"John A. Weeks III" <john[at]johnweeks.com> wrote in message news:<060120041539441955%john[at]johnweeks.com> ...
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John is absolutely correct that there are MANY reasons to keep an eye
on your credit score. I would take that a step further and say that
there are LOTS of very good reasons to also keep a close watch on your
CREDIT REPORT in general.

It is becoming more and more important to keep an eye on your credit
report on a VERY regular basis. And not just when you have a problem
or get turned down for credit or want to check your credit score. YOU
WOULD BE AMAZED AT THE INCORRECT STUFF THAT CAN GET ON YOUR REPORT
THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOURS! I pull my report every single month and it
does not affect my FICO score at all.

And now, with all of the problems with identity theft you simply
cannot afford to let your guard down for a minute. In the past year, I
have been able to deal with and correct three separate incidences on
my credit report -- all of which affected my FICO score -- that I
never would have even known about if I had not been watching my credit
report on a monthly basis. Not to mention that by proactively
correcting the errors, I also prevented any problems that may have
occurred from having the bad information on there in the first place.

Anyway, that's all. Just keep an eye on your report and correct any
crazy stuff that gets on there ASAP.


Brent Gray
Salt Lake City, Utah

"You too, can be financially FREE!"
http://www.ZeroYourDebt.com

In article <6AFKb.2197$214.146904[at]bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net> ,
Elizabeth Richardson <erichktn[at]worldnet.att.net> wrote:

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More and more companies outside of the lending area are using credit
scores to evaluate their customers. For example, insurance companies
have found that folks with poor credit scores are a poor insurance
risk, so they are increasing rates for people with bad credit. Many
jobs have background checks, and your credit history is often part
of that background check. When you move, a credit score might determine
if you have to pay a deposit to get your phone connected. You will
see more and more of this over time.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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"Fraud Question" <fraud_question[at]hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3f9335b8.0401051701.4932dc2[at]posting.google.com...
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If you don't need any more credit, why do you care what your score is?

Elizabeth Richardson

Maybe the FICO credit score estimator can help you:

http://www.myfico.com/ScoreEstimator...Estimator.html

--Ram

Fraud Question <fraud_question[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

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In article <3f9335b8.0401051701.4932dc2[at]posting.google.com> , Fraud
Question <fraud_question[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

If you have balances on other cards, closing these cards will
increase your percentage of available credit that is used. That
can ding you. But if you don't have any other balances, or those
balances are low, then it will not hurt you at all from this point.

Next, if these are the only cards you have, it could hurt you
by not having any existing credit out there. You want at least
some open credit, and you want to show that you can use it in a
responsible manner.

Finally, simply closing a credit account can have side effects.
Some people will see this as the store revoking your credit,
perhaps for mis-using it. You want to tell each credit department
that when the account is closed, to have it marked "closed by
consumer". That way the credit agencies know that you asked to
close the account, and not that it was taken away from you.

With every store taking Visa/Mastercard, there really isn't a
need today for store charge cards. I see more and more stores
are using programs from Visa/Mastercard rather than their older
in-houes credit cards, and some have credit reward programs to
get you to use the store branded cards. Also, with every gas
station (except those in Las Vegas) now taking Discover Card,
I don't see a reason to use gas cards anymore.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

I have 2 department store credit cards I never use anymore with $0
balances and low credit limits (< $500 each). Should I just cancel
them (since I never use them and won't use them due to high interest
rates) or should I keep them open?

Also..my situation:

CC #1: $0, open since 1998
CC #2: $0, open since 1999
CC #3: $2000, open since 1997

Department #1: $0, open since 2000
Department #2: $0, open since 2000

Line of credit: $0 balance, open since 2000

Once I pay off the last credit card, I had *wanted* to close CC#2 and
both of the department credit cards and the line of credit to leave me
with:

CC #1: $0, open since 1998
CC #3: $0, open since 1997

Do you think this would adversely affect my credit score? I don't
like having so many open lines of credit.

Thanks.