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Can I Close On A Loan While My Credit Report is in Dispute?
In what’s becoming a fairly common occurrence, consumers who have active credit report disputes are finding it hard to close on loans. Consumers have the right to challenge items on their credit...
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Short Sales are NOT Paid As Agreed
On October 23rd an article called “Damage to credit scores could trip up new Fannie, Freddie short sale program” was published by Inman News. The reporter, Ken Harney, is one of more prolific writers...
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Does Paying a Collection Reset the 7 Year Credit Reporting Clock?
Q: John, I have a collection from an old cable bill that’s 3 years old. From reading your articles I know I’ll have to live with it on my credit reports for 4 more years. Recently I was told by a...
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What Credit Card Balance Will Show Up On My Credit Report?
Q: John, I was reading a couple of your articles and I have a question.I just opened a credit card with a pretty low credit limit, $2,000. I know I need low credit card utilization or it will hurt my...
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How Many Credit Cards is Too Many for My Credit Score?
There are only a small handful of credit score myths that have been able to stand the test of time. One of them is certainly that you have to have an exact number of credit cards in order to optimize...
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Why Are My Credit Scores Different On Each Credit Report?
Circa 1997, that was one of my interview questions when I was interviewing for my job at FICO. Whew, it’s a good thing I answered correctly or I might be writing about something other than credit....
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Can I Build Credit By Becoming An Authorized User On A Credit Card?
I recognize credit scoring can be complicated and sometimes people can make mistakes when covering the topic or otherwise answering consumer questions. Having said that, one of the lesser complicated...
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Will My Scores Go Up When I Dispute My Credit Report?
I received the following question last night from a Facebook friend: “John, I want to ask a question as you’re the only person I believe regarding this. (name withheld) says in a video the an “account...
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Why Didn’t My Credit Score Go Up After Paying Off A Collection?
The following question was sent to me by a Facebook friend. If you’ve got a question for me please feel free to send it to me via Facebook or via Twitter @johnulzheimer. I try my best to answer all...
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Is a Short Sale Better For My Credit Than a Foreclosure?
The following question was sent to me by a Facebook friend. I get this question once or twice a month. If you have any credit related questions please feel free to send them to me via Facebook or...
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Can I Get Scammed Buying a Gift Card?
I got this question from a Facebook friend. It’s a great question considering we’re about the enter the holiday shopping season. If you have a question for me please submit it to me via Facebook or...
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Can Student Loans Lower My Credit Scores?
FICO, the company that invented the credit score, recently conducted a study of student debt using data from one of the three major credit bureaus. The average debt was $26,549 in 2012, compared to...
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Why Is My Boyfriend’s Credit Card On My Credit Reports?
The following question was submitted as a comment to one of my articles, via Facebook. “John, I have an error on my credit report and I need to get it corrected. My boyfriend’s credit card is on my...
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If I Short Sell My House Will My Credit Card Interest Rates Go Up?
The following question was submitted via SmartCredit.com’s blog. Q: John, I’m thinking of doing a short sale on my rental house to get rid of it. If I do that can my credit card creditors increase my...
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Why Isn’t My Prepaid Debit Card On My Credit Report?
Prepaid debit cards have been all over the consumer finance news for the past year. They are becoming a more popular choice for consumers who don’t want or can’t get credit cards or traditional bank...
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Do Consumers Get The Same Credit Scores As Lenders?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been in the news often lately. They are they consumer protection watch dog re: the financial services industry. They released a study about credit...
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Are American Express Cards Counted In Revolving Utilization By FICO Scores?
I received an excellent question today via my Facebook page regarding American Express cards. “John – How’s it going? I’m a credit score junkie and one of the areas that has confused me is how...
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Equifax Fined by the FTC
Recently Equifax, one of the three national credit bureaus, agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $393,000. The Federal Trade commission fined them for improperly selling...
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How Can I Get A Great FICO Score?
FICO, the inventor of the credit score, conducted analysis on those with high credit scores (from 785 to 850), which are called the “high achievers”. FICO® scores range from 300 to 850, with the...
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Will Changing Banks Lower My Credit Scores?
With millions of consumers switching banks in fourth quarter 2011 (26 percent because of high fees), you may be concerned what impact moving banks may have on your credit score. It all depends upon...
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