Credit Score

The Easiest Way to Raise Your Credit Score

January 20, 2012
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Raising your credit score requires diligence, but we have a neat credit-building trick that requires little time and no upkeep. While it’s important to make punctual payments and stay below your limit, establishing credit doesn’t have to consume your life. Here’s a cost-free, time-efficient technique for increasing your FICO score. Why your credit score is [...]

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Building a Credit Score from Scratch: 6 Easy Steps

January 18, 2012
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Building credit is something of a Catch-22. Without a credit card, it’s hard to build a credit history. Without a credit history, it’s hard to qualify for a credit card. So how does someone start from scratch to build a credit score? Honest answer: By starting at the bottom and beginning the long upward climb. Fortunately, [...]

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Good Credit Cards: The Best Offers for Every FICO Score

September 22, 2011
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Finding good credit cards that fit your personal needs and your FICO score can be a challenge. As much as we’d all love to qualify for the best credit cards out there, not everyone has the credit score to pull it off. But regardless of whether your score is stellar or needs some serious work, [...]

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The Best Credit Cards for Fair Credit

September 18, 2011
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Don’t sacrifice good rates and rewards just because you have fair credit! Even people with average credit can enjoy cash back with their purchases. Read on for reviews of the best credit cards for fair credit, which can earn you a lot more than you think. You don’t have to have the world’s best credit [...]

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What’s a Good Credit Score Range? Understanding Your FICO Score

August 26, 2011
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The credit score range, also known as the FICO score range, isn’t necessarily intuitive. Your credit score, issued by the Fair Isaac Corporation, ranges from 300 (worst) to 850 (strangers on the street offer to lend you money). This number can determine everything from the interest rate on your mortgage or auto loan, to whether [...]

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If You’re Turned Down Because of Your Credit Score, You Have a Right to Know Why

July 21, 2011
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One of the changes implemented by the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill will take effect tomorrow, July 21st: if you’re denied a credit card or asked to accept an above-average interest rate, you have a right to know how your credit score influenced the decision. This new protection applies not just to credit card issuers, but [...]

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Experian Will Include Rent Payments in Your Credit Score

February 24, 2011
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It used to be that renting could never help your credit score, only hurt it. Homeowners get kudos for on-time mortgage payments, but for the 96 million American renters, their credit score only changes if they get evicted. But this is starting to change. In June 2010, the credit reporting service Experian bought RentBureau, providing [...]

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Free Credit Reports? Not So Much.

April 5, 2010

Back in 2003, Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act to nip the online “free credit report” craze in the bud.  This brought into existence the site www.AnnualCreditReport.com, where Americans can go to get one legitimately free credit report each year from each of the three credit agencies (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax). To prevent [...]

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What’s My Credit Score?

February 28, 2010
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“What’s my credit score? Where can I find it? How is it calculated?” Your credit score determines your eligibility for credit cards, home loans, car loans, student loans, apartment rentals and even certain job positions. It can mean the difference between a reasonable or exorbitant interest rate, and the difference between an affordable or excruciating [...]

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