Archive for May, 2010

Have never had credit and apparently CANT GET credit?

Graham F asked:


I am 20 years old and have used a debit card and cash only for my entire life. I have only rental history to my name, and several utility bills from my last apartment. The trouble is, I have tried to establish credit by applying for a card, and can not get approved because the companies get no record of me in the major credit bureaus. I then tried to get a free annual report from the agencies just to see what was going on. Unfortunately, they will not give me a report either, saying there is either bad information on me or a security freeze. This scares me for the following reason:

When I was applying for my apartment lease, there was an issue approving me for whatever reason. The utility company would not approve me because the social security number i provided them with belonged to someone else. This was completely untrue, seeing as how I was holding my SS card in my hand at the time of the call and was reading the number to them repeatedly. This led me to believe someone STOLE my SS number, so I called the bureaus (or a bureau, I can’t even remember), and filed (again, I THINK I filed one, I had no idea what I was doing) a stolen number claim, or security claim, or something.

Basically, I need someone to tell me what to do to get back on track and gain control of this situation. I just want to be able to establish credit and will establish GOOD credit, it is just impossible to do either with this preventing me from doing anything credit-wise.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I have moved not once but FOUR times in the past 3 years. I have moved from Oklahoma to Houston to San Antonio and finally Philadelphia. I am not sure if this is the problem, as I have as many of my previous addresses when filling out these forms as possible.

Chad

 

Will it hurt my credit if I fill out a form to see what cards I’m pre-qualified for?

gag6153 asked:


I’m in college and have really bad credit. My score is in the 500′s, not good but not as bad as it could be. I’m rebuilding and have brought my score up tremendously. It was in the 300′s before.

I want to find out what credit cards I’m pre-qualified for, so I can get a card and spend wisely and make payments, in turn building my credit score higher.

Some of these Credit Card companies have on their sites where you enter in their system to see what cards of their banks you’re pre-qualified for, like Capital One and Orchard Bank had those.

Will it hurt my credit to enter in my info, just to see if I’m pre-qualified for any of their cards? Is it risk free? It won’t report to the credit bureaus that I’m doing this, right? Because I’m not applying for a card, I’m just seeing what I’m already qualified for.

Susan

 

Deleting Bad Credit from Your Credit Bureau Report – It Can Be Done

C Cruz asked:




Having a bad credit report is very damaging to your financial future. But you already knew that.

Getting your credit report back to pristine status once it has been damaged can be accomplished, but it will take time. However, you must know how to go about it, because you might only get one crack at it.

Your goal should be to have the “verifiable” negative marks deleted from your credit report.

In order for a creditor to consider deleting a “verified” negative mark on your credit report, there must be something in it for them. Primarily that you pay the account in full.

Several factors will determine if a creditor will consider deletion of a “verified” negative account. Some of these include:

>Your ability to pay

>Your job status

>Your income

>Your assets

>Age of the account

>Dollar amount that is due

>Who the creditor is

Just to name a few.

However, you must beware.

You must know if the person you are negotiating with has the authority to delete the negative mark from your credit report.

If you are talking to the collection agency, they may only have limited authority. Meaning that the collection agency may only be able to delete the collection agency report but not the original creditor’s report.

Anything that you agree to must be in writing. Detailing what you must do and what you will be getting in return.

Have an authorized signature on the letter.

Make certain that the settlement offer and terms are on official company letterhead.

Keep a file and document all communications with the creditor or collection agency.

Everything:

>Date and Time

>Person you talked to

>Operator number

>Phone numbers and extensions

>Address

>Timeline

>Details of what was discussed and by whom

Having as much detail on file will help you in the future if the creditor or the collection agency does not adhere to the terms of the settlement.

Sharon
 

How to Get Credit Score Over 800 – Tips to Get Over 800 Credit Score

Davion Wong asked:




How to get credit score over 800? This is the question most people asked if they want to enjoy various benefits of having high credit-score; which could greatly affect your way of life. Credit scores usually range from 350 to 850; this is generally used as basis to judge a person’s credit worthiness, if such person is high-risk or low-risk to be given a credit-line.

If your score falls below median range, it simple means that you are high-risk borrower and creditors are not likely to approve your loan application because the risk involved in lending money to you is very high and more likely be default. On the other hand, if your score is above median range, then creditors will more likely approve your loan and give you the best rate because they know that you are a good borrower who always meets your financial obligations on time. Their risk involved on lending money to you is very low based on your past credit history as reflected in your credit-score. Hence, you should always strive and learn how to get credit score over 800 because this is the ideal acceptable level for having a good score.

In the following discussions, I shall point out some helpful tips to help you learn how to get credit score over 800 in order to have better chances for you to easily get loan applications approved; as well as enjoy many other benefits of having a high-score.

One of the first things that you should do is to avoid having too many credit cards. Having a lot of credits cards might get wrong impressions that you are almost drowned with too much loans; and giving you another loan might end in inability for you to meet further obligations. Hence, try to limit your credit cards to ideally three to four cards.

Another tip for you is to pay your financial obligations on time. You should have at least seven-year record of promptly paying your financial obligations. Almost all creditors doesn’t approve people applying for loans with history of late payments because they are more likely to pay their payments late in the future in the event that they approve their loans. Therefore, if you are planning to apply for various loans in the future, have a good payment behavior by promptly paying your bills.

These are just few of the many tips on how to get credit score over 800; this will greatly help you have a good-score which will help you improve your quality of life.

Kristin
 

Free Credit Bureau Reports – As Good As Paid Options?

asked:




Claude