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Higher marks improve your chances of getting a loan, favorable rates You're in the market for a mortgage or other type of loan but are consistently turned down.  Or you do et a loan offer, bu the interest rate is staggering. Most likely your credit score is the culprit. The higher your score, the better your chances of obtaining a loan, and the better your rtes and terms.  Here's how to improve your credit score fast so that you can get the loan you need. Check for errors on your credit report:  If you've regularly paid your bills on time and never had any issues with lenders or credit card companies, yet you have a low credit score, it could be that there's a mistake on your credit report. According to a Federal Trade Commission study in 2012, about 25 percent of people had some error on their credit report, which had a negative effect on teir score. You're allowed to review your credit report for free once a year with each of the three cred...

Watchdog, I had a terrible week because of you. How so? A week ago you recommended we place security freezes on our credit reports because of the Equifax crisis.  I called and went online with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, but it was a nightmare.  I couldn't get through.  They're overwhelmed.  Six out of 10 adults in the US had their personal information stolen, including birth date and Social Security number, key information needed to open or raid accounts.  Millions are calling the three credit bureaus and using their websites.  The load is too much.  Due to Equifax's unreliability, no one can be certain if their info is stolen.  So assume it is. So how do I get through?  One woman told me she called in the middle of the night. Ugh.  Do I have to do this right away? Of course not.  Add it to your to-do list.  But put a security freeze on before Nov. 21, because Equifax says it will waive fees for placing and removi...

SETTLEMENT MAY COME CHEAP Company could end up paying $1 per person affected by hack Equifax Inc. could get away with paying a mere $1 person after failing to protect almost half of America's credit data. While the 118-year-old credit-reporting firm has been hit with more than 100 consumer lawsuits over its massive security breach, legal experts say there's room for a deal because neither side has a slam-dunk case. A global settlement of about $200 million is plausible, said Nathan Taylor, a cybersecurity lawyer with Morrison Foerster LLP in Washington.  That's a projection based on the $115 million Anthem Inc. agreed to pay in June - setting a U.S. record - to resolve claims that it didn't protect a smaller number of people from a 2015 criminal hack that stole similarly sensitive information, Taylor said.   With lawyers collecting as much as a third of any payout, the company may end up spending an average of less than $1 per person for credit monitoring and out-...

Whatever your political affiliation, there is now one financial issue on which we can all agree.  We need Congress to pass legislation allowing consumers to temporarily freeze and unfreeze their own credit files at no charge to help thwart identity theft.  In case you missed it, the credit-reporting agency Equifax recently discovered that criminals had gained access to people's names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. In all, the hack could potentially affect 143 million US consumers Stop. Just take that in.  More than 40 percent of Americans are facing the possibility of identity theft.  Their financial lives could turn into a nightmare.   Protect yourself after Equifax breach Here's one way to know if your accounts are vulnerable:  When you access your bank statement, brokerage account, medical records or even when you file your taxes, are you asked to verify your identity by p...

T oo many Americans have had bad credit because of unpaid medical bills.  That's not likely to change anytime soon, despite two reforms in how those bills will be reported to the credit bureaus. Starting Friday: There will be a 180-day waiting period before unpaid medical debts can show up on people's credit reports. Medical collections will be deleted from credit reports if they're paid by health insurers. Credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion agreed to the new standards as part of two settlements with state attorneys general in 2015.  The changes in medical debt reporting were designed to help people whose bills fell through the cracks between their health care provider and their insurance companies, says Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center. What the changes won't do is help people who simply can't afford to pay their bills or who got fed up with waiting for their insurers and paid the bills themselves. The stakes ...

Cybersecurity Equifax sued over massive data breach Second case brought against company for way it handled personal info ATLANTA  - A team of lawyers has filed a class-action lawsuit against Equifax over that data breach that has compromised the personal information of more than 140 million US consumers. The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Atlanta faults Equifax for "gargantuan failures to secure and safeguard consumers' personally identifiable information -- and for failing to provide timely, accurate and adequate notice" to consumers that such sensitive material had been stolen. The lawsuit said plaintiffs Brian Spector of Florida and James McGonnigal of Maryland are each victims of the breach.  McGonnigal alleges he has "recently had four credit accounts opened in his name without his authorization."   The lawsuit joins another filed this past week in Oregon on behalf of a couple there, and others are expected.  A US House committee has...

This breach of personal data potentially affects a vast number of people in the US, UK and Canada.  Here's how to find out if your identity is compromised. Credit rating company Equifax, revealed today that its databases had been hacked. Here's what we know--and what you can do to protect yourself. What happened? According to Equifax, which released a statement today, the company' database was breached through a vulnerability on its website, exposing the personal information of an estimated 143 million people, including some in the UK and Canada. The company thinks the hack happened some time between mid-May and the end of July, but has only now announced the breach.  That's all we know. When did Equifax find out about the hack? Equifax learned about the hack on July 29, according to an FAQ.  September 7, however, was the first day the company publicly announced the hack. What information was accessed? By exploiting Equifax website's vulnerability,...