Rob's Blog

A credit inquiry is an item on a credit report that shows a business with a "permissible purpose" (as defined under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act) has previously requested a copy of the report. Not all inquiries count toward your FICO score. When you check your credit report, you may noti...

If you need a loan, do your rate shopping within a focused period of time, such as 30 days. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur. Generally, people with high FICO scores consiste...

Looking for a mortgage or an auto loan may cause multiple lenders to request your credit report, even though you're only looking for one loan. To compensate for this, the score counts multiple auto or mortgage inquiries in any 14-day period as just one inquiry. In addition, the score ignores all ...

Closing old and unused credit accounts on your credit report can help you avoid unnecessary fees and guard against identity theft. It can also cause your credit score to drop if you are not careful. Here are a few do's and don'ts for closing those dormant accounts:DO...•Consider closing unused an...

 1. ALTERNATE OF CHOICE QUESTIONS: FORCES A CHOICEEXAMPLE:*WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER, A 15 YEAR OR 30 YEAR PAYMENT?*I CAN GET YOU THE $10,000 CASH; YOU CAN EITHER BUY A BOAT OR REMODEL YOUR KITCHEN, WHICH IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?*DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS DOCUMENT AS I HAVE EXPLAINED IT, OR SHOULD WE ...

There are five types of information used to calculate a FICO score at any given point in time. Each type of information counts as a percentage of a total FICO score: Payment history= 35%Amounts owed= 30%Length of credit history= 15%New credit= 10%Types of credit in use= 10%These percentages are b...