Chat Transcript - November 19, 2007 - With Experian Executives Maxine Sweet and Rod Griffin
Posted on November 20, 2007
This week’s chat guests were Maxine Sweet, Vice President, Public Education and Rod Griffin, Senior Manager, Public Education for Experian North America the credit reporting company. Following is the transcript from that chat.
santo hi, maxine
Maxine_Sweet Hi, Santo
oz hello maxine, lots of good info tonight >
Maxine_Sweet I certainly hope so. This is a new experience for me. I think it is going to challenge my typing skills!
santo maxine, my score has dropped a little since i have 6 mortgages in one year, it used to be 825, now it is in the 790– 750– 760 range, how can i ratse it again
santo raise
santo hi Rod
Maxine_Sweet I’m going to wait for Mike Summey to host before I begin. I’ll get back to you.
Maxine_Sweet Rod is having technical problems. He is going to reboot and try again.
santo mike’ late— buying another house
santo hi mike
Mike_Summey Hi everyone.
Mike_Summey Hi Maxine, thanks for joining us tonight.
Mike_Summey Hi santo
santo hi roger
Maxine_Sweet My pleasure. I’m going to jump right in with Santo’s question. Of course, you still have a strong score, but to get back as high as before will just take some time. You have changed the way you use credit and that is an indicator of risk. Over time that will stablize.
Mike_Summey Daisy, mac, oz, & willy, glad to have you with us tonight
Mike_Summey Hi Roger
Roger Dawson Hi Santo
Mike_Summey Hi rosebud
rosebud Hey, y’all.
Mike_Summey Roger, how are you feeling?
Mike_Summey Hi corey
santo thanks maxine
Mike_Summey Rod has joind us now.
Mike_Summey Hi carmen
oz thanks mike, good to be here
Corey Hi Mike…actually it’s Hottie…Corey is on the road driving home
Roger Dawson Maxine and Rod: Thanks for joining us tonight and sharing your expertise.
Mike_Summey Maxine and Rod are our guset experts tonight so don’t waste their time. Let’s get started with your questions.
Mike_Summey Hi Tina.
Maxine_Sweet I’m pleased to participate. I’m thinking I need a more creative name for this group!
Tina Hi everyone
Rod_Griffin My computer and I have come to an agreement, and I’m glad to be here.
CarmenC What is tonight’s topic please?
Mike_Summey Rod, occasionally I have to have a heart to heart with mine too.
Corey My FICO score simulator said that if i had a “non-mortgage” loan, it would improve my score. What type of loan would you recommend?
Maxine_Sweet Primarily credit reporting
broadway hello mike, roger and all
Mike_Summey Carmen, Maxine and Rod are our guests experts from Experian, the credit reporting people so our topic tonight is credit.
Mike_Summey Hi broadway
Maxine_Sweet Corey, I suspect that an auto loan would fit that description.
rosebud What is the best way to monitor my credit rating? I’ve seen the commercials for freecreditreport.com and am wondering.
Rod_Griffin Rosebud,
Corey Maxine, does it matter the amount of the loan,…like debt to income?
CarmenC Is there life after bankruptcy?
rosebud Yes, Rod.
Al Lee Hi, Mike, Roger, everyone
Mike_Summey Hi Al
santo Maxine, how many points do you lose when you check it
santo hi Al
Al Lee Hi, santo
Maxine_Sweet Corey, credit reports don’t typically include income, so it is irrelevant for scoring. Total installment debt is considered and a very important risk factor is balance to credit limit on revolving debt.
Roger Dawson Hi Al!
Mike_Summey CarleHi wps
Maxine_Sweet Santo, the inquiry created when you purchase or access your own report is seen only by you. It is never included in scoring models.
rosebud Maxine, so you can have a high credit limit and low balance?
Tina How do you improve your FICO score with several medical issues that insurance should have paid?
Rod_Griffin Rosebud, sorry, sorting out the technical issues. Experian owns freecreditreport.com. You can purchase a credit monitoring service, which is a very effective way to monitor your credit report and credit score. You can also get your credit reports free from each of the national credit reporting companies once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com. By spreading out the times that you request your separate reports, you effectively monitor your credit reports, which are the key to scores. You can purchase scores separately as well from time to time to see how they are changing as you improve your credit history.
santo thanks Maxine
rosebud Thanks, Rod. That’s good information.
Corey Thanks Maxine
Maxine_Sweet Rosebud, that is idea. Scoring models look at the ratio for each card and for all the cards combined. If you have a high balance on one, you need some other cards that aren’t very utilized to off-set that high balance…. Or, pay down that balance!
rosebud Thanks, Maxine.
Maxine_Sweet Rosebud, I meant IDEAL!
Al Lee Is there a new “A, B, C…” credit rating system coming out that replaces the numeric FICO?
rosebud Maxine, I figured you either mean “ideal” or “the idea.”
Mike_Summey Carleton Sheets just called me to say he is having trouble logging into the chat room. He is changing computers and is planning to join us tonight too. He wants to learn about credit too.
Rod_Griffin Carmen, yes, there is life after bankruptcy, but bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years, so it takes time to recover. It will be deleted eventually, and the longer in the past that it happened, the less significant it becomes. Time is a key issue with credit scores but is often an overlooked factor.
Mac Cory mentioned a FICO score simulator. Where do you get such a thing?
broadway Maxine, would you suggest to keep the score higher to have two credit cards, one you use and another you don’t or just have one that is used most often?
Rod_Griffin Al, you are referring to the new VantageScore, which has a letter grade scale associated with the numbers. However, the letters are really for consumer use, to help make it easier to understand. Lenders still use the numbers. A “C” in the VantageScore is in the 700-800 range and is considered Prime. So, a “C” is good.
rosebud Maxine or Rod, I’ve read that you should not close credit accounts, even though they aren’t used anymore. Is this true? I have some old ones that I used for various one-time things that I never use, but I’ve hesitated to close them.
Mike_Summey Maxine & Rod, I got a large revolving credit line a couple of years ago and my FICO score went down after getting it although I’ve added no new debt. Is that normal.
Tina Maxine or Rod, How do you improve your FICO score with several medical issues that insurance should have paid?
Mike_Summey Daisy, type your questions in the small window at the bottom of the big window where all of the text is showing and then hit enter or send.
Maxine_Sweet Corey, most of the scoring services for consumers include a simulator where you can play “what if.” Experian offers them on their consumer scoring services. In addition there are products which are available to lenders, such as the FICO one. Experian’s is called ScoreRight. It is primarily being used by mortgage lenders and auto dealers. For example, they work with the potential customer to say if you have $1,000 to pay down debt, where is the best place to apply it to bring up your score. Or, what would happen if I close an account or open an account.
Rod_Griffin Rosebud, the advice from scoring modelers today is to leave accounts open, even if you are not using them. When you close the account you lose the available balance, which causes your balance-to-limit ratio to suddenly increase, making you look like a greater credit risk even though you are not.
Mike_Summey Hi Penny
Mike_Summey Hi Bill
santo Maxine, i invest 400 miles away from where i live, and have done well with my attorney dealing with banks, but now i have a bank in my area that will give me a better rate– this rate is 2 points lower than my last loan—what would you do
rosebud Rod, thank you. I’ll leave them open.
Penny Hello Mike & everyone.
DaisyNH7 Is it true that you should not pay off your credit card bill every month, and just leave $1 to build your score?
Al Lee santo, I know you didn’t ask me, but I wouel take the 2 points lower deal.
Al Lee would
Maxine_Sweet Tina, try to work directly with the medical office and the insurance company to get them to agree that it was reported in error. If we dispute it on your behalf, they will likely verify it if you haven’t helped them get their records straight. If they aren’t legitimate debts, you want to get them off your history. As long as they are there, they will negatively impact your score.
Rod_Griffin Mike, it is common for credit scores to drop for a short time any time you make a substantial change to your credit history. When you took on the new debt it wasn’t initially clear how you would manage it, so your scores dropped. It is a matter of stability. In most cases, scores bounce back up and usually get even better after a short time.
Mike_Summey Maxine & Rod, I told you the questions would come quickly. These chats really improve your typing skills.
Tina thanks Maxine
Rod_Griffin Santo, I can’t claim to be an investment expert, but if you can get a lower rate, I would. The issue is better return on investment, not credit scores in that case.
Corey Maxine, what would you recommend your percentage of total revolving credit below?
rosebud In simplistic terms (best for me!), if you have a lot of credit and manage it well, your score is higher than if you have little credit and are not managing it well. Yes, I’m blonde.
DaisyNH7 Also, I deal with people everyday whose credit is poor. Any advice that you would give to them to improve. They are applying for various types of loans and lines.
Tina Maxine, is this worth paying someone to do?
Roger Dawson Hi Penny
Maxine_Sweet Daisy, you don’t need to leave anything unpaid! That will usually cause you to have to pay interest on all the charges that month. The account as reported to the credit reporting companies will show how much you owed when the statement was sent to you. The balance never goes to zero unless you have absolutely no charges in a month.
Al Lee Many people do tricks to try to remove derog’s from their credit report by disputing them. That is actually illegal if you knwo it is a legitimate report, isn’t it?
Rod_Griffin Corey, I’m jumping in for Maxine. It is best to keep you balances as low as possible. We can’t give an “ideal percentage” because that differs for everyone depending on their overall personal credit history. The general advice I usually hear, though, is less than 35%.
Mike_Summey Hi Carleton
Corey Thanks, Rod
Tina Maxine, how true is taking hits on your credit score is meaningless as long as it is within a 30-day period for the same type of inquiry, like a mortgage?
Mike_Summey I see you found the magic button
Mike_Summey Hi lindamatt
santo Al, the property in question is a 4 family brick building—the bank offered 7.5% the price is $80,000—20% down–with a $419. a month mortgage–total rents–$1800 a month–this is for a 30 year fixed rate
Maxine_Sweet Rosebud, if scores were simple you wouldn’t need Rod and me! It is not necessary for you to have a lot of credit. You can have a little credit. The most important thing is that you use credit to demonstrate that you can manage it well. However, in the highest score area in the country (Minneapolis), they do have more debt than average… They have fewer missed payments. The whole credit history is important. For example, longer users usually have higher scores.
Al Lee santo, take it!
rosebud Maxine, mine should be through the roof, then!
Carleton_Sheets Hi Mike and Roger. sorry to be late.
Roger Dawson Hi Carleton, thanks for joining us.
santo hi Carleton
Al Lee Always use fixed-rate loans unless you can predict the future. Too many people get stung by the rate adjustments on ARMs. I love 30-year fixed-rate loans for a long list of reasons
Carleton_Sheets …and hello Al Lee
Al Lee Hi, Carleton.
Mike_Summey Carleton, Rod & Maxine are both with Experian and are doing a great job of answering questions about credit.
Maxine_Sweet Tina, I assume you mean the medical debts. No one can do it better than you. You have all the documentation. If you are referring to credit repair companies, they would just dispute it on your behalf. That is the easiest thing in the world to do.
Rod_Griffin Daisy, the best way to give sound, specific advice is to have them get a credit score and most importantly the risk factor statements that go with the score. You can get a credit score and report from Experian, of course 
or many other sources. The factors tell the person what they need to address specifically. Those factors can be very different from person to person, so blanket advice usually does more harm than good other than pay your bills on time and keep your balances low.
Carleton_Sheets Great!
Al Lee Carleton, will you join Mike and me in an online debate about leverage and loans. We have been talkng about doing it for weeks now and we need to get it scheduled. I have all the facilities available to host it.
Corey Maxine or Rod, we don’t don’t have any dept store cards. should we get one?
Carleton_Sheets Sure, if we cn work out a time convenient for all.
santo Carleton, where is the new commercial
rosebud Al and Mike, make sure that we get advance notice of that broadcast 
Al Lee People ask me every day when we will do it and if we can get Carleton Sheets to participate.
Mike_Summey Maxine, how does Net Worth factor into credit ratings or is there any way for that to even be considered. I own hundreds of properties and about 70% of them are paid off, but I don’t know of any way a credit reporting agency would know that.
Mike_Summey Al, let’s get on the phone next week and set up a date.
Corey Maxine or Rod, also..auto loan & mortgage loan companies favor different credit score companies. why do they do that instead of them all using experian or transunion?
Al Lee rosebud, we will promote the heck out of it because there will be an access charge (reasonablel) to cover the cost of putting it online.
Carleton_Sheets Santo, ae you ready for this…no more television commericials. My course is now (or will be January 1,2008) available on my web site FREE.
Maxine_Sweet Tina, most scoring models recognize that multiple mortgage inquiries are not meaningful in terms of risk. So, they have some kind of rule to eliminate the impact. Some don’t count the inquiry within the last 30 or 45 days. Some roll all the mortgage inquiries in a 14 day rolling period into one. Some do both. Models also have similar rules for auto loan inquiries, and Experian’s VantageScore also has rules for certain utility inquiries.
wps santo In what geogrphical area do you find deals such as you stated above
Al Lee Mike, yes, lets do!
Mike_Summey Hi Debbie
DaisyNH7 Last question, I promise. If I pull someone’s credit and they don’t qualify for a loan, and then I pull credit for that same person for a cc within 2 days, will it take a hit (lower the score)?
Rod_Griffin Al, it isn’t really illegal to dispute something multiple times to try to get a derog removed. It is a common tactic of credit repair clinics. But it doesn’t work for a couple of reasons. The law was changed to allow the credit bureaus to return a derog if the dispute was not completed withint 30 days required by the FCRA if the consumer is notified. The bureaus also can refuse to respond to a dispute if it is deemed frivolous after being submitted multiple times.
Al Lee Mike, let’s get Carleton to commit to joining in, too.
rosebud Maxine and Rod, my grandson is 22 and having some financial problems currently, so his credit score is not good. How can he repair this once he gets back on his feet? I know catching up on his debts is a given, but is there any way to avoid major damage?
Mike_Summey Al, I think he just said he would as long as we could get a clear date.
Carleton_Sheets Hi Penny!
Maxine_Sweet Corey, they use different score companies because it is a competitive world. We are all trying to convince them that our scores are the best. Many large creditors even use their own custom scoring models.
Al Lee Rod. Thanks fo rthat reply. I had understood that it was now illegal if you know the derog is legit
Penny Hi Carleton!
broadway Maxine, how close are the custom scoring models to the credit bureau models?
Penny sorry I missed saying hi to you & Roger both the first time I was in. I’m having server problems.
Al Lee Mike, that is terrific. We may have a series of debates on verious topics. Sort of Hannity and Colmes; but we are all Hannity’s with sligltly different perspectives.
Mike_Summey Hi NextTrump
Corey Maxine or Rod, what about getting a dept store credit card? help or hurt..we don’t have one
Maxine_Sweet Rosebud, the most important thing is to keep the missed payments from going to a major derog… charge off, collection, foreclosure. As long as he just missed payments by 30, 60 or 90 days, those will become less meaningful as time passes, even though they will be reported for 7 years. The major derogs are typically a major negative, even when paid, for the full 7 years they are reported. Make the minimum payment on everything!
Rod_Griffin Daisy, any time you pull a person’s credit report as a business when they are applying for credit, an inquiry will be added to their credit report, as required by the FCRA. So, it would impact their credit scores. However, the inquiry is usually a very minor impact as compared to any derogatory information. The other stuff is always the primary reason for being declined. Inquiries may have zero effect on a credit score if a person has no negative information in their credit history.
rosebud Maxine, I’ll pass this along to him. Thank you.
DaisyNH7 Excellent to know, also some of my clients have bankruptcy on their report. Dioes that stay on for 7 or 10 years?
Mike_Summey Rod, how does banks pulling annual credit updates affect credit scores? I deal with many banks and they all pull credit reports as part of their annual review of my account.
Mike_Summey Hi Doug
Doug_in_CT Hi Mike
Corey Maxine or Rod, does an inquiry count on a calendar year or from month of first inquiry
Maxine_Sweet Corey, department stores are now co-branding their cards so they aren’t really retail cards any more in many cases. You make an instant application to get the discount and the card you receive is an AMEX, Visa, or M/C, etc. with store’s name on it. Regarding scores, I don’t think it matters much whether it is retail or bankcard. Both are revolving and it is good to have 2 or 3 of those.
Mike_Summey Whew!!!
rosebud Corey, good question!
santo the debate should be headlined as, “The Great Real Real Estate Debate” with Mike Summey—the man who collects rent from half of North Carolina—Carleton Sheets—the man who can convince anyone into a real estate career with just one commercial—-Roger Dawson–the man who could negotiate Rudy Guliani into buying the Brooklyn Bridge—–and Al Lee the Albert Einstein of real estate theory
Rod_Griffin Broadway, Maxine and I are tag-teaming. What few people know is that there are more than 1,000 different credit scoring system with many different scales. So, the numbers can be extremely different but mean the same thing in terms of risk. For example, I got three scores for myself not long ago and there was a 100 point difference between the highest and the lowest. However, when I looked at the report that came with them I found that the risk the scores represented was exactly the same. They were all good, just different! In fact, there are some scores where a low score is better.
Mike_Summey rod or Maxine, did either of you catch my earlier question about how net worth factors into credit reporting if at all?
Al Lee santo, we will hire hou as our agents!
broadway Thanks Rod
Al Lee Rod, I have heard of a new scoring system that uses letters, A, B, C, etc. insteadn of the numeric values. Is there anthing to that?
Rod_Griffin Mike, portfolio reviews, or the annual reviews you describe, fall into a category of inquires that are shown only to you when you get your personal credit report directly from Experian or the other national credit reporting companies. Those inquiries also include requesting your own report, preapproved credit offers, reports for insurance and employment purposes. Because only you seee the inquiry, it doesn’t affect credit scores in any way.
Maxine_Sweet Daisy, bankruptcies can stay for 10 years from the filing date by law. By policy the credit reporting companies delete Chapter 13’s after 7 years because you complete a payment plan instead of completely walking away from the debt and, therefore, are less risky.
Carleton_Sheets Santo (re: the debate) You’re so nice….(I Think).
broadway Maxine or Rod, is there a “magic ratio” or range of installment to revolving that should be watched before it negatively affects a score?
Mike_Summey Hi kcwood
rosebud Maxine, what about Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
rosebud Is that the ten years you’re referring to?
Mike_Summey Hi eryk76
Maxine_Sweet Corey, the inquiry counts from the date it occurred. Inquires are a part of your history for 2 years and then automatically delete.
rosebud Good crowd tonight, Mike!
Doug_in_CT I noticed that my credit score went up nicely when my HELOC was converted to a Loan. It still owed the same amount, still paid the same amount. It was just viewed differently (as a revolving account) when it was a highly utilized HELOC and when it became a loan my score when up 50 points.
Mike_Summey Maxine, aren’t you glad you had Rod to help tonight?
eryk76 hello mike and everyone.
Maxine_Sweet Rosebud, yes, Chapter 7’s are reported a full 10 years from the filing date.
Rod_Griffin Mike, net worth does not factor into credit scores because it is not part of a credit report.
Corey Maxine & Rod, This is the stuff that should be taught in schools….thanks to Mike Summey
willymiranda Is Heloc the same as a line of Credit?
Mike_Summey Thanks Corey
Maxine_Sweet Mike, I don’t think my fngers could have handled this alone! I often am glad that Rod and I are a team!
Mike_Summey willy, Home Equity Line Of Credit
rosebud For my clarification, what does the acronym FICO stand for?
santo Maxine, how does paying your credit card bill affect your score–the person who pays the minimum amount or the person who pays the whole bill every month
NextTrump Maxine and Rod, Thanks for coming here tonight. Can you help me make sense that some lenders will approve a loan IF THE COSIGNOR STAYS OFF THE LOAN. Say that the husband has great credit and the wife has bad credit and they go for a new car. The dealers says that the loan will be approved if the wife stays off the loan. Does that make any sense at all?
Doug_in_CT I think it is very foolish of the credit rating agencies not to attempt to factor in net worth. A persons ability to pay back a loan is certainly governed by his net worth.
Mike_Summey Maxine & rod, I want to personally thank you for your participation tonight before we get to the end of our time. It is sessions like these that help our subscribers get better at handling their finances and building net worth.
Corey Maxine & Rod, Ditto what Mike said
Carleton_Sheets Amen to what Mike said.
Mike_Summey rosebud, FICO is a scoring system by Fair Issac Comapny
Rod_Griffin Al, I though I answered this earlier, but you are thinking of the new VantageScore. A “letter grade” scale has been attached to the numeric scale to help give people a better understanding of what the numbers represent. It is a fun little tool, but I think it is confusing. Businesses do not use the letters, they use the numbers. On the scale, a “C” corresponds to the 700-800 range and is considered “Prime,” which is good in lending, so is more like an “A.” You can find a lot more about it at www.vantagescore.experian.com.
DaisyNH7 I recently read an article for work that stated they are going to be adding paying your utilities as part of factors for credit score. Is this true and when will it take place for my customers that don’t have credit yet?
willymiranda If you have multiple properties and if you apply for different loans at the same time; how does it affect your Fico if you apply
Roger Dawson FICO stands for Faire Isaac Credit. It’s a company in San Francisco that first started collectin credit data for department stores.
Tina Roger, what’s Faire about it?
rosebud Thanks, Mike and Roger.
Corey Maxine or Rod, how much would an a public record affect your score such as tax lien if everything else is perfect?
Rod_Griffin Doug, I don’t know exactly why your scores improved, but it could have to do with the fact that revolving accounts that are managed well are seen as very positive. That is because they invovlve more free will than installment loans. You decide how much of the balance to use, how much to repay (minimum, maximum or somewhere in betwee) each month. So revovling accounts give better insight into how you make credit management decisions.
Maxine_Sweet Broadway, I don’t think it is so much a ratio as a broad range of experience. When you have both types of accounts, you demonstrate that you can manage all types of credit. If you can only have one type, revolving is more important because you have to self-manage it more. Installments loans are fixed payment. Revovling, you determine how close to your limits you run and you have to manage a payment which varies from month to month.
santo wps, the area i spoke of before was Buffalo n.y.
Carleton_Sheets Thanks all for an interesting and informative session. I must leave.
broadway thank you Maxine.
rosebud Goodnight, Carleton.
Al Lee Carleton, santo is a real success story for what we all preach. He is almost 62 and started less than a year ago and has about 10 “doors” of ren property already
Doug_in_CT I once had a tenant in an apartment who did not pay a utility bill and somehow the utility company attached my name to the debt. It was a relatively small amount of about $140. But this failure to pay did not come to my attention until it was very late and very negatively affected my score.
santo al 12 doors, if you mean units
Rod_Griffin Willymiranda, the impact on your scores depends on your personal credit history. If everything is good, it might have very little impact. On the other hand, if you have payment issues, applying for a bunch of new credit in a short time could have a serious impact.
rosebud Anybody, is what Doug said the usual circumstance? If you have a tenant who doesn’t pay his utilities, will it impact your own score?
Al Lee I got a phone call and my note to Carleton was sitting on my screen. I hit enter and then noticed he had just logged out.
Maxine_Sweet Daisy, we have been trying to get “non-traditional” credit data for some time to help those who manage money fine and are low risk, but they just don’t use credit. There are lots of roadblocks, including some state laws that won’t let utilities report. We keep adding more and more data each year. We are also talking to rent-to-own, and payday loan type services. Still have a way to go on getting enough data to make it meaningful for most people.
Al Lee santo, yes, 12 not 10.
Tina Maxine and Rod, thanks for making yourselves available this evening
Penny Thanks everyone for all the great info! Can hardly wait for posting so I can reread & read everything I missed before signing in. Thanks Mike, Roger, Carleton, guest & quistionaires!
Mike_Summey Rod or Maxine, I have several single member LLCs in which I hold properties and some of my loans are to the LLCs and some are guaranteed by me personally. Are the ones to the LLCs considered in my credit reporting or just the ones in my name and ones I guarantee
Rod_Griffin About FICO. The letters actually stand for Fair, Isaac Corporation. They are now based in Minneapolis and are strictly a credit score developer. They don’t collect credit data, and to my knowledge never have. Their scoring systems simply use credit report information in the calculation. They are the best known credit scoring company.
santo Al, hope to have 20 units by the end of my second year
Tina Mike and Roger thanks for inviting our special quests this evening
Rod_Griffin Tina, we are happy to be able to participate. Thanks for all the great questions.
Tina good night all
rosebud What about Doug’s comment on the tenant who didn’t pay the utilities? Can this attach to the property owner in NC?
Al Lee santo, I am going to point to you every time someone tells he he.she can;t do it because of age, or whatever.
willymiranda Santo, I am happy for you. I’m leaving the same experience as you’re.
Maxine_Sweet Doug, if your name is associated with the account (like a joint account or a co-signed account), you will likely be held liable. I hate to hear where they report you as late when they haven’t contacted you to give you a chance to pay. I would discuss this with the utility company and make sure your name if off the account or that they contact you in the future.
Mike_Summey santo, you are a story. I remember when you were wringing your hands over that first purchase. You remind me of a neighbor who started at age 60 and by age 65 had an annual income of over $100,000.
rosebud Mike, that’s what I’m talking about!
Al Lee A good investmetn is a good investment at any age.
santo mike i want to be like the neigbor
rosebud Maxine and Rod, thanks for all the great and useful info. I never knew credit reporting could be so challenging and interesting.
Corey Maxine or Rod, if everything is perfect but a public record like a tax lien is on your record, how does that affect your credit score?
willymiranda Great feedback
Doug_in_CT I find the best way to boost my score is to do nothing for six months. When I actively persue great deals and good financing on those deals, it causes lots of inquires and the score is negatively impacted. So I find I need to do my deals, take a rest, let the score heal, and then do more deals. But often the deals come in my period of rest.
Mike_Summey santo, you’re well on your way. Keep it up.
Rod_Griffin Did we answer everyone’s questions so far? Whew!*)
Al Lee Very good answers, too!
broadway Rod and maxine, you guys have done great keeping up I think
DaisyNH7 Thank you for your time, this was extremely good!!!!
santo thanks Maxine & Rod
Mike_Summey Rod, you and Maxine have been great. We are coming up on an hour now so if you have to go we understand, but if you would like tosaty a while, I’m sure everyone would like that too.
oz happy thanksgiving to all. mike and all thanks for a great chat, and thanks to the special guests
Corey You guys were awesome keeping up…I’ve learned tons!!
rosebud Happy Thanksgiving to everyone as well.
Maxine_Sweet Mike, it is hard to say for sure. It sounds like only the ones in your name and guaranteed would be reported in your personal report. I think state laws vary regarding whether the LLC accounts would be reported in your name.
willymiranda For all of you with bad credit I just joined a credit clinic and is working for me
Rod_Griffin Corey, public records are typically seen as very negative, much like a collection account, so could have a very negaive impact. Tax liens, if they are unpaid, can remain on your credit report for 15 years, longer than any other item.
rosebud Tax liens can also result in loss of the property through tax sales.
DaisyNH7 Mike, would you recommend an organization here in Asheville called CREIA? Should I join?
santo mike & Al & Roger happy thanksgiving
Doug_in_CT I heard a remorable phrase about Mike’s question. The Las Vegas answer: “What happens in business credit…..stays in business credit.”
Al Lee santo, Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.
rosebud Mike, following up on Daisy’s question, I joined CREIA last Monday and registered for the weekend seminar next weekend.
Mike_Summey Maxine, there are a lot of real estate gurus telling people to put properties in LLC and get the loans in the name of the LLCs, but my experience is that unless the LLC has adequate net worth it’s very hard to get a loan in the LLC’s name.
Mike_Summey Daisy, yes CREIA is a good organization. I’ve spoken to them several times.
Al Lee Mike, I woudl modify your “very hard” to nearly impossible unless the loan is over $1M
Mike_Summey rosebud, who is conductng that seminar?
Maxine_Sweet Willymiranda, just proceed with caution. Often all they do is dispute on your behalf and charge you a lot of money for it. Also, there is a very specific law which governs them. (Credit Repair Organizations Act) For example, they cannot collect money before they deliver the services, and they cannot advise you to claim that something is inaccurate when it is accurate. Spend your money paying off your debts!
rosebud Mike, you would ask me that. It’s Bill Goacher, John Maltry and David Maggard.
Al Lee BTW: A personal frien dof mine has a little online business called www.PublicData.com that has 400,000 subscribes and growing. I have refered that site to property managers and others wanting to be able to check up on tenants, applicants, etc. much cheaper than other means.
Mike_Summey Good advice Maxine!!!
willymiranda OK Maxine
Doug_in_CT A person who has lots of personal loans, that is loans with an individual holding a note, instead of bank, will not have their score affected by this note. So this is a strong arguement to persue those deals Mike encourages us to find, where the owner will carry back a note.
Rod_Griffin Doug, it is a good idea to not apply for a lot of credit in a short time, but I suspect stability is the issue that is most important in waiting, not the number of inquiries. By waiting for six months you allow time to establish a positive, consistent payment pattern that reflects in good scores. Inquiries simply show that someone has looked at your credit report in response to an application. They lose importance quickly, often over only a month or two, simply becausea new account will appear showing the new debt, at which time the inquiry is no longer meaningful, or after a couple of months no new debt appears, which means no new account was opened, so the inquiry isn’t reflective of new debt.
NextTrump why take off a co-signor?
santo nite all
Corey I had an ex charge all kinds of things using my name…it took me five painful years of disputing and letter writing to get it off my credit…i wouldn’t trust anyone to do it for me. I know what is right & what isn’t accurate
DaisyNH7 Gotta go, two year old is winning over the husband…thank you again for everything. I appreciate it.
Maxine_Sweet Daisy, you were great. Enjoy that 2 year old!
rosebud Thanks, Al.
Doug_in_CT Thanks Rod, sometimes I see on the credit report, “New Loan” insufficent time to evaluate…and this is counted as a negative.
DaisyNH7 thanks, he keeps us running…..
willymiranda Pre-approved loans What advice can we get
Mike_Summey Maxine & rod, I told you these chat could be both fun and addictive. What do you think now?
Rod_Griffin NextTrump, when you cosign, you share full responsibility for the debt. If the other person doesn’t pay, you have to, which can be risky. Always be very cautious when cosigning for that reason. if the other person skips out, you are stuck with the debt.
Mike_Summey Rod or Maxine, is there ever a way to report on private mortages?
Doug_in_CT I have also seen unscrupuolous mortgage brokers submit and resumit (pull and re-pull) credit in an effort to boost the score, but in actuallity they are just adding to the number of inquiries and drawing the score down.
Rod_Griffin Mike, I think my hands are tired! My typing teacher would be proud. And, it has been a lot of fun.
Corey Mike…”private mortgages”? I thought if you did a private mortage you could report it as a lien?
Maxine_Sweet Willymiranda, the most frequently asked question about preapproved loans is whether the inquiry will affect your score… The prescreening inquiry own’t. If you apply to accept they may pull another report and that inquiry will count, but is not significant. So, I think they are great if they get you a better rate and you don’t take out too many!
Mike_Summey Corey, I’m talking about mortgages you have that are held by individauls, not lending institutions.
rosebud Mike, do you have any comment on the seminar?
Roger Dawson Maxine and Rod, thank you so much for your contributions tonight!
Maxine_Sweet To all, I’m signing off. It was a great experience. Thanks to all of you for your interest in credit reporting and managing your credit well.
Mike_Summey rosebud, I know all of the people coducting the seminar, but I’ve never been to one of their programs so I can’t fairly comment.
rosebud We are in your debt.
broadway Thanks Maxine good night
rosebud No pun intended.
Mike_Summey Thanks Maxine. We’d love to have you bak again soon.
Maxine_Sweet Ha!
Rod_Griffin Roger and all, I’m afraid I have to sign off, also. Thank you for the great participation and fantastic questions. I hope our answers have been helpful. You may find answers in the Ask Max column and its archives at www.experian.com in the Credit Education section. Maxine and I write the column together.
Mike_Summey The transcript from tonight’s chat will be posted tomorrow morning.
rosebud Once the fingers heal, of course.
willymiranda Good nite to you all!
Corey Mike, I don’t know much about those loans,,,but can’t individuals report those kinds of loans to public records as a lien? like mechanics?
Mike_Summey Thanks Rod, you’ve been great and we all appreciate you and Maxine joining us. Let’s do it again soon.
Maxine_Sweet Mike, that Ha! was for Rosebud, not for being on again! It was my pleasure, and is obviously a bit addictive as I still haven’t signed off. Now I am really signing off.
Doug_in_CT Rod, I have heard that having “too much credit” can be a problem. But on the flip side if you have high credit limits and are using only a faction of the limit that is good. So it is tough finding the balance here.
Mike_Summey Goodnight Maxine.
Penny goodnight everyone
rosebud Mike, I’ll let you know if I think it was worth the money.
rosebud ‘Night, Penny.
Mike_Summey Goodnight Penny
oz g/night all, have to rub, ebjoy the holiday
Rod_Griffin Doug, you are right, the key is balance. A good way to find out what you should do is to get a credit score report, again, from any source, and Experian is one. The factors should give you some insight into whether you have “too much” credit or not. Now I am truely signing off, too.
Corey Mike & all, good nite from Corey & Hottie
Doug_in_CT Recently I called a credit card company and asked them to consolodate about three cards into one. They were happy to do it, so I choose the card with the best terms and got a very high limit, and this in turn caused my debt to limit ratio to move in the right direction. I so recommend this concept, consoladate multiple cards into one with the best terms.
rosebud This was great, Mike. Thanks for putting it together.
Mac Rosebud, I have attended a seminar in Asheville called “Three Dimensional Investing” featuring John Maltry and found it very worthwhile.
rosebud Thanks to you, Mac. I’m looking forward to it, actually. I’ve read Mike’s Weekend Millionaire book, bought the OG, started the farming and am anxious to start making some offers. Just need a little reassurance, I guess.
broadway Better run too. Thanks Mike for putting this together. Good night to all and happy turkey day
rosebud Al, I always value your input.
Mike_Summey Goodnight all! I’m gone for the night too!
rosebud Goodnight, everyone.
eryk76 good night everyone..
Al Lee Oops! Forgot to log out
Al Lee Goodnight!
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