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It’s time for some more words of warning on how good intentions can mess up your credit report or credit score as you try to get mortgage payments you can handle.
Since writing about how mortgage modifications can tarnish your credit score, I have heard from many well intentioned people who ended up with a credit disaster as they tried to do the right thing with their mortgages.
Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5 percent of American consumers — nearly 43.4 million people — now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them as poor risks for lenders. It’s unlikely they will be able to get credit cards, auto loans or mortgages under the tighter lending standards banks now use.
By Julie Wernau
| A bill that would prohibit employers from inquiring about or using a
person’s credit history as a basis for employment or discharge has
passed both legislative chambers in Springfield, and is awaiting the
governor’s signature.
The bill, House Bill 4658, introduced by Rep. Jack D. Franks
(D-Woodstock), creates the Employer Credit Privacy Act, and provides
exemptions for the banking and financial industry and state law
enforcement and investigation units. The bill passed the Senate on May 4, and the House of Representatives concurred on minor changes made to the
bill Thursday.
Associated Press | Regulators must do all they can to help banks make loans to credit-worthy borrowers, especially small businesses, a development that’s critical to strengthening the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. It’s a delicate dance for the Fed and other banking regulators. As regulators encourage banks to make loans to sound borrowers, they are also working to make sure banks get back on firmer footing after suffering through the worst financial and economic crises since the 1930s.
Get the full story: Bernanke says banks should loan to the credit-worthy.
Associated Press via NYTimes | Discover Financial Services said in a regulatory filing
Thursday that its loan losses slowed in March, as more customers were
timely on their credit card payments.
Get the full story: nytimes.com.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Associated Press | Now that it will be easier to find your free credit report, you may be curious about who else can see it and how it can be used.
Starting Friday, a new Federal Trade Commission rule will require Web sites advertising free reports from agencies such as Chicago-based TransUnion to direct consumers to the government-approved www.annualcreditreport.com. TV and radio ads must do the same starting Sept. 1.
The problem is that these ads typically don’t disclose that the advertised free reports are part of a package of services that can cost as much as $14.95 a month. Consumers may not realize they can get free reports with no strings attached.
By Mike Hughlett
| With complaints rising nationwide against credit repair companies, the
City of Chicago said Friday that it has filed consumer fraud and
deceptive practice charges against nine such firms locally.
The city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection
charged four companies with falsely promising they could erase
consumers’ debt from their credit reports. Those companies are: Mark
Anthony & Associates of Skokie; Allstates Credit Repair in Chicago;
Credit Rx in Glenview; and Nationwide Credit Clearing in Chicago.
