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Did you know that per the FTC one in five Americans have errors on their credit reports. These errors may vary from incorrect addresses to account status reporting wrongly. It is part of our process to ensure the accuracy of your reports. It is important to take care of your credit and monitor often as it sometimes contains errors. Our credit repair program is geared towards working on correcting those mistakes.
Budgeting is an important part of improving your credit. It’s important not to overspend. Get a calendar. On the side list your monthly bills and balances. Also put your monthly income and mark the dates. Paying more than the minimum is always beneficial.
Here are some resources for tracking expenses and budgeting:
Using auto pay is a great way to prevent unexpected expenses like late payment fees. Contact your bank after you’ve calculated when and what must be paid monthly. Have them assist you with setting up auto pay for those accounts or do so yourself if your bank has online banking options.
While your credit score is key in your approval, lenders will also be looking at your debt to income ratio when opening a large financing account like an auto loan or mortgage. You may have the right score for that huge house you’ve been wanting but your financial situation can be the cause of a denial or lower offer. Your credit shows how responsible you are when it comes to repayment but your income determines whether you can afford the purchase.
When it comes to the credit bureaus and their reporting of late payments, they do not consider the payment late until it’s 30 days or more past the due date. While you may be charged late fees by the bank, credit card issuer or loan provider, your payment won’t be reported as past due to the credit reporting agencies unless it’s at least 30 days past due.
Let’s cover one of the largest myths regarding inquiries when it comes to checking your own report. Many people believe that checking your own credit can harm your report by adding a hard inquiry. That is not true, while it is an inquiry, it is considered a soft inquiry. A soft inquiry to your report means it will not lower your score.
Credit Inquiries normally have a low impact to your score. For the most part one inquiry will take less than 5 points off of your FICO scores. If you have a large number of inquiries it also means you may be a risk. Statistically, people with six inquiries or more on their credit reports can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with no inquiries on their reports.
Did you know that all you need is a 580 credit score for certain home loans? Most conventional loans require a 620 and higher.
In the non-conforming market credit scores will determine your interest rate. You may be in this market for many reasons, not just score. It could be because your loan amount exceeds conventional guidelines (jumbo), the house does not qualify, no down payment, high debt ratios, credit history issues, or you could be self-employed and don’t show enough income to qualify.
Credit unions are member-owned cooperatives, their mission is to help the communities they serve instead of maximizing corporate profits. They provide the option to borrow and repay at reasonable rates.
Profits that a bank might distribute to its shareholders or owners are instead returned to members in the form of better interest rates and fees. As a result, some credit unions offer better credit cards than you might find at a bank, depending on what you’re looking for. The image below gives you a greater understanding of the differences.
