You may have heard me preach and teach about how too high of credit card balances can lower your score, not having long/deep credit or too many inquiries can keep your score low. Of course collections reporting or late payments are negative marks that will lower your score. 

But what do the bureaus report on your actual credit report for why your score is where it is at (possibly lower than you want it to be)? I am sharing the top 10 reasons listed by the bureaus that I had learned from my Certified Credit Counseling training. 

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If you carry a credit card balance, there is a good chance that you are experiencing a higher minimum payment or have seen that more of your monthly payment is going towards interest rather than paying down your outstanding balance. This is because the interest rate has gone up. How can this be? Listen in as Credit Kristi shares with you the various ways your APR of your credit card can increase.

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Website mentioned in the show to stop receiving credit card offers: optoutprescreen.com

Feeling like your money isn't stretching as far as it used to? Yeah, me too. Listen in as your coach pokes fun at an article she recently read on how to make a little extra money and then Kristi will share some real ideas for reducing your bills and cost of living. 

You have 2 choices when it comes to managing your funds: Make more money or Spend less money. 

If you are looking for ideas to cut your spending and reduce your outflow, your credit coach has some suggestions.

Listen to the end where you will get a tax tip which, in her example, can save about $5000 in taxes by knowing and reducing your tax bracket. 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2022

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Do disputes impact your credit profile and scores? You betcha! I have seen where many "credit repair companies" will just go in an dispute everything listed on your credit report. I suppose that is one way to go about it. I don't love that plan. 

A dispute will temporarily improve your credit score because that "thing" you are disputing is removed from the credit scoring algorithm (that negative mark is temporarily removed) for the first 30 days. If it is found that your dispute is not valid, the remarks stay attached to that tradeline.

When it comes to a mortgage, when disputes are listed, and over a specific amount, it can cost you where your dispute has to be removed or you must pay down that amount of the collection a dispute might be attached to. 

You really don't want to be making changes to your credit profile in the middle of a loan application as it can impact your approval.

Here are the numbers for each of the credit reporting bureaus to call and request the removal of the dispute language:

Equifax  800-493-1058

Experian  800-846-5279

Transunion   800-916-8800

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if you have ever experienced identity fraud or know someone who has, you know it's no joke. There are some protective measures you can put into place to help. You can freeze your credit profile with each of the three credit reporting bureaus, you can add a fraud alert and you can also get credit monitoring services placed on your credit. 

If you are a victim of credit fraud,  go to http://www.identitytheft.gov/  and create a report there. Follow their instructions and they have a sample letter you can use to help you format yours as well.

To set up credit fraud alerts and/or a freeze: 

https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/      (800) 685-1111

https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html       (888) 397-3742

https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts        (888) 909-8872

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Listen in as your credit coach shares 6 tips on how to raise your credit scores. Easy to implement and will have a long lasting positive impact on your credit profile and credit scores.

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Using credit and loans to leverage oneself to do more with what you have is likely the goal. For instance, putting down a required down payment and then financing your home vs. saving $400,000 to pay cash helps you be a homeowner much sooner in life. But what happens when you feel too stretched, over-leveraged and unsure if you can make the payments? That is the reality for tens of millions of Americans, right now. In fact, over 20 million people are several months late on their electric bill, at risk of being turned off. With record breaking borrowing, payments and nearly all-time high's of APRs, at least in the most recent few decades (which might be your entire lifespan so far!), many people are feeling the pressure and not sure what to do.

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If you are working towards a great credit score to obtain financing for a home or intend on ever getting a mortgage, purchase or refinance, listen up! the Federal Housing Finance Agency has just accepted 2 new scoring models- the first change in 20 years!! It is a BIG deal! Listen in to the details. They are saying this could help over 10 million people that currently don't have a credit score due to lack of credit tradelines reporting and how things such as medical debt is reported. Incredible news that can change the lives of millions of people!

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Here is the link to details from the report I had read:  https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Documents/CS-Fact-Sheet-2022.pdf

If you have credit cards with balances, you may notice that your minimum monthly payment might fluctuate. Because the balance is variable, the payment can be as well. Listen in to learn how the credit card companies calculate your minimum credit scores on higher balances for most bank issued credit cards.

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Many people had purchased a new car in the last year or so, millions more than "usual." What's interesting is the average car price, loan amount and what now stands as the average new car payment and length of the loan term. I bring you this information because I am predicting a wave of repossessions based on the loose standards that the auto financing industry has followed since late 2020. With very little in the way of standards to ensure people can actually afford the monthly car payments, I believe repo's will surge and many people will experience damage to their credit profile (and wallet) because of it. 

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