credit scores

A good credit score is one of the basic building blocks to financial stability. However, even well-informed consumers may still believe in one or two of the commonly-believed myths about those crucial three digits. "We're seeing a lot of myths out there and a lot of misperceptions consumers have...

Being able to afford a home has inspired many couples to tie the home ownership knot, married or not. Even those who already own homes are looking at uber-low rates and running to refinance. But with lending guidelines tighter than a Nicki Minaj outfit, more and more wanna-be buyers are running...

Your credit score impacts your ability to get out of debt and stay out of debt. The worse your credit score, the higher the interest rate you will be charged on money you borrow. The better your score, the less your debt will cost you and the quicker you'll be able to pay it off.

WalletPop readers already know that credit scores fall into a range between 300 and 850. While it can be difficult -- if not impossible -- for most of us to reach that "holy grail" of 850, it turns out that it's even tougher to hit the bottom of the barrel. Even people who make every mistake in the...

Debt can destroy lives, families, marriages, relationships, business -- even countries. So this year my mission is to help one million people pay down a billion dollars in debt and start a new, debt-free life. Care to join me on this journey? I've just written my twelfth book, Debt Free For...

Standard & Poor's lowered the credit ratings for AT&T and Verizon Communications on Monday, saying that increased competition will make it harder for the two largest phone companies to pay down their long-term debt.

If you thought it was hard to qualify for loans and obtain credit in 2010, wait until 2011, when lenders start using freshly updated, more rigorous versions of two popular credit-scoring systems. Fair Isaac, creator of the widely-used FICO score, recently rolled out an enhanced version of one of...

This week, the Federal Reserve published a new, online guide for consumers that explains a lot of the confusing things about credit reports and credit scoring. A lot of regulatory changes have been made recently when it comes to financial regulation and consumer protection, so this new document is...

Payday loans can wreak havoc on a person's financial life. These loans carry sky-high APRs and the penalties for late or missed payments can be extreme. Many consumers, who turned to payday lenders in a time of need, later find themselves worse off than when they started. In this series, WalletPop...

Despite reports that the recession is "over" and loan rates are dropping, one-third of Americans still can't get a mortgage because their credit scores are too low. That's the latest from a mortgage market analysis just released by real estate web site Zillow. The economists who crafted the new...