You never realize just how much you need good credit until you try to use credit and you don’t have it. There are many things you can’t do these days unless you have good credit. That includes things like getting a job and even a place to live. Here are some of the reasons that good credit is so important.

Buying a House or Renting an Apartment

Without good credit, you’ll have a hard time finding a place to live. Of course, mortgage lenders check your credit before they’ll give you a loan to purchase a house. If you don’t have a good credit score, you could end up with a high interest rate loan. Worse, you could be denied completely. Even landlords check credit before allowing you to sign an apartment lease.

Once you get a home or apartment, good credit will come into play when you get utilities turned on in your name. Most service providers do a credit check before turning on your electricity, gas, water, cable, and other services. If you don’t have good credit, you will likely have to pay a high security deposit before you can have services turned on in your name.

Buying a Car

Buying a new car requires good credit, too. Auto lenders run a credit check before approving an auto loan application and, like a mortgage loan, you can be denied if you don’t have good credit. Unfortunately, not having good credit could leave you without the transportation you need.

Getting a Job

Good credit is vital to your career. So many potential employers now check for good credit as part of the hiring process. This is especially true in government and financial positions. Negative information in your credit history could keep you from getting hired. Not only do employers check for good good credit when they’re hiring new employees, they often do credit checks before giving some employees a promotion or a raise.

For Lower Insurance Rates

If you want the lowest insurance rates, you’ll have to have good credit. Insurance companies now check credit in the underwriting process. They say that people with poor credit histories have greater chances of defaulting. So, if you don’t have good credit, you’ll likely find yourself with a higher interest rate.

Starting Your Own Business

Thinking about starting your own business? Your credit will be a factor in getting the small business financing you need to get your business up and running. If you have bad credit, you may be denied for small business loans.

You can get around having good credit, but it will make life tougher. Since good credit is required in so many aspects of life, it’s better to work in repairing your credit than to go without the benefits of having a good credit score. Credit Repair Services can help with your credit reports. See what they have done by watching this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKnqRuEVbA

When you’re going through the credit repair process, you want to know how you’re doing. That way, you can tell if your credit repair efforts are working or not. The easiest way to tell how your credit is improving (or not improving) is to review your credit report and credit score on a periodic basis.

You can manually order your credit reports and credits scores each month that you’re gong through credit repair. However, this could prove to be expensive since 3-in-1 credit reports and score can cost up to $39.95 per month.

Free Credit Monitoring

You can monitor your credit repair progress for free by ordering your annual credit reports through www.annualcreditreport.com. You can monitor your credit throughout the year by ordering one credit report every four months, rather than getting all three at one time. Review your credit reports to be sure that old negative information is no longer being reported; that unverified, disputed accounts are not listed; and that positive payment history is being accurately reported.

You can track your credit score fore free by using CreditKarma.com. The site has partnered with TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus, and advertisers to offer your credit score completely free. Using your credit score along with your credit reports can help you gauge your credit repair progress.

Trying Out Credit Monitoring Services

A more automatic way to monitor your credit is by enrolling in a credit monitoring service. These services are most often used to aid in early detection of identity theft, but they can also help track your credit repair progress.

Of course, you should look around at various services to see what’s offered since some credit monitoring services only monitor your credit report and credit score from a single credit bureau. Other services only give you alerts to changes in your credit score without any indication of changes to your credit score. The best service for monitoring your credit repair progress is one that offers credit reports and credit scores from all three credit bureaus. That way, you get a complete picture of your credit standing.

Many credit monitoring services offer free trials that you can use to decide which service provides the updates you need. If you decide you don’t like a service, make sure you cancel before the trial ends to keep your credit card from being charged.

Attractive Credit Repair Services

Too many people use credit without fully knowing how. If you want to get and keep a good credit score, there are some things you have to know about credit.

1.  Credit is a loan. Using credit is the same thing as borrowing money from a friend. The  main difference is that you have to pay back interest on credit whereas most friends won’t make you pay a fee for credit.

2.  Good credit matters for more than just credit cards. More and more businesses are starting to use your credit standing to make decisions about doing business with you. This includes banks, employers, landlords, utility companies, and even insurance companies.

3.  Your credit history is tracked. Information about whether you pay your bills on time and whether you pay them at all is collected in your credit report. At least seven years worth of credit history is in your credit report waiting for businesses to see how you’ve been acting with the credit you’ve been given.

4.  Negative credit information follows you. If you make a late credit card payment or have a collection account, it remains on your credit report for seven years from the date of the delinquency. Only after that seven years has passed will that late payment fall off your credit report.

5.  Your credit score is based on your credit report. A credit score is a numeric snapshot of your credit history at a point in time. It shows where your credit stands at that moment. Higher credit scores are better.

6.  Your credit report could be wrong. Mistakes happen and sometimes errors appear on credit reports. Fortunately, federal law gives you the right to have this information removed when it can’t be verified. Simply submit a credit report dispute to the credit bureaus.

7.  Five key things impact your credit score. These things are: your payment history, your  level of debt, your credit age, your mix of credit, and the number of recent credit applications. Payment history has the most significant impact on your credit score and level of debt has the next biggest influence on your score.

8.  Unpaid credit accounts end up in debt collections. After you miss a certain number of credit card payments, usually six, your account will likely be passed on to a third party debt collector who will try harder to get you to pay the unpaid bill.

9.  If you take on too much credit, you can hurt your credit score and end up in debt. You should only take on as much credit as you can comfortably afford to repay. Taking on more than that puts you at risk of having too much credit.

10. First credit cards may be hard to get, but once you get one, the others come easily.   Be careful not to open too many credit cards since you may be tempted to charge more than you can afford.

http://www.attractivecredit.com

Each year, millions of consumers are forced to file bankruptcy because they have more debt than they can afford. Though bankruptcy provides relief from overwhelming debt, it leaves a devastating effect on your credit. Chapter 13 “repayment” bankruptcy remains on your credit report for up to 7 years from the date you filed while Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years.

Bankruptcy is one of the worst things that can happen to your credit making it hard and sometimes impossible to get new credit cards and loans, especially in the few years right after you file bankruptcy. Just like any other serious financial blunder, you can repair your credit after bankruptcy and your creditworthiness back.

Bankruptcy and Your Credit Report

Start bankruptcy credit repair by making sure all accounts included in bankruptcy are reported correctly on your credit report. Debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy should report a $0 balance and indicate that the account was in bankruptcy. If that isn’t the case, you can submit a dispute to the credit bureau along with your bankruptcy discharge papers.

Once you’ve made sure that everything is reported correctly on your credit report, you should start rebuilding your credit. You can do this by opening up a new credit card, making small charges on it monthly, and paying the bill in full each month. Naturally, you’ll have some trouble getting a credit card directly after your bankruptcy, but there are alternatives.

Getting Credit After Bankruptcy

First, you can repair your credit after bankruptcy by getting a secured credit card. This is a credit card that lets you make a deposit to secure a credit limit on the card. If you default on the credit card, the deposit is used for payment. Secured credit cards are often granted to people with bad credit histories. Make sure the credit card you choose reports your payments to the credit bureaus. That way, your timely payments will be reflected in your credit score.

Another option for opening up a credit card is through the bank that you have your savings or checking account with. If you’ve kept your account in good standing, no overdrafts, and your bank offers a credit card, you have a good chance of getting approved. Talk with the bank manager rather than putting in an automatic application. That way, you can explain your circumstances to the manager and improve your chances of getting a credit card.

The key to credit repair after bankruptcy is proving that you have good credit management skills. You can do that by getting new credit and using it wisely.

Despite the massive loss of jobs, with Americans behind on their mortgages and the foreclosures crisis this country has faced, the practice of doing credit checks on prospective employees continues to climb sharply in popularity. The Society of Human Resources Management’s recent survey found that 60 percent of employers run credit checks on at least some job applicants. When the economy was considered healthy in 2006 the figure was 42 percent.. Employers in this weak labor market are becoming more selective about whom to hire. Credit checks are a fast and cheap way to screen out candidates. And one in 8 employers checks the credit of every applicant for every job–meaning that people like janitors and retail workers can suffer employment discrimination on the basis of their credit score.

Legislatures and Congress have expressed concern about the use of credit checks in the employment context. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced the Equal Employment for All Act. And a recent AP article reported that lawmakers in at least 16 states have proposed outlawing most credit checks for employment. Most of those bills continue to languish (despite in the case of Rep. Cohen’s bill, 53 co-sponsors and support from organizations such as the National Organization for Women, the AFL-CIO, and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights under the Law.) But there is resistance to legislation of this type. In California, the country’s largest labor market, and the one hit the hardest in foreclosures, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill to regulate employment credit checks, calling it a job killer. Do you believe that an employers or industries would relocate or spurn California on that basis? Moreover, the California Chamber of Commerce made the silly argument that this was a “costly workplace mandate.” This is crazy! The bill would stop employers from spending money on credit reports thus saving them the money; how can that be a costly mandate?

On the ground everyday, the real job-killing happens at the individual level, when a person trying to climb out of financial trouble is told that they are not hired because of their poor credit in the past.

While everyone is arguing about the pros and cons; consumers need to make sure that they stay on top of their credit or it can and usually will, cost them a job. If you have bad credit or no credit, we recommend you fix bad credit and get help soon.

Rebuilding Credit Isn’t So Easy

A crucial part of credit repair is rebuilding your credit history. Rebuilding your credit involves adding positive payment history to your credit report. The more positive payment history you have, the better your credit will be. But, when you’re rebuilding credit, there are some things you have to watch out for. Call us for credit cards that offer guaranteed approvals at 800-605-9085.

Watchout For Store Credit Cards

Store credit cards are often the easiest types of credit cards to get, especially when you have a tarnished credit history. When the store clerk offers to sign you up for their credit card, your mind quickly thinks to the positive impact the credit card will have on your credit score, but that might not be the case. Store credit cards often have low credit limits, so low that you only have a little available credit left after making your purchase. When your credit card balances are high relative to your credit limit, you have a high credit utilization. Credit utilization is 30% of your credit score and your credit limit takes a hit.

Not only does the high balance have a negative effect on your credit score, so does the new credit card. Credit inquiries are placed on your credit report each time you make a credit card application. These inquiries count 10% of your credit score. The more inquiries, the more your credit score will be hurt. The new card will also lower your average credit age which is 15% of your credit score.

FICO, the company who calculates the widely-used FICO score, doesn’t place much emphasis on store credit cards because the cards area associated with future default. So, the store credit card you just opened won’t do much good in the way of rebuilding your credit history.

The Best Credit Card for Rebuilding Credit

If you want to start rebuilding your credit, the best option is to get a major credit card from an issuer like VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. These credit cars are given more weight in the FICO scoring calculation and will go a lot further in helping you rebuild your credit score than store cards.

Major credit cards can be difficult to get, especially when you have a bad credit history following you around. You have a couple of options for getting one of these credit cards on your side.

First, you might get a friend or family member to add you as an authorized user on one of their credit cards. This account history would get included on your credit report and aid in rebuilding your credit.

The second option is to get a secured credit card. Though secured credit cards require a deposit to be made to secure the credit limit, you can often covert to an unsecured credit card after a few years of timely payments.

The best and third option is to apply with  unsecured lines of credit. Give us a call so we can set you up at 800-605-9085.

Let’s take a look what makes up your credit score and what You can do to directly impact Your Credit Scores!

What’s in your FICO® score

FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report.

These percentages are based on the importance of the five categories for the general population. For particular groups – for example, people who have not been using credit long – the importance of these categories may be somewhat different.

Payment History
• Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
• Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgements, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
• Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
• Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
• Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
• Number of past due items on file
• Number of accounts paid as agreed

Amounts Owed
• Amount owing on accounts
• Amount owing on specific types of accounts
• Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
• Number of accounts with balances
• Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit
limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
• Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)

Length of Credit History
• Time since accounts opened
• Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
• Time since account activity

New Credit
• Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
• Number of recent credit inquiries
• Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
• Time since credit inquiry(s)
• Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

Types of Credit Used
• Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)

Please note that:
• A FICO score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two.
No one piece of information or factor alone will determine your score.
• The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report.

For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your FICO score. Thus, it’s impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score – even the levels of importance shown here are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles. What’s important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.
• Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.

However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.
• Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.

Late payments will lower your score,

Source: Fair Isaac Corporation, ” What’s in your FICO® score”

In the United States credit is part of life and it’s very important to know how to establish, reestablish, and or repair your credit. And once we have it, protect it. At www.AttractiveCreditSecrets.com they show you the ins and outs about credit repair and restoration they never taught you in school or anywhere else. For a limited time only we are offering a FREE credit e-course to get you started.

And at Attractive Credit Cards, they are offering an unsecured revolving credit card with high credit limits up $10,000. They report to the major credit bureaus and get you on your way to getting the credit scores you deserve to build a solid and reputable credit profile.

As with all credit cards and loans, financial responsibility relies on YOU. Developing responsible spending habits and timely repayment schedules are an essential part of establishing and maintaining rock solid credit scores.

Hard vs. Soft Inquiries

Credit inquiries are placed on your credit report whenever a business pulls your credit report. Sometimes this happens when you make an application. These are known as “hard” inquiries. Other times it happens when a business wants to promote products or services to you. These are called “soft” inquiries. Your own requests for your credit report are also soft inquiries.

Soft inquiries don’t affect your credit score. However, those hard inquiries made when you put in applications do affect your credit score. Credit scoring researchers have found that borrowers who have a lot of credit inquiries within a short period of time are more likely to default on their accounts.

How Much Will an Inquiry Affect Your Score

Just how much your credit will be affected by credit inquiries depends on your current credit score and the other information in your credit report. Generally, you can expect inquiries to only have a small impact on your credit score since they only accounts for 10% of your credit score. According to FICO, developers of the FICO score, an additional credit inquiry will likely take a maximum of five points from your credit score. You’ll receive greater damage to your credit score if you only have a few accounts on your credit report or if your credit history is short.

Credit Inquiries and Rate Shopping

Some credit scoring calculations won’t penalize you for rate shopping, as long as you do your shopping within a certain period of time, typically 30 days. (Note: some credit scoring models have a 14-day window while others have a 45-day window.) All inquiries made within that 30-day window will be treated as a single inquiry and your credit score won’t be affected during that time. After you’re done rate shopping, those multiple inquiries will be treated as a single inquiry rather than several separate ones.

Credit Inquiry Time Limits

Fortunately, credit inquiries only remain on your credit report for 24 months. Even better, only those inquiries made within the past 12 months are included in your credit score. As inquiries pass that one year mark, they no longer affect your credit score.