You see “free credit score” ads all over, including on this site, but they aren’t really free.   You can get free credit reports once a year, and there are even two sites we know of …

There is not just one credit score; there are many. For information on the different scores and what goes into them, see our main archive article on Credit Scores.

The standard way to …

When people get into trouble paying off their debts they often cannot get regular credit cards, which can be very inconvenient.  In response to this, some banks set up special credit cards for those who …

Everything has changed in the mortgage market.  Everything.  But it is not true that so-called sub-prime mortgages are no longer available in any form.

While you can no longer get a no-down-payment loan or a “no …

There are three major credit reporting agencies (CRA’s) in the U.S. and you are probably recorded on all three of them. Each has different records and different ways of giving you a credit score. …

If the amount you owe a creditor is low (certainly if it is under $1,000), and it is way past due, the best thing for you to do could be to …

Several Federal bank regulators have agreed to set at least some limits on how credit card companies charge interest. This will now go to a public comment period and could change, but if …

The fact is that if you do not have credit cards, or have not been borrowing in other ways, the major Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA’s) might not have enough information to give you a traditional …

Before the bubble burst it was routine for holders of home equity loans to sign off when borrowers wanted to refinance their first mortgage. Since the home equity loan, or line of credit, is …

The people who do not want you to go bankrupt — the credit card companies, the banks, and anyone engaged in collections — have done a good job of making the process sound onerous and …