Posts Tagged ‘credit’
Credit Score How To Read
February 27th, 2010
Question: Is it better for your Credit Score if you pay off credit card debt gradually?
I recently got paid for a large project I completed, and I can now afford to pay off roughly $12,000 of credit card debt.
I read that your Credit Score will improve more if you pay off the credit card debt gradually (say, over the course of several months) instead of all at once. Is this true? If so, how much difference does it actually make?
By the way, the interest rate I'm paying on the debt is very low, so interest is not a big factor in my decision to pay it off immediately or gradually. I just want to know about the effects on my Credit Score (which is around 710 right now).
Thanks!
Answer: You can use Credit Repair agency, for example this one - http://freecreditreport.hotusa.org
They will clean lots of such bad stuff from your Credit Report - and do it much faster than yourself, so your credit will go up.
They can also pre-estimate any changes of you scores for different scenarios of payments.
What's Bringing Down Your Credit Score?
Posted in Credit Score | 
Tags: credit, credit score how to read, finance, money, score, tips | 
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Credit Score Mortgage 2010
February 25th, 2010
Question: What happens if I let my 5-yr ARM mortgage adjust?
I am not sure if I should refinance or not. If I do not, what happens with my current ARM loan when it resets?
Here is my situation:
1st mortgage 5yr arm at 5.125% balance $214K
2nd mortgage 30-yr fixed at 7% balance $21K
My 5-yr ARM is going to adjust in June 2010.
My approx. LTV (including both loans) is 93%. I got 820 Credit Score, good salary, no debt or major expenses besides mortgage payments.
Anyone know of lenders (forget the online mortgage quote tools). I believe in the word of mouth advertising... Has anyone gotten a good refinance deal recently - with what lender?
Thank you.
P.S. Correction balance on the 1st mortgage is $184K.
Checked my contract. My rate is tied to the 1-yer Libor, the margin is 2.25, loan will adjust once per year. Sounds like I could take some risk and stick with this loan for another year or two? Comments are welcome..
Answer: Your mortgage contract will spell out exactly what index is used and how many points over that index you will be paying. With today's low interest you may actually adjust downward. So calculate what the interest rate will be based on today's rates and you can go from there. Since your loan to value is 93% you may have a hard time refinancing without putting up some cash. Also in order to refinance you may have to pay off the second.
Mortgage Testing/Credit Score Press Conference Part 2 - April 21, 2010
Posted in Loans |
Tags: best-interest-rates,, credit, credit score mortgage 2010, fico, for, free, minimum credit score mortgage 2010 |
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Credit Score Alerts
February 11th, 2010
Question: Can i still get my navy security clearance?
I just DEP'd in the Navy a couple of weeks ago and my job requires a secret clearance. I'm a Senior in college and my Credit Score is about 686. I just had my car repo'd yesterday and today I had a credit alert that said the DOD did a hard inquiry on my credit. I have no other bad things in my credit and i only had the car for about 5 months. Will this stop me from getting a security clearance?
Answer: You only had the car for 5 months, yet it got repossessed? Sounds like you never made a single payment. It is rare a car gets repossessed until it has been behind for at least 6-8 payments.
Credit can be a real issue during background checks. Even though your Credit Score isn't horrible, when they look at your credit they look at recent activity and what your activity represents. In your case it shows a lack of responsibility. That may pose a problem.
Good luck. Hopefully they will see it as a rough patch versus a pattern of behavior. Rough patches get excused... patterns of behavior end in "No Thank You's".
CWN ALERT: Sallie Mae Misrepresenting Status of Student Loan
Posted in Credit Score |
Tags: banking, credit, credit score alerts, free, public_finance_firms, report |
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