Why Your Credit Score Is Important

If you haven’t looked at your credit report within the last year, you should go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This site allows you to request a free credit report annually from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It’s important to get all three because the reports may be different. Your credit report contains the data used to calculate your credit score and it may contain mistakes and inaccuracies. Check once a year to make sure that there are no late payments incorrectly listed for any of your accounts and that the amounts owed are correct for each of your open accounts. If there are errors on your credit reports, you can dispute these with the credit bureaus who must investigate within 30 days. You can also use one of these free tools to get an
estimate of your FICO score, the credit score most commonly used by lenders. To get your actual FICO score you must pay a fee.

•  The report card at www.credit.com does a "soft pull" on your credit to give you an indication of your credit score.
•  After answering a series of questions about your credit history, www.bankrate.com has a FICO score estimator which will provide a range they believe your score will fall within.
• There are also a number of free tools at www.creditkarma.com such as a credit score simulator which simulates how certain financial transactions affect your credit score over time.

FICO scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850. The higher the better. Lenders look at your credit score when deciding whether to extend you credit – and if so, how much they’ll lend and at what rate. Having a good credit report means it will be easier for you to get loans and lower interest rates. Lower interest rates usually translate into smaller monthly payments.

Each lender decides on its own benchmark. Some lenders may decline a loan request with a personal credit score of less than 650 while others may consider a request with a credit score above 525. It all depends on the lender. If you are one of the many people whose credit score suffered in the last few years, you should consider attending our Free Credit Restoration Seminar. The presenters at our seminar will help you to take control of your debt, deal with debt collectors, improve your credit, create a budget, save and plan for your future, and much more. Improving your credit score is a crucial step in
positioning yourself – and your business – to get approved in the future.

It is very important that you, as a small business owner manage your personal credit responsibly over time. A good credit score is like insuranceyou may never need to use it, but it is very important you have it
should the need ever arise.

Figeroux & Associates
26 Court Street, Suite 701
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718–834-0190
Fax: 718-222-3153
Website: http://nettaxservices.com

Click here to register for our free Credit Restoration Seminar