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Posted
Sep 01 2009, 06:39 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
A few years ago I had a little credit report error incident. I had just started a new job and was going through a background investigation, which included a review of my credit history. In the course of that review, the investigator noticed that there was an address listed on the report that I hadn't previously disclosed.
The reason I never mentioned the address is because it wasn't mine.
When he told me, I feared the worst. I thought I was joining the millions of people who have their identity stolen each year. In fact, just a year before that, a friend was telling me how it took him several months to get his identity recovered and even then everything credit-related was a pain.
So my mind immediately jumped to ID theft.
Fortunately, it was an isolated, albeit strange, credit report error that was relatively easy to resolve. The error was the addition of an address, a Social Security number (that differed from my SSN by one digit), and a telephone/cable package. I went through the usual protocols of disputing the information, thinking the onus was on the other party to prove the information was true. But I was wrong.
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Posted
Aug 21 2009, 06:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller:
Improving your FICO credit score has never been more important than it is now. Your credit score affects whether you are approved for a loan, the interest rate your pay, and even the cost of insurance. Credit card companies now use credit scores and credit history to determine not only the interest rate that will apply to the account, but other terms such as the length of no-interest balance transfers. And your credit score can even impact whether you get a job.
In short, your credit score has a big impact on your finances. The good news is that you can begin to improve your credit score today with a few simple steps. I've been monitoring my FICO credit score through myFICO.com, and I've noticed that my score has gone up about 15 points in the last month. So I thought it was a good time to review the simple steps we all can take to increase our credit scores.
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Posted
Jul 24 2009, 07:05 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Earlier this week we took a look at how to get your free FICO credit score from myFICO.com. Operated by the Fair Isaac Corp., creator of the FICO credit score, it offers consumers a free credit report and FICO credit score when they sign up for a 30-day trial of Score Watch. The FICO credit score myFICO.com provides is from Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus.
And that's where some confusion can creep in.
There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. And each of these credit bureaus calculates a consumer's FICO credit score, which can be and usually is different for each credit bureau. In other words, you likely have a different FICO credit score from each of the three major credit bureaus. And to add to the confusion, each of the credit bureaus calls its version of the FICO credit score by a different name.
So let's quickly sort all this out:
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Posted
Jun 09 2009, 05:13 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
It's very important that you regularly review your credit history to catch errors and inaccuracies early. Errors can take months to remedy, and they're not something you want to worry about when you are trying to get a mortgage or car loan.
I recommend that every four months you request a credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com, the only Web site you should use to get your annual free credit reports as mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Recently, I requested my credit report from Equifax through AnnualCreditReport.com, and I will take you briefly through the report to explain what the sections are and what to look out for. Each of the three credit bureaus structures its reports somewhat differently, but I'm hoping this guide and walkthrough will help illuminate anything that looks strange.
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Posted
Mar 20 2009, 11:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
While identity theft is a growing problem, services that offer to protect consumers from this menace may not be the answer, according to a new report by the Consumer Federation of America.
Capitalizing on the anxiety surrounding identity theft, dozens of services have sprung up, claiming to protect consumers' identity for fees that can add up to hundreds of dollars a year. But when CFA studied the Web sites of 16 for-profit identity-theft services, it found that the descriptions of how they help consumers are often confusing, unclear and ambiguous.
Furthermore, these services may not always offer the protection that consumers are led to believe they will get, the group says.
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Posted
Feb 11 2009, 12:33 PM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
As if consumers haven’t been alienated enough lately, now a spat involving the nation’s credit-rating bureaus is creating more confusion. And some financial pundits are saying that consumers are the ones who will lose out.
Currently consumers can buy their three FICO credit scores (at myFICO.com) from Fair Isaac, the company that calculates credit scores based on data provided by each of the three major credit bureaus. FICO scores are the ones most lenders use to decide if you should get a loan. (You can get a free credit report every year from each of the bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.)
Now Experian has gone rogue and as of Saturday will no longer allow Fair Isaac to sell the FICO score based on Experian data to the public, and Experian can’t distribute those scores to the public itself. “But,” The New York Times reports, “Experian itself will continue to sell FICO scores based on its data to lenders, so some banks may make credit decisions, at least in part, on a score that consumers can no longer see.”
Adding to the confusion, Experian is all over television and the Net promising free credit scores.
We went to Experian’s site -- freecreditreport.com -- and took the bait.
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Posted
Jan 14 2009, 03:50 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Have a credit card you haven't used in the last year or so? It might be canceled.
Numerous credit card companies are cutting costs by closing accounts due to inactivity, and they're doing it without warning.
Can this ding your credit score? The simple answer is: Yep.
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Posted
Dec 04 2008, 10:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. If there's one thing Kristen King knows, it's how to use a credit card smartly. The Richmond, Va.-based communications consultant uses her American Express Open Blue card to finance purchases for her self-owned business, including supplies, travel costs and regular expenses. "I made every payment early and amounts well over the minimum due -- and by 'well over' I mean several hundred dollars more than the minimum," King said. "I never exceeded my limit." Thus it came as a shock when she received a notice via e-mail that American Express was cutting her credit line, effective immediately, with no advance warning.
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Posted
Dec 03 2008, 06:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: banking, The Dough Roller, mortgage rates, credit rating, credit cards, credit reports, credit card rates, credit score, bad credit, car insurance, insurance rates, homeowners insurance
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. We all know just how important our credit score is when we apply for a loan. High credit scores get approved, while low scores do not, subject to other factors, of course. But your credit score and credit history affect a lot more than whether you get approved for a loan. Here are seven unexpected ways your credit score and credit history can affect your finances.
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Posted
Dec 02 2008, 06:30 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: banking, credit, Bargaineering, online banking, financial planning, credit cards, credit reports, homeowners insurance, mutual funds, estate planning, wills, executor, emergency fund, income tax, tax software
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Popular Mechanics created a list called "100 skills every man should know," which naturally gravitated toward DIY/physical skills like jump-starting a car and splitting firewood. The Frisky listed "30 skills every woman should have before turning 30," which actually touched on more than physical skills (though No. 12 is physical), with a handful of financial skills (Nos. 17-20). The following isn't a checklist of things you necessarily need to do in your life. It's a list of things you should know how to do in case the need arises.
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