What is a SPOOKY Credit Score?

Don't have a scary credit score!

Happy Halloween all.  We recently had a new credit repair client who said their current credit score was spooky and they no longer wanted to have a spooky credit score.

So what the heck is a spooky credit score?  In reality, this client was just joking that their credit score was poor and they wanted better.

If I had to define a spooky credit score, I would call it a credit score that would produce less than the best credit approval and terms.  Many consumers fail to understand that poor credit scores may lead to approvals but often these approvals come with higher interest rates and/or fees.  In my business, this is often referred to as risk based pricing.  Poor credit scores are considered riskier to lenders, landlords, insurance companies and others so credit providers typically charge more to offset the risk.

So, what to do if your credit score is spooky?  The short answer is work on it.  Pay all your bills timely going forward and try to keep your debt to a minimum.

If your credit needs some help, take action. There are a lot of resources available on steps to improve your credit. You can get free information from the FTC or contact a professional company like CureMyScore.com for affordable credit repair help. By taking action to improve your credit, you may qualify for the home of your dreams or a new auto while paying less in interest charges.

Call us at 412-564-5370 with any questions / comments or click here to schedule a free program review.  Like us on Facebook to receive future consumer credit tips.

Free $125 from Equifax?

Photo of money we would all save by protecting our credit score.

I hope you didn’t have plans for the $125 you may be entitled to as part of the Equifax $700 million dollar settlement.  As of today, the court has not even approved the Equifax settlement related to their September 2017 data breach that exposed sensitive personal data on approximately 147 million consumers and already their settlement is causing confusion.

According to the FTC , consumers are flocking to Equifax in droves to claim their free “up to $125” which is to be set aside as an option for consumers to take in lieu of free credit monitoring.  So what’s the catch and how much will you actually get?  Let’s do some math; this portion of the settlement will contain approximately $31 million dollars.  If all 147 million consumers affected choose to take this cash offer, each consumer would get:

$31,000,000 ÷ 147,000,000 = $0.21 (far less than $125)

Before acting, understand what is available and what future rights you may be giving away.  Equifax provides a good deal of information related to consumer’s options on their website.  As with anything, read all of the information.

I will update this settlement once the court approves it.

If your credit needs some help, take action. There are a lot of resources available on steps to improve your credit. You can get free information from the FTC or contact a professional company like Cure My Score for help. By taking action to improve your credit, you may qualify for the home of your dreams or a new auto while paying less in interest charges.

Call us at 412-564-5370 with any questions / comments or schedule a free program review.  Like us on Facebook to receive future consumer credit tips.