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Personal Growth Blog for Philip Tirone – Credit Scoring Expert and Champion for the Underdog

Posts Tagged ‘Philip Tirone’

WANTED: The Truth!

There is an article in the Wall Street Journal today how home prices have dropped just under 30% in the 10 biggest cites in America. At the same time, we’re getting reports from the National Association of Realtors how “sales are going up and that this is the time to buy.”

Well whether it’s the time to buy or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that lending guidelines are continuing to get tougher and tougher. Part of the reason is because the credit scoring requirements are continuing to go up and up.

Here is the disconnect: the lending guidelines and credit scoring requirements continue to go up and there is no education about the guidelines or credit scoring. People think if you pay your bills on time, you’re going to have perfect credit, which is WRONG. So until more people can qualify by teaching individuals that paying your bills on time is not necessarily going to guarantee you a perfect credit score… there is going to continue to be disconnect, which will impact how significantly the real estate market can recover.

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Who else is as WRONG as an Educated Attorney?

This weekend I had a conversation with well educated attorney, probably around 65 years old, she asked me, “How are you doing in this economy? What do you do?” I responded, “I’m in education and finance; we sell products on saving money and specifically, how to raise your credit score to reduce your monthly payments.” She said, “Oh yeah, I understand all about credit. That is one problem I don’t have to deal with.” She continued by saying, “I only have one American Express card and that’s all I use.” I said, “Well statistically speaking, if you have one credit card it’s going to hurt your credit score.” She said, “I do know that, in fact, I had 11 cards, and I closed them all down.” My response, “Well, statistically speaking when you close down your accounts it will hurt your credit score.” She said, “I did know that, but it’s not a problem for me because I don’t need credit.” From there, I let the conversation die. The bottom line, I hear this every single day. Every day, I hear that, “I’m different.” In reality, if you are living in America, we are all the same when it comes to your credit score. Even though this woman thinks she “doesn’t need credit,” she does and let me explain. Does she have car insurance? Yes, and that could be impacted because of your credit score. Does she have a mortgage? Most likely, and that WILL be impacted by her credit score. Does she have kids? Yes, she had three of them. Most likely, her kids don’t have her resources and if she is teaching her kids this information; they are starting down the wrong path. This woman thinks that she doesn’t have problems, just like the 100M Americans who don’t think they have a problem.

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Spending… the PROBLEM That Nobody is Talking About

I’m hearing over and over, “the economy is recovering, the economy is recovering!” Ben Bernanke said last week that he expects our recovery to come this year and of course our politicians are saying its “right around the corner.” Let me ask you a question: In your world, who is spending more money today than they were a year ago? This is the fundamental problem that we are faced with. 70% of our economy is based on people buying things. For our economy to recover, the government needs people to buy bigger cars, changing their IPods, new homes, etc. etc., thus the lower rates and rebate checks from the government. The problem is that spending money got us into this problem, and the government wants us to spend more to get us out of the problem… BUT… nobody is spending! In my world, conversation after conversation is about saving more, not spending more. Are we really going to get out of the woods this way?

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The 800lb Gorilla – Lending Guidelines!

Yesterday I got a call a money manager from Canada. He said, “I’m so excited that the market’s turning! Inventory of real estate is coming down and banks are lending more! It’s going to be great!” I hate to be the downer here… but there is one thing that everyone is missing: lending guidelines are tougher than they have been for over a decade AND they continue to get tougher. If the guidelines don’t loosen, then there’s no way we’re going to have a recovery like everyone thinks is coming. Last week a lady called me for a loan for $300,000 loan. Her property is worth $2M. That’s a 15% loan to value, meaning there is only a loan on 15% of her home. She’s been in the property for the last 12 years, has $75,000 in the bank, has never been late on her payments, and her credit score is over 720. Per Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac’s current lending guidelines, she can’t qualify for a $300,000 loan. Why? Because her income goes up and down (she’s an actress). Do you see the problem here? When someone who has lived in a property for 12 years, has great credit, never missed a payment, has $75,000 in the bank (equivalent of 3.9 years of payment), and they can’t get a loan, I think our lending guidelines need to soften before we’re going to see a recovery.

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Overdraft Fees / Credit Card Fees – Why Can’t Banks be Fair?

In “USA Today,” there was an article about how overdraft fees work at banks. It gives an example how one lady racked up $175 in overdraft fees on small debit card transactions for purchases such as coffee and lunch! That is really unfair. If you think that is bad, think about the outrageous fees that credit card companies charge consumers because of their credit score. Some American’s are being charged 30% interest rate on credit card balances because of errors that are on their credit report. That is correct, errors! In fact, according to a Federal Reserve Board Study, 80% of American’s have an error on our credit report and 25% of those errors are so bad, if you applied for credit today, you would be denied, because of that error!

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Transparency Needed for Credit Card Companies

In today’s tight market, everyone needs to do his part to restore the economy. As founder of 7 Steps to 720, my commitment has always been on helping consumers take control of their financial futures and credit scores. I think credit card companies should join the cause and start being more transparent about the trickle-down effects of their practices. For instance, credit card companies send glossy advertisements letting you know that you can transfer your balance to their credit card and enjoy a 0 percent interest rate for a year. Sounds like a great deal, right? Here’s what they don’t tell you: most credit card companies will determine your balance on the new card by the amount you are transferring. If you are transferring $3,000, they give you a $3,000 limit. This means your utilization rate (your balance as a percentage of your limit) is 100 percent! And remember, the higher your utilization rate is, the lower your credit score. You might think you are helping your pocketbook by taking advantage of these offers, but you aren’t. Your credit score drops, as does your ability to secure loans at low interest rates. The more you pay in interest, the fewer dollars you have, and the less impact you will have on the economy. I think credit card companies have a right to charge fees and earn money. However, I also believe that a company that does things that indirectly affects the rights of its clients should be punished. Thus, why I believe we should all participate collaboratively in the fight to restore our economy, and that means full disclosure on the part of credit card companies.

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FICO 08, Is it Fair?

Any day now, the new FICO scoring system (called FICO 08 because it was supposed to be released last year) will be fully implemented into the world of credit scoring. From what I can tell, this new formula—which represents the biggest change to the scoring model since the 1980s—is a change for the better. Consumers who have one or two slipups will be judged less harshly than they were under the old model. Legitimate authorized user accounts will be reported to the bureaus, another change in favor of the consumer. But one thing stands out as a big, big problem: credit card companies still have the power to damage a person’s score artificially by reporting a lower-than-actual limit. As I explain in 7 Steps to a 720® Credit Score, a large portion of a person’s credit score is judged by his balance-to-limit ratio. The smaller balance he has as a percentage of his limit, the better his score. But credit card companies regularly fail to report a person’s accurate limit, making his balance-to-limit ratio artificially high, therefore lowering his score. We cannot be certain why credit card companies do this—some theorize that it makes their customers appear less attractive to competitors, who therefore don’t send credit card offers to these customers. One thing is certain: this is a big problem in the world of credit scoring. Remember that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Until the credit-scoring world adopts a model that truthfully reflects a person’s limit, it’s up to us to stay vigilant. Consumers whose credit reports show improper credit limits should get on the phone immediately with their credit card companies and start arguing to have the proper limit reported.

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Apply for Credit Using the Same Name Always!

Many people are unaware that even the most minor variations in the names they report to credit issuers or lenders can damage their credit score. This is one of the primary credit maintenance measures discussed in Step 7 of my book 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score.

I encourage readers to “Always apply for credit and pull your report using the same name. If your name is Robert Michael Jones Jr., and you have applied for credit cards under different variations of names, this could adversely affect your credit score. For example, you might decide to use:

Bob M. Jones
Bob Michael Jones
B. Michael Jones
Robert M. Jones
Robert Michael Jones
R. Michael Jones
Bob Jones
Robert Jones
Bob M. Jones, Jr.
Bob Michael Jones, Jr.
B. Michael Jones, Jr.
Robert M. Jones, Jr.
Robert Michael Jones, Jr.
R. Michael Jones, Jr.
Bob Jones, Jr.
Robert Jones. Jr.

Using a multiple versions of your name increases your risk of having your credit report information divided among the various names or even merged with another person’s information. For instance, if your are Robert Jones Jr , and your father is Robert Jones, the credit bureaus might combine your files if you do not use “Jr.” when applying for credit. Pick one name and stick to it when applying for credit – always.

If you got married and changed your last name – start applying for credit under the new name. It might affect your credit minimally. But, the affect is temporary.”

Philip X. Tirone’s, book “7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score: Strategies for Excellent Credit” as well as Applying the 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score Workbook”, containing samples of the forms, letters and worksheets are both included in his 7 Steps to 720 Credit Score Kit. The kit is available at www.720score.com or by calling 1-888-254-2702.”

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