The CreditLawGroup asked:


Involuntary credit inquiries, or soft inquiries, are credit inquiries made by a third party without consumers’ knowledge or consent. These involuntary credit inquiries do not affect our credit rating or score; however, these involuntary credit inquiries do indeed show up on consumers’ credit reports. An example of an involuntary credit inquiry would be a company pulling a consumer’s credit report to see if he or she qualifies for a promotional offer or to verify that a consumer has a solid enough credit report to be pre-approved for a product or credit line. Another example of an involuntary credit inquiry would be credit inquiries of a consumer that is an existing customer or client. For instance, after the initial credit inquiry that a credit card company makes, any subsequent credit inquiries after the consumer has been retained by the credit card company are recorded on the consumer’s credit report but are not counted against the consumer and factored into his or her credit score. Yet another example of an involuntary credit inquiry would be from a prospective employer and like the other credit inquiries discussed above do not affect our credit score or rating. The bottom line is if a consumer does not apply for credit or give a company permission to obtain a copy of his or her credit report, it is almost definitely an involuntary credit inquiry and will not be viewed as unfavorably.

Voluntary credit inquiries, or hard inquiries, are credit inquiries made by a third party with a consumer’s consent or authorization. These voluntary credit inquiries show up on consumers’ credit reports and affect consumers’ credit scores and histories. For example, if a consumer were to apply for a credit card, cell phone, private loan, mortgage, student loan, auto loan, or any other type of credit from a credit granting institution, the consumer’s credit report would reflect these inquiries. Numerous voluntary credit inquiries on a consumer’s credit report may appear unfavorable to credit grantors because it seems as though the consumer may be desperate in their efforts to obtain credit from anyone willing to extend it to him or her. Numerous voluntary credit inquiries may also make the consumer appear to be high a risk of default. A few credit inquiries may not affect a consumer’s credit history negatively because it may show that the consumer is responsible to manage numerous lines of credit appropriately. However, more than a couple of involuntary credit inquiries set up a red flag for the consumer as a risky borrower. Luckily, there are 2 rules in place aimed to protect consumers that shop around for the best deal on automobile loans and mortgages, and consequently, would have numerous voluntary credit inquiries.

1.  Within 30 days that FICO credit scoring takes place, all mortgage and automobile credit inquiries will not be factored into a consumer’s credit scoring.

2.  Within a 14 day period, all mortgage and automobile credit inquiries will be counted as only one inquiry. This rule, called de-duplication, is set in place to not punish a consumer that is responsibly shopping around for the best rate. Furthermore, if a consumer is shopping around for the best rate, it is wise to get estimates as close to each other as possible so that the rates that are offered on that particular day stay correlated with one another for matching purposes.

Personal credit inquiries are considered soft inquiries and do not affect your credit score negatively. In fact, personal credit inquiries are encouraged to be executed rather frequently as part of a responsible credit management regimen. In inquiring about one’s credit history very frequently, a consumer is able to realize if there are any inaccurate or misleading information contained in his or her credit report.



ALVIN

jomay7 asked:


When I looked at my free credit report online I paid to get my credit score. It was around 850. That seemed really high to me. Do they give the consumer the same credit score they give to banks or creditors. They did not call it a fico score.

LANNY

expat999 asked:


Just curious. My fico is 744. I have a high credit balance and a student loan. I have 37% left of my max on my credit card. Just got back to the USA and looking for work. Also I noticed my employer was only listed as the university I attended when I worked for other companies. Please help me out, Im new to this employer consumer report thing. Thank you
what would be a score that disqualify you?

DANTE

shetucksinhershirt asked:


I had a terrible experience with a bank that gives credit cards to people with poor credit, and I’d like to be able to warn other consumers not to be pulled in by their scams. What websites are easy to access for consumer reports? I’m looking for something that doesn’t charge a fee, if possible, and will reach as many people as possible.

BRAD

Frank Jean asked:


Credit records are the financial resume of an individual. It is of vital importance for all to go through a checking their credit because it may at times become very urgent to need it. The report displays in detail the repayment sample of a consumer towards the lenders to which he owes money. It gives an indication of your borrowing and repaying habits for a particular year which performs as a guide for lenders while verifying the loan application.

Credit report is generally organized by three major credit bureaus- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They all carry out credit reports but in a minor variation. 3 in 1 credit report provides you to have a glance of credit reports from these credit bureaus. In short, 3 in 1 credit report can review your financial reliability.

Credit reports can be made accessible online. Free online credit report takes in a complete synopsis of your personal information. It includes your name, your residential addresses, contact number, Social Security number, month and year of birth as well as your employment information. It also comprises of information about any bankruptcy in your credit report. The financial institution to which you belong may occasionally get hold of your credit report in an attempt to keep up your up to date records. To avail 3 in 1 Credit Report you can go for online way to get the report instantly.

There is a large variety of credit report such as business credit report, consumer credit report, yearly credit report, etc. At first, there was strict exclusion on revelation of instant credit report but at this time, any person can submit an application for his or her credit report. Many online lenders and retailers who offer credit facilities wholly depend on credit report and tally to give credit to their customers.



ISRAEL

Chane Steiner asked:


Credit report repair is commonly referred to as the process of disputing negative items in a credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers have the right to request an investigation with the credit bureaus for any item on their credit report. The credit bureaus and the original furnisher of the information must investigate the claim within 30 days and report their results back to consumers.

It’s important to point out that the credit bureaus are for-profit organizations and possess no government affiliation. They profit off the sale of your private information and from selling your information to you. Only after the Federal Trade Commission came up with a set of regulations passed in 2003 were consumers able to receive one free credit report a year.

The FCRA also had to regulate how long negative information, such as late payments, bankruptcies, tax liens or judgments may stay on a consumer’s credit report. It’s typically seven years from the date of the delinquency. The exceptions: bankruptcies (10 years) and tax liens (seven years from the time they are paid). Unpaid tax liens can remain for up to 15 years. Although, 7 to 10 years is a long time to stay on a report, the credit bureaus would report it for much longer, if not forever, if it weren’t for the FTC stepping in.

When a consumer makes a dispute with the credit bureaus, the credit bureaus do not interact with information providers (typically creditors) directly. They use a system called E-Oscar. E-Oscar is an automated consumer dispute verification process. The credit bureaus demand that everyone who provides information to them be on this system. If you don’t get on the system, you CAN NOT provide information to a credit bureau.

The E-Oscar system allows credit grantors to resolve disputes in a timely manner; however the results are commonly inaccurate. In fact, a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that 79% of all credit reports contained errors. With E-Oscar the credit bureaus NEVER send the original creditor the information you provide them. Instead, an employee scans your letter along with hundreds of others.

The employee is given a very short amount of time to figure out what you are trying to dispute and then gives your dispute a code. It is then verified with E-Oscar. Any documentation that you sent which proves the information is erroneous or any information that you provided simply gets filed away, incase you should sue them. It’s rarely ever even looked at.

Under § 602 of the Act, (15 U.S.C. § 1681), a consumer may seek a maximum of $1000 in statutory damages, plus actual damages, punitive damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for willful noncompliance with the FCRA. Any consumer may file suit in state or federal court to enforce the FCRA. Consumer lawsuits against credit bureaus are becoming more and more common and most of the time the consumer wins. Unfortunately, a lawsuit is what it takes to get issues solved with the credit bureaus.



RAMON

3D Farms asked:


They have become much more treacherous to Consumbers .
1.
By imposed intrest rates in excess of 30% on customers whoes only offense might be a late payment to another creditor .
2.
Reduced grace periods when new purchases are free of intrest . 3.
Lobbled successfully to Congress to weakenprotactions for , cardholders.
4.
Lookup in Consumers Report page15 to learn what you can do to protect yourselves . And call your Congressperson and complain about it ..

JESS

magdarra asked:


Below is a copy of a letter sent to President Obama and each of my congressmen today.

If you have had your chances for a loan, mortgage, or job destroyed due to inaccurate credit bureau information, now is the time to speak up and ask for reform

Dear President Obama,

I am writing to ask you to focus attention on one significant aspect of the credit crunch that has not received much press - the effect of inaccurate credit bureau information on the ability of consumers to obtain credit.

Americans cannot obtain mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, or employment without a good credit score.

However, the credit bureaus have too much control over our destiny and too little control exerted over their inaccurate reporting.

Last week, I was delayed on my mortgage approval due to inaccurate credit report.

I have been working several hours each month over the last two years to clear up problems. The result - I currently have 3 bills that I know I need to pay off. These are leftovers from a period when I got divorced, lost my job in the tech downturn, had my house and everything in it destroyed by fire, and was out of work for 3 years when my son was undergoing a medical crisis. During this time, I managed to survive without going on public assistance of any kind.

My credit bureau currently shows 17 negative accounts - 14 inaccurate ones.

These may be reported past the 7 year limit for negative information.

One of the worst offenders is the US Department of Education. My loan has been rehabilitated for a year, with 20 payments made on time. However, they are still reporting me to TransUnion and to Equifax as being in collections.

I have had 8 phone numbers with Verizon, all of which have had all bills paid off. 3 of the accounts are showing different amounts for Verizon.

Comcast Cable has reported me to two different bureaus, for a total of 4 accounts, for an account which is also paid in full. Two of the collection accounts are for equipment returned at the time I moved from the house.

Progressive Insurance is reporting through a collection agency that I owe $273 on an old bill. I paid this off, and my last two checks were returned to me by the agency as overpayments, yet I cannot remove them from my credit report.

The FTC does not help.

I have sent proof to the credit bureaus of payments; however, they will not accept the proof unless it comes from collection agencies that filed the report. The agencies are extorting additional payments from Americans in order to remove bills that have already been paid.

American consumers need you to act quickly to offer them protection.

I would be taking one house off of the market now, and trading in my car, if the government took action to protect my credit rating. Multiply this by the many thousands of citizens in similar circumstances, and you could stimulate the economy with very little money spent.

SEAN

ac19 asked:


I am currently 19 and I have a 580 credit score. I have NO judgments or collections on my credit report. I have 2 credit cards currently reporting on my credit file. I have had one since I was 17 was late on a payment over 1 year ago. The other credit card is only about 2 months old, never late. I also have another credit card not reporting on my file (had this one about 1.8 years) late one time over a year ago. I also have student loans.

My identity was all most stolen; over 30 inquiries in the past year (which I think; maybe why my score is low). Should I add a consumer statement to my credit file explaining the inquiries?

I make a little over 2100/month. I have no bills I have to pay (only cell phone) other than that I just buy what I want. If i were to go to a bank and they were to take a look at my score and report could I get a auto loan for 15k?

GONZALO

David asked:


Thank you for your recent application for the Blue Cash SM from American Express. After reviewing your request, regrettably, we are unable to open an account for you at this time for the following reason(s):

Your American Express Acquisition Risk Score is too high (See below)

Your application was processed using our American Express Proprietary Acquisition Risk Scoring System which assigns a numerical value to the various items of information we consider in evaluating an application. Your application’s total score exceeded our threshold for approval at this time. Listed below are the reasons that you did not score well compared with other applicants. (For reasons based on information in a credit report, the name of the consumer reporting agency is identified.)

Number of trades (Experian)

Amount of credit available on accounts (Experian)

Ratio of your card account balances to your income is too high, or cannot be determined(Experian)

Our credit decision was based in whole or in part on information obtained in a report from the consumer reporting agency(ies) listed in this letter. Please understand that the reporting agency(ies) played no part in our decision and cannot supply you with specific reasons why we denied credit to you. You have a right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to obtain a free copy of your report from the reporting agency, if you request it no later than 60 days after you receive this notice. If you find that any information contained in the report you receive is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to dispute the matter with the reporting agency.

An important notice concerning your rights is included. The creditor is American Express Centurion Bank.

It has been our experience that applicants who do not meet our basic requirements at one time may qualify later on. We invite you to submit a new application at a later date when your circumstances have changed.

Thank you for your interest in our service.

Sincerely,

Robert Garinger

Business Leader New Accounts

Now anyone who can tell me why I was denied? It clearly states it but I want to know MORE about it. And Im going to send a copy of it to experian so I can get a report from them. I know my credit is good. No bad marks whatsoever. I’m blaming it on the credit crisis! =D lol oh well. I’ll live.

NICKOLAS