Credit
-
Experian Boost Added 14 Points to His FICO Score 8. The Mortgage Lender Pulled Classic FICO, a Model It Never Touches.
Alternative data can lift a FICO Score 8 by double digits, but most mortgage pulls never see it. Here is…
-
Two Scoring Models Now Read 24 Months of Your Balances. A One-Month Paydown Does Not Fool Them.
Two scoring models judge which way your balances have been moving for two years. One is already approved for mortgages…
-
The Pay-for-Delete Letter Still Works on This $850 Medical Collection: The Sequence That Gets It in Writing First
A verbal promise to delete a collection is worth nothing once your check clears. Here is the ordered letter sequence…
-
Your Score Dropped 40 Points From a Reporting Error 5 Weeks Before Your Mortgage Rate Locks: The Dispute Sequence That Fixes It in Time
His auto lender reported a payment 30 days late that cleared on time, and his score dropped 40 points five…
-
Closing on a loan in two weeks? The utilization-timing move that lifts your score before the lender pulls it
Your rate lock expires in 12 days and you are 8 points short. The utilization-timing move that lifts your score…
-
A Charge-Off Doesn’t Reset Its 7-Year Clock When You Pay It: Pay, Settle, or Wait It Out, Decided by How Close Your Next Loan Is
A charge-off does not reset its seven-year clock when you pay it. So the right move – pay in full,…
-
A car loan in spring, a mortgage in fall, and a card you want now: the order to apply so one score pull does not sink the next
A car loan in spring, a mortgage in fall, and a card you want now all pull the same credit…
-
Your lender uses FICO 8. Your auto lender uses FICO 5. Disputing a paid collection is worth four letters for one but not the other.
The letter strategy for disputing a paid collection differs from the strategy for an open one – and which approach…
-
No Score, a 540 FICO After a Charge-Off, or a 605 FICO Maxed on One Card: Which Rebuilding Tool Fits Your Band
A no-score 26-year-old, a 540 FICO trying to rebuild after a charge-off, and a 605 FICO with a maxed Capital…
-
Building Your College-Bound Teen’s Credit by August Move-In: Authorized User vs Cosigner vs Joint Account
When your teen leaves for college with no credit file, the apartment, the cell-phone plan, and the textbook financing all…