The term credit can mean many things. For most people, it is the ability to borrow today and pay later. The idea of “credit-worthiness” defines our personal finances, and reaches out to all parts of our financial lives. Credit can be an accounting term. You can talk about credit cards, your credit history, your credit score, or the three credits you got in college for taking Bowling. This page is the credit nerve center of ThinkGlink.com. From this page you can learn more about what credit means and how having good, bad, or mediocre credit affects your personal finances.
Credit Report Hurt By Inaccurate Charge-Off
Inaccurate reporting of information on your credit report can seriously damage your credit score. However, sometimes the circumstances are reported wrong on your credit report. If a dispute goes on for a year or more, and the leasing company sells your debt to a collections agency and charges off the wear and tear amount that you failed to pay, then it is a charge off. You can dispute the way debt is reported by filing complaints with the credit reporting bureaus and other agencies. Make sure to report your complaints in writing to the credit companies.
Missing A Mortgage Payment Will Kill Credit Rating
It never hurts to ask your lender's loan mitigation department for help but the most important thing is to make your mortgage payments on time to avoid destroying your credit rating. The lender may be able to work with you to restructure your payments until your financial situation is back on track and keep your credit in good standing.
Should Senior Citizen Cancel Credit Cards?
Does a senior citizen need to worry as much about having a high credit score? Unless a senior plans to buy a home or a car on credit, having a credit score might not be as important.
Raising Your Credit Score
When you're trying to raise your credit score you should not close credit card accounts. Having credit card accounts open for a long time (even with no balance) looks good on your credit report. On the other hand, having too many lines of credit open can also be a negative on your credit score. If you want to close some of your credit accounts, make sure it is the newer ones that you close.
How To Raise Your Credit Score
Repairing your credit history and score takes time and patience, but will be worth it at the end. If you're paying your bills on time and paying down debt, your credit score should start to rise within a year and even more in two years. Part of your credit score hinges on not having any late pays as well as managing your credit over the long haul.
Keeping Credit Limit Down Helps Raise Credit Score
Most lenders only care what credit score a prospective borrower has. Having too much available credit, especially if you carry a balance that exceeds 30 percent of that available credit, still counts as a negative when credit scores are tabulated.
Keeping Up With Your Credit
The difference between the Generation X and Generation Y is simply this: Today's teenagers and toddlers will never have a time when their credit scores aren';t the most important number of their financial lives. It's important to teach kids that every financial transaction they make, whether it is a purchase, opening up a credit card, or making monthly payments on a home loan, is mathematically weighted and then crunched together to form a three-digit number.
How To Get Your Credit Score
Unfortunately, your FICO score isn't available for free at this time. You can, however, get a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three credit reporting bureaus. Credit scores have become so important to lenders and consumers that credit scores may also one day be available for free once a year.
Reporting Problems With Credit Cards
When dealing with your personal finances, problems with your credit cards or debit cards require quick action. You need to immediately report problems with your credit cards, including billing errors, lost or stolen cards, and identity theft. And if you discover errors involving electronic fund transfers to your checking account, like missing or incorrect transactions, contact your bank as soon as possible.
Is There Really A Free Credit Report?
It's important to check your credit report to know your financial standing and protect yourself against fraud. Once a year, a free copy of your credit history is available from each of the three credit reporting bureaus.