I talked with a member a couple days ago that was totally frustrated with the credit bureaus and the whole credit scoring process. Hmmmm…sound familiar?
Jack’s situation was that he had paid off several bills with a bonus check from work about 10 days ago. He had called the three credit card companies involved and verified he had indeed posted the payoffs which totaled almost $6000. He then had his mortgage broker pull a new credit report thinking he would have the increase in credit score that he thought the payoffs would give. He only needed about 17 points to qualify for this loan but was told that his scores had actually gone down 2 points from a month prior.
Well this is what prompted Jack’s call. He was confused and upset that he had read something I wrote previously about how FICO computes credit scores. He thought that by freeing up his credit lines and paying down the debt would help his credit scores. Was he right?
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on November 30th, 2010 :: Filed under
Bankground Checks,
Credit Report,
Credit Score,
FICOTags ::
Credit Bureaus,
credit lines,
Credit Report,
Credit Score,
Debt,
FICO,
real time credit scores
Experian and Transunion have been playing the game for some time but now Equifax has jumped into the selling of FAKE-O credit scores. They just couldn’t hold off adding this USELESS product to add to their bottom line!
Now all three of the credit reporting agencies are in the business of pushing the FAKE credit scores to the unknowing consumer who thinks they are buying their FICO scores.
Shame…Shame…Shame is all I can say.
I mean really what is the purpose in selling you a credit score that not one single lender cares about?
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on October 12th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Bureaus,
Credit Score,
Equifax,
Experian,
FTC,
TransunionTags ::
Credit Reporting Agencies,
credit scores,
Equifax,
Experian,
FAKE-O,
Federal Trade Commission,
FICO,
FTC,
TransUnion
On occasion, I am asked are things better or worse? When it comes to “credit things” I think a higher percentage of people are trying to tackle their budgets by keeping their spending down to align more with their income realizing the tapping into their homes equity days are over, at least for the time being. Many people are tackling any bad credit they may have incurred realizing that any costs of credit repair are a drop in the bucket compared to just letting any bad credit stay on their credit report for 7-10 years.
People are trying to be as responsible as possible to increase their credit scores because the reality is
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on September 14th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Score,
FICOTags ::
bad credit,
Bankers,
credit cards,
credit prison,
Credit Score,
FICO,
home ownership
Everyone has suspected that the average credit scores have been falling. The economy has given a serious black eye to credit and credit scores and now we know how much!
FICO.com has just reported that 25.5% of the US population that use credit now have a credit score of 599 or less. That’s a whopping 43.4 million people in this category. In the past about 15% or 25.5 million have been in this category which means that over the last 2 years there are been an increase of 17.9 million people fall under a 599 credit score which is a whopping 70% increase!
Overall 35% of the population are at a 649 credit score or less. What does this mean? Basically, look at the person to the right and look to the left and the dirty truth is that one of the three of you cannot buy a house nor car and are considered unworthy of credit by many lenders and are in need of help with credit repair.
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on July 13th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit ScoreTags ::
credit,
Credit Repair,
Credit Score,
FICO
Really, the better question should be “How MUCH does bad credit cost you? In a word…TONS!
Your FICO scores are determined by a number of things but most importantly how timely your credit is paid and the overall amount of credit used as compared to your credit lines available. Of course other factors come into play but these two play the most significant in determining your credit score.
Your credit score for many lenders is the biggest factor if your loan will be approved at all and at what interest rate. To give you an example I was speaking to one of our members and he was telling me he had a credit score of 552 and over the last few months had increased his scores to 632. At first you might say not to shabby, an 80 point increase. I agree, an 80 point credit score increase is nothing to sneeze at and certainly looks like some solid credit repair has been under way!
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on June 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Repair,
Credit Score,
MortgageTags ::
bad credit,
Credit Repair,
Credit Score,
FICO
I just got back from spending a few days in Savannah, GA for my wife’s birthday (I’m not suppose to tell you her age!!) But what a great town. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that was built back in 1862. There is so much history in that town, so much Civil war history with the big names like General Lee and others who lived or stayed in the area during the war. The food…WOW that was a really good time!
As I got back into the groove this morning I had several messages and one woman has called me wondering if she should begin the credit repair process with us by asking the question “Is credit repair really needed in my case, I mean won’t my scores go up over time?”
Now I must warn you that I am a bit biased but I do try to give a fair assessment to this question and in answering this question it might be best to rephrase it and ask a few other questions first.
Now I have to be honest here and tell you that my first reaction at times is to reach through the phone and grab you by the scruff of the neck and shake you like a rag doll to knock some sense in you but I refrain from this immediate knee jerk reaction.
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on May 25th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Repair,
Credit ScoreTags ::
Credit Repair,
Credit Reporting Agencies,
Credit Score
A discussion on a well guarded secret to keep your credit scores suppressed…
One of our consultants popped in yesterday afternoon to drop off a deal (a good thing). He was telling me of a situation he ran into and wanted to know what kind of an effect it could have on his prospects credit score.
Well the situation was a $110k line of credit which had a balance of 96k. This particular credit line was rated R-1 paid as agreed. A perfect rating, right? or was it?
Unfortunately we see this kind of thing all the time…
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on May 24th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Bureaus,
Credit Score,
FICO,
MortgageTags ::
Credit Bureaus,
Credit Score,
FICO,
mortgage loan
Today, I’d like to tell you what mortgage lenders look for in when deciding on granting your request for a new mortgage loan. Now this is not meant to be an underwriting class but a basic understanding of the process and what you’ll want to consider as you begin thinking about buying a new home.
When you’re looking for a new mortgage many lenders evaluate your credit based on the “Three C’s.”
Credit
Is it likely that you will repay the loan? Are your payments on time and up-to-date? Are you financially stable and reliable? What are your credit scores? Today’s marketplace, most conventional lenders require your scores to be in the 700+ range and most FHA loans a 620 score or higher.
Capacity
Are you able to pay the loan? What kind of outstanding personal debt do you have? Do you have enough earning power and net worth to repay a mortgage or home equity line of credit?
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on May 23rd, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Repair,
Credit Report,
Credit Score,
FICO,
MortgageTags ::
bad credit,
Credit Repair,
Credit Report,
mortgage loan
Is there anyway to understand the FICO scoring system?
That is the hundred dollar question! The FICO score created by the Fair Isaac Company is one of the most shall I say “guarded” secrets at the credit bureau’s. So much so that even senior executives under oath, have sworn they do not fully understand the exact reason for score movements under certain circumstances.
I mean why does one persons credit score who is at 750 drop 15 points with one 30 day late on a charge card and other person’s whose score is at 650 drop 50 points with that same 30 day late? No other derogatory is reported yet Mr 650 had three times the point deterioration than Ms 750!
Fair? Well, the truth is that there are so many factors that have been put into this system that the average persons head will spin (even the not so average) like a top trying to figure it out!
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on May 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Repair,
Credit Score,
FICOTags ::
Credit Repair,
Credit Score,
FICO
Today’s posting will give you the FICO credit score breakdown. Knowing what to do and the areas to focus on when rebuilding your credit or if you’re looking to increase your credit scores can be the difference between success and failure.
The term credit score usually refers to your FICO score, a number based on a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which looks at a summary of all your credit accounts and payment history. Your FICO (credit) score determines your access to and cost of credit. Most lenders use it as the main basis for loan or credit approvals, so the higher the better and the lower the more problems. FICO score ranges from 300-850, and Fair Isaac calculates them for each of the three big credit reporting agencies: Transunion, Equifax, and Experian.
Here’s how your score is determined:
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Posted by Herschel Bentley on May 20th, 2010 :: Filed under
Credit Score,
FICOTags ::
Credit Reporting Agencies,
Credit Score,
FICO
I talked with a member a couple days ago that was totally frustrated with the credit bureaus and the whole credit scoring process. Hmmmm…sound familiar?
