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Your Credit Score's All Wrong
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You already know the drill. Before making a major financial move (financing or refinancing a home, getting a car loan, comparing credit histories with your betrothed), you have to review your credit report. This detailed record runs down your entire banking history, and if you order a credit score, it reveals your overall credit GPA -- a score based on your history of handling money.
Great stuff. Too bad it's not what your banker uses as the basis for his or her lending decisions.
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Easy credit takes harsh toll
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Today most large banks and national retailers with their own brand of credit cards are eager to extend credit to consumers on credit scores alone, regardless of whether credit reports show they already carry hefty balances on other credit cards and loans.
'It's just based on the credit score. If you maintain a reasonable credit score, in all probability, you will be approved for that loan or for that (new) credit card,' York said.
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Skimmers swipe credit, debit card data
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Federal agents are looking for a New York man charged with masterminding identity theft rings in Jacksonville and elsewhere that used high-tech card readers known as skimmers to steal credit card information from restaurant customers.
Ying Guan Chen has been indicted on two counts of trafficking in counterfeit access devices. He remains at large, but U.S. Secret Service agents hoped to have him arrested by today.
Chen, who uses the alias Kenny Chen, is believed to have gathered information from hundreds of consumer credit cards in Jacksonville and in Charlotte, N.C., said Paul Elliott, assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service office in Jacksonville.
The ring operated primarily in restaurants, Elliott said.
'It's primarily done at restaurants because it's so easy. You hand your card to the waitress and she takes it away and you don't see it for a few minutes,' Elliott said.
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ID Theft Protection
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An epidemic of identity theft is fueling a growth industry of companies promising to protect you from data thieves.
In the past year, bandits stole tens of thousands of personal records from ChoicePoint Inc., they hacked into Bank of America's electronic files and they plundered Lexis-Nexus data -- to name some of the larger jobs. In 2005 alone, tens of millions of American consumers were put at risk of identity theft.
You do need personal data protection -- just don't expect one company to provide a cure-all.
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Surprising Things Can Wreck Your Credit Score
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How much you pay in interest on your credit cards and other loans is directly related to your credit score.
If your score is high, you pay less. But if your score is low, you could be paying more for years.
Consumer Reporter Tracy Davidson looks at the new and surprising things that can crash your credit score.
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You earn your credit
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Simple fact: We earn the credit card interest rate we receive. Card issuers price their cards based on the risk of each borrower. The greater the risk that a borrower may not be able to repay the loan, the higher the interest rate.
Re-pricing of credit card loans was developed because some long-term customers who had never been late were suddenly walking away from thousands of dollars of credit card debt. Card issuers realized they needed to look at the customer's broad financial picture, which for many borrowers changes over time.
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Credit Bureau Settles FTC Charges
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Experian North America Inc., one of the three large companies that verify consumer credit, will pay $950,000 as part of a settlement with the federal government over charges that it deceived consumers who sought free credit reports.
Under an agreement announced yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission, Experian also will change how it markets credit reports, and offer refunds to qualifying consumers who were misled.
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Overdue library books, parking tickets could end up on credit reports
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With tight budgets and limited staffs, libraries and municipalities have been turning to collection agencies to recover fines ranging from book penalties to parking tickets and for unpaid trash bills and ambulance fees, industry experts said. And once a collection agency is brought in, there's a greater chance the fees will wind up on a credit report.
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Experian, Equifax, TransUnion fight image, attempt to become consumer-friendly
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Led by the Big Three credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion -- the industry positions itself as a consumer-friendly service provider that lets lenders offer easy, equitable credit.
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Credit bureaus fight unfriendly image
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After 100 years, the credit-reporting industry is leaving the shadows and moving into more direct dealings with consumers. Up to now, these encounters have not been happy. As Americans come face to face with a $3 billion-a-year credit reporting business that can influence their ability to get a loan, land a job and buy insurance, they're confronting an industry that long considered consumers commodities and financial institutions its paying customers. The result is an uneasy, changing relationship that experts predict will result in continued consumer aggravation and calls for more government regulation.
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Before you look for a home loan, know your credit score
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Shopping around for the best home loan is mostly a matter of doing some research, hitting a few stores and sharing info with friends and family.
With home loan rates, however, that guy down the street may wind up being quoted a lower or higher mortgage rate than you -- even for the same loan from the same lender.
'There are different interest-rate tiers based on your credit score,' explains Kurt Sorensen, a client services manager at True Credit, a division of credit bureau TransUnion. So making sure your credit score is as high as it can possibly be gives you your best shot at the lowest possible rate.
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Credit score feeling wimpy? A guide to your financial fitness
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A credit report outlines a consumer's credit history, including open and closed credit accounts and any delinquency, lien or bankruptcy. And it will show whether someone else has stolen a person's identity to open a credit account. The report is as essential a document as a birth certificate, but understanding the language and symbols on it can be daunting.
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