By Melinda Opperman There are a lot of sources of credit score advice, but not all of them are equally valid. If you’re looking to improve your credit take care to do it legally, or your efforts are likely to be wasted. Here are 5 tips for improving your credit legitimately: Avoid credit repair. There are [...]

By Erica Sandberg Dear Erica, Do I need to be concerned about my credit score being affected in the future if I ignore attempts to collect from an agency after the statute of limitation for my state has expired? Currently I am in the mid-700 range because I have “bitten the bullet”, and paid a [...]

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 Erica Sandberg Dear Erica, My husband and I are divorcing. We have two cards together, and I have one of my own — it’s a Nordstrom card that I had even before we were married. None of our cards has a balance. Should we close the cards we have together and get new ones? [...]

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 Melinda Opperman Credit counseling services usually help those who have already established credit and gotten in too deep with debt. Our primary function however is to provide education and promote financial literacy, and that includes teaching new consumers how to build credit from the start. Step one is to apply for credit. If you’ve never [...]

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 [...]