Tag Archives: credit scores
- We Need to Raise Our Credit Scores So We Can Buy a House with a USDA Mortgage. – Amy
“Dear Damon, Been married for almost 6 years to a spender…I am the saver. my hubby has matured now, so he is ready to set our credit straight. On my credit, I have a few cell phone agreements that I broke, a repo on a truck, medical bills, and two credit cards….all of this sent [...]
- I’m Confused About Credit Scores. – Barbara
“Dear Steve, Age 62, single never married no dependents. Like many leading edge Boomers, I am dealing with trying to maintain a modest lifestyle based on a modest income that has severely declined due to unemployment / underemployment intersecting with approaching retirement age. Similar to the southern plantation owners in “Gone With the Wind”, my [...]
- Credit Scoring: How it Works and How You Can Improve Your Score
What Is Credit Scoring? If you have tried to get credit, a loan or a mortgage, you may have had your credit information graded for risk potential. This is called “credit scoring” or “risk scoring.” Credit scoring is one factor that lenders or creditors consider to determine if they should give you a loan, a [...]
- I Paid Off an Old Debt and My Credit Score Went Down. – Michelle
Michelle “Dear Steve, To pay or Not to pay…. that is the question. Have a old debt (over 2 years old) I have been told not to pay it because if I do it will make a negative mark on my credit. I know this is true because I paid off something else which was [...]
- Is It Possible to Easily Increase My Credit Score? – Tamara
Tamara “Hi Steve, I graduated with my Masters Degree this past June 2009 in Speech Pathology. I have over $100,000 in school loans and a car loan of approximately $10,000. My credit score is 716. I am trying to increase my credit score to above 720 to qualify for a conventional housing loan to purchase [...]
- My Credit Score is Dropping. Is Yours?
I am pissed off. I carefully monitor my credit report and credit score. In fact I just refreshed my consolidated credit report again today and guess what, my score from all three credit bureaus has dropped. But the spread among all three is now 17 points different rather than the 19 points that it was. [...]
- Bankruptcy Filers Can Easily Get Better Credit Scores Quickly
When people go bankrupt their finances become a painful chapter in their lives. They avoid credit and shun anything to do with their credit reports or credit scores. And that’s a mistake. Going bankrupt is painful enough but being unfairly penalized for going through bankruptcy is not fair. If you have gone bankrupt in the [...]
- Jeff Asks About Trick To Boast Credit Score. “Will It Work?”
“Dear Steve, I have never heard anyone ask this question or any money experts suggest it: If my wife and I have many joint user credit cards and lots of debt, could it help our credit scores if we changed the status of our joint cards to just the primary user, thus showing each of [...]
- Credit Card Horror Stories: Tales of Credit Limit Reductions and Account Closures
Bankrate.com did a story on Friday (sorry for not getting to this earlier) highlighting some of the same stuff that I’ve been pointing out here for weeks. More and more customers are experiencing credit-limit reductions and account closures. Over the course of the past few weeks, Bankrate.com readers have been chiming in with their own credit-card tales. Many of their stories will seem familiar.
- Jennifer Says “We Have Accumulated So Much Debt And Bad Credit. What Do We Do?”
“Dear Steve, We have accumulated so much debt our credit score is to low to even buy a house. I’ve been looking into different programs to help, unfortunately the charge money I can’t afford either, we have to do this on our own. If a creditor is offering to let you pay over 4 payments [...]