Your credit score defines you financially. Establishing and maintaining good credit will make your life infinitely easier. To establish a good credit score you must make your payments on time and in full every month. You can also improve your credit score by minimizing your debt. Learn more here about your credit score and what it means for you.
Credit Card Balance Hurts Mortgage Applicants
Should you pay off credit card bills before applying for a mortgage? Lenders are used to seeing credit card balances, and they can adjust for them. What happens is that the lender adds up how much you can afford to spend each month on your mortgage, interest and taxes. Having a zero balance on credit cards will help your chances for getting a good rate on a mortgage.
Federal Tax Lien Lowers Credit Score
When a federal tax lien gets filed against you, your credit score will fall. What can you do to rebuild your credit score after you've paid off the tax lien? Paying your bills on time, not carrying a credit card balance and not closing old lines of credit all help boost your credit score.
ARM Mortgage Rates Increase
What can you do when the introductory rate on your adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) is expiring? You need to understand what index your ARM mortgage is tied to and how the rate will change after the introductory period. You can then decide whether to refinance your ARM mortgage with a different interest rate.
Negotiating Repayment Of Credit Card Debt
Negotiating repayment of credit card debt can impact your credit score and your tax bill. One problem with offering credit card companies less than what you owe them is that you may have a hefty tax bill because the IRS views the settlement as "phantom income." If you negotiate and settle with your creditors, be prepared to pay the tax bill the following year. You should also - as part of your final agreement - get the credit card company to report your balance as "paid as agreed" or "paid in full."
Mortgage After Foreclosure: Raise Your Credit Score And Apply Successfully
Can you apply for a mortgage after going through bankruptcy and having your home foreclosed upon? There are things you can do that will help you qualify for a mortgage again despite the bankruptcy and foreclosure. Ilyce explains how mortgage companies approve borrowers and how you can raise your credit score and successfully apply for a mortgage despite the foreclosure.
Love and Money
Summary: A reader has a low credit score. She is wondering when it would be a good time to confess her financial past to her boyfrie...
Today On The Ilyce Glink Show
We'll talk tax help (the J.K. Lasser 2007 book I mentioned in yesterday's post), the Bankrate checking survey, Wal-Mart's announced early Christmas Pr...
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.