A road map for how to navigate the confusing, secretive world of consumer credit, and how to upgrade and correct your score.

This book is a consumer instruction manual for the credit reporting and credit scoring systems. Although these credit systems directly effect the financial standing of millions of Americans, few people understand them.

“A great credit score can help you finish rich! Liz Pulliam Weston gives solid, easy-to-understand advice about how to improve your credit fast. Read this book and prosper.” David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner “Excellent book! Insightful, well written, and surprisingly interesting. Liz Pulliam Weston has done an outstanding job demystifying an often intimidating and frustrating topic for the benefit of all consumers.” Eric Tyson, syndicated columnist and bestselling author of Personal Finance for Dummies “No one makes complex financial information easy to understand like Liz Pulliam Weston. Her straight-talk and wise advice are invaluable to anyone with a credit card or check book—and that’s just about all of us.” Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., author of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich “In a country where consumers increasingly pay more when they have bad credit, Liz Pulliam Weston’s book provides excellent tips and advice on ways to improve your credit history and raise your credit score. If you just apply one or two of her insightful suggestions, you’ll save many times the cost of this book.” Ilyce R. Glink, financial reporter, talk show host, and bestselling author of 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask “Your credit score can save you money or cost you money—sometimes a lot of money. Yet, most people don’t even know their scores, much less know how to make them better. Liz Pulliam Weston can help you fix that. In this easy-to-understand guide you’ll learn how to make sure your score helps you get the best deal on loans and insurance. You can’t afford not to read it.” Gerri Detweiler, consumer advocate and founder of UltimateCredit.com The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Improving Your Credit Score... Now Thoroughly Updated for the Financial Crisis! In post-crash America, it’s tough to get credit...and even tougher to get rates and terms you can afford. That makes your credit score more important than ever before. Now, MSN Money/L.A. Times personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston has updated her best-selling book on credit scores to show how you can maximize your score right now—and save yourself a fortune! Weston reveals the tough new realities of borrowing and credit scoring, and shows why they aren’t going to change any time soon. She rips away the mystery surrounding credit scoring, including the FICO 08 overhaul, and tells you exactly how to use the new system to maximize your score. You’ll learn how to fight back against lenders who want to lower your limits or raise your rates...bounce back from bad credit and bankruptcy...choose the right credit solutions and avoid options that only make things worse. One step at a time, Weston will help you build (or rebuild) your credit score—so you can get the credit you need and deserve! Survive a credit crisis, one step at a time How to protect or rebuild your credit score after a major financial setback Fix your credit score in as little as 72 hours Rapid rescoring: what it can fix, what it can’t fix, and how to use it Don’t let the myths of credit scoring cost you a fortune! What you’ve been told just isn’t true: how credit scores really work What drives your score—and what doesn’t The real impact of credit cards, loans, late payments, inquiries, credit counseling, and more

The first consumer credit bureaus appeared in the 1870s and quickly amassed huge archives of deeply personal information. Today, the three leading credit bureaus are among the most powerful institutions in modern life—yet we know almost nothing about them. Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are multi-billion-dollar corporations that track our movements, spending behavior, and financial status. This data is used to predict our riskiness as borrowers and to judge our trustworthiness and value in a broad array of contexts, from insurance and marketing to employment and housing. In Creditworthy, the first comprehensive history of this crucial American institution, Josh Lauer explores the evolution of credit reporting from its nineteenth-century origins to the rise of the modern consumer data industry. By revealing the sophistication of early credit reporting networks, Creditworthy highlights the leading role that commercial surveillance has played—ahead of state surveillance systems—in monitoring the economic lives of Americans. Lauer charts how credit reporting grew from an industry that relied on personal knowledge of consumers to one that employs sophisticated algorithms to determine a person's trustworthiness. Ultimately, Lauer argues that by converting individual reputations into brief written reports—and, later, credit ratings and credit scores—credit bureaus did something more profound: they invented the modern concept of financial identity. Creditworthy reminds us that creditworthiness is never just about economic "facts." It is fundamentally concerned with—and determines—our social standing as an honest, reliable, profit-generating person.

Now, you can finally end the cycle of bad credit and get back on your feet by following the step-by-step advice and tools in Credit Repair Kit For Dummies, 2nd Edition. You’ll find out everything you need to know about creating a solid plan to get your credit back on track. You’ll discover how to find your credit report, review all of the information in it, and learn how you can repair and spruce it up. You’ll learn how to communicate with creditors and how to budget so that you can pay your bills in full and on time. You’ll learn how to apply these credit strategies to all life situations, from building credit with your life partner to financially surviving a divorce, unemployment, and student loans. You will find out how to safe-guard your identity so that other people don’t damage your credit. Find out how to: Take charge of your credit Get help from credit counselors Request copies of your credit report Know how to interpret your credit report and credit score Avoid foreclosure Communicate with collectors, lawyers, and the courts Manage medical debt Safe-guard your identity Complete with lists of ten tips to avoid identity theft and reduce damages, ten ways you can prevent foreclosure, ten methods for establishing and improving credit, and ten strategies for handling financial emergencies, Credit Repair Kit For Dummies, 2nd Edition is your one-stop guide to improving and maintaining your credit score and protecting your identity. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Credit Data and Scoring: The First Triumph of Big Data and Big Algorithms illuminates the often-hidden practice of predicting an individual's economic responsibility. Written by a leading practitioner, it examines the international implications of US leadership in credit scoring and what other countries have learned from it in building their own systems. Through its comprehensive contemporary perspective, the book also explores how algorithms and big data are driving the future of credit scoring. By revealing a new big picture and data comparisons, it delivers useful insights into legal, regulatory and data manipulation.

How to Raise Your Credit Score In 10 Easy Steps is the most informative book you will ever read about credit scores! An Accredited Financial Counselor with an MBA, Angel Love, has helped thousands of military Service Members all over the country learn real strategies to raise their credit scores. Now this information is available to anyone who wants to understand all aspects of the credit score, from the differences between the various scoring models, to how they're calculated. Save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on the cost of credit by implementing these practical solutions to managing your personal finances today!Learn why you have a different credit score from each of the credit reporting agencies!Find out the one thing that prevents a high score (780) from being an 800!Discover what consistently drops your score by 12-20 points each time you do it!Figure out how to re-build credit after a bankruptcy, or establish credit if you've never had it before!Discover little-known information on accessing your report from the 4th credit bureau, as well as the other agency that collects widely reported information about you!Learn where to get the money to pay off your credit card bills!This book offers complete and concise information on raising your score, and avoiding the things that decrease your score. Learn to think like the credit scoring models and qualify for the most competitive interest rates on houses, cars, and insurance policies. Get this book today and be part of that elite club with 800+ credit scores, enjoying greater financial freedom!