Credit scores can be confusing at best. There is a lot of information floating around about credit and scores that just simply aren’t correct. So let’s start out the year by de bunking some of the “myths” that I constantly get questions about. Opting out will help a credit score. No it won’t. The bureaus … Read more
Fair Isaac Company (FICO) along with Experian and data aggregator Finicity announced last week that starting in January 2019 they will begin pilot testing a new credit score called “UltraFICO.” In addition to the information the scoring models already take into consideration, this new score will also factor in the money a consumer has in … Read more
Opting Out by Mindy Leisure Does “opting out” really help your credit score? For years I have had people tell me their clients opted out and it increased their credit score by 10 or more points. In reality this is a myth. Opting out has no bearing whatsoever on a person’s credit score. What is … Read more
There are many obvious actions that can cause a credit score to drop such as making late payments, maxing out a credit card, etc. But there is one seemingly innocent action that you’ve probably never thought of that could drop a credit score by 20 or 30 points. It may seem like a harmless thing … Read more
Late payments and revolving balances are the two things that can do the most damage to a credit score. Having a late payment show up on your credit report probably makes sense but can revolving balances really have as much of a negative impact as a late payment? Absolutely. Let’s look at late payments first. … Read more
A “Rescore” is the updating of information on a credit report at the bureau level in an expedited manner. It is not credit repair and it is not a manipulation of the credit report. Eventually the changes that are made through a rescore would be reported at the bureau level by the creditor. A rescore … Read more
The simple answer is yes. Just because a creditor charges off a debt does not mean you don’t still owe it, even if you’ve received a 1099 for it. You are still liable for the entire debt. And the creditor can legally continue to try to collect on it for 7 years from the date … Read more
It’s that time of year again. Christmas music, holiday lights, beautifully decorated trees and lots and lots of presents. It’s also the time of year when a lot of consumer’s credit scores drop the most. This could take the entire next year, if not longer, from which to recover. This is especially true if the … Read more