How To Improve Your Credit
Score
There is no magic to
improving your credit score. Credit scores automatically improve, as your
overall credit picture gets better. Obviously this is not a fast
fix; however there are a few things to remember:
• Pay down revolving credit card debt to below 30% of the available
maximum balance.
• Do Not close accounts unless the reason code indicates that there
are too many revolving accounts and all of your account has little or no
balances.
• Do Not consolidate debt onto one or two cards and close other
cards, or lower their existing credit limit as their outstanding balance
declines. That
advice may
artificially skew the appearance of an applicant's credit utilization.
• Do review the credit information in file with each repository for
accuracy, whether good or bad. Entries that have "maxed out" balances even
with no lates represent
higher risk.
• Do Not go to credit repair companies before you try to repair it
yourself.
If there are any inaccuracies or outdated information, write the repository
reporting the misinformation. Send a letter regarding the dispute (with all
available documentation attached) in overnight mail with return receipt
requested. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives the repository five days to
notify the reporting creditor of a dispute and request an investigation.
Within 30 days, the reporting creditor must report back to the repository
regarding
whether the disputed entry should be modified, deleted or remain unchanged.
If there is no response regarding the dispute, the repository must remove
the
item from the applicant's file, but if, for example, 10 days later the
reporting creditor reports back that the entry is correct, it will be added
back into the
applicant's credit file. If there is any change to the applicant's file, the
repository must notify the consumer within 5 days of the change. After
receiving notification of a modification to a new report (not a reissue) and
receive a new score. Be sure if any modifications are made to the date of
satisfaction or payment of collection accounts, charge off accounts, or
accounts included in bankruptcy that the date reads the date of discharge
NOT the current date.
When You
Can't Wait.
When you can’t wait 35-40 days for a modification, utilize the Bureau Direct
Method for Rapid Re-Scoring a File. Contact a credit report provider to find
out if they offer this service. To utilize the Bureau Direct Method of Rapid
Re-Scoring a File, you will need to provide to the credit report provider
the
following information concerning the inaccurately reported information in
the applicant’s credit files:
• A legal document such as a release of judgment or lien, bankruptcy
discharge with the schedule of accounts discharged or a divorce decree
property settlement;
• A letter from the reporting creditor identifying the applicant, the
account number for the entry in dispute and specifically what the
information should
read to be accurate.
Once the credit report provider verbally validates the accuracy of the
document being provided them, the information is passed on to the credit
report provider’s contacts at the three repositories. The repository contact
also verbally validates the information and then electronically modifies the
raw
data stored in your repository file to read correctly. The repository then
confirms with the credit report provider that the correction(s) have been
made
and a new credit report can be run. You can now run a new report and have an
updated credit scores in approximately five (5) business days.
Credit scores can increase dramatically if the to read modified entry is the
only negative entry on the report and it falls under the first reason code
shown with the credit score. Conversely, there may be little change in the
credit score if the modified entry is only one of many negative entries and
the
others remain on the report.
Remember, collection accounts and charge offs will not necessarily disappear
from a credit file after seven years; if unpaid those accounts could be sold
to
collection possibly resetting the clock. Judgments & bankruptcies stay in
credit files up to 10 years and unpaid tax liens stay in a credit file
forever, and just because an account is paid to zero it will continue to
appear in the file for the seven years before being purged – it was late.
The only way to eliminate the impact of an inaccuracy on a score is to have
the inaccuracy modified at the repository level. Until the issue is modified
at the repository, your score will be
negatively impacted. Information in a credit file changes daily. Don't
assume a report is wrong just because the subsequent score for you come in
lower than
expected. Consumers must pay their accounts on time, use credit
conservatively (keep balances below 30% of available credit), apply for new
credit very sparingly, and refrain from "credit surfing." With no recent
"lates," no additional increases to account balances or brand new accounts
opened,
your score should go up.
What Is Credit Scoring?
Credit scoring is a quick, accurate and consistent scientific method of
assessing credit risk. The scores are based on data about an applicant's
credit history and payment patterns stored in a credit bureau's file on that
applicant. Statistical models that assign points to factors indicative of
repayment calculate credit scores. These models are embedded in software
that resides in credit bureaus or lender databases. A score is based on data
rather than human assessment and judgment. This is what makes credit scoring
an objective risk assessment tool, as opposed to a subjective one (e.
g., the underwriter's opinion). Until the utilization of credit scoring in
lending, an underwriter's subjective interpretation of information was the
only form of
risk evaluation available to the real estate finance industry. Since no one
has a crystal ball, underwriters obtained application information and credit
reports
on applicants to try to get an idea of the likelihood of repayment. However,
even the best underwriter cannot match the scoring model's statistical
ability
to weigh and measure hundreds of factors and to come up with a number
indicating relative risk in a matter of seconds.
The resulting score is a "snapshot." It sums up what the applicant's past
payment performance and current usage say about the perspective
applicant's level of credit risk. Because the score is a composite of all of
the applicant's credit information, no single factor – like a bankruptcy,
inquiry or late payment – will be the sole cause of an unacceptable score.
How Are Scoring Models Developed?
Large amounts of credit data was analyzed to find out which variables
correlate most reliably with subsequent credit related performance. To
develop scoring models, analysts collect two categories of data:
First is the credit bureau information about the applicant at the time he or
she applied for credit. The second category consists of actual subsequent
performance records of the same individuals. Predictive factors are
identified and weights are assigned to each. The result of the data analysis
is a
"scoring model." Models are reanalyzed and modified approximately every 18
months at each repository as social and economic factors change.
What Repayment Odds Are Indicated By The Scores?
When an applicant's information is run through the computerized scoring
model at the credit bureau, a number or score is returned. A score may range
from 300-850, each score along the range is indicative of a different set of
odds for satisfactory repayment of the credit obligation.
Odds Good Payers to Bad Payer
Below 600 8 to 1
620-659 26 to 1
660-679 38 to 1
680-699 55 to 1
700-719 123 to 1
720-759 323 to 1
760-799 597 to 1
Above 800 1292 to 1
What Data Does a Bureau Credit Scoring Model Analyze?
Scoring models DO NOT consider: race, gender, religion, marital status,
income, nationality, address, employment, position or title, length of
employment, sexual preference, or interest rate being charged on a
particular credit card.
Scoring models DO analyze: all the credit information stored in a bureau's
credit file on an applicant at the time of the request.
1- Past Payment Performance (35% of the score's weight)
a) The fewer late payments, judgments, liens or collections the better. Zero
"derogatory entries" usually indicate lower risk.
b) Recent late payments are more indicative of future default than those
that occurred more than 24 months ago. A 30-day late today will have greater
negative impact on the score than a bankruptcy 5 years ago with clean credit
since.
2- Credit Utilization (30% of the scores weight)
a) Low Balances on several cards is better than high balances on a few
cards. Balances should be kept at 30% or less of the potential available
credit
limit on a card.
b) Too many credit cards can be detrimental, but unless the first or second
reason code states too many credit cards, DO NOT TELL A CONSUMER TO
CLOSE ACCOUNTS UNTIL YOU’VE ANALYZED HIS OR HER ENTIRE CREDIT PROFILE. You
could be giving them the worst possible advice and the score could go DOWN.
3 - Credit History (15% of the Credit Score Weight)
a) The longer accounts have been opened with no lates, the lower the risk
indication.
b) Opening new accounts and closing seasoned accounts will negatively impact
an applicant's score - applicants should avoid "credit surfing".
c) Established credit history is relative to past payment performance and to
what percentage of available credit is being used.
d) A brief credit history does not automatically indicate a higher credit
risk, as applicants with limited credit history can score high as long as
they are not
heavy users of credit and their payments have been paid on time. Generally
automated underwriting systems look for at least two active accounts in good
standing to have been open for at least six months.
4- Types of Credit In Use (10% of credit scoring weight)
a) Finance company lines will score lower than bank lines and department
store lines, and can drive a score down if the only type of credit in the
file.
b) 90-days or six months same as cash or deferred payment lines are
generally extended by finance companies, causing this to be a weaker
indicator of risk at best.
5- Inquiries - New Applications for Credit -(10% of the credit scoring
weight)
a) Looking for new credit can mean higher risk if several credit cards are
applied for in a short period of time and/or other existing accounts are
"maxed
out."
b) Multiple inquiries, regardless of the number, for mortgages or autos
within a 14-day period of time are only counted as one inquiry in
calculating the
score.
c) Any mortgage or auto inquiry made about an applicant's credit file within
the 30 days preceding the lender's inquiry will be shown on the credit
report,
but will not adversely impact the applicant's credit score.
d) Promotional or employer inquiries do not adversely impact an applicant's
score. (This should be the only type of credit wholesalers should be running
on a broker for
establishing a straight broker relationship.)
e) Only inquiries authorized by the applicant for the granting of credit can
impact an applicant's score.
Remember: Credit information about past payment performance, credit
utilization and credit history carries the most weight in a credit score.
Credit
scores automatically improve, as a consumer's overall credit picture gets
better.
How Does Credit Scoring Help Lenders?
Credit scoring allows lenders to base decisions on relevant credit
performance data.
a) To give objective consistent assessments so the applicant is offered the
loan product(s) he or she is most likely to be qualified for.
b) Credit scoring's objective criteria and ease of automation helps lenders
remove the potential for bias and comply with fair lending laws.
c) As competition for profitability increases today, applicants with lower
indicated degrees of credit risk can be offered more favorable terms in
order
to capture a larger market share.
d) Scoring gives lenders a reliable method of controlling delinquencies and
charge-offs.
e) Scoring speeds up the decision-making process and allows more time for a
lender's underwriter to focus on the complex credit decisions.
f) Lenders typically loosen certain underwriting criteria and accept more
loan applications without taking on a larger pool of poor performing loans.
Reported credit information modification(s) and re-scoring need not take 90
days and can dramatically improve buyer's chances of qualifying for the
maximum purchase price with the least amount of required down payment.
How Credit Scoring Helps Consumers
Credit Scoring is not a crystal ball, but it helps lenders make more
informed decisions and offers real benefits to consumers.
1. Credit scoring evaluates all applicants by the same criteria. Opinions do
not enter the scoring equation. Empirically derived facts replace myths and
personal prejudices about what constitutes a good future customer.
2. Changes in a consumer's credit performance will change a credit score.
The key is that as individual credit patterns change, scores are likely to
change. While the "scoring scale" remains constant, a consumer's place on
that scale may change.
3. Scoring speeds up credit decisions. Scores help lenders make decisions
more rapidly and often with less documentation.
4. Scoring helps make more credit available. By helping lenders control
losses and costs, scoring helps make more capital available to consumers.
Historically, the less information lenders have available to distinguish
between credit risks, the more conservative their lending policies tend to
be. That
means less credit is available to all consumers, low risk as well as high
risk, and that the cost of that credit is more expensive.
Credit scoring gives lenders an important piece of information that allows
lenders to lend to MORE consumers.
Request a FREE Credit Repair Kit Today Click
WE DO NOT DO CREDIT REPAIR.


EDWARD
WILLIAMS MORTGAGE, LLC EDWARD
WILLIAMS MORTGAGE NW
Tel. 281-531-7962, fax. 281-531-7965
Tel. 281-290-0539. fax. 281-290-6965
INFO@EDWARDWILLIAMSMORTGAGE.COM
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