Crytal Clear Credit: Credit repair Information

CREDIT INFORMATION

What is "the credit reporting agency?"
There are three big ones: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union, all with national databases. There is also a fourth one, called Innovis. Most credit grantors report to one or more of them. In general, the credit reporting agencies don't pass information back and forth to each other. So you actually have at least three credit histories, not one.

There are also local credit reporting agencies and reporting agencies.

How long do negative items stay on my credit report?

Accurate negative information generally can be reported for seven years, but there are exceptions:

Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years;

Information reported because of an application for a job with a salary of more than $20,000 has no time limitation;

Information reported because of an application for more than $50,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limitation;

Information concerning a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer; and

Default information concerning U.S. Government insured or guaranteed student loans can be reported for seven years after certain guarantor actions.

Tax liens stay on 7 years from the date PAID.

What is credit scoring?

The credit scoring procedure is an automated evaluation tool used to evaluate both credit applications AND risk in existing credit lines. It's also used for many other purposes, including marketing and collections. Although this procedure is almost never explained to applicants, rejected applicants must be supplied with reasons for declination. If these have been derived from a score, the specific variables that led to rejection must be disclosed.

How does credit scoring supposedly work?

Fair Isaac, Inc. (FICO) pioneered credit scoring. Your daily transactions are followed by computers at "service provider" centers. The ongoing evaluation process looks at credit balances, purchases and address and job changes, but most include such usual items as credit card purchases, late payments and debt ratios. Credit scoring has not failed; scores that do not predict in valid, legal ways are not only unprofitable but actionable, and many have been removed for those very reasons. Hardly any credit scoring, and *no* credit scoring at the application level, is based on daily transactions. For new applications, this is simply impossible, as the recipient of the application has no data source. For behavior scoring of existing accounts, the benefits do not justify the cost of processing.