Staying on Top:

1
Staying on Top

• Credit Reports and Scores

2
Whats in Your Credit Report?

• Personal identification information
• Name, address, date of birth, SSN, employment
• Public record information
• Bankruptcies, foreclosures, lawsuits, wage
  attachments, liens
• Collection agency account information

3
Whats In Your Credit Report?

• Credit account information
• Companies that requested your credit report
• Most negative information stays on your report
  for 7 years, except for bankruptcy which can stay
  up to 7 to 10 years
• Defaulted student loans can stay on your credit
  report indefinitely

4
Mistakes on Credit Reports

• Wrong name
• Clerical mistake copying handwritten name and
  address to electronic source
• Inaccurate Social Security Number or clerical
  mistake in copying number
• Loan or credit card payments inadvertently
  applied to the wrong account

5
How to Obtain Your Credit Report

• Access one free credit report a year from each
  credit bureau at www.annualcreditreport.com. You
  must contact the individual credit bureaus for
  the other two free reports.
• EQUIFAX 800-685-1111 www.equifax.com
• EXPERIAN 888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freestate
• TRANS UNION 800-888-4213 www.transunion.com

6
Whats Your Credit Score?

• Information in your credit report is used to
  calculate your FICO credit score

7
Whats Affects Your FICO Score?

• Payment history
• Amounts owed
• Length of credit history
• New credit
• Types of credit used

8
How Actions Affect Credit Scores Examples

• Charge 2 credit cards to the credit limit
• Score drops from 780 to 700
• Pay off a credit account
• Score increases from 600 to 680
• Pay late on a bank loan payment
• Score drops from 720 to 645
• Pay all credit accounts on time
• Score increases from 707 to 727

9
What is a Good Credit Score?

• Over 700 GREAT
• 660 - 680 Average
• The higher the better!

724
790
615
660
680
10
Your Credit Report and/or Score Impacts

• Purchasing a car
• Purchasing a home
• Obtaining a loan
• Renting an apartment
• Auto and life insurance
• Acquiring a cell or home phone
• The deposit on utilities
• Finding employment

11
Beware of Higher Cost Credit

• Tax Refund Loans
• Rent-to-Own
• Car Title Loans
• Bounced Check Protection

12
Your Credit Rights

• You have a right to know whats in your credit
  report and who has received a copy (Fair Credit
  Reporting Act)
• Creditors cant discriminate on the basis of
  race, color, religion, national origin, sex,
  marital status, age, or because an applicant
  receives income from a public assistance program.
  Creditors must tell consumers specific reasons
  they were denied credit (Equal Credit Opportunity
  Act)

Source www.privacyright.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm
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Your Credit Rights(Continued)

• Lenders must disclose credit costs and repayment
  terms before you enter into a credit transaction
  (Truth-In-Lending Act)
• You have rights when you dispute charges on a
  credit card bill. If a credit card is lost or
  stolen, your losses are limited to 50 per card
  (0 if you notify the lender before the card is
  used) (Fair Credit Billing Act)
• Debt collectors cant harass you they cant call
  your workplace if you say no or your home after 9
  p.m. (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)

14
Credit and Debt Counseling Services

• Budget Counseling
• Debt Repayment Plan
• You agree to not use the cards
• The debt counselor may arrange for you to make
  smaller payments and pay less interest and fees
• You pay the debt counselor who pays your
  creditors
• The debt counselor will not put the repayment
  plan on your credit report BUT creditors may

15
For individual help with serious debt problems,
contact
CredAbility www.CredAbility.org 800-251-CCCS
16

• For more information, contact
• The Peer Financial Counseling Program
• (insert web address, phone number, and/or e-mail)

17
Special Thanks to...