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credit-scores
credit-scores
Does A Bad Credit Score Mean You'll Be Bad At Your Job?
By Chris Morran on November 10, 2011 3:30 PM
160 Comments
A growing number of employers are running credit checks on potential hires before making a job offer. Unfortunately, there are a large number of people out there whose credit reports are still marred by the recent and ongoing economic troubles. So does it make sense to consider an applicant's credit history? More »
How Lower Credit Scores Cost You More Money
By Ben Popken on November 3, 2011 2:00 PM
54 Comments
People talk a lot about credit scores. Bands play songs about them in TV ads that try to sell you credit reports. It's generally known that a higher score is better than a lower score. But what really is the difference between a person with a 820 and one with a 620? Is one a better person than the other? Not necessarily, but the person with the 620 score can expect to pay $227 more a month on a $216,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Here's the breakdown. More »
Freeze Your Credit Report
By Ben Popken on October 6, 2011 3:00 PM
52 Comments
One way to protect yourself from identity theft is to "freeze" your credit report. This means that no new lines of credit can be opened in your name because lenders are prevented from taking a look at your credit report. This stops identity thieves from opening credit cards under your name and going on spending sprees. It also means extra hassle for you when you want to legitimately open credit. There's always a tradeoff between security and convenience. Here's how to do it. More »
(WI-LO)
Quick Fixes To Up Your Credit Score
By Phil Villarreal on August 26, 2011 1:30 PM
54 Comments
Sweeping things you can do to improve your credit score, such as paying off large loans, aren't the only moves you can make to appear more attractive to lenders. Small, immediate fixes to your personal finances can go a long way toward your goal. More »
(dooley)
Denied For A Credit Card Or Loan? Lenders Will Soon Have To Show You Your Credit Score & More
By Chris Morran on July 6, 2011 3:15 PM
43 Comments
If you've ever been turned down for a credit card, auto or student loan — or maybe your application was accepted but you didn't get the best interest rate — and wanted to see a copy of the actual credit score used in the lender's decision-making process, you were probably out of luck. But starting July 21 lenders will be required to show you the score. More »
Get A Free FICO-esque Score From Credit Sesame
By Ben Popken on June 7, 2011 1:00 PM
29 Comments
Credit Sesame is an advertising-supported service that gets you your credit score for free. No hidden fees, singers in Renaissance garb or gotchas. It's not quite your FICO, but it's close. More »
TransUnion Wants You To Share Your Credit Score On Facebook
By Laura Northrup on May 27, 2011 11:30 AM
52 Comments
Social media may have created a culture of over-sharing, but what's too personal to share with your Facebook friends? Michael was checking his credit report, and was surprised to see a "Share on Facebook" button directly below his credit score. More »
Trying To Ruin Your Ex's Credit Score Is Not A Good Way Of Getting Revenge
By Chris Morran on May 4, 2011 2:15 PM
77 Comments
When a romance goes south, it's not unheard of for at least one of the parties involved to begin dreaming up clever ways to continue making the other person's life hell. And one thing you definitely don't want to do is try to screw with your ex's credit score. More »
Someone Explain To Experian How American Express Cards Work
By Laura Northrup on April 21, 2011 11:45 AM
58 Comments
How does American Express work? Michael writes that Experian doesn't seem to understand how the company's credit limits work. His card technically has no limit, and this confuses Experian. They coped with the confusion by showing that instead of having theoretically infinite available credit, he had $0, making his pristine record look pretty bad to potential lenders. More »
Being 30 Days Late On House Payment Can Knock 100 Points Off Credit Score
By Ben Popken on April 15, 2011 1:00 PM
52 Comments
Usually very closed-mouth about how it calculates scores, FICO released a whole bunch of data about how being late on your mortgage payments affects your credit score. For instance, being 30 days later on a mortgage payment can chop your 780 credit score down to 670. And a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will hurt your score just as bad as a foreclosure if the service reports it as having a deficiency amount or an unpaid balance. Yikes! Here's some sexy tables with more details: More »
Get A Bad Deal On Your Loan? Now You'll Know Why
By Ben Popken on April 14, 2011 3:00 PM
68 Comments
If you applied for a loan and got denied or received a higher interest rate than other borrowers with better credit scores, starting July 21st, the lender has to send you a free copy of your credit score. More »
(altemark)
Want Just A Credit Report From TransUnion? Too Bad
By Laura Northrup on March 8, 2011 10:00 AM
61 Comments
Michael wanted to pay a copy of his Transunion credit report. In theory, this shouldn't be a problem: he gives Transunion money, they give him a credit report. If only it worked that way. It turns out that just buying a single copy of your report from Transunion is like trying to buy a mobile phone in America from a retail store: you can get it for "free" with a subscription to monitoring service, or as part of a package deal with other services, but you can't just hand over cash for a credit report. More »
Capital One Burrows Into Your Wallet, Makes Your Life Hell
By Laura Northrup on February 22, 2011 1:00 PM
32 Comments
Gerard, now 26, has spent his entire adult life fighting with Capital One. No, we are not exaggerating: he got his first credit card with the company at age 18, and they have been causing him payment and credit-report headaches ever since. More »
(elle_emm)
Too Good To Be True Rental Listing Leads To Credit Score Scam
By Ben Popken on January 20, 2011 10:00 AM
37 Comments
We've been getting a few emails about a new kind of rental scam where they try to lure you into giving over your credit card and personal information to a "free credit score" site. One was from Reader Benjamin, who was looking for a house to rent when he and his wife stumbled across a too good to be true deal, a fully-furnished 3-bedroom house in Maryland for only $1200. Seeing as they had nothing to lose, they emailed the lister, just to see what would happen. More »
Man Wants Verizon FiOS, Keeps Getting Credit Score Dinged Instead
By Chris Walters on September 15, 2010 11:30 AM
27 Comments
Todd's subject line to us was, "Verizon FiOS hates me," and maybe he's right. Each time he tries to sign up for their package deal, they check his credit score, proceed with the sign-up process, then cancel everything at the last minute due to a "technical glitch." They say he can try a third time if he wants. More »
Convincing The Credit Bureaus I Wasn't Dead
By Ben Popken on September 9, 2010 10:00 AM
27 Comments
A writer for Slate shares the tell of her trying to convince Experian and Transunion that she is not deceased, as being dead is a bit of a problem when you're trying to buy an apartment. Transunion only took one phone call and one fax to Lazarus her, but Experian was an abyss of despair, until, out of the darkness, a ray of hope emerged... More »
Help, Expedia Sold My Chargeback To A Collection Agency!
By Chris Walters on August 23, 2010 10:30 AM
129 Comments
Ed and his wife successfully filed a chargeback against Expedia for a canceled trip earlier this year. Now he's being dunned by a collection agency for the amount that Amex refunded him. More »
Mortgage Broker Told Me To Open Up A Bunch Of Credit Cards, Should I?
By Ben Popken on August 4, 2010 1:00 PM
73 Comments
One of our readers is looking to buy a house and his mortgage broker suggested that he open up about four credit cards to establish some credit history. Should he? More »
25 Percent Of American Consumers Now Have Low Credit Scores
By Chris Walters on July 12, 2010 12:37 PM
53 Comments
Before the recession hit, roughly 15% of Americans had FICO credit scores below 600. But after the past couple of years of late payments, defaults, and foreclosures, that number has grown to 25%, or about 43 million people. At the same time, the number of people with excellent scores (800 to 850) has increased nearly 5% from pre-recession average, which the Associated Press says is partly a result of people cutting spending and working to pay off loans more quickly. More »
How To Dispute Credit Report Errors
By Ben Popken on June 24, 2010 11:00 AM
23 Comments
Over 80% of credit reports have errors on them, errors which could be lowering your credit score and keeping you from getting credit or paying more for it than you should. Here's how to fix them: More »
