Against Closed Eyes In Marketing

What does “Credit Score” mean? A measure of credit risk calculated from a credit report using a standardized formula. Factors that can damage a credit score include late payments, absence of credit references, and unfavorable credit card use. Lenders may use a credit score to determine whether to provide a loan and what rate to charge.

Do you know what your credit score is? You won’t know what you need to do to improve your credit score unless you first know what your credit score is. To find out, order a copy of your credit report. An amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the major nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit reports, at your request, once every 12 months.

To order your free annual report from one or all the national consumer reporting companies, visit http://www.annualcreditreport.com , call toll-free 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. You can print the form from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually; they provide free annual credit reports only through http://www.annualcreditreport.com , 877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

Under federal law, you’re also entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, such as denying your application for credit, insurance or employment, and you request your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company that supplied the information about you. You’re also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; you’re on welfare; or your report is inaccurate because of fraud. Otherwise, a consumer reporting company may charge you up to $9.50 for any other copies of your report.

To buy a copy of your report, contact:

Equifax: 800-685-1111; www.equifax.com

Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742); www.experian.com

TransUnion: 800-916-8800; www.transunion.com

For more information about credit card debt, identity theft, raising your credit score, obtaining credit cards, and more you can also go to http://creditcards.youngparentsmagazine.com

Under state law, consumers in Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont already have free access to their credit reports.

If you ask, only the last four digits of your Social Security number will appear on your credit reports.

What can I do to improve my Credit Score?

Pay your bills on time. This is the big number one! It’s always good to pay your bills on time and that keeps your credit score healthy. It is especially important that all of your recent bills have been paid on time if you intend to apply for new credit or a new loan. Recent late payments weigh against your credit score tremendously.

Don’t close or open credit card accounts near loan time. A good rule of thumb is do not open any credit accounts near a time when you will be applying for a loan. It can lower your credit score, especially if you do not have a proven track record. What’s more, a new account will lower the average age of your accounts, another factor in your FICO score. (FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac Credit Organization) If you have several credit card accounts but are only using a few of them, you’ll raise your balance-to-limit ratio if you close the unused ones.

Pay off debt rather than moving debt to other places. The ratio of your credit card balance versus your credit limit is the key, so, closing out an account and transferring the balance someplace else simply means you increase that ratio, which is more than likely to lower your score.

Example: You owe a total of $1000 on four credit cards, each of which has a $1,000 limit. Your total credit limit is $4,000, of which your total balance ($1,000) accounts for 25 percent. If you transfer all your balances to two cards and cancel the other two, your total credit limit is reduced to $2,000, and your $1,000 balance now accounts for 50 percent of that limit.

Reduce your credit card balances. A heavily weighed factor in your FICO score is how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Generally, it’s good to keep your balances at or below 25 percent of your credit card limit, said Jeanne Kelly, founder of The Kelly Group in Brookfield, Conn., which helps clients improve their credit scores.

Examine your billing statements for errors. This is a commonly overlooked place to reduce debt. Companies do make mistakes. This includes examining all of your bills, not just your credit card bills. Jennifer Tarzian wrote more about this at http://www.youngparentsmagazine.com You’d be surprised at how much money you recover due to correcting common billing mistakes.

Correct blatant mistakes in your credit report. Your credit score is only as good as what shows up in your credit report. Review your reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once a year as well as several months before applying for a loan. Changing a mistake on your report - such as a payment that is wrongly labeled as late — can take 30 days to three months, sometimes longer. The way to obtain your credit score and report is listed above in this article.

Healthy credit is important in today’s day and age. More information sharing between companies has been made easier due to new technology, so any blemishes on your credit will be known by all credit reporting agencies almost immediately. Keeping up with your credit score and taking steps to improve you credit score is essential, so take the time.

For more information about how to obtain credit cards, get credit reports, reduce credit card debt, or prevent Identity Theft, go to creditcards.youngparentsmagazine.com Jennifer Tarzian also has a lot of information at www.youngparentsmagazine.com for young parents you can use. Chris McElroy has been an advocate for consumer rights on the Internet since 1995 and also runs a missing children’s organization at www.kidsearchnetwork.org

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At this time many people have come to represent a social status, in essence many people believe that by dragging out their credit card upon making a purchase, they somehow are signifying their status within society. Essentially most people make use of their credit cards for a variety of things without giving real thought to the implications that could happen in the future from doing so. Many people who carry credit cards, also have the enormous debt that goes along with it. It is said that an average family will carry more than seven thousand dollars in credit card debt alone and is being charged around one thousand dollars in interest alone on a yearly basis. The one thousand dollars that is spend on the interest, could be more useful in other areas such as savings, investments, or paying other bills, instead of essentially flushing it down the drain because you use the credit card for all purposes.

The best way to eliminate your debt made with credit cards is to simply cease in using them. If you carry more than one, you should choose the card that has an interest rate that is lower than the others and only use that one for emergencies. This card again should only be used in the event of an emergency. Another way to accomplish the elimination of credit card debt, is to begin to pay them off. Sit down and make a list of all the debts you have and the amount you have to pay on a monthly basis for each. You should begin by paying off the debt of the lowest amount first, once you have paid that one off. Take the same amount and begin to pay off the next one up and continue until you have paid them all off.

Another step you can take is to begin by paying off the credit card that maintains the highest interest first or take into consideration consolidating the debt you have by using a loan that carries low interest, such as a home loan. By using these tips in eliminating your credit card debt you could begin to take control of the financial aspects of your life, it is important that you completely understand that the use of your credit card on frivolous items, could result in financial peril.

Jeff Lakie is a contributing author at our website where
You can get a free
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It is very easy to find a site that is neat, professional-looking, and one that offers a free three-agency credit report and free credit report without a credit card.

This scam is too good to be true. Usually the only catch is an upfront charge to the consumer of $7.95 or something similar for each disputed item on your report. I was on the verge of signing up, but got a sneaking suspicion that something wasn’t right.

Every other site I’d seen offered an Equifax report for free, and a three-agency report for around $35. How could they offer it for free, and How could anyone get a free credit report without a credit card?

Skeptical, I researched the company and found multiple complaints. One of the prominent ones was a claim that they disputed every negative entry on your credit report without your approval, and then charged you $7.95 for each one.

I requested an explanation of the above link to give them a chance to share their side of the story. While I awaited their response I continued my research.

The Department of Justice says there is nothing a credit repair agency can do that you can’t do for free, making Clear Credit’s offer seem even more suspicious.

Almost all of the other sites I found made it clear that you should be suspicious of anyone claiming to improve your credit for a fee and offering free credit report without a credit card, because non-profit groups are available to help people with credit trouble.

My hopes were dashed in a matter of days. I received two e-mails from Clear Credit, but they didn’t contain an explanation. They told me to act now to improve my credit.

They spam a potential customer who made a perfectly legitimate request for more information. I was not impressed.

My search to find a quality three-agency credit report for a low price will continue, but Clear Credit is clearly off the list.

John Parsons is founder of http://CorporateNarc.Com. The mission of http://www.CorporateNarc.Com is to educate the public in consumer affairs and to provide consumers with up-to-date business information. In addition we hope to ensure better services for the consumer by exposing business fraud and corruption, as well as unfair and deceptive business practices.

This article my be reproduced as long as the author’s name and url to http://www.Corporatenarc.com are present at the end of the article.

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When you are deciding what type of credit card to get it is important to compare credit cards to each other and find the best deal for you. There are a variety of different credit cards available, from low interest cards, cash back cards and even reward credit cards, it’s hard to decide what exactly the best credit cards are.

The best credit cards are generally going to have a few things in common. The first thing, being a low interest rate. Low interest cards can save you money over time, by not requiring you to pay large amounts of interest on your purchases. Some of the best credit cards in addition to offering a low interest rate will be reward credit cards. Reward credit card will give the user some sort of incentive for choosing their card to make a purchase rather than another. Rewards can vary from cash back to gift certificates at your favorite department store. Some cards will even offer actual merchandise or trips as rewards for using the card.

Compare different offers you receive for credit cards in the mail, and look for the credit card offer which is giving you the most perks for the least amount of money. Be sure to pay special attention to any membership or annual fees that the card may charge. Often credit cards with fantastic rewards will come at fantastic prices.

Jeff Altmire is the author of this article. This article may be reproduced on websites subject to credit being given to the author, and a link to this website. If you would like more information go to http://www.best-credit-card-cards.com

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Your Credit Score is one of your biggest financial assets. If your credit score is high, your borrowing rates will be low and therefore save you hundreds of dollars. The big mystery is how to maintain a high credit score. Well if you want to either maintain or repair your credit score, you are in luck, it can take as little as two months to raise your credit rating.

Your credit score is based on a few prime factors, there is no particular order in which I will discuss them (Some of them have higher weights in regards to the score). Repayment history, current debt owed, recent credit checks, and registered income (there are other factors as well). In order to repair or raise your score you may follow a few of the steps provided below.

1.) Pay off all revolving credit cards. Revolving credit cards are like Discover card or any other monthly credit cards. Even though you might pay before the deadline, credit card companies report the debt owed on a monthly basis which may be before the deadline. On your credit score it will not show as bad debt, but it will decrease your overall score. The standard recommendations are as follows. If you have one credit card, pay it off before the months end. Second, if you have two credit cards, pay the minimum on both of them and work on paying in full one of them first.
2.) Registered Income. This is your official salary from work. Basically the numbers they crunch are matched with what you earn. If you debt is larger than what you earn, your credit score is lowered. So, if you are an independent contractor or your income is just a little too low get a part time job. This will rise your potential earnings and increase your ability to repay your debt and therefore increase your credit score.
3.) Check your credit score online with one of the official companies to see what or why your credit score is the level it is. This will help you determine what you can really do to increase your credit score.
4.) Do not apply for every car, credit card, and home that you are looking at as an eager consumer. Because every time you try to purchase a home, car, or get a new credit card your credit score is checked and the crediting agencies lower your score if you have had two or three credit checks withing a few months of each other.
5.) Lastly, open a savings account and budget your money accordingly that you will always have extra cash to help in times of need.

Protect your credit score because it can mean everything when buying a home or trying to get some capital for whatever purpose you need it for. It is not hard to raise your credit score, it is hard to maintain it. If you can purchase a credit score monitoring service, it will protect you from fraud and help inform you of ways to increase your credit score when needed.

For more credit repair advices, please visit Credit Repair Advices

Your Credit Score is one of your biggest financial assets. If your credit score is high, your borrowing rates will be low and therefore save you hundreds of dollars. The big mystery is how to maintain a high credit score, continue to read to find ways to improve your credit score

For more credit repair advices, please visit Credit Repair Advices

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Have you ever seen an ad that read, “Repair Your Credit -Guaranteed!” or “Perfect Credit in 30 Days!” or some similar ad? Sounds great. Who doesn’t want a better credit rating?

Good credit allows for better interest rates on mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, insurance rates and much more. Is your credit score slowing you down? Wouldn’t life be wonderful if that score could be improved? How can this be done?

There are different ways to improve credit scores.

Build Good Credit

This means pay your bills on time, pay off any legitimate outstanding collections and use credit judiciously. Close any revolving accounts you are not using. Don’t consolidate and pay off bills. That could likely raise your score. It is better to have a small balance (about 30% of the credit limit) than to have a bunch of balances at zero thereby having a lot of available credit and one new “maxed-out” loan. Do not let anyone “pull” your credit report unless it is necessary. Inquires on your report by creditors can lower your score from 3 to 7 points each time. When a consumer pulls their own report it does not affect the score.
Here are the web addresses of the three credit agencies where you can order a copy of your report. www.experian.com, www.equifax.com and www.beacon.com. You may also want to visit www.myfico.com for more information concerning how to raise your credit score.

Challenge Derogatory Items

Once you view your report and find any inaccuracies you should immediately contact the creditor and “challenge” it. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides options for the consumer when the information and accuracy of items in the report is incorrect. All information must be proven correct within 30 days of receipt of your request to the creditor and or they must remove it from the report.
Creditors and credit reporting agencies do not make it easy to correct problems. Don’t let them confuse you and give you the runaround. Don’t give up. Keep copies of all correspondence and follow up. If you feel this may be too much to tackle on your own then you may want to speak with a credit repair company.

Credit Repair Companies

Credit repair companies have received a bad name recently. But there are reputable companies out there. You may want to explore what options they offer. They are familiar with procedures and laws and they may be able to deal more effectively with the bureaus and creditors. Discuss in detail with them how they intend to improve your credit score. Get nervous if they mention a change of names or how to obtain a new social security number.Be wary of anyone that offer claims that sound too good to be true.

Consumer Credit Counseling

There is a difference between Credit Repair and Consumer Credit Counseling services. Credit repair is just that, repairing credit. Consumer Credit counseling services are usually non-profit agencies that help you negotiate with credit grantors to accept smaller payments over an extended amount of time. Consumer Credit Counseling can adversely affect credit scores because partial payments may be reported as late payments.

Once a credit report has changed it may take up to 60 days to see the score change. Some mortgage brokers and lenders have the ability to have your score updated immediately. This is called Rapid Rescoring and there may be a small charge. Discuss this option with your lender.

Remember, be pro-active about your credit history. Get the credit you deserve.

Adrian Skiles, GML

Mr. Skiles, GML has over 20 years experience in the mortgage and real estate industry. He is currently President/Broker of Florida MortgageGroup, Atlanta Mortgage Group and The Mortgage Group of North Carolina. On the web at http://www.efloridamortgagegroup.com, http://www.atlantamortgagegroup.com/ and http://www.mortgages-northcarolina.com/.

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While credit cards can be extremely useful, you have to be careful. It’s not hard to run up a balance, and there can be hidden fees you won’t find out about until it’s too late. This section will show you what to look out for.

If you use your card responsibly and read the fine print, everything should be fine.

It’s Easy to Get Carried Away
If you are just getting your first credit card, it will be tempting to spend more than you can afford. Actually, it will be very tempting! Credit card companies know this, which is why most student cards have low initial credit limits of $200-600.

Some students get into serious debt problems before they even graduate. The best way to avoid this is to never get in the habit of buying things you can’t afford.

Remember, using a credit card is like spending cash, you are just paying the cash at a later date.

High Interest Rates
Your first credit card will likely have an interest rate above 20%. Without a credit history, you are considered high-risk by the credit card company, so you’re stuck with a high rate to start. Just don’t miss a payment or screw up - the rate will jump up even more!

Think about this: If you put $500 worth of books on a credit card at 18% interest, made monthly payments of $20, and charged nothing else to that card, it would take 2 years and 7 months to pay off that debt. Those $500 of books would end up costing you $619.50!

To sum it up, you really don’t want to carry a balance at 20% interest!

Low Introductory Rates
Sometimes, card companies will try to disguise the high interest rate by offering a low introductory rate. This will eventually (sometimes quickly) switch to your normal, high rate. You need to watch out because the company could end the introductory rate without you even knowing.

Unsolicited Offers
If you’re a student, remember how you got tons of college brochures in the mail? Well, now those will be replaced with credit card offers. You’ll also get them via e-mail.

If you’re looking at an online application, be sure that is isn’t a fake. Lots of scam artists are setting up fake applications that will allow them access to all of your personal data. Make sure that there is contact information provided and that the website is secure.

Hidden Fees
It’s pretty obvious that there will be a late payment fee on your card, but there are other fees you don’t even think of. You can get charged for charging over your limit, which will usually be $20-$35, similar to the late payment fee.

Any cash advances will have extra fees, too. That, or they will be subject to a higher interest rate than you normally pay. If you ever get a check in with your credit card invoice, it’s usually for a cash advance and has extra fees. Be warned!

Some cards give you the option to pay straight from your bank account. This makes it easier for everyone. However, some card companies will actually charge you $3-$9 for this. That’s absurd! You are paying extra to make it more convenient for them.

In The End
A credit card can be a great way to get started building your credit history. However, if you screw-up, it could have lasting affects. Just make sure that you are ready for the responsibility!

Ray Barbone is a writer on many subject matters. Find out more information about credit management at New2Credit.

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Do you know your credit score? If not, you should check it out before you make any more loan applications or credit card requests. Credit scores range from approximately 350 to 850. Provided yours is over 680 you are considered a “prime borrower” and so will be offered the lowest interest rates on your loan. Below this figure and down to 560 you fall into the “sub-prime” group and have to pay a considerably higher rate. Below 560 you will have difficulty in getting any loan and, even if you do, it will be at an exceptionally high rate of interest.

Your credit score is calculated using the FICO rating system which is named after Fair Isaacs and Co, the firm that devised the method. Five factors are considered in calculating the score, but some of these are more important than others. I have listed these below in order of importance.

35% Payment History. This is your record of payments where any late instalments or missed payments are recorded. As you can see this is the most important of the five factors making up your credit score so you need to make every effort to pay on time.

30% Amount Owed. This factor looks at the total outstanding balances on all your loans and cards and also the proportion of your approved credit that you are actually using. Someone who has several cards which are all near their limit will clearly have a lower score than a person whose outstanding balance is only (say) 30% of the approved credit figure.

15% Length of Credit History. Generally speaking the longer credit history you have, the higher your score. For this reason you should always think twice before closing an old account.

10% Type of Credit. Your score will be boosted if you have a variety of borrowings, eg mortgage, student loan, car loan, credit card, rather than just one or two.

10% New Credit. This factor looks at your recent credit history. This is where making a large number of applications can have a detrimental effect. However since this factor only has a 10% weighting, it is less important than sometimes thought.

Awareness of the five factors that are considered in arriving at your credit score will enable you to make sensible decisions in handling your credit.

Hugh Harris-Evans is an author and the webmaster of CreditCardCleanup.com where you will learn all you need to know about credit cards and how to keep out of trouble.
http://www.creditcardcleanup.com

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For small business credit card getting a sense out of a deal is, in some instances, the most difficult thing to do. This is because most people could not instantly figure out the benefits they can derive from obtaining it.

Take for example the case of small business credit card. Some people contend that business credit cards are crucial in the growth of a business, while other s contend that it is just one way of losing their investments.

But whatever the point there is, only one this is certain, it is still a credit card and just like any financial decisions, extensive consideration is a must.

So, for those who want to know whether getting a small business credit card will be good for their company, here are some of the pros and cons to be considered first.

PROS

1. It is efficient and provides management on the company’s financial charges.

With the small business credit card, most entrepreneurs can manipulate their costs and payments through separate charges consolidation. This means that the company will only have one billing statement with details on the employees’ expenses instead of having various statements and invoices.

2. small business credit card provide their client’s with the opportunity to curb overspending in their employees.

Because the business owners are given the right to “preset’ the credit limit of their employees, they are able to impede any probable overspending of their employees instead. This, in turn, poses great discipline among the people.

The statements that go to the manager or to the financial administrator are in full details of all the financial transactions incurred at a specific time. Hence, the company can track down the kind of spending habits of their employees.

CONS

1. It is still a credit card.

This means that even if it is a company’s property, employees will still have the tendency to over spend or splurge into more cashless shopping. This can be very risky especially to business management who is primarily the one responsible for the accounts.

2. Any errors or faults can damage credit ratings.

If credit history is very important to common individuals, it has a greater impact on businesses. So, if something goes wrong with their business credit card, the effect is mostly imposed on the business rather on the employee.

So, what’s the bottom line here? As compared to other types of credit, it is always best to monitor the spending habits. Credit cards can really be feasible where it serve its purpose, but can also do more harm than good if misused and taken for granted.

Sohel Katir - www.credit-card-magazine.com

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In regards to Revolving Credit (Credit cards, etc.):

Pay down the balances to within 20-30% of your total credit limit. This should help to boost your scores. If you do not have the money to pay this down, call your credit card companies up and ask for a limit increase… this will automatically allow your debt to limit percentage to lower. If you do not have any revolving credit, get some! Don’t be afraid of credit cards. If used properly they are very effective tools!

In regards to Installment Loans:

If you have ANY loans with high risk lenders (i.e. American General Finance, Well Fargo Finance or any other company with “Finance” in their name) pay them off quickly, or borrow from your local bank / credit union to pay them off as soon as possible. Due to the risky nature of these lenders, the fact that you have this type of loan will hurt your scores. Paying them off will certainly boost your scores.

In regards to credit mix:

Make sure you have a balanced mix of types of credit… in other words, you should have 1-2 credit cards, 1-2 loans and possibly a mortgage. This type of credit mix shows good balance in credit. With a good payment history, a healthy score will be right around the corner.

One last tip:

Although the big 3 credit bureaus claim it does nothing to improve your score, mortgage lenders across the US swear that they have found that by requesting to opt out of the credit bureaus mailing lists (that they sell!) you may see a boost in scores in about 10 days… usually small, but it might push you over the goal you need. The three major credit bureaus have one site in which you can request to be opted out of the “pre-approved offers.” That site is located at optoutprescreen.com.

About the author: Ed Nailor is a webmaster, writer and works in the financial and credit fields. His websites, BestNewCreditCards.com, OrchardBankApproval.com and PlasticPlatinum.com have the most current credit card offers online. Each card has a comprehensive review, details about each offer, and a link to the site for instant online applications. For more information on home mortgages in North and South Carolina, or to contact Ed Nailor directly, visit his website at DropRent.com

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