Monthly Archives: November 2011

How Credit Scores are Determined

Have you ever thought about how it is possible to be approved or declined for a line of credit online in a short period of time? Have you also ever pondered how you receive those pre-qualification offers in the mail without providing any information to the related companies?

This all due to your credit scoring, what is it really, we are all aware that it’s a three digit number companies use to decide if they should extend us credit or not. In truth, It is actually a calculated by a mathematical algorithm or formula that is derived from information on your personal credit report and then compared to millions of other considers, that number then gives a likely hood of your paying your bills.  It originated with many statisticians studying consumer patterns for many years and in many markets. They then ascertained which factors were best to site if a person would pay their bill on time or at all, after that, they decided to place numbered value to those in order to create a statistical model.

The FICO method is the one most commonly used. There are five sections that make up the calculations. The top major credit reporting bureaus uses these methods to create your personal consumer score although they use their own variation of the FICO.

  • Equifax uses BEACON score
  • Experian uses Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model
  • TransUnion uses the EMPIRICA score

These scores differ from each other mainly because each agency has different information and their algorithms are different. A new scoring system called Vantage Score is to use the same algorithms for all the bureaus and was created by the companies as a joint venture. The scale for the new algorithm will be a minimum of 501 and a maximum of 990 which will also have corresponding letter grades.

  • The things the algorithm uses to determine your score are as follows:
  • Specific payment history on certain types of accounts
  • Adverse or negative public court records
  • Past due amounts and collections
  • The number of over  due amounts
  • Amount  owed on particular accounts
  • Absence of a certain type of balance
  • Amount of Time  passed since accounts were opened
  • last  account activity

The Number of recently opened accounts on your report, amount of inquires, and amount of time passed since you had negative issues if any are also calculated. Along with these, the type of credit you use, such as a home loan, a retails store account or credit cards also have their own scoring beacons. The algorithms done use just one, but all of these to create you score. It is important to pay close attention to each item when you are trying to improve your overall report. Keep in mind your score only deals with your credit, certain lenders will take into accounts how much you make as well as the stability of the job you hold when deciding to extend credit to you or not.

Reference
- credit repair companies

 

 

Repairing Your Credit On Your Own

If you are suffering from a bad credit score, or have had a bad history with credit agencies, it can be frustrating to be accepted for loans on big purchases such as cars, home mortgages, or even contracts that are going to require monthly payments. However, if you are ready to pick up and repair the pieces all hope is not lost. There are many credit agencies that can work with you and help you repair you credit, so that you can be accepted for loans in the future.

When looking for a credit agency to help you repair your credit score, it is important that you do your research and look for a company that is reputable because there are a lot of scams out there today. Credit companies cannot magically erase your bad credit or can you, the following are things to look for during your search to find the right agency to help you repair your credit score.

  • Companies that claim they can completely erase your past credit history are not being honest, repairing your credit can be a long process, so any agency that says they can do something straight away are not being honest.
  • One important thing to look into is the companies’ approval ratings. If a company you are leaning towards has customer complaints, it may be possible they are not a good company to repair your credit score.
  • Insure that the credit repair agency you choose does not have any pending legal investigations. You can look into this through the General Attorney Office.
  • Ensure you are aware of your rights and state regulations. There are specific guidelines that agencies most follow which are stated in the Credit Repair Organization Act.

Once you have chosen the credit repair agency that you believe to be legitimate and helpful, they have several different ways to help you repair your credit.

  • One suggestion they my advice you to take is Goodwill Negotiation. This is when you personally speak to credit agencies and ask them to move questionable negative information that is on your credit report. This is often small things such as late bill payment. There is no law that says this is illegal and if it benefits the credit agencies in some way, they will often do this.
  • If Goodwill Negotiation has not worked to your advantage, another suggestion from your credit repair agency may be credit disputation.  This is when you dispute something inaccurate, unverifiable, or misleading on your report in a court of law.

Credit repair agencies can help you improve your credit, but it is also important that you are responsible and tackle paying your bills and loans on time and ensure your current debits are registered your correct name and address. If you are serious about improving your credit score, with a little help from credit agencies and discipline, you can be on the way to a better credit score.

Reference
- Credit Monitoring