Have you struggled to maintain good credit? Or do you avoid credit, and try to pay for everything in cash? Or perhaps your credit took a dive during the recession. If so, you may find getting credit frustrating and difficult. You may have even given up on trying to get a credit card or auto… Read More

By Ked Harley Applying for a small business loan has always been a hassle, but with the world economy still floundering and credit still tight, the process in recent years has become a full-on nightmare. The good news is that, while lending is still slow, it’s picking up; and with both the government and big… Read More

There seems to be no shortage of valuable information about “adult” identity theft, including a vast amount of crime statistics and prevention advice, yet such information about ID thieves targeting children — though at times equally damaging to the victim and often taking much longer to resolve — has received much less of the spotlight…. Read More

“Living debt free” is a nice slogan, and beyond that it’s something we should all aspire to. Unfortunately, some people couple this concept with living credit free. That is a far different story. For most people credit still represents something that happens to us, rather than something we can build, nurture, manage and protect like… Read More

It’s that time of year when college students pack up their dorm rooms and head home for the summer. With their eyes focused on next September, they put together a resume and pound the pavement to find a summer job — ANY summer job. Many of these jobs will be a less-than-enjoyable means to an… Read More

Most Americans may know just how important their credit standing is, but many may not know if they’re being negatively impacted by credit report mistakes. Today, 23 percent of consumers say they have discovered problems on their credit reports at some point in their lives, according to a new survey from the online legal resource… Read More

We recently received the following question from a reader about why her credit score would drop after paying off a credit card balance: A month or so ago I got my credit score. It was 812. Today I received an email saying there was an update to my score so I logged in to see… Read More

Credit scores, as with most attempts to make sense of our world, operate on the assumption that the near future will look a lot like the recent past, and that going forward, people can be expected to behave pretty much as they always have. That is, credit scores base their predictions of the future on… Read More

A mortgage can provide a strong, positive reference on credit reports and boost your credit scores. But sometimes lenders refuse to report those payments. What do consumers do then? Our reader Omar wrote on the Credit.com blog: “When my wife and I went bankrupt two years ago our attorney failed to recommit to our mortgage… Read More

Bikini season is just around the corner. For many of us who plan to wear fun and flattering swimwear at the beach this summer, it means putting in a few extra minutes on the treadmill or saying no to the second helping of chocolate cheesecake. Looking great in a bikini doesn’t start the moment you… Read More