Consumerist
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success stories
EECB Finally Gets Someone At Bank Of America To Listen, Admit Responsibility
Bank of America messed up Andy's credit score by failing to send him credit card statements or giving him online access to an old account he only recently started using again. They also refused to work with him over the phone, telling him each time he called that they had no record of his previous conversations with customer service and therefore no reason to believe him. More » -
credit scores
Take Your Score From 650 To 800 With The Credit Karma Report Card
Credit Karma recently launched the free Credit Report Card service that assigns letter grades to each component of your credit score. If you want to improve your credit score, try to bring up your performance in areas where you have low or failing grades. Not every component has the same bearing on your score, so underneath each section Credit Karma tells you how much weight it has. For those who look at their reports and scratch their head, the Credit Karma report card, which is drawn from your TransUnion report, makes understanding why your credit score is the way it is a snap. Full screen shot inside. More » -
employment inquiries
Why Credit History Employment Inquiries Matter
Last week, we covered a story in which a job seeker was denied a job because of his credit report.
Have you wondered why? More »
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When your credit score sustains a dent, make sure your car doesn't. Because higher car insurance is just what you need when you've lost your job. Auto insurers use customers' credit scores as part of the formula to determine premiums. Shop around—different companies assign different weights to credit score in their calculations. [MainStreet.com]
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credit reports
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Fixing Credit Report Errors
A great way to improve your credit score is to get rid of errors on your credit report that are dragging you down, but how do you start? More » -
friendly reminders
Change The Name On Your Utility Bills When You Move Out
Add "change the name on your utility bills" to your post-breakup checklist or you'll end up like reader Noah, who had to pay a $140 cable bill for three months of service his ex-girlfriend used after he moved out. Why? Because the bill was in his name, and if he didn't pay up, it was his credit report that was going to suffer. More » -
craigslist
"Help, I Fell For The Apartment Rental Credit Check Scam!"
Since posting an article about Craiglist apartment listing scams a month ago, we've heard from lots of people who fell for the scam. If you're one of them, here's what you need to know. More » -
annualcreditreport
Wachovia Sends Out Its Own "Free Credit Report!" Offer To Customers
Tom just received a great offer from his bank. He can receive a free credit report just by peeling off this sticker and affixing it to another part of the same page. That's right, a free motherloving credit report! Who doesn't want one of those? Free, you say? Sign me up!
Oh, it also comes with an enrollment in some sort of identity theft protection program for $13 a month. More »
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credit scores
Credit Scores: How Do They Make 'Em?
A three-digit number that creditors use to quickly evaluate whether to give someone a loan and how favorable the terms should be, the credit score remains something of a mystery to many. How is it figured out? What matters, and what doesn't matter? The exact scoring system is a proprietary secret of the Fair Issac corporation, but there are 5 general categories, each weighted differently, that determine where you sit on the range from 300-850. In easy-to-read outline form, let's take a closer look. More » -
credit cards
Debt Collectors Mess With Your Head To Get You To Pay More
NYTM intros an article on credit cards by watching a debt collector ply his trade:
Santana had actually already sought permission from the bank to settle for as little as $10,000. It's an open secret that if a debtor is willing to wait long enough, he can probably get away with paying almost nothing, as long as he doesn't mind hurting his credit score. So Santana knew he should jump at the offer. But as an amateur psychologist, Santana was eager to make his own diagnosis - and presumably boost his own commission.
More »"I don't think that's going to work," Santana told the man...
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craigslist
Scammers Advertise Fake Apartments, Want Your Real Credit Information
UPDATE:If you're a victim of this scam, read this article to learn what to do next.
My friend Amanda is looking for a new apartment, and last week she responded to an appealing ad on Craigslist. There was no apartment, though...just a credit report scam that's showing up in more and more cities. More »
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credit reports
FTC Launches Own Singing Credit Report Commercials
As we've said repeatedly, AnnualCreditReport.com is the good website to go to when you need to pull a credit report, because it's actually free. The others, including freecreditreport.com, use the promise of free the way an angler fish uses its forehead-worm-thing to trap dumb little fish. The FTC has decided to fight fire with fire by releasing its own jingles. To be honest, we're not 100% sold on them—they have kind of a squaresville, PBS vibe, which is gonna really hamper their viral power. Check them out below. More » -
fico
Experian Stoppped Selling FICO b/c Contract Dispute (FICO '08 Related?)
Just like I figured, the reason Experian won't sell you your FICO score anymore is because of a contract dispute with the Fair Issac corporation, and I'm guessing it has to do with the rollout of FICO '08
More »
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credit scores
Four Unexpected Situations Where Bad Credit Hurts
If you aren't planning on getting a big loan in the next couple of years, you probably shouldn't be worried about your credit score right? Wrong. More »
2:32 PM on Sun Feb 15 2009
By Bargaineering.com
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fico
6 Ways Your Credit Score Changes Thursday
A new system for determining your credit-worthiness, FICO '08, rolls out this Thursday, and there's nothing you can to do stop it. By these 6 changes, ye shall be judged: More » -
credit score
How Credit Bureaus Correct, Or Fail To Correct, Errors On Your Report
SmartMoney's Anne Kadet looked into the process by which the three major credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—investigate and correct errors on credit reports. What she found was that the process is "almost entirely automated," and that "many lenders respond by simply rereporting the erroneous data." Here's how it works, and your meager options when something goes wrong. More » -
identity theft
DIY ID Theft Protection
Do you want to be one of over eight million identity theft victims? No, but most of the services sold by "identity theft protection" companies you can get for free. Here's how. More »
1:12 PM on Sun Dec 14 2008
By Bargaineering.com
0 views, 42 comments -
badvertising
A World Where A 340 FICO Is "Excellent"
At first glance, this ad for CreditReportAmerica seems to have the credit score system reversed, with 350-619 listed as "excellent" and 750-840 listed as "poor"...but then you realize it's actually a graphical depiction of the system shady mortgage brokers used to get when whoring up the sub-prime mortgage orgy. Travel blogger Mark Ashley says he spotted the ad on the frontpage of Yahoo Finance. At the bottom, the ad says the service does not include credit scores. Remember folks, the place to get a free credit report is annualcreditreport.com.
credit reports
New York, 4:09 PM
Sun Jul 5
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