Steps to Repair, Rebuild, and Protect Your Credit

Have you had one or more financial misfortunes over the past several years and now have a less than ideal credit score? If so, you’re certainly not alone. Credit scores have been one of the biggest victims of the financial crisis and the recession. Unfortunately, that number can determine not only whether you can get credit and what interest rates you’ll pay but they can also affect your insurance premiums and even your ability to get a job. Of course, you can’t build a positive credit history if you don’t have any credit. The problem is that it takes credit to get credit. A good place to begin would be to see if your bank will allow you to open a secured credit card. These cards require you to deposit an amount of money usually equal to the credit limit into a special savings account that the bank can collect any missed payments from. This helps to minimize the bank’s risk so it’s relatively easy to get but there’s a chance you may still need a co-signer to qualify. Knowledge is Power and Credit is King!

What is a Charge Off and How Do They Work? When you haven’t paid on an account for 6 months to a year, creditors will often mark the account as a “charge off”. This means that the creditor has determined they’ll likely be unable to collect on the debt so they are claiming it as a business loss. This is basically done for tax reasons. However, just because it’s marked as a loss doesn’t mean they will stop attempting to collect on the debt. In fact, they might even hire an outside company to handle the collection process. This is important to understand in case you’re contacted by a collection agency you don’t recognize. Either they purchased the debt from the original creditor and are attempting to collect on it, or they have been commissioned by the original creditor to collect the debt. Knowledge is Power and Credit is King!

8 Credit Card Tips That Will Last a Lifetime!!! Credit card tips can change with the wind — or as you enter different stages in life. If you’re young and trying to build credit, start with a low credit limit. If you travel a lot, consider an airline or hotel credit card. If you have a lot of debt, it’s a good time to put those cards on ice. Great credit? Look into what rewards you might qualify for. All this advice can, at times, get a little overwhelming. Fortunately, there are certain credit card habits that will always apply. Here are 10 basic credit card tips that will last your lifetime. 1. Try to Pay Your Statement Balance in Full Paying interest increases the cost of everything you purchase with your credit card, so you should try to avoid carrying a balance as often as possible. If you do have to carry a balance, try to keep it below at least 30% (ideally 10%) of your available credit limit. Doing so will help keep your credit score intact. You can come up with a payment plan to get rid of any existing credit card debt you have here. 2. Never Make a Late Payment Late payments can result in costly fees, damaged credit and sky-high penalty annual percentage rates. Fortunately, there are many tools that you can use to make on-time payments including e-mail and text alerts or automatic payments that you can initiate with your issuer. 3. Carefully Examine Every Statement Credit card users enjoy robust protections against fraudulent transactions, but you may have to report the activity to your issuer to take full advantage of them. Regularly reviewing your credit card statements can help you spot fraud as soon as it occurs. Calling your issuer immediately to dispute the charges and have the card replaced can help ensure you’re not on the hook for them. 4. It Never Hurts to Ask If you have ever made a late payment by accident, then you’ve probably incurred a late fee. But if you take the time to ask for the fee to be removed, many card issuers will do so. You can also try asking for annual fees and foreign transaction fees to be waived, for your interest rate to be lowered or for your credit limit to be raised. (Keep in mind, the last two may result in a hard inquiry on your credit report, which could ding your credit score.) 5. Read Your Terms and Conditions It’s important to thoroughly read the terms and conditions associated with any credit card you are using or are thinking of applying for. You’ll want to know, for instance, what fees will be imposed and when, if an APR change may go into effect and what your rewards programs entails. You should also check your privacy agreement and whether your card is subject to an arbitration clause. 6. Keep Track of Your Credit The most important way to ensure that your credit card spending habits are in line is to regularly check your credit. Some credit card issuers now offer free monthly FICO credit scores on your statement. You can also request free copies of your credit reports each year from CreditcheckTotal.com and view your credit scores for free each month on Credit.com. 7. Regularly Re-evaluate Your Credit Cards The only constant in the credit card industry is change, so it’s important to regularly take a look at the credit cards that are in your wallet. Then, examine the market to see if there are newer products available that will better meet your needs — which may have changed since the last time you comparison-shopped for cards. 8. Avoid Cash Withdrawals Nearly all credit cards impose cash advance fees and very high cash advance APRs, so you should avoid using your credit card for cash at all costs. Remember, it’s always better to use your ATM card when you need cash.

If You Plan To Apply for a Mortgage soon, DON'T Start Disputing Credit Accounts The Action: The consumer has a disagreement with a particular creditor and takes action by disputing with the creditor a charge, balance, payment or any aspect of the credit obligation. The creditor then places the account in the dispute status, changing the credit reporting to “in dispute.” Why It’s an Issue: Mortgage lenders use what’s called an automated underwriting system, (AUS) for short, which is an algorithm that reviews a borrower’s total on-paper financial picture. The automated underwriting system used by lenders literally ignores any accounts in dispute. As such, the results of the automated underwriting system are flawed, because while the account is on the credit report, the algorithm ignores it because the account is in dispute. In other words, because it doesn’t provide an accurate rating of the true credit picture, the borrower would have to call the creditor and remove the account from dispute status, then the lender reruns the automated underwriting to ensure the loan gets approved in the system. If the loan does not get approved at this time, changes to the loan structure might have to be made, such as switching loan programs (from conventional to FHA, for example), reducing the loan amount or increasing the credit score. Knowledge is Power and Credit is King! #NoMoreExcuses

These 6 Tips Will Help You Get The Most From A Credit Card Most people agree that using a credit card to pay for day-to-day purchases is a smart idea. After all, credit is safe, convenient, and rewarding. Plus, if you're responsible, you'll also be building a solid credit score with every swipe. But are you really making the most of your plastic experience? Here are seven credit card tips everyone should know: 1. Balance alerts can help you keep your spending in check. Keeping a watch on how much you're spending with your credit card is easier than ever before. Most issuers allow you to set up balance alerts so that you'll receive a text and/or an email whenever your total spending hits a certain threshold that you've set. Sign up for this service so that you'll get a notice when your credit utilization ratio is approaching the 30% mark — this way, you'll know to make a payment before you jeopardize your credit score. 2. Spending analysis tools make sticking to your budget a cinch. One of the most underrated online banking features offered by most credit card issuers these days is the spending analysis tool. This allows you to see a breakdown of how much you're spending with your card in different categories (restaurants, travel, general merchandise, etc.). You can usually choose to view this on a per-month basis or take a look at your spending patterns over time. Be sure to look around for this tool the next time you log into your card's online banking platform. It can provide some helpful insights into where you're doing a good job sticking to your budget, and where you might need to cut back. 3. Mid-cycle payments could improve your credit score. Every month, your credit card issuer sends a report about your account to the three major credit bureaus. Included on this report is your balance, which is used to calculate your credit utilization ratio. However, this data isn't necessarily sent over after you've made your monthly payment — it could be reported at any point in your billing cycle. If you tend to charge a lot to your card each month, getting into the habit of making a payment mid-cycle will keep your credit utilization ratio low. This, in turn, will help 30% of your credit score determined by amounts owed. Woman on Laptop at Cafe If you do your shopping on your computer, see if your credit card offers a rewards mall. 4. Shopping through rewards malls will earn you stellar rewards. If you're a big online shopper, you should definitely use your credit card's rewards mall every time you place an order. This is an easy and convenient way to earn tons of extra rewards on every dollar you spend. And don't assume that your particular issuer doesn't offer this benefit. Even if it's not widely advertised, look around a little the next time you visit your credit card's website. You'll probably find some type of rewards mall or portal that you never noticed before. 5. Moving your due date could help you avoid missing a payment. Missing a credit card payment is bad news for your FICO credit score, since 35% of it is determined by your history with making on-time bill payments. If your credit card billing due date comes at an inconvenient time during the month, consider switching it. You can usually do this online or by placing a call to your issuer. This one simple move could go far toward preserving your good credit. 6. Strategic swiping is the best way to maximize rewards earning Using just one high-rewards card for all your spending is a good way to rack up a lot of points. But getting a couple of cards that earn big in the merchant categories you spend the most in and then using them strategically is a great way to pump up the volume on the rewards you're accumulating. For example, if you spend a lot on gas, dining, and travel, getting both the Chase Freedom® - $200 Bonus and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a smart idea. You can use the Chase Freedom® - $200 Bonus at gas stations when they're featured as a 5% category (which historically happens 2 out of 4 quarters per year) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card when you travel and dine out.

Major differences between FICO® Score 8 and FICO® Score 9 credit-scoring models Here are the highlights. 1. Paid collection accounts matter less. If you’ve paid off a collection account in full, it no longer counts against you with FICO® Score 9. With FICO® Score 8, paying off a collection account doesn’t necessarily help your scores. That’s can be an issue, because collections can stay on your credit reports for a long time. 2. Medical collections matter less. Until recently, there wasn’t a significant distinction between medical collections accounts and other types of collections accounts — at least in terms of their impact on your credit. But newer credit-scoring models, such as FICO® Score 9, deemphasize the impact of unpaid medical collections accounts. 3. Rental payments matter more. FICO® Score 9 cares if you pay rent on time, including rental payment history as a factor in your scores — provided your landlord reports it to at least one of the three consumer credit bureaus. This can be a boon to those who have just started building credit from scratch and don’t have much lender information on their credit reports. Knowledge is Power and Credit is King!

If You Plan To Apply for a Mortgage soon, DON'T Start Disputing Credit Accounts The Action: The consumer has a disagreement with a particular creditor and takes action by disputing with the creditor a charge, balance, payment or any aspect of the credit obligation. The creditor then places the account in the dispute status, changing the credit reporting to “in dispute.” Why It’s an Issue: Mortgage lenders use what’s called an automated underwriting system, (AUS) for short, which is an algorithm that reviews a borrower’s total on-paper financial picture. The automated underwriting system used by lenders literally ignores any accounts in dispute. As such, the results of the automated underwriting system are flawed, because while the account is on the credit report, the algorithm ignores it because the account is in dispute. In other words, because it doesn’t provide an accurate rating of the true credit picture, the borrower would have to call the creditor and remove the account from dispute status, then the lender reruns the automated underwriting to ensure the loan gets approved in the system. If the loan does not get approved at this time, changes to the loan structure might have to be made, such as switching loan programs (from conventional to FHA, for example), reducing the loan amount or increasing the credit score. Knowledge is Power and Credit is King! #NoMoreExcuses