lenders

Mortgage lenders will soon have access to new details about a prospective borrower's past -- such as past rental applications, inquiries to pay-day lenders, and missed child support payments -- that will be factored in to a new credit score.

A reader named Crystal wanted to increase the limit on her credit card, but got denied -- and she found the explanation the card company gave her cryptic. DailyFinance's Laura Rowley decodes the message and offers tips on accessing credit.

It doesn't look like the housing market will come roaring back anytime soon, but with historically low interest rates, now's a good time to buy. The hard part is that banks in the post-bubble era are notoriously stingy with that cheap money, so figuring out how to get a smile out of a mortgage lender is task No. 1.

Credit card banks know plenty about you -- but what do you really know about them? CreditKarma.com wants to give you the inside scoop on which cards cater to whom, so you'll be able to find the best fit for you -- and avoid having your credit report dinged by turn-downs.

On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officially opens for business. Even as the political fight continues over just how potent the agency will be, at root, its mission is to make clear the prices and risks of financial products and services. Here's where it will focus its early effort.

Will homeowners see a penny of the reimbursements that the government has ordered 16 mortgage lenders to pay? Not likely, foreclosure victims and housing activists say, because the independent review ordered by regulators is too weak.

If you've been saving your pennies and primping your FICO score in hopes of getting into the housing market while the getting's good (i.e., while home prices and interest rates are low), it must seem like there's a "new rule" of the new, post-bubble market to learn every time you turn around. And...

For those who can't get bank loans, the new business of peer-to-peer lending can be a lifesaver. Internet companies connect people who need cash with folks willing to lend -- for a fair profit, of course. Here's how it works, risks and all.

Peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.com has stopped letting high-risk borrowers use its site because too many of them failed to repay their loans. The site's problem, says columnist and one-time lender Alex Salkever, is that Prosper got in the way of letting a social bond form between microborrower and microlender.

If you've been rejected for a car loan due to poor credit, you might want to apply again. The automotive credit industry increased the share of new car loans going to credit-challenged borrowers by 12.7% in the third quarter, a sign that lenders are loosening their credit criteria.