Credit Card Bills Paid Online: Keeping Track Of Your Records Electronically
Paying your credit card bills online makes bill-paying a snap, but make sure you keep track of your records. Quicken is one financial program that allows you to keep track of the credit card bills you pay online. By keeping track electronically of the credit card bills you pay online, you keep your…
Refinancing Mortgage May Not Work
When interest rates are low it may seem a good time to refinance a mortgage loan, but other factors have to come together as well. If you've just lost your job or don't have enough equity in your home you may not be a good candidate for mortgage refinancing. In addition, lenders have tightened…
Partnership Agreement Ensures Cohabitation
Unmarried couples who buy property together or live together may want to sign a partnership agreement. A partnership agreement helps especially in cohabitation situations when one partner has poor credit. Cohabitation before marriage can go more smoothly with a partnership agreement.
Credit History and Loans: How To Co-Sign And Keep Good Credit
You can keep your good credit history while co-signing a home loan for a family member with bad credit. The key to keeping your good credit history is to set up parameters with the family member you co-sign the loan for. Just because your family member has begun rebuilding their credit history, that…
Credit Card Consolidation Impacts Credit Score
Does it hurt your credit score if you close credit card accounts? Credit bureaus monitor how long you've had each credit card in determining your credit score so closing a long-held credit card could have a negative impact. But if you're generally responsible with your credit cards by paying them…
How Credit Scores Impact Mortgage Applications
How do credit scores impact mortgage applications? Credit scores measure debt and your ability to pay back loans. Especially today, your credit score will determine your mortgage and interest rate. What credit score should you have and how can you improve your credit score and get the best interest…
Credit Card Debt Balance Transfer
If you currently have a credit card with debt and a high interest rate, consider transferring the balance to a lower-interest credit card. Transferring your credit card debt will help you pay off your debt quicker, improve your credit history and increase your credit score. But remember to…
Don't Close Credit Card And Protect Credit Score
Closing a long-held credit card can damage your credit score. Is there a way to close a credit card account without it affecting your credit score or credit history? One option may be to negotiate with the credit card company to switch the account number to a credit card without an annual fee.
Seller Financing Risks Require Due Diligence
A home owner asks about offering seller financing on a home he's selling. He wants to know what's involved in seller financing and who to involve in the transaction. First he needs to assess whether a potential home buyer will make the home mortgage payments and what to do if the buyer later stops…
Credit Card Company Calls Debtor's Parents
Jason, a 22-year old listener, called the show to complain that he was 3 months late on an $850 credit card debt, and his credit card company called his mom to tell her. She call him and gave him heck.
He's mad at the credit card company for violating the law. I agreed that they did, but I told him…
More Americans File For Bankruptcy In First Half Of 2008
More Americans filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2008 compared to the first half of 2007.
The American Bankruptcy Institute announced that filings increased 30 percent during that time.
In June alone, more than 82,700 people filed for bankruptcy. Last year at the same time, 68,559 people…
I've been writing about credit histories and what helps or dings your credit score. Take a look at the story. I've started to receive comments on it and thought we could post them here.
Arlene is first! Do you agree with her comments?
Dated: 6/6/2008Comment regarding your credit article on 6/5/08…
What is included in your credit history? First, your credit history also includes personal factual information, such as your name, Social Security number, current address, how long you've lived at your current address, and past addresses. Your credit history is primarily a list of all of the…
Does LifeLock Really Work? Not The Way It Should
The guy who waves around his Social Security Number and dares people steal it might be regretting that dare.
Todd Davis, owner of the fraud prevention company LifeLock, has had his service fail his own Social Security number.
According to an AP wire story, Davis has had his identity stolen and now…
Dividing Divorce Assets Could Affect Credit
When you get divorced, the person whose name is on the mortgage loan is responsible for that debt, even if both people's names appear on the title to the home. To change the names on a mortgage loan, the loan must be refinanced. Depending on how this asset, the home, is divided between the two…
Credit Score: Impact Of Bankruptcy Or Collections
Is bankruptcy or debt collections worse for a credit score? Both debt collections and bankruptcy impact a credit score, although a bankruptcy will stay on a credit report longer than debt collections will. The type of debt also affects how it is reported to credit reporting bureaus and how important…
A couple asks the impact of doing a short sale on their credit history and credit score. A short sale is where you sell your home for less than the amount you owe on it to your lender. Your mortgage lender would have agree to take less than the full amount that is owed in exchange for allowing the…
Refinancing may not be the best option to consolidate debt. If you don't have any equity in your property, you cannot refinance in order to consolidate debt. Mortgage lenders are getting picky about how much cash you can borrow against your equity. These days, they're not doing 100 percent loans, or…
ThinkGlink Radio Show for Apr 13, 2008
What's the penalty if your bank forecloses on you or you just walk away from your house and mortgage payments? Nothing good. On this week's show, Ilyce Glink talked about the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules that will penalize individuals with a foreclosure on their credit history. To find out…
Short Sale On Home Will Affect Credit
Doing a short sale of a house means selling the property for less than the mortgage amount. It's unlikely that a lender will talk about the prospect of a short sale with a homeowner who is current on their mortgage payments. Completing a short sale will most certainly affect a homeowner's credit.
What's My Credit Score And How Do I Raise It?
Before you even think about buying a home, you should ask yourself two questions: "What's my credit score?" and "How do I raise it?" Knowing your credit score will help you negotiate a good interest rate on your mortgage, and if you can raise your score, you'll get a loan with a lower interest rate…
Equifax Announces Another Tool To Protect You From ID Theft
Ever seen that commercial where people dance around cheerfully because they have stolen someone's financial identity? One of the characters is a guy who talks like a little girl because he's stolen her identity.
Identity theft occurs when someone pretends to be you when applying for credit cards, a…
Quick Quiz For Credit Counseling
The National Foundation for Credit Counseling recently issued a True/False quiz to see if you're a good candidate for credit counseling. Here's the quiz:
Mortgage Lender Doesn't Report On-Time Payments
A couple's mortgage lender does not report their on-time payments to credit reporting bureaus. They wonder how the mortgage lender's behavior will impact their credit. The mortgage lender is anti-consumer.
The best person to repair your credit is you. Credit repair scam artists will charge you anywhere from $500 to $1,500 or more upfront, but these companies can't do anything for you that you can't do for yourself - for free - and they might ultimately do more harm than good. Ilyce shares 10 tips for…
