of points reflects how likely you are, statistically-speaking, to pay back a loan.

If you are denied credit, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act forces the creditor to tell you the specific reasons your loan application was denied if you ask within 60 days. Acceptable reasons include high balances on charge cards, or bad employment history. Unacceptable reasons include vague excuses such as "You didn't meet our minimum standards".

Sometimes you can be denied credit because of information on a credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the creditor to give you the contact information of the credit report agency supplying the information.

The credit reporting agency can give you the information on your report, but only the lender can tell you why this led to your application being refused.

However your credit report may include inaccurate or incomplete information (credit records). Identity theft is a growing problem, and can take up to a year to resolve.

Nearly 10 million people fall victim to identity theft each year, costing consumers $5 billion and businesses $48 billion, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In this situation you have to send letters to every one of the credit bureaus. Also learn your credit rights by familiarizing yourself with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA).

The FCRA gives you the right to dispute inaccuracies and omissions, and it requires credit bureaus to investigate your complaint (generally in thirty days), send you a prompt response and correct any errors.

The law as well requires the source of inaccurate information (such as a bank) to correct the record at the credit bureaus to which it initially provided the erroneous information.

Consumers working on their credit reports say many times their letters are ignored by credit bureaus. Consumers say even with proof a credit record isn't theirs, its removal from their credit report can take 3 or even 4 challenge letters, because the credit bureaus will have only corrected the facts in their own files and not updated the credit report.

Send your dispute letter by REGISTED MAIL. Credit companies will respond faster if they know you can prove you filed a complaint on a certain date. Keep a record of when you sent the dispute letters and what date you should expect a response.

If you have received no defense to your claim after thirty to thirty seven days, send another registered letter requesting an updated credit report and demanding the disputed credit record be deleted.

If the bureaus don't reply in the thirty days, it must be that the information they had on file was either inaccurate or unverifiable. In either case, based on data from the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit record must be immediately deleted from your credit report.

A few consumers have eliminated negative marks on credit reports just by going through this process of disputing credit records many times. Since some creditors will not take the time to respond, you can sometimes win by default.

Usually a bit of progress will be made with each challenge.Remember, the credit bureau would like you to quit bothering them because if you are not disputing the credit report, they can legally carry on selling it as profitable information.

Good FICO Credit Score? Tips To Getting The Most Out Of Your Home Mortgage Loan With Good Credit

Sometimes so much is talked about how to solve the problem of having bad credit, but what about when you have an excellent credit rating? Good credit is considered to be a credit score of 650 or higher. How can you get the best interest rate and loan terms to make your good credit history work for you? Even with excellent credit, you have to be careful not to get talked into a loan that may not be the best one you could qualify for.
Here are some tips to help you find the best loan for your great credit history:

1. Apply with as many mortgage companies online that will provide you with more than one quote per application, as long as they will not pull your credit with your application. If you are about to start applying for a mortgage, you don't want to have your credit pulled until you have narrowed down which mortgage company you want to work with. Every time your credit is pulled, your FICO credit score drops.

2. Talk to your lender about closing costs. If you have excellent credit, the lenders should be falling over themselves to get you a loan. Ask for special treatment. Find out what fees your broker or lender may be able to reduce or remove from your closing costs. Find out if they will match lower fees offered by another lender.

3. Make sure your lender is offering you excellent customer service. Are they returning your calls quickly? Are they answering all of your questions to your satisfaction? Have they thoroughly researched all of your loan options and offered you more than one possibility? If they haven't, you should probably look somewhere else. With good credit, you have no reason to be a quick, easy sale for a lender.

4. Research interest rates, mortgage information and articles online so that when your lender offers you a loan package, you will know about the fine print ahead of time. Whether you are purchasing for the first time or refinancing, it will help you to understand more about the mortgage process.