NEWSLETTER SAMPLE 12

Boost Your Credit Score in 2016

By Criag Buchan I focus on cutting debt, building savings, and banks behaving badly Have you resolved to improve your credit score in 2016? We might dislike FICO, but the financial system still largely depends upon those three digits. If your goal is a higher credit score, here are five tips to help you get there. 1. Bring, and keep, your open accounts current. The most important part of your FICO score is a history of on-time payments. If an account becomes 30 days past due, you can lose a lot of points. It is much more important to bring and keep open accounts current than to handle old collection items of closed accounts. card utilization. Utilization is defined as the percentage of your available credit that you are using. To calculate your utilization, divide your statement balances by your credit limits. If you have $10,000 of available credit and have a $1,000 balance, your utilization rate is 10%. According to data from Experian Decision Analytics , people with the best credit scores (above 780) have a utilization rate of 5.6%. 3. Review your credit report from all three agencies, and dispute incorrect information. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies ( Experian , Equifax and TransUnion) every year. You can download these reports for free from AnnualCreditReport.com . If you see any incorrect information, it is your responsibility to dispute the information. Fortunately, making a dispute is getting easier. You can register your disputes 2. Reduce your credit

IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES

*How much credit you have used.

*Data from debt collectors and buyers of debt including medical debt (medical debt inclusion is under review).

By Barry Menser

Welcome to the World of Financial Education and Consumer Reporting Resources.

*Public record information such as bankruptcies, short sales, liens and judgments.

This initial introduction will cover the world of consumer credit and reporting of consumer credit. Some of the categories and companies may be familiar to you and some may be unknown. Later, in other informational documents we will explore Business Credit Reporting Agencies but for now the area of discussion will be Consumer Reporting Companies. We will start with those companies that you may have encountered as you experienced everyday life. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you as consumer can request a free credit report every 12 months and receive a consumer report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the three largest providers of consumer reports. Information provided in the big three reports contain: *Your re-payment history submitted by credit card companies, home and auto lenders, leasing companies and other creditors.

Additional Sources of Consumer Reporting Companies include:

Employment screening.

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Tenant screening.

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Check and bank screening. Personal property insurance.

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Medical.

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Low-income and subprime. Supplementary Reports.

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Utilities.

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Retail.

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Gaming.

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*How much credit you have been approved for.