Equifax Content Index - Page 1

Equifax is one of the three credit reporting bureaus in the United States. Equifax collects and manages data about the way people use credit including what loans they have outstanding, what credit cards they have and whether they pay their bills on time. Equifax takes all of this information and puts together a credit report and the information on your credit report gets used to determine your credit score. In addition to Equifax, the other two credit reporting bureaus are TransUnion and Experian. You can get a free annual credit report at annualcreditreport.com.

**Qualifying For a Mortgage Loan Stricter For Home Equity Lines Of Credit** Today, bank requirements for a loan are stricter for new home equity lines of credit than they were just a few years ago. Banks and lenders are tightening the requirements for home equity lines of credit and other personal lines of credit to make sure their funds are safe. Now, banks might require higher credit scores, more equity in your home, and other strict requirements before they will give you a line of credit. However, if you shop around, you may be able to find a bank willing to give you a home equity line of credit.

**Divorce Decree May Require Ex-Spouse To Refinance Mortgage** The current economic situation may cause a conflict between what a divorce decree requires and what a person is able to do. When the divorce decree requires an ex-spouse to refinance a property to remove the other ex-spouse from the mortgage but the financial condition of the person owning the home make it impossible for that spouse to refinance, what can they do?

**Credit Reporting Agencies And Your Debts** Credit reporting agencies or bureaus collect information from thousands of sources. Do the major credit reporting agencies obtain information from sources outside of the United States? Do Equifax, Experian and TransUnion get that information from overseas?

What makes a good credit score? What makes a bad credit score? How do you improve your credit score? Opening new lines of credit, using all of your available credit, making late payments, or not paying in full can all lower your credit score. The easiest ways to improve your credit score include keeping your credit accounts open for a long time, not opening new credit, having different kinds of credit account, and making your payments on time. Ilyce Glink shows how a credit score can be dropped very quickly, but it takes a long time to build up a good credit score. However, it is possible to improve your credit score over time.

Making Home Affordable loan modification processing requires constant follow-up from the borrower. President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Plan is taking a long time to process many loan modification requests, and sometimes the paperwork is getting lost. To make sure that your loan modification request is processed properly, document all contact with your lender and make contact every day through phone calls and emails. Keep a detailed log of all contact you have with your lender while trying to get your loan modification processed under the Making Home Affordable Plan. If your lender reports you as paying late to the credit reporting bureaus and hurts your credit history and credit score, you may be able to contact the bureaus and, under limited circumstances, correct your credit history.

How long does bankruptcy stay on your credit report? Depending on what kind of bankruptcy you filed, a bankruptcy can stay on your credit report for 7 or 10 years. The longer it has been since your bankruptcy, the less your bankruptcy will affect your credit score. To see if your bankruptcy is still on your credit report, you can pull a free copy of your credit report. If it's been more than 10 years and the bankruptcy is still on your credit report, you can file a dispute and prove that it's been more than 7 or 10 years since your bankruptcy was discharged.

A debt management plan can help someone whose credit history and credit score have likely already suffered either because their debt-to-credit limits are out of whack or because they have started to pay some of their bills late. As personal finance advice goes, a debt management program can help you improve your credit history and credit score by helping to encourage you to pay their bills on time and in full. However, some debt management programs are really scams and they will take your money instead of helping you pay your bills. Look for a reputable credit counseling service provider.

Ilyce Glink Show Note updates: We're talking about how the end of the recession may not make life on Main Street feel like life on Wall Street. There is a new $2 billion Ponzi scheme. Ben Stein, takes a job as pitchman for one of those yucky "free credit score" websites and gets fired from the New York Times. We open the ticket window for my new HOW TO PROFIT FROM FORECLOSURES event on October 24th. Get a very special 2 for 1 deal now off the EARLY BIRD SPECIAL. Limited time offer. Use the discount code: glink

Scams from Nigeria are targeting apartment rentals in South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado and California. You need to be careful to avoid these Nigerian apartment rentals scams. Use common sense and do your due diligence before sending any information to third parties you do not know. Once you become a victim of a scam from Nigeria that target apartment rentals, you'll have to take action to protect your financial information.

Will unemployment jobless benefits be extended again? If not, 1.5 million Americans will run out of their unemployment benefits by the end of the year. That won't be good for the economy. Meanwhile, the Cash for Clunkers program went out with a bang - six days in the CARS program ran out of money. We also offered our FREE BOOK program, and our BUY 3 GET 1 FREE Ebook Deal. See below for details.