Selasa, 22 April 2008

What is in a Credit Score?

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.

What’s in a Credit Score?

With a FICO based score, the higher the number, the better your score.
Score above 720 usually considered excellent
Score 850 is usually tops
Score 680 to 720 range are still quite good
Score 650 to 680 range aren’t terrible, but will carry higher rates
Below 650, you may have some trouble getting credit or be charged high rates

These are general rules of thumb, though, since every lender has different criteria.
Accordingly to Fair Isaac Company, 5 categories of information (along with their relative weightings) go into your credit score:

Payment history---------------------35%
Amounts you owe------------------30%
Length of credit history-----------15%
New credit-------------------------- 10%
Type of credit in use--------------- 10%

It’s obvious that your payment history is the most important factor in your score. But there are some finer points here that you may not be aware of:

Most lenders don’t report you as late to the credit bureaus until you fall behind by 30 days. (But they will often charge you a hefty late fee if you are just one hour late with your payment). This isn’t a hard and fast rule so always be sure to double check if you’re having trouble meeting the due date. Sometimes lenders will close your account or up your rate if you are chronically late, even by just a few days.
Recent late payments, even for small amounts, hurt your credit score significantly.
Late payments will generally remain for 7 years, even if you catch up on the account or pay off the bill.
All other things being equal, how many months you fell behind is more important than the amount. For examples, missing $20 minimum payment for 4 months in a row will probably impact your score more than missing a $300 car payment one time.

Account balances, however, play more of a role in a score than most people realize. It’s not uncommon to hear “I have excellent credit” from a consumer who has paid on time but has a ton of debt, and whose score is suffering as a result. There are several factors that will come into play in this evaluation:

How close you are to your limits on your revolving accounts such as credit cards and lines of credit. The closer you are to your limits, the worse it can be for the score
How much you owe on your total revolving lines of credit. Total up all your available revolving lines of credit and then total your outstanding balances. As you use 50% or more of your available credit on your revolving accounts, your score can start to suffer.
How much you owe compared to other consumer across the country

Source: The ABC’s of getting out of debt - Sutton, Garrett

What’s in a Credit Score?

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.

Sabtu, 05 April 2008

Student Loan Consolidation - More Options on Student Loan Owe

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.

Student Loan Consolidation - More Options on Student Loan Owe


Graduated Repayment Plan
With one of these plans, your payments start our low and will rise over time. This plan is often good for a student who is just starting out and expects their salary to increase as they gain more experience.
Caution: One of these plans can stretch your loan out as ling a s 30 years.

Extended Repayment Plan
An extended repayment plan allows you to pay your student loan over 12 to 30 years instead of the standard 10 years. It is more expensive, but if the lower payments keep you out of default, it should be worth it.

Income Contingent Plan
With one of these plans, your payment is based on your adjust gross income (AGI), as reported on your U.S. income tax return, your family size, the interest rate, and the total amount of your Direct Loan debt.

Consolidation
If you have more than one student loan, you may be able to consolidation them into a lower cost single payment loan. This can save you money if the new payment is lower than your previous combined payment, which if often the case because it is a new loan. Your consolidated student loan payment is based on the average interest rate on the student loans you are consolidating. Your consolidated rate is set by the government. So, there is not is not a whole lot of advantage in shopping around among different lenders.

In some cases, consolidating your student loan can also take you out of default, which can benefit you in a couple of ways. One way, of course, is by halting the collection costs associated with a defaulted student loan. The other way it can benefit you is that it can help your credit report. If you make 12 conservative on time payments on a student loan that you brought out of default, the previous late payments can be erased.

Be A Smart Borrower
It’s not unusual for student loans to be sold, or for a student to have eight or more loans! It can be tough keeping track of them all. Lose track of a loan though, and you may quickly find yourself in student loan hell. The Department of Education offers these tips for being smart borrower, and they’re good ones:
Keep all your loan documents
This simply piece of advice is one of the most important. You’ll have problems later if you can’t find your promissory note, can’t remember what type of loans you received, or don’t know who you’re supposed to repay or how you go about postponing (deferring) repayment if you have financial difficulties. Keep a file of all documents connected with your loans from the time you first get a loan, so you’ll always have what you need in one place. Then you won’t be confused about what you’re supposed to do or who you’re supposed to contact if you have questions.

Keep records
Whenever you talk to your lender or land servicer, keep a record of the person you talk to, the date you had the conservation, and what was said, If you send letters, always include your loan account number, and keep copies of those letters (and the responses you receive) in your file. That way, you’ll know who said what and when, which can help you avoid problems and misunderstandings.

Notify your school and/or loan holder in writing
If you move, change your name or Social Security number, or reenroll in school, you must make sure your loan holder won’t lose track of you. If that happens, you could miss payments and become delinquent (late). Also your loan could be sold, and you won’t know who has it or where to send payment because you couldn’t be notified.

Ask questions
If there’s something you don’t understand or if you’re having trouble making payments, ask. Don’t wait until things become too tough, ask for help from your loan holder or loan servicer right away!

Source: The ABC’s of getting out of debt - Sutton, Garrett

Student Loan Consolidation - More Options on Student Loan Owe

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.

Student Loan Consolidation - Student Loan Deferment and Forbearance

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.

Student Loan Consolidation - Student Loan Deferment and Forbearance

Deferment
Deferment allows you to temporarily postpone payments on your loan. If you have a subsidized loan, including Perkins Loans, interest won’t be charged during the deferment. If your loan is unsubsidized, you will be responsible for the interest on the loan during the deferment.

Forbearance
If you are temporarily unable to meet your repayment schedule but are not eligible for a deferment, you may receive forbearance for a limited and specific period. During forbearance, your payments are postponed or reduced. Whether your loans are subsidized or unsubsidized, you will be charge interest. Forbearance may be available because you are:

Unable to pay due to poor health or other unforeseen personal problems
Serving in a medical or dental internship or residency
Making federal student loan payments that are equal to or greater than 20% f your monthly gross income.

It is important that you contact your lender about deferment or forbearance before you fail behind on your payments. If you wait until you are behind, you may not be eligible. Continue making your payments until your deferment or forbearance is approved.

In addition, the fat that you are in a forbearance or deferment arrangement may be reported on your credit report and may be considered negative. It may, however, keep you out of default, which can be very expensive and will worse for your credit rating.

Source: The ABC’s of getting out of debt - Sutton, Garrett

Student Loan Consolidation - Student Loan Deferment and Forbearance

Avoid Bankruptcy and Free Your Debt . Get Refinance Loans , Secured Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement Advices.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...