What is a Credit Score and, how does it affect me?

What is a Credit Score and, how does it affect me?

Although they are closely related, credit reports and credit scores are two completely
different things.
Credit scores are typically three-digit numbers that represent the quality of your overall
credit-worthiness. Many different types of credit scores exist, but the two most often
used is the FICO score and the VantageScore.
Five main factors affect your credit score. Those factors and the percentage weights
they carry in determining your score are as follows:

•Payment history (35%)
•Amount of debt (30%)
•Types of accounts (10%)
•How long you’ve had credit (15%)
•Your history of looking for credit (inquiries) (10%)

You should try to learn about each of these factors and how you can change your
financial behaviors to improve your credit score.

Having a Good Credit Score has never been more Important than now
Financial Education and Loan Services works with two nationally respected and well
established credit repair and credit restoration companies to deliver our clients with a
diverse array of services of which to choose to take the necessary steps to correct their
credit reports, increase their credit scores, and put them back on the road leading to
financial stability. Both companies are bonded and registered to provide credit repair
and restoration services. Both are members of the Better Business Bureau with A
ratings. The diverse services are completely legal with satisfaction guaranteed or your
money back.
Financial Education Services has more than 15 years of experience and their corporate
headquarters is in Michigan. United Credit Education Services is a non-profit, has been
in operation for 10 years, and their corporate office is also located in Michigan. Both
companies were founded with the mission of assisting individuals and businesses to
restore damaged credit so that they can recover and purchase their dream home,
launch that successful business enterprise, or secure that job so that they can become
productive members of our society and plan for their family’s future.

Both company’s have a mandate to provide quality services that will have productive,
long lasting, and quality results that will allow Financial Education and Loan Service
clients to overcome their current credit and financial challenges through financial and
budgeting classes or credit restoration or repair and thus leading to a more secure
financial future.
While one company uses time tested and confirmed “credit bureau dispute letter”
techniques, the other agency prefers a more innovative credit repair method with the
hands on assistance of credit professional who use legal technicalities to challenge
credit bureau reports -- also with proven results.
While you may be under extraordinary stress and pressure with bill collectors and
collection agencies hounding you, taking the necessary steps to repair your credit is the
first and most important step to take to help plan and move forward in taking control of
your financial crisis. And, with our financial planning and budgeting assistance that you
will qualify for with the credit repair membership, you will actually be several steps
ahead of conquering your problems and meeting your financial and credit challenges
head-on.

Indeed, today, credit is the one issue that you almost come into contact with on a
regular basis:
     Have you recently applied for a credit card?
     Tried to purchase a new home or to lease an apartment?
     Been turned down for that small business loan because of your poor credit
      score?
     Are you getting calls from major credit cards daily?

All of this can be corrected and, without a large deposit upfront and little progress after
months of waiting for calls to be returned. This is our partners 15th year of operation
and they are members of the Better Business Bureau with an “A+” rating. Their
nationally respected company has assisted thousands with their credit challenges and
has never had a compliant filed against their company.

They are so confident of the service, if you are not completely satisfied, we’ll refund all
of your money. Moreover, Financial Education Services and United Credit Education
Service have been recognized in the industry for their reasonable rates in terms of the
excellent work product customers receive.

Our Services is just what you need
Based upon your situation and how you choose to work with us, the two companies can
and have assisted our clients with the following issues on their credit reports:
      Slow Pays
      Liens
      Collections
      Student Loans
      Inquiries
      Charge-offs
      Bankruptcy
      Repossessions
      Foreclosures
      Judgments
But the service far exceeds just credit repair and credit restoration. Indeed, it is
important to us that you are not a repeat customer and that you continue on the road to
credit and financial stability. The other services include:
      Improving your Credit Score
      Improving your chances for credit card approval in the future
      Clearing up misinformation with all three (3) major credit bureaus
      Removing any wrong charges on your report
      Removing wrong charge amounts on your report
      Removing outdated or incorrect personal information on your report
All of the above items may seem minor; however, each can have a great affect on an
individual’s overall credit report/score.

Good Credit Allows for Great Things...
Financial Education and Loan Services believe it is our responsibility to help our clients
obtain the most coverage from existing consumer credit laws. Indeed, through these two
companies that we contract with, we focus our attention and activity on keeping abreast
of innovative techniques to help clients to compete and beat the odds against creditors
and credit bureaus and then work with our clients to match them with the company that
best matches their financial situation and credit repair needs. Our clients usually see
results within the first 60 days and the companies must complete the work within 120
business days from the time they are paid.

FICO: The Company
The FICO score was developed by a company called Fair Isaac (known as FICO),
which was started by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac in 1959. One year
after the company’s inception, it was hired to program and install a complete billing
system for one of the first credit cards, the Carte Blanche. Since its inception by
mathematician Earl Isaac in 1959, FICO has grown in influence and scope. Today, it
boasts a client list that includes nine of the top-ten companies in the Fortune 500 and
two-thirds of the top one hundred banks in the world. FICO™ (NYSE:FICO) is the
leader in Decision Management, transforming business by making every decision count.
We use predictive analytics to help businesses automate, improve and connect
decisions across organizational silos and customer lifecycles.

VantageScore
Initially launched in 2006, VantageScore was developed to improve scoring consistency
among the three major credit reporting organizations — Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion. According to the VantageScore website, VantageScore 2.0, released in
January of 2011, pulls from recent lending environments to be as accurate and
predictive as possible for the credit lenders while providing clarity to consumers.

VantageScore Model
Unlike the FICO score, the VantageScore has six criteria that affect your credit score.
The criteria percentages which determine your score are as follows:
•Recent Credit (30%) – Measures the number of recently opened lines of credit and
credit inquiries a consumer has on file.
•Payment History (28%) – Scored as satisfactory, delinquent or derogatory, a history of
late payments can negatively impact your credit scores. Creditors typically report those
payments that are late by one day in with payments received after 59 days of a
payment’s due date.
•Utilization (23%) – Determines how much of a consumer’s available total credit is
currently being used. Consumers who have “maxed out” their lines of credits may find it
difficult to receive additional credit or have access to the best terms.
•Balances (9%) – Assessing consumers’ current and past balances provide insight into
their borrowing history and liquidity.
•Depth of Credit (9%) – Evaluates the length of a consumer’s credit history. Having
long-term credit relationships is important under this criterion; however, a diverse mix of
credit such as loans and credit cards is advantageous.
•Available Credit (1%) – Analyzes the balances of your current lines of credit. Keeping
low balances at 30% of their total available credit can assist consumers.

VantageScore Grading Scale
VantageScore model also provides consumers with a letter grade classification
associated to the numeric score which ranges from 501 to 990.
•“A” is the numeric equivalent to 900-990
•“B” is the numeric equivalent to 800-899
•“C” is the numeric equivalent to 700-799
•“D” is the numeric equivalent to 600-699
•“F” is the numeric equivalent to 599 and below
According to Experian, research has revealed that the average credit score for
consumers was 748 as of August of 2010.