Todd’s subject line to us was, “Verizon FiOS hates me,” and maybe he’s right. Each time he tries to sign up for their package deal, they check his credit score, proceed with the sign-up process, then cancel everything at the last minute due to a “technical glitch.” They say he can try a third time if he wants. [More]
Man Wants Verizon FiOS, Keeps Getting Credit Score Dinged Instead
By September 15, 2010
Convincing The Credit Bureaus I Wasn't Dead
By September 9, 2010
A writer for Slate shares the tell of her trying to convince Experian and Transunion that she is not deceased, as being dead is a bit of a problem when you’re trying to buy an apartment. Transunion only took one phone call and one fax to Lazarus her, but Experian was an abyss of despair, until, out of the darkness, a ray of hope emerged… [More]
Pay Your Early Termination Fee Or Get A Black Mark On Your Credit Report
By September 7, 2010
A cell phone provider’s early termination fees isn’t a polite suggestion — it’s a contractual payment you’ve agreed to give to the company for failing to stick with its unsatisfying service. Whether or not the agreements are ethically valid, you’ll have to pay them or face collections and a likely scar on your credit report. [More]
Job Search Credit Check Scammers Still Roaming The Internet
By August 18, 2010
Molly writes that her brother has been looking for employment for a long time, and finally received a tentative job offer for a job in a warehouse. It’s underemployment, but it’s employment, right? The problem is that the agency doing the hiring seems kind of shady to Molly. They want to verify that her brother is a U.S. citizen by having him use a “free” credit score service, and e-mailing them the score. Molly’s right: it’s a scam. [More]
Mortgage Broker Told Me To Open Up A Bunch Of Credit Cards, Should I?
By August 4, 2010
One of our readers is looking to buy a house and his mortgage broker suggested that he open up about four credit cards to establish some credit history. Should he? [More]
Western Dental Upsells Relentlessly, Then Pulls Dirty Trick With Billing
By July 26, 2010
Ryan recently went to a clinic operated by Western Dental Centers, a franchise that operates in California, Arizona and Nevada, and now he regrets that decision. He writes that first he was forced to endure $800 worth of upsells while he was stuck in the chair, even though he was just going in for a cleaning. What happened with billing, though, was worse and may lead to lasting credit issues. [More]
Five Things To Do Before Losing Your Wallet
By July 24, 2010
Look, it’s going to happen eventually. Whether it’s pickpockets or carelessness, you’re going to lose your wallet. When you do, you’ll be glad you took these five steps to make recovery simple and painless. [More]
Letting Mortgage Go Delinquent To Qualify For Short Sale Damages Credit
By July 9, 2010
In order to qualify for a “short sale,” in which the lender agrees for the house to be sold for less than the remaining amount owed and takes a loss, the lender sometimes requires the homeowner to be several months delinquent on their mortgage payments. But while getting out of a house you can’t afford can be a good idea, bear in mind that the delinquency will stain your credit report. [More]
How To Dispute Credit Report Errors
By June 24, 2010
Over 80% of credit reports have errors on them, errors which could be lowering your credit score and keeping you from getting credit or paying more for it than you should. Here’s how to fix them: [More]
How Can You Fix A Broken Credit Report?
By May 15, 2010
Just the words “credit report” make many want to cringe as they think of those late payments they made, or that time something just didn’t go through, causing what you might think might be irreparable damage to that record almost every consumer carries with them as they go about the business of buying things. But if something isn’t right, how can you fix it? [More]
"Help, Equifax Won't Give Me My Credit Report!"
By April 14, 2010
A reader just had his credit limit lowered on a credit card due to some bad credit history that he says isn’t his. He’d like to see what’s going on with his credit report, but Equifax says he’ll have to pay for the privilege, because they have no record of any inquiries in the past 60 days. The reader asks, “Has this happened to anyone else, where a credit card company waited over 60 days to notify them of credit limit reductions? Also, does this violate the FCRA?” [More]
Are Credit Monitoring Sites Really Worth The Money?
By April 12, 2010
Now that everyone is so obsessed with their credit reports and FICO scores, credit monitoring services have popped up everywhere. For a modest recurring fee–one that easily adds up to over $100 a year–you can have a company constantly watch your credit report and alert you of any changes in it, so you can always be on top of your creditworthiness. But should you bother? The consumer director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups federation (U.S. PIRG) tells BusinessWeek that credit monitoring is a “protection racket” that turns people into “financial hypochondriacs… who are scared of their own financial shadows.” [More]
Do You Need Identity Theft Protection Against The Census?
By April 8, 2010
Several alert readers sent us this advertisement that ran on the front page of CNN.com today. Wait–is the census going to steal my identity? Is my name, race, and birthdate all someone needs to open a credit card in my name? No. You do not need identity theft protection because of the census. Equifax has just mashed up some good information about how to avoid census scams with a sales pitch for credit monitoring services. [More]
62 DFAS Employees To Be Terminated For Bad Credit
By March 22, 2010
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), a military payroll facility in Ohio, has told at least 62 of its employees that they will be terminated for having bad credit, reports WKYC. Troy Marshall, a 17-year veteran at the DFAS and one of the people being fired (incidentally, he’s also the president of a union that expanded jobs at the DFAS five years ago), told WKYC that he handles Social Security numbers and maiden names, but nothing else. “We are people. We are not just numbers. We are not just credit reports… Look at the whole person.” [More]
Go Ahead And Cancel Your Credit Card, The Score Ding Is Minimal
By March 3, 2010
New answers pried from the secretive FICO corporation that overlords our credit scores kill a longstanding myth. It turns out that cancelling your credit cards won’t destroy your credit score. [More]
Credit Checks For Jobs On The Rise
By February 24, 2010
Some HR departments use credit checks to help determine whether to hire an applicant. The practice has always had critics, since credit histories can have errors that are hard to correct, and since there’s no strong correlation between credit history and job performance. But in this economy the practice may be even less fair, notes MSNBC, even though more organizations are relying on it. [More]
Experian Sued Over Deceptive FreeCreditReport.com Ads
By February 4, 2010
Freecreditreport.com is getting class action sued, baby. Their ubiquitous singing ads make it sound like you’ll go their website and get a free credit report, but they don’t tell you that’s only after you sign up for a $14.95 monthly credit monitoring service. “FreeCreditReport.com tells people they will get something for free, and you do, but you have to pay for something else, and there’s not sufficient notice,” said John Balestriere, lead attorney. I agree, so I made up my own parody Freecreditreport song: [More]
Don't Flush Your Credit Down The Drain
By January 22, 2010
We don’t like services that charge for access to your credit reports, but we are in favor of making it easier to learn about the risks of runaway debt. So, we think you should go ahead and take a look at this chart from . Just stay away from those “Free Credit Report” links and head over to AnnualCreditReport.com instead.
