“Credit Reports/FICO” Archive

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Making Home Affordable Tips…

I learned a lot about the Making Home Affordable/Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in my 2 hour call with Bank of America.

1 – If you are hoping for a huge change… this is not the answer. Not all changes are permanent and/or large. Some adjustments may last as little as 3 months.

2 – Loan modifications are not quick. If you can’t wait the standard 9 weeks for the review of your file and another 5-9 weeks for paperwork processing, you don’t have enough time and you may want to move forward with other options like a short sale or foreclosure.

3 – Give an accurate listing of all your expenses. Don’t exaggerate but don’t minimize either. Have a good understanding of exactly how much you are paying. Keep this information available for when you call the bank.

4 – You will be rejected if you have recently made large purchases or if your credit score is low. You shouldn’t be making large purchases anyway so I can’t say as if I blame the banks for this stipulation.

5 – If you have a second mortgage with another lender, they will likely require you to get approved for the Making Home Affordable Program on your first loan before they will consider a change to your second mortgage. If you are accepted for the program on your first loan, it’s easy to submit the same paperwork for your second mortgage.

6 – This should not be your only option. It’s worth a try, but don’t fool yourself into thinking this will solve your problems.

7 – If your home is not a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mortgage, this program does not apply to you… BUT some lenders are still willing to modify other types of loans.

8 – This is a voluntary program. No one HAS to help you. Sure it’s good business sense to lessen foreclosures on the banks part, but if you are a problem child, don’t expect any help. Banks don’t want to keep you as a customer anyway. Be kind, courteous, and polite even if you are frustrated.

According to the bank’s calculations, my husband and I qualify. We are now in the first 9 week waiting period while they review our files. We have stellar credit scores and we haven’t made large purchases in a long time. We are good candidates for an interest rate reduction from the over 7% it is currently, down to the market rates of 5-6%.

Do I really think it will really happen?

No. But it’s worth a try.

Posted by Beks on October 23, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Credit Reports/FICO, Debt Updates, General Debt, General Personal Finance, Good Info, Home Ownership, Loans, Making Home Affordable Program | 12 Comments »
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Check that Credit Report!

I can’t believe it’s been four months already! It’s time to check that credit report again.

My score is up, but only slightly. The credit card payoff has not yet hit the reporting agencies (of course, if I had missed a payment, it would have likely been reported the same day). I hope to see a bigger jump in four more months.

If you decided to check your credit report with me and follow my once yearly free report check, this time I used:

Equifax

Posted by Beks on September 8, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Credit Cards, Credit Reports/FICO | 4 Comments »
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Time to check that credit report!

As I logged onto my computer this morning, a friendly ‘Check your credit report!’ popped up on my Outlook calendar along with a list of the most recent reports I’ve run and the last scores. Every four months I check my report from one of the three credit agencies. If I keep an organized rotation, I never have to pay for this service (free once per year from each agency).

Not only does this prevent your credit from being misused, it also gives you a clear picture of where you stand financially.

If you’d like to join me, next on the list:

Trans Union

I’ll remind you again in four months! Happy Credit Score!

Update: I forgot to say where to go for the free reports. Please visit http://www.ftc.gov/freereports for the only TRUE free credit reports. Thanks L!

Posted by Beks on May 7, 2009 at 5:00 AM in :), Credit Cards, Credit Reports/FICO, General Personal Finance, Good Info | 6 Comments »
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Free Credit Reports That Aren’t Free

I’ve been bombarded lately by the overplaying of a TV commercial that really agitates me.

It features a man dressed as a pirate in a restaurant singing a silly tune about getting his identity stolen. The commercial implies that having your identity stolen will ruin your life and somehow force you to lose your job. The only way to prevent the tragedy, according to the commercial of course, is to pay a small fortune for monthly credit monitoring services.

I’m not saying that losing your identity is easy.

I had my purse stolen a few years ago and I was terrified every time I ran my report. I was simply waiting for that ticking time bomb to explode.

Can I tell you what DIDN’T happen? I didn’t lose my job. Crazy enough, I still had the ability to work and my brain still functioned – unlike what the commercial portrays.

Losing your good name will not force you to sing as a pirate in a restaurant and preying on people who fear this is over the line. In fact, I believe these credit monitoring agencies are a complete rip-off.

You have the right to obtain your credit report FOR FREE on a yearly basis from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (go to annualcreditreport.com). If you’d like a copy of your credit score, it’s an additional $5 – $7.

You can also put a fraud alert on your credit if you feel your information may be at risk. I put a fraud alert on my credit immediately after I financed our home. I knew my social security number was floating around several financial institutions and I didn’t want to take the risk. The fraud alerts last 3 months and can easily be renewed if you feel you need a little extra time.

But here’s the kicker….

You are still at risk – even if you use a credit monitoring company. I was silly enough to hire one of these agencies AND I had a fraud alert on my credit and I was still able to finance $1,500 worth of dental work without a hitch. They didn’t even call to alert me that someone was taking out a loan.

What am I trying to say?

The only person who can RELIABLY monitor your credit is Y-O-U.

You can obtain your report online. You have no excuse.

I check my credit twice a year. You should too.

Stay informed. Know your score. Know what’s on your report.

Posted by Beks on April 25, 2009 at 12:04 AM in Credit Reports/FICO, Saving Money | 5 Comments »
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Obtain a Copy of Your Credit Report for Free

I’ve discussed this before, but I happened to remember to obtain our credit reports last night so I thought I would give a little reminder on here.

Every year, you are entitiled to one free annual credit report from one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, TransUnion & Equifax). You can opt to get all three at one time yearly, or you can space them out over a few months. For example, you can get Experian now, then in four months get the TransUnion and then in another four months you can get Equifax. With doing that, you can check your report out three times a year.

To get started, all you have to do is visit annualcreditreport.com. There are a few imitation sites out there that even charge you money! But annualcreditreport.com is the authorized site and it’s the best price of all…free.

I’m happy to report that everything seemed in order on our reports. In the past, we have had to clear up accounts showing as open, but were closed. We almost didn’t get our mortgage because of an extra auto payment showing up. Mistakes are sometimes made, so it’s best to check things out to make sure everything is in order. It’s also important to check everything out for suspicious activity.

Posted by Tricia on February 24, 2008 at 8:45 PM in Credit Reports/FICO | 11 Comments »
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Credit Scores – Apparently They Are Growing in Importance

I remember way back when I first started blogging about our debt. I was contacted by a debt company that deals with debt settlement. I asked the gentleman who contacted me flat out…what will happen to my credit score if I did this?

He skirted around the issue a bit, and basically said, “What do you need a credit score for anyway?”

Thinking about it a little bit, maybe he had a point. If you want to avoid debt and obtaining new debt, who cares about your credit score? Go ahead and tank it since you won’t be trying to obtain new credit.

But wait a minute. Some employers pull credit reports on potential employees.

“…most people also don’t know that cellphone companies, landlords, and home insurers often use the scores as part of customer background checks.”

[Via USNews.com]

Somehow, having a good credit score has been linked with having good personal responsibility. Since you have a good score, you are a good person. Of course, I don’t buy that for a minute. A number like that can only tell you so much. But companies outside the financial district are using it to judge you. That upsets me more than a little bit.

I told the gentleman with the debt settlement company that I wasn’t interested. Debt settlement wasn’t an option for me at that point. We are able to pay off our debt, given some time to do it. Now, if we were facing bankruptcy versus going with a debt settlement company…that would have been a different story.

Since it seems like the number of businesses/companies using your credit score as a type of background check is increasing, I wonder what the future will hold for credit scores. I personally hope the importance of credit scores decreases outside of the financial industry.

Posted by Tricia on August 23, 2007 at 10:50 PM in Credit Reports/FICO | 14 Comments »
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A Few Words About Identity Theft and Some Resources

I’ve very briefly discussed identity theft way back when I started this blog. I mentioned about using shredders for destroying documents. I also shared how I had an identity theft scare (turned out to be nothing). In all, I haven’t discussed it much. Then, I received this email a few days ago from a reader who wished to stay anonymous:

Hi, I enjoy your website as we are also trying to pay off credit card debt. I wish you would focus some on identity theft. It just happened to me. Someone stole my social security # and was able to obtain a personal loan for 12,000. Everywhere I went, banks, police, etc., either someone had it happen to them or someone they know. This problem is so much bigger than we can imagine. I am just an average working girl with average credit and alot of debt. I used to joke and say if someone wanted to steal my identity they could have it, with all the bills. Now i’m eating those words. I now have a long process ahead of me to clear my name, not to mention my new paranoia. Anyhow, I hope you can use my story as a example for people to be aware it could happen to them.

Reading that email gave me chills. Even I have joked about someone stealing my identity with all of my debt. I guess no one is really exempt from it anymore and it’s not only adults.

A recent Good Housekeeping article details how a little girl who was only 5 years old had at least 10 people (or someone with 10 different aliases) using her social security number to get employment. It started as early as the year she was born. Her parents were tipped off that something was wrong when they tried to sign their daughter up for a state-run insurance program. The officials for the program wouldn’t let her daughter on the program because she has earned income.

In the case of the little girl, someone happened to produce a social security number that matched hers. There were no documents left out and no wallets lost. It was just by chance. That in itself is a little scary.

I dug a little and have found a few tips to help provide some protection against identity theft (check the articles I reference for even more information):

Shred all documents with personal information – this includes credit card applications that you may receive in the mail (don’t just tear them up). Some theives will raid your trash to find information that can be used for identity theft.

Stop credit card applications from arriving in your mailbox – if you have an unlocked mailbox, you may want to consider calling 888-567-8688 to stop credit card offers from being mailed to you. Theives can raid your mailbox and use these applications to open credit cards in your name [via Good Housekeeping].

Contact your credit card companies and ask that they stop sending “Convenience Checks” – I know a lot of companies send these out. Some as often as once a month. Call them and tell them to stop. Having them around is asking for trouble. If you have a pile of them sitting around, shred them. [via Dateline NBC]

Hang up on telemarketers that seem to be trying to get personal info [via Dateline NBC] – I have a hard-fast rule that I adhere to when it comes to telemarketers. I tell them, “I’m sorry…I do not conduct any business from unsolicited calls.” That includes surveys, organizations requesting donations, etc. If I am not calling them, I don’t do anything. Period.

Be diligent about checking your statements – don’t let your statements sit in a bin to be opened months later. Make sure you are checking them for fraudulent activity [via About.com].

Order your credit report at least once a year – there are credit monitoring services out there (My Fico, Identity Guard, etc) that will let you know within 24 hours of an account opening. I do subscribe to one of those services because of my online presense. You can save that cost by taking advantage of the Federal law that gives you the right to one free credit report each year from the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To get that free credit report, go to Annualcreditreport.com. You could stagger your reports from each of the three bureaus to have one every four months like so

July 07 – Experian
November 07 – TransUnion
March 08 – Equifax
July 08- Repeat cycle with Experian

The sad thing is…a lot of the time you cannot prevent an ID theft from occuring [via Dateline NBC]. You can definitely make it more difficult if you follow the steps above. The key is to be vigilant and watchful so if you find something suspicious going on you can stop it.

More resources:

FTC’s Website
PrivacyRights.org (probably the most comprehensive list I’ve found)

Posted by Tricia on July 22, 2007 at 10:33 PM in Credit Reports/FICO | 12 Comments »
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