Credit Guide

Here are the top 7 questions we hear from consumers about credit reports and credit scores...

Card Consolidation Credit Debt 1. Will closing paid off credit card accounts improve my credit score?

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Credit Union This will surprise many of you, but closing paid off credit card accounts can actually hurt your score in two ways. In "Your Credit Score", Liz Pulliam Weston explains:

- New Personal Loan Gold Service (credit repair included) Clean Up Your Credit Report Remove negative items from your credit report and your credit score goes up!

Merchant Credit Guide Co A. Closing accounts can make your credit history look younger than it is. Your credit score factors in the age of your oldest account and the average age of all your accounts. So closing accounts, particularly older accounts can ding your score.

CreditReporting. FAQ's 3 Bureau Credit Report by Mail Q. Will my credit report include a score A. Our Standard 3 Bureau Credit Report does not include a score unless you order the 3 bureau scores option for an additional $9.95. Scores must be ordered with your credit report and cannot be ordered after your credit report order has been processed.

Apply Online For Credit Card B. Closing accounts reduces the total credit available to you, making your debt utilization ratio soar. Remember that the FICO formula measures the gap between the credit you use and your total credit limits. The wider the gap, the better. If you suddenly lower that limit by shutting down accounts, the gap narrows - and that's a bad thing.

Often lenders will make use of data from credit reporting agencies (bureaus) or their own internal data to come up with their unique credit score model. The two major credit reporting agencies in SA are Experian and TransUnion ITC and they have different information on their credit reports about you. That means that you will have two credit reports and two credit scores. Improve your credit score today

By Card Credit Debt Debt Guide 2. What's the best way to deal with a collection agency when you don't have the money to pay them?

FICO credit scores available on the Internet to consumers are much the same as credit scores from Fair Isaac. They are all trying to compute a number that measures how risky you are as a loan prospect based solely on the elements of your credit report. Credit bureau scores do not use your income, net worth, race, religion, sex, marital status, or age to compute your score. Credit bureau scores are only based on what's in your credit report.

Credit Repair The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act clearly states that you do not have to deal with credit or debt collectors. You can stop collectors from calling and writing with a "cease and desist" letter. This is short for "cease communication". Once this letter is received by your collector, they will no longer be able to legally contact you by phone, at work, by fax, by certified mail, by nothing.

Active Credit Credit Guide Of course, to improve your credit score, you will ultimately want to get the debt removed from your credit report by either getting the collector to agree to delete the item when you pay in full or by getting the credit bureau to delete the item.

Credit Score 3. Is there a limit to how many items I can dispute on my credit report?

Bad Car Credit Guide Loan Technically, no. But keep in mind that if you try and dispute 7, 10, or more items on your credit report at one time, you may not be taken seriously and the credit bureaus may respond telling you that your request is "frivolous and irrelevant."

Bad Credit Loan I recommend disputing no more than five or six items at a time.

Credit Definition Derivative 4. Is a 20 point increase in 72 hours possible?

Bad Credit Mortgage There are literally hundreds of "credit repair" outfits promising to drastically repair credit scores in as little as 24 - 72 hours. Is it a scam? Believe it or not, this is not a scam. Rapid rescoring services can and do help consumers up their credit scores rapidly. But, it may not be as easy as you think. Here's what I mean:

The Insider Guide To Credit Rapid re-rescoring agencies do not and cannot deal directly with consumers. They work with lending institutions. So you can't contact them directly to work on your behalf if you're a consumer.

Business Credit Card Rapid re-rescoring agencies cannot and do not simply "remove" negative items. That is, they can't magically erase legitimately negative items. If, however, you have proof of an error, a rapid re-rescoring agency can quickly get the item deleted. Such proof might include a letter from a creditor explaining that your debt is paid or was never yours.

Banker Complete Credit Guide Rapid re-rescoring agencies cannot delete any items that are in dispute. If you already have an item in dispute with one or all of the major credit bureaus, rapid re-scoring agencies cannot delete the item(s).

Credit Card Application 5. What is fastest way to improve my credit score?

Credit Guide Managing Pay your bills on time. Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on your score.

Credit Card Offer 6. Where can I get my credit reports and credit scores?

Merchant Credit Guide Company I get my scores from www.suzeorman.com. I like using Suze's site because with a few clicks of the mouse you can get all 3 reports (from the major bureaus) and your FICO score, plus a kit to help you improve your scores.

Bad Credit 7. Is personal information included on my credit report?

Collection Collection Complete Personal information such as your race, color, religion, national origin, sex and marital status is NOT included on your credit report.

Credit Counseling Myra Golden runs a credit score repair agency, a complete resource for improving your credit score. For credit score repair help, including tips for understanding your credit score, disputing items, dealing with collection agencies, getting credit card interest rates reduced, ways to legally improve your credit score and much, much more, visit: www.creditscorerepair.us

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