By Sarah Clark Oster Credit repair signs have been popping up all over advertising help for those with bad credit histories for only $250.  So are these services legitimate, or are you being lured into a scam?  Here’s what you need to know. Some credit repair companies are scams, but not all are illegitimate. The FTC [...]

By John Ulzheimer     If you follow personal finance related blogs or websites you’ve undoubtedly seen the phrase “revolving utilization.” And, if you’re a credit junkie, like me, you’ve written about it countless times. Long story short, the revolving utilization percentage is one of the most important credit score measurements applied to your credit reports, and [...]

By Mark Foster  There are various factors involved in raising a credit score, but when it comes down to it just two key factors are responsible for an incredible 65% of your score – how timely you pay your bills and how much you owe. The less you owe, the better your credit score. The credit scoring [...]

By Gail Cunningham The accuracy of credit reports has been in the news lately, causing consumers to wonder how error-free their own report is. Since credit reports are the backbone of the all-important credit score, it is indeed important to fully understand what a credit report is, what consumer protections are in place, and what actions [...]

By Jason Alderman If you’ve ever tried to remove inaccurate or fraudulent information from your credit report and gotten the runaround take heart: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now on the case. In July 2012, the watchdog agency, formed as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, [...]

By John Ulzheimer Depending on whom you believe you can have as few as one credit score, and as many as hundreds of credit scores. So who is telling the truth? The truth is they’re both right. Follow me… The apex predator in credit scoring is still your FICO credit score. That’s not in dispute. It’s by far the most [...]

By Drew Kessler Lenders are in business to make a profit. They lend you money and collect interest on the loans. To do this successfully, they have to minimize their risks by limiting the number of “bad loans” that don’t get repaid. When you apply for a loan, lenders examine your credit history and assess the risk that [...]

By Jason Alderman If you’ve got a recent high school graduate who is in their first semester of college or recently joined the workforce, let me share a few lessons I learned the hard way about managing personal finances that you can pass along to your kids. Young adults are just starting to build their credit history. [...]

By Lauralynn Schueckler This is one question that has been asked time and time again. When hardships and struggles get in the way, a late payment is bound to happen. So how many points will your credit score drop if you happen to miss one payment? Well, that number depends on a few different factors. [...]

By Gail Cunningham For incoming freshmen college often means one thing: freedom. That freedom can come in the form of no curfew, no set study time, or no one looking over your shoulder as you spend money. Such freedoms can be part of a positive growth experience, or create negative situations which take years to recover [...]