Divorce and Credit

One of the biggest damaging items we’ve seen lately involves divorce. When you have a Dissolution of Marriage where one party says they will take responsibility for the account… that’s nice for the courts… but it doesn’t mean didly-squat (that’s right I said it!) when it comes to your credit report.  Just because someone SAYS [...]

Do U Need A Repair Co?

I don’t play the lottery – but I know plenty of people that do… and from what I hear, there are no Guarantees that you are going to win as you purchase your ticket. The same thing is true with Credit Repair Companies. There are TONS of ads for credit repair companies claiming that they [...]

How Foreclosure, Short Sales and Bankruptcy Affect Credit Scores

Want to know what is hurting your scores the most??? There’s a scoring system that each repository uses, so TransUnion calculates scores a little differently than Equifax and Experian. FAIR ISAAC Damage Points – per FICO.com: “Maxxed out credit card” – 10 to 30 points 30 day late payment will cost you 60 points Bankruptcy [...]

Your Balances and Best Scores (part 3)

We’ve been doing a series on Credit Score Basics, and how to get the best credit score… for the first part click here – and for Part Two of the series, click here.  This is a TON of free information on how to improve your FICO credit score. Maximizing Your Balance for the BEST Credit [...]

How Scores Work (Credit Score Basics 2)

With a mortgage credit report, we get a Score Factor with each report. The “factors” tell us what is the most important item we can do to raise your score. These factors are based upon how you look when compared to other people with similar credit. So if you are in Bankruptcy you are scored with people who are also scored against them – not someone who just started into the Credit “System.” The primary “buckets” or pools of people you could be grouped in are:

Credit Score Basics – Part 1

For instance the “Free Credit Score.com” jingle that folks listen to, and then PAY for doesn’t have a matrix that is anywhere close to the “Mortgage” matrix we must use to score you! We’ve seen many people who thought their credit score was “up” to 640 – when we pulled it and found that the score was actually 618, the customer thought we were crazy! We weren’t… there’s just a difference between a Mortgage Report Score, A Medical Credit Score, and a Retail Credit Score.

Credit Scores Across the Country

Ever wondered where the folks in NC stack up when it comes to credit? According to Karma Credit – we are (on Average) a little lower than folks in Virginia -and a little higher than folks in South Carolina. I mention this because most “free credit report” services don’t offer you a score… and they aren’t free.

Inquiries On Your Credit Report

Fannie Mae recently announced that lenders are required to pull your credit hours before closing – and any inquiries on your credit report must be explained.  We figured you might want to know more about how Inquiries affect your score. An inquiry on your credit report shows up when you allow someone to look at [...]

Questions about Bad Credit Answered

We answer questions on several forums and thought you might want to see questions others are asking about bad credit / how to improve your credit score: Can you pay the original creditor instead of a collection agency? What if you decide to pay your debt to the the people who originally billed you – [...]

Walking Away From Your Mortgage

60 Minutes did a piece this weekend on people walking away from their mortgage – and I guess they are trying to “justify” it.  Recent numbers indicate that 4 million households are currently 60 days delinquent or more – up 30% from last year. I suspect part of that is because mortgage companies are TELLING [...]

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