There’s a lot to discuss as it pertains to HOW your FICO® scores are determined, so I’m just going to jump right in.  There are five categories that make up the “points” in your FICO credit scores. They are listed below along with the relative value of each: read more »

The FICO® score is the credit score derived by the FICO credit scoring model, which was developed by FICO, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  FICO introduced the first version of its ubiquitous score in the late 1980’s and there have been many updated versions since.

FICO scores predict consumer credit risk and credit read more »

On March 23, 2011 a class action lawsuit was filed against Consumerinfo.com in Federal court in the Southern District of California.  The complaint, 11CV0569 DMS BLM, was filed on behalf of David Waring, a consumer who lives in San Diego.  The Plaintiff alleges that he went to the website freecreditreport.com and purchased a credit score from that site.  He was then allegedly enrolled in a credit monitoring subscription plan.

The law firms representing Mr. Waring is Stueve, Siegel, Hanson, LLP and Heins, Mills and Olson, PLC.  The firms are seeking class action status against Consumerinfo.com, which is an Experian company that also operates freecreditreport.com and freecreditscore.com.  read more »

What is the most common item on a credit report?  It’s not public records, collection or inquiries.  No the most common item on a credit report is a “trade line.”  It’s also one of the most common terms used in the credit industry.

We tend to spell it incorrectly though.  The industry usually spells it as one word instead of two. Tradelines, or Trade Lines, are simply your credit accounts, which are reported to the credit reporting agencies.  Each tradeline contains detailed information about the account. read more »

You are waiting patiently for the salesman to come back from the finance office, trembling in your shoes. He comes back and says, “we have to decline your loan today.”  OUCH!!  What should you do now? Crawl in a hole?  Hope everything will get better on its own?

How long will it take before a loan can be approved?  How far off was I?  These are good questions but the answers are going to be very different for everyone who has been on the wrong end of a credit declination. read more »

I often reference the “FICO Seven Deadlies” in my articles and interviews but it just occurred to me that I’ve never actually written about them as one consolidated list.  This is important because credit rules our lives.  If you have good credit you can do many things, inexpensively.  However, if your credit is bruised or broken, you’ll have a harder time functioning effectively in the world of personal finance.  So what are these seven deadlies? read more »

An estimated 9 million Americans will have their identity stolen this year.  Will you be one of them?  I sure hope not because far too much work goes into having and keeping a good credit score to let some identity thief ruin your credit in an instant.  If you suspect you’ve been a victim, do not ignore the signs and just assume all will be well.

Here are 4 steps you should take immediately when and if you’re wallet has been stolen, your mail has been stolen, you live in an apartment complex and share a mailbox with hundreds of other tenants; read more »

You have to love it when the boys and girls in San Rafael, CA take the time to crank out statistics like the ones they produced Wednesday morning (3/24/11).  FICO has revealed the results of their research into how certain mortgage related derogatory events impact the scores of 3 unique consumers groups…those starting with FICO 680, FICO 720 and FICO 780. read more »

According to multiple reports, consumer borrowing increased in December 2010 signaling a possible end to the worst days of non-existent credit.  Debt incurred across multiple credit product types was strong and it wasn’t just “seasonal.”  This proves that the credit epiphany is largely over hyped.  and, it proves that we WANT to use credit despite what some people are saying.  Here’s why we’re back to our old ways.… read more »

In 2003 the Fair Credit Reporting Act was amended to allow every consumer in the United States free access to their credit reports once every 12 months from any company that maintains it.  The one legitimate website where you can claim your Federally guaranteed free credit reports is www.annualcreditreport.com.  Despite the fact that we’re guaranteed these free credit reports, very few of them are claimed by consumers.  So the question I have is….Why are they going unclaimed? read more »