For years, credit card issuers aggressively pursued new borrowers and urged old borrowers to charge more. Mailboxes across the country were filled with new offers, introductory rates, and rewards for getting those cards out of wallets and into use. Eac...

Credit Card processor Heartland Payment systems recently revealed that cyber thieves had gained access to its system last year - stealing names, card numbers, and expiration dates. Since Heartland processes about 100 million payment transactions per mo...

While credit scores have been dropping, even for consumers with perfect payment histories, and banks are refusing to lend based on those lower credit scores, the amount of money being lent still increased in 2008. How can that be? Both consumers and...

With credit scores more important than ever, more and more thieves are turning to identity theft to allow them to do and have the things they want to do and have. And these thieves are bold in their approach to getting their hands on your identity. Onc...

Your high credit scores today are the ticket to happy and satisfied homeownership tomorrow! With foreclosures and short sales driving down the price of both pre-owned homes and newly constructed homes - and with interest rates at historically low level...

There are some advantages of being self employed, you can write off quite a bit to avoid paying the IRS. You can also find yourself in trouble with the IRS because you were writing off items that may not have existed or just was flat wrong. I am sure if t...

Fair Isaac has announced a 2009 makeover to the credit scoring system that most companies use to determine your credit worthiness. The company says as many as half of all borrowers will see their scores go up or down by about 20 points as a result. One...

While many banks have failed to pass "bailout" gains to consumers, GMAC is using its $5 billion to get car sales moving. After receiving these funds, GM immediately offered 0% financing for up to 60 months on many of its least popular models. Other loa...

The credit crunch didn't happen overnight, and many factors contributed, but one of the most visible reasons for financial collapse is the housing market. We all know now that low teaser rates were offered to buyers who could barely make payments at 1%...

Your FICO score determines the interest rate you'll pay for a home mortgage or a car loan - the higher the score, the better the rate offered. But the minimum score to obtain the best rates has gone up, while the average consumer's score has remained stat...

If you have a credit score below a 580 it might be extremely hard to get a FHA loan in this current lending market. But there are other options when it comes to getting government loan. Even though FHA will insure loans below a 580 credit score the second...

One very good reason to get a copy of your credit report and begin working to get your credit score as high as possible is the difference in interest rates you'll pay if you need to buy a new car. Research shows that a borrower with a score under 600 w...

It really is kind of scary to realize that strangers can pull your credit report and thus access your credit history - and that they use it to create a picture of your life. All they need is your social security number - and that isn't hard to get any ...

Sounds simplistic, doesn't it? Just pay down your debts, your credit score will raise, and all will be fine. But if you're in debt, there's probably a reason - such as spending in excess of your income. If you want to build a good financial reputation ...

Your lender rattles off the term as if everyone knew exactly what FICO meant. But most of us don't even know what the letters stand for. The first part is simple: The Fair Isaac Corporation. Sounds mysterious, doesn't it? What the heck is a Fair Isaa...