Ask myFICO
Q. Does the number of inquiries shown in my credit reports affect my FICO score?
A. Each of your credit reports show all the times that businesses have asked to see your credit report. But the only ones considered by FICO scores are credit checks by lenders in response to your own credit requests, such as a mortgage application. Businesses also check your credit before sending you promotional offers and in the normal course of managing your account with them. Those types of inquiries, as well as your own credit report checks, are ignored by the FICO score.
Q. How does the “middle score” idea work?
A. Many lenders want to see your FICO score from all three national credit bureaus before approving your loan application. Since the credit bureaus don’t share information, your credit report information can differ between the bureaus, causing your FICO scores also to differ. Some lenders may look only at the lowest FICO score, while others may look at the highest FICO score. Accepting the middle score is a compromise that many lenders choose to make.
Q. Do credit repair companies really work?
A. No one can “repair” your credit rating or your credit report. Services that claim they can fix bad credit or artificially raise your credit score are promising results they can’t deliver. You can review your own credit reports, identify any incorrect information, and contact the credit bureaus directly to have your reports corrected or updated—without paying anyone.
If you purchased a FICO Score Report and believe there is an error in your credit file, just login to the myFICO.com Member Center and open your report. At the bottom of any page of your report, you’ll find instructions to file your request for investigation with the credit bureau. The bureau must investigate and respond to you within 30 days.
Thank you,
Joanne
Assisting buyers and sellers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 30 years.
P.S. For information on buying or selling east bay homes, please contact me at 510-429-4800 or send me a note on the Contact Joanne form.
Joanne L. Gardiner, Broker, e-PRO Realtor®
California Department of Real Estate Brokers License Number: 00822285
California Department of Housing and Community Development Occupational License Number: SP1178511
Office: 510-429-4800
Cell phone: 510-589-4794
We serve the greater San Francisco bay area.
Our primary service areas in the San Francisco Bay Area are: Hayward, Castro Valley, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, Fremont, Newark, Niles, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, San Ramon, Sunol, Oakland, Foster City, Burlingame, and San Mateo.
The types of real estate in which we specialize are: single family homes, duets, condominiums, townhomes, garden homes, PUDs, manufactured homes, mobile homes, income property, investment property, tri-plexes, four-plexes, apartment property, and special use properties such as churches and mobile home parks.
Count on us for: Alameda County homes for sale, Contra Costa County homes for sale, San Mateo Country homes for sale. And now with our expanded Multiple Listing Services (MLS), we easily serve all bay area communities.
Our web sites:
http://www.californiasunshinehomes.com
Our sister site:
http://www.mobilehomelife.com
