Staying on Top:Credit Reports and Scores

What’s 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

What’s 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

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

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

What’s Your Credit Score?

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

What’s Affects Your FICO Score?

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

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

What is a Good Credit Score?• Over 700 = GREAT• 660 - 680 = Average• The higher the better!

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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

Your Right to a Free Credit Score• Limited and new in 2011

• If a borrower is turned down for a loan or charged a rate higher than the best rate – also applies to other decisions based on credit scores (Dodd-Frank)

• Lender must provide free credit report OR free credit score if a borrower is turned down for a loan or charged a rate higher than the best rate (FACT Act)

Beware of Higher Cost Credit

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

Your Credit Rights

• You have a right to know what’s in your credit report and who has received a copy (Fair Credit Reporting Act)

• Creditors can’t 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: Source: www.privacyright.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm

• 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 can’t harass you; they can’t call your workplace if you say no or your home after 9 p.m. (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)

Your Credit Rights(Continued)

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

For individual help with serious debt problems, contact:

CredAbility

www.CredAbility.org800-251-CCCS

For more information, contact:

The Peer Financial Counseling Program

(insert web address, phone number, and/or e-mail)

Special Thanks to...