What makes up a credit score?

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The Inside Workings of Credit Scores

Consumers are encouraged to check their credit reports once per year. The primary reason for doing so is to make sure there aren't any mistakes. Unfortunately, credit reports are prone to contain mistakes. It's not really the fault of the three main credit repositories, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion because all three are just a database. Whatever is reported to them is what you see. Further, someone with a similar name can show up on someone else's report. If you're not the only Bob Smith in town, this is certainly possible.
 Someone else's poor credit might very well be showing up on your report which can directly damage your credit scores. When you find an error work with your loan officer to get it fixed. Your loan officer has working relationships with credit agencies and can help get mistakes fixed and provide a method to get your scores back to where they should be.

Continue to the full article where more of the mystery behind credit scores will be revealed.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Why’s my FICO score dropping? Here’s an answer

The New York Times’ Lynnley Browning writes,

“IF you’re looking to refinance or buy a home, potential lenders and mortgage brokers will be checking your credit scores. And if those scores are being verified, chances are they are going down.

“Yes, you read that correctly. Each time a credit score is pulled from one of the three credit bureaus as part of a loan application, it can decline by as much as 20 points, or more. Call it the Great Credit-Score Ding.”

While information about credit scores and their use is becoming more widespread, “few buyers know this goes on — or what to do about it.”

“Most consumers are unaware that this happens,” said Paul Stephens, the director of policy and advocacy for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer advocacy group in San Diego.

The so-called FICO score is sold to the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — “which each then use different formulas to compute a consumer’s creditworthiness.”

The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate.  So why does your score get affected by credit report inquiries?

“It is the “hard pull” inquiry — in which lenders and brokers learn that you are in need of money, and check your credit in order to process your application — that can most damage your score.”

This can result in a 20 point or more drop in your score each time you authorize a lender to check your credit.

“So how can borrowers minimize the blow, especially those shopping for the best mortgage rates and working with more than one lender or broker?”

“If all the requests are made within a short time, they usually will count as only one check.”

There is some good news, “borrowers who check their own credit scores through a less invasive “soft pull,” to get an estimate of creditworthiness and of loan rates, do not see their scores go down.” So, ask your lender to do “a soft pull before deciding which loan to go with, at which point a formal inquiry is made.”

Read the full column, Preventing Credit Score Dings

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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V.A. loans harder to get

With all the problems American military vets face, The New York Times' Bob Tedeschi writes about another one -- the difficulty in getting V.A. mortgages.

Tedeschi writes,

"MILITARY veterans have long been accustomed to a relatively easy mortgage process. Even borrowers with no down payment or a low credit score were usually granted V.A. loans, in large part because the Department of Veterans Affairs insures a quarter of the loan amount."

"But about two years ago, lenders began limiting the conditions under which they would offer these mortgages, and industry executives say that since the start of the year, all the nation’s major lenders have followed suit."

This is not a new issue. Loans are still offered with no down payment but some of the big lenders are backing away.

Credit scores seem to be playing a major role in the decision of lenders to make the insured loans.

Is this a way to treat men and women who have stood in the front lines for America?

Read the full article here.

For your next title order or
if you have questions about what you see here,
contact Stephen M. Flatow
Vested Title Inc.
648 Newark Avenue,
P.O. Box 6453,
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506
E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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