Ms. Jualeah Shaw
eXp Realty
Realtor & Loan Officer
Buy-Sell-Invest
CA DRE#: 01500103
eXp Realty
Realtor & Loan Officer
Buy-Sell-Invest
CA DRE#: 01500103
(510) 695-7353
BUILD YOUR CREDIT - BUILD YOUR WEALTH - BUILD YOUR FUTURE
Who checks credit?
Who checks credit?
- Banks/credit card companies
- Landlords
- Home insurance companies
- Utility companies
- Employers
A higher score will lead to.....
- Lower home and car insurance rates
- Deposit waiver from utility companies
- Better package service from a cell phone company
- Ability to finance a car or a home with a better interest rate
Little known facts.....
- Approximately 85-90% of consumers have some sort of inaccurate information reporting on their credit report
- 82% of Americans have some sort of credit issues
- 70% of the US population live check to check
- 95% do not have a budget writing
- Average American has 6 credit cards
- Average interest rate on a credit card is 18.9%
Three major credit reporting agencies.....
- Equifax
- Transunion
- Experian
Types of credit.....
- Revolving (i.e. credit cards)
- Installment (i.e. home loan)
- Alternative/traditional (i.e. utilities)
- Collections
What impacts your FICO Score.....
- Payment history (35%)
- Revolving balance (30%)
- Length of credit history (15%)
- Types of credit (10%)
- New credit (10%)
Negative credit factors.....
- Court judgment, tax lien, etc. carry an additional negative penalty, especially when recent
- Payday loans, rent to own, cash advances
- Having a P.O. Box listed as your address
- Multiple addresses (considered unstable)
- Occupation stated on credit report (possible risk)
- Closing your credit card accounts
- Accounts listed as "Closed by credit grantor" (closed by the lending institution)
- Paying an old collection (over 2 years)
- Applying for multiple accounts (having your credit pulled multiple times in a short time a.k.a inquiries)
How to improve your score quickly.....
- Pay down revolving debt below 30% of the credit limit (i.e. $1000 credit card, pay below $300)
- Utilize old credit cards but very lightly
- Transfer balance of the cards to other cards to reduce them to the 30% limit (try to get the usage on all of them at 20-30% instead of a bunch at zero and one at 80%)
- Request a lender to delete a late payment from your credit file
- Dispute negative items from your report
- Authorized user - become an authorized user on someone's card who has a long and strong credit history
- Have a collection agency agree to delete a collection on the account if you pay. Only do this if they agree to do so in writing
Common errors worth disputing.....
- Late payments, charge offs, collections or other negative items that aren't yours
- Credit limits reported as lower than they actually are
- Accounts listed as "settled," "paid derogatory," "paid charge-off" or anything other than "current" or "paid as agreed" if you paid on time and in full
- Accounts that are still listed as unpaid that were included in a bankruptcy
- Negative items older than seven years (10 in the case of bankruptcy) that should have automatically fallen off your reports
New changes to credit reporting.....
- Medical collections will no longer weigh as heavily as other collections
- Paid medical collections will be removed from your credit report
- Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2014
Where do you fall.....
- Less than 580 = VERY POOR
- 581-620 = POOR
- 621-680 = FAIR
- 681-720 = GOOD
- 721 and higher = EXCELLENT
You have the right to a FREE credit report every year.....
- www.annualcreditreport.com
- www.creditkarma.com
- www.myfico.com
- Monitor your credit monthly with any of the 3 credit bureaus