The three main credit bureaus used in the United States are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These agencies collect and collate personal information, financial data, and non-financial data (such as utility, rental, and telecommunications payments) on individuals from a variety of sources called data furnishers with which the bureaus have a relationship. Data furnishers are typically creditors, lenders, utilities, debt …
Author Archives: brukcredit
How High Are Your Utilization Rates?
Credit utilization is your balances vs. your credit limits. If your balances are over 30% of your credit limits, you may be negatively impacting your scores. Lowering your balances to 30% will help maintain your scores while lowering them to <15% will help you increase your scores each month.
How are credit scores calculated?
The methods of calculating your FICO may differ slightly depending on the credit bureau. When obtaining your score from one of the Credit Bureaus it is important to understand that your score does not come directly from FICO. It is adapted to each bureau and is given its own name: Equifax uses “Beacon”, Trans Union …
Understanding Your Credit Score (FICO®)
Fair, Isaac, and Co. are the San Rafael, California Company founded in 1956 by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac. They pioneered the field of credit scoring for financial companies. They have expanded their enterprise to cover decision systems, analytics, and consulting. Every credit agency, and most lenders, calculate your credit score using software from FICO® …
Credit Repair Secrets
How To Have (And Maintain) Perfect Credit Roughly 1% of the population has perfect credit, i.e. a FICO score of 850 (on a scale of 300 to 850). Folks with such a high credit score all have the following traits in common: Between four and six revolving accounts (this means credit cards). At least one …
How to Get a Credit Report
There are three main credit reporting agencies where you can obtain your credit report: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each of these institutions gathers information on you from a host of sources and they put it all together into a readable document. You can obtain a free credit report from these agencies once a year through www.annualcreditreport.com. This is a …
HOW YOUR CREDIT SCORE AFFECTS YOUR AUTO LOANS
It’s 2022. There are not many places where you can rely on public transportation alone. And with the cost of public transportation growing each year, owning your own car just might be the more affordable option. If you have good credit. Let’s face it, most people cannot afford to buy a car with cash upfront. …
Continue reading “HOW YOUR CREDIT SCORE AFFECTS YOUR AUTO LOANS”
Are There Accounts That Are Not Yours?
Sometimes there are accounts that are not yours. Perhaps they were merged with a family member’s file with a similar name. Or someone else who may have a similar name or SSN. If there are accounts that cannot be attributed to a merged file, this may be a sign of identity theft
Check Your Credit Report for Mistakes
Check your credit report for mistakes that might be hurting your credit scores. If the different bureaus are reporting different balances, different dates, late pays that were not late, or any other erroneous information, you can dispute and remove the item from your report.
Credit utilization is your balances vs. your credit limits. If your balances are over 30% of your credit limits, you may be negatively impacting your scores. Lowering your balances to 30% will help maintain your scores while lowering them to <15% will help you increase your scores each month.
If a friend of family member with credit cards that have good utilization and longevity is willing to add you as an authorized user, you may experience a credit boost when they appear on your credit. If you have no choice and have to purchase a car with bad credit, spend the next year dutifully …