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Showing posts from May, 2017

Credit Score Scale

300 - 620 Below Avg 621 - 700 Average 701 - 760 Good 761 - 850 Excellent If your credit score suddenly rises after July 1, here's why Starting July 1, the credit scores of up to 14 million people could begin to rise as credit reports are scrubbed of nearly all civil judgments and many tax liens. Consumer advocates hail the data's deletion as a long-overdue victory for people whose scores were unfairly dinged by inaccurate information.  others worry the changes could inflate the scores of risky borrowers and have a catastrophic impact on lenders. People shouldn't expect an immediate jump in their scores, however. On July 1, the three major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - will exclude new records of civil and tax liens that don't have minimum identifying information including Social Security numbers or birth dates as well as any record of judgments or liens that hasn't been updated within 90 days.  The bureaus also will begin to r

Finances

Miss a credit card payment. A single missed payment - one that's 30 days or more late - can drop credit scores 100 points or more.  That turns great credit to average, or worse, which may mean higher interest rates and a greater possibility of getting turned down for credit.  Recovering from this drop can take as long as three years.  The cost can ripple well beyond credit accounts.  A Consumer Reports investigation found that people with merely "good" credit could pay hundreds of dollars a year more for auto insurance than those with excellent scores.  (The penalty for "poor" credit can be $1,000 or more.)  Credit scores can matter more than any other factor, including driving record, when determining premiums, Consumer Reports found.  Paying a credit card bill late but before the account is 30 days overdue turns a painful credit score hit into a credit non-event.  The lapse won't be reported to the bureaus or calculated into your scores.  The issuer mig

Credit/Collection

Goals (1)   Short-term 12 months OR < (2) Interim 2 (two) years PLAN (1) Debt reduction (2) Invest AND Save (3) Paying off the smallest bills first will increase your level of motivation Why Power (4) Invest in Yourself (5) Prioritize your debt (6) Learn to negotiate (7) Good credit gives better options (8) Monitor your credit (9) Look for deals Don't react in fear to debt collector threats I got a call from a debt collector regarding $2,000 I owe in medical bills.  I'm trying to get my finances in order and pay this off, but I'm afraid they'll follow through on their threat to garnish my wages.  Can you give me some advice? First, I want you to take a deep breath and calm down.  Debt collectors like to play on your emotions because they think you'll give in and do something you can't really afford to do.  Most of them don't care about your or your situation as long as they get some money.  They won't garnish your