Get Free Credit Score – FICO Report

MoneyTalksNews asked:

New banking decisions in the midst of a recession mean even responsible borrows may see their credit scores drop.

Elaine

Josh Riverside asked:




If you have a low FICO score, you face difficulty in getting credit or purchasing or renting a property. This is because any lender would run a check on your FICO score, which a sign of your credit worthiness. It is easy to comprehend that a low FICO score is an indication of low credit worthiness.

The Fair Isaac Corp. has developed a computer model that takes into account different information about your credit status, both recent as well as long-ago (history). After gathering all this information, the model weighs the information against the credit status of thousands of other people and then allocates you a score. The FICO Score has a range of 300 to 900 points.

A low FICO score is usually considered to be below 600. At times, even a score of 650 is considered low. It actually varies from lender to lender and their capacity to take risk. A credit score that one lender considers acceptable may be regarded as unacceptable by other lenders for similar a credit instrument. Every so often, the lender would have other circumstances and restrictions that you would be required to qualify.

The Fair Isaac model takes into account five aspects while appraising your credit worthiness. Your average FICO score can be adversely affected by past payment history, balance owed, length of credit history, amount of new credit, and the type of credit used.

You can always work towards a better score, all you need is a little bit of financial education and restraint. By just paying all you bills on time you can increase you score. Every entry of a 30 days late payment, a collection or a judgment can reduce your score by 15-40 points each.

Similarly you get a penalty points for 60 day payment. You can lose as much as 20-40 points for credit and retail cards.

It is important to note that the only true credit score quick-fixes are to pay off debt and to successfully dispute negative information on a credit report.

Nancy

rchirodoc asked:

credit-reportrepair.net Bad Credit Scores Repair Fico Score – Benefits Of Having FICO Score

Marlene

Peter Boston asked:




Piggybacking is a term used to describe how a person with bad credit or no credit history can get all the benefit of somebody else’s good credit rating by becoming an authorized user on an already established, good credit account that belongs to that other person (the donor). For example, a young adult child with no credit history of his own could leap frog to a high credit score by becoming an authorized user on his father’s or mother’s American Express Card account. That assumes, of course, that the donor account had no dings.

Although perfectly legal, over the last several years this technique was sorely abused by credit repair companies who rented out authorized user status to anybody for a fee. The creditors and credit reporting bureaus were so alarmed by what they saw as an abuse of the system that they stopped including authorized user accounts altogether in the scoring calculation. The company itself estimates that there are 50 million legitimate authorized user accounts in the US so excluding them from the score calculation had a wide ranging affect.

Fair Isaac & Co., the firm which originated the popular FICO credit scores, now says it has found a way to include those accounts in credit scores when they are legitimate and still exclude the for-fee-only piggy-backers. The company did not reveal any of the details of how it intended to separate legitimate authorized users from the renters. Only Fair Isaac has made this announcement but it’s safe to say that the highly competitive nature of the credit reporting industry will compel the others to quickly implement similar technology.

Fair Isaac spokesperson, Lisa Nelson, vice president of Global Scoring, says that the new FICO algorithm will allow the scores of spouses and other genuine authorized users to benefit from their shared credit experience. The change should go into effect in the FICO 08 credit scoring system.

The change will be transparent to most credit consumers, two-thirds of whom would not know a credit score from a golf score to begin with. People with bad credit shopping for easy credit repair, however, should be on the alert for the fly-by-night credit repair outfits that start offering piggy-back rentals again. If we can take Fair Isaac at its word on this, and there is no reason not to, then paying for a piggy-back rental to boost a FICO credit score is a waste of money.

Ella

Jack Tanner asked:




Asking, “How is FICO determined” is a good idea before applying for a loan or mortgage.

FICO is your individual financial score card. The initials stand for Fair Isaac Corporation, which is the firm that designed this commonly used credit score determination software.

If you want higher credit levels and lower interest rates, you need to up your FICO.

Scores range from 300 to 850. Higher scores mean greater creditworthiness. Scores over 750 are excellent, over 720 very good and over 660 acceptable.

Anything under 660 is considered questionable or risky. The average score is about 715.

A person with a score of 620 or less will probably pay about 1.5% more in interest than someone with a score of 760 or higher. Depending on the principle of the loan involved, that could add up to hundreds of dollars a month in extra payments.

This is why it’s important to keep your FICO score as high as possible.

Five basic financial factors are used to determine your score: payment history, debt to credit ratio, length of time of accounts, number and type of accounts and number of recently opened accounts and inquiries.

If you do what you can to score as high as possible in each of these five categories, your overall score will be much higher, resulting in better credit and lower interest rates.

The first thing considered is your payment history. It counts for about 35% of your total score. The amounts you regularly pay on accounts, past due payments and length of time to get up to date are all considered.
So it’s important to pay all overdue accounts and, if possible, get late payments erased from your file before applying for credit.

Second in importance is your current outstanding debt to credit ratio. This adds up to about 30% of your total score. You can do two things to improve your rating in this area: pay down outstanding debt and/or get lenders to increase your credit limit. They’ll usually do this if you’re in good standing.

How long you’ve had your accounts adds up to about 15%. The longer your history, the higher your score. That’s why it’s important not to cancel inactive accounts. It’s better to make small purchases to keep these accounts active.

Having different types of credit accounts – credit cards, bank loans, mortgages, etc.- contributes to about 10% of your total score. The greater the variety, the higher your score.

New Credit and recent credit inquiries are usually negatives that account for 10% of your score. So the fewer, the better. That’s why it pays to move slowly in opening new accounts.

Establishing good credit and maintaining a high score takes time. In understanding how is FICO determined, realize it doesn’t happen overnight. However, it’s never too late to begin.

Since a small increase in your score can make a huge difference in the cost of borrowing, improving your credit rating is definitely worth the time and effort.

Bernard

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Michele

Bill Burress asked:




Homeowners who think they can’t refinance their real estate mortgage because of a low FICO score or bad credit, need to think again. There are many homeowners today who got caught up in the mortgage loan implosion. This occurred after foreclosure rates went up and the more lenient loan programs were eliminated as a result of foreclosures increasing. These homeowners may have got into their home loan mortgages with low qualifications and low FICO scores and now they cannot get out of them. Some borrowers are in adjustable rate mortgage loans where the interest rates continue to rise. As the real estate mortgage crisis continues, lending guidelines continue to get tighter, increasing the number of homeowners who cannot get refinanced.

In the face of the lending underwriting guidelines getting stricter, the real estate market does not seem to be cooperating. As the number of foreclosures and bank owned properties goes up, real estate equity goes down due to the declining real estate markets. As the equity shrinks on real estate, the credit denials increase. The reason for this is of course, lower equity increases the risk of the lender.

Many homeowners who have been told, “NO!” for a mortgage refinance may have given up on trying. They may have given up too soon. The future may be brighter for some who apply. Right now there is a program available 95% loan to value with cash out to those with low FICO scores and in some cases can go to as low as a 530 FICO score. The interest rate for this low equity loan program is about the same as the best conforming rates for borrowers with 20% equity or more.

The loan program is far more lenient than standard agency loan programs which are Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac approved. This will help many homeowners perhaps get out of the jam they are in buy getting them refinanced into a lower rate and help them take some cash out too. The first step is to contact a seasoned mortgage expert to assist you in your mortgage refinance.

Amber

Zach Ford asked:




One of the most vital steps which can be taken by you, when considering finance is be acquainted with your FICO and have a correct figure of your credit status. There are loads of factors, which can easily affect your score and can lead a bad impression on your FICO score. Some of the errors might not be made by you. So always have a clear idea of your report and credit score, so that you can make out if there are any unusual changes in your score.

Basing on your current and past financial activities your credit report and FICO credit score is been calculated. In this all your payments and balances to mortgages, credit cards, car lease, utility bills and any other loans is included. If you had made your past payments on time, you can have a good FICO score and credit report.

Generally a FICO score ranges between 300 to 850

A person with ratings of 700 to 850 is considered with excellent credit

A person with ratings of 680 to 699 is considered with a good credit

A person with ratings of 620 to 679 is considered as average credit

A person with ratings of 500 to 580 is considered as low credit

A person with ratings of 300 to 499 is considered as bad credit

If you know where your FICO scores stands, then you can make out the kind of loans which you can receive and interest rates which you will be charged. You can improve your money and credit score if you educate yourself with your own financial situation.

Make it as a main concern to find out your FICO credit score and credit report, as it can be very helpful for you.

Francis

CreditScore101101 asked:

www.videocreditscore.com – This Q&A addresses what’s not in your credit score. Race, gender, income, rental agreements and working with a credit counselor are not in your FICO credit score calculation

Cecil