If you got a Social Security number for your child but only use it to get your tax deduction for a dependent, you might want to make sure that no one else is using it.
That’s the latest fraud going around: online only companies selling dormant Social Security numbers to people who want to defraud lenders by getting mortgage credit or other financing they aren’t entitled to. The companies refer to their “product” as a CPNs, which stands for credit profile, credit protection, or credit privacy number. Continue reading ‘Can Your Underage Child Have Bad Credit? Unfortunately, Yes’
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One problem with bad luck is that it seems to beget more bad luck. Hence the term downward spiral. It’s common knowledge that one fourth of this country is now sub-prime, with credit scores of less than 600. The recession, irresponsible buying / saving patterns, and the foreclosure crisis have hit the point where they will affect everyone, including those who still have a good credit rating. Here’s why. Continue reading ‘Bad Credit Can Slow Economic Recovery’
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Over one quarter of consumers with active credit accounts, or 43 million people, now have credit scores below 600. A low credit score is like an albatross that will make it harder for all those people to get loans or credit at favorable rates for months and maybe years to come, if they can get access to credit at all. Here’s how it shapes up:
Below 600: 25.5%
600-649: 9.5%
650-699: 11.9%
700 and up: 53.1%
Meanwhile, the definition of sub-prime, which used to mean those with scores of 580 and lower, has been expanded to mean folks with scores worse than 640 or even 660. Which is now more than 35% of the population.
But wait, there’s more. The “shadow inventory” of potential foreclosures is still hanging over the country. A foreclosure can drop a credit score by 150 points. And what about the 26 million unemployed souls in the country? Think their credit is going to improve until they get jobs? Once people sort out their finances and get re-employed, their credit troubles will be hanging over them for years.
Will bad credit mortgages become the norm in the near future?
If you need a bad credit home loan today, complete the form on this site. Lenders will go to work for you and see what they can come up with.
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Missing a payment is the surest way of dropping your credit score. but what about other transgressions like going over your limit on your credit card or bouncing a check? Continue reading ‘Over Limit on Credit Cards: Does that Drop FICO Score?’
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According to FICO, nearly 43.4 million people now have a credit score of 599 or below. That’s not great for those who want to increase access to credit an decrease the cost of borrowing.
One of the biggest factors in credit scoring models is called “credit utilization.” That means the amount of your account balances versus the total amount of credit available to you. it’s expressed as a percentage. So, if you have balances of $6,000 and credit limits of $10,000, your utilization is 60%. Experts say an optimum credit utilization ratio is 30% or less. So, you could increase your credit score over time by paying your balances down to less than 30% of your total credit limits. Or, you could try a quick and dirty solution. Continue reading ‘Increase Your Credit Limit, Increase Your Credit Score’
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Have bad credit? You’re not alone and many more folks will be in the same boat very soon, thanks to plunging housing values, unemployment, and neighborhood blight. Consider that even folks who would have sold off their firstborn children rather than pay a bill late are finding they have little choice in the matter. No job, no way of selling an underwater home without a mortgage lender’s cooperation, and no way to continue paying a mortgage. Nine of ten short sales fall through. The vast majority of trial mortgage modifications don’t make it to the permanent stage, and of those that do, only half stick. Continue reading ‘Housing Value Declines Causing Drop in Credit Scores’
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The CARD Act has provided consumers with a lot more protection from unscrupulous credit card companies than we ever had before. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep looking out for #1. Many borrowers with credit cards now have a false sense of security about their cards, which could cause them financial or credit problems. Continue reading ‘The CARD Act can only do so much. Be proactive and protect your credit.’
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Yes, I’m not kidding. Even though this blog has repeatedly said that credit repair firms can’t clean your credit, and that they can’t remove true credit information no matter what they claim. So, was I lying then, or am I lying now? Continue reading ‘Repair Credit Instantly? It Can Be Done, Legally’
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How much does bad credit cost when you get a mortgage? You probably have an idea. A closer look may motivate you to pay a little more attention to getting your obligations taken care of on time.
According to Freddie Mac, the average mortgage size in 2008 was $167,960. A homeowner with that mortgage and a 520 credit score will pay $185,302 more in interest charges over the life of a 30-year mortgage than a borrower with the same mortgage and a credit score of 720, according to a formula devised by Consumer Credit Counseling Service. That works out to an extra $516 a month. Continue reading ‘Improve Your Credit, Save $516 a Month’
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If you’re experiencing mortgage credit problems, have missed home loan payments, and are perhaps delinquent on other credit accounts as well, it may be tempting to give up. The stress can be debilitating, the balances pile up, and you think you will be in bad-credit Hell forever. A recent study by VantageScore shows that’s not necessarily the case. Continue reading ‘Fix Your Credit in Nine Short Months. Really.’
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