The Naked Truth About Your Credit

By Rob Goldstein

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We have been involved in consumer credit industry for over twenty years. In the past, we offered our services to our clients and have helped hundreds of them achieve financial success. As we move forward, we would like to reach out to clients, friends, co-vendors and friends of clients and vendors and share some of the expertise we have attained over the years. We hope you find our newsletter enjoyable and educational.

Our goal is to inform you about credit and your rights. We will address some of the more compelling and complicated issues facing consumers today in future installments. For now, let's begin with the basic information contained in a credit report. Among other things, a credit report contains the following important information about you:

1 - Your Identity

2 - Who you owe money to

3 - How much you owe them
4 - How you pay them

There are laws that govern the information contained in a credit report. One of the most important of these is The Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA. Per the FCRA you have the right to challenge the accuracy of any information being reported on a credit report. The FCRA also sets standards for how long an item can stay on your credit report. The common ones are:

• Inquiries (applying for new credit)… 2 years
• Debts… 7 years from last activity
• Public Records… Up to 10 years from last activity

Not all entries are subject to these rules. There are exceptions for Student Loans, debts over certain limits and others. Also note that inquiries are not always for application for new credit. Sometimes, they are for job applications, medical or insurance applications, and even background checks. It's always best to have your credit reviewed by a professional who can help identify those special circumstances if they apply.

The most often used credit report scoring system is called a "FICO" score, which stands for Fair Isaac & Company, who created the "FICO" scoring system. Do you know your credit score?

• Highest FICO score 850
• "A" level FICO score 700+
• "B" level FICO score 650 - 699
• "C" level FICO score 600 - 649

Stay tuned for our next issue which will contain more information on these and other factors which go into a credit report and the resulting credit score.

If you have a specific question or concern, give us a call. If we do not have the answer, we will find it for you.