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The DollarVisor Blog

Short guides that answer one money question at a time, across insurance, credit cards, loans and investing.

600 guides (page 23)

Credit Cards 609 Dispute Letters: What the Law Really Says Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is a disclosure law. It tells the credit bureaus what they must show you. It has no del… Read the guide → Credit Cards How to Remove a Charge-Off From Your Credit Three things remove a charge-off early: an error you can point to, a lender that fails to verify it, or an identity-theft block. Pay… Read the guide → Credit Cards Charge-Off vs Collection: What’s the Difference? Different parties, same debt. A charge-off is the original lender moving your balance to loss on its own books, on a schedule set by… Read the guide → Credit Cards Does Paying Off Collections Improve Your Score? More often than the usual answer admits. On a medical bill, paying off collections removes the entry from all three bureaus outright… Read the guide → Credit Cards Pay for Delete: Does It Actually Work? Sometimes, and far more often with debt buyers than collection agencies. It is not illegal, because reporting a debt is voluntary. B… Read the guide → Credit Cards How Long Do Collections Stay on Your Report? Seven years plus 180 days, counted from the first payment you missed on the original account. Not from the day a collector bought th… Read the guide → Credit Cards Goodwill Letters: Do They Remove Late Payments? Sometimes, and less often than the internet suggests. A goodwill letter asks a lender to withdraw an accurate late payment as a favo… Read the guide → Credit Cards How Long Do Late Payments Stay on Your Credit? How long do late payments stay on your credit report? Seven years, counted from the date you first fell behind and never caught up… Read the guide → Credit Cards How to Dispute a Credit Report Error You dispute a credit report error twice, not once: with the credit bureau showing it and with the company that reported it. Put both… Read the guide → Credit Cards What Is Your Starting Credit Score? (Not Zero) There is no starting credit score. Before you qualify for one you have no score at all, which is a different thing from a low score… Read the guide → Credit Cards Credit Score Myths: 10 That Cost You Points Most credit score myths do not cost you points directly. They cost you by pointing you at the wrong 10% of your score while the 65%… Read the guide → Credit Cards Do Student Loans Affect Your Credit Score? Yes, and right now more than almost any other debt. A student loan reports your balance and every payment, so paying on time builds… Read the guide → Credit Cards Does Paying Off a Loan Early Hurt Your Credit? Usually no. Paying off a loan early only dents your score when it leaves you with no active installment account, and that touches on… Read the guide → Credit Cards How Many Credit Cards Should You Have? There is no scoring rule that says how many credit cards you should have. The working answer for most people is two to four, paid in… Read the guide → Credit Cards Does Closing a Credit Card Hurt Your Score? Usually yes, but not for the reason most people expect. Closing a credit card removes its limit from your total available credit, so… Read the guide → Credit Cards What Is a Credit Mix and Does It Matter? Yes, but far less than most advice implies. Your credit mix is the range of account types on your report: cards, loans, mortgages. I… Read the guide → Credit Cards FICO vs VantageScore: Why Your Scores Differ Neither score is fake. FICO vs VantageScore is a question of which rulebook a lender chose, not which number is real. The two models… Read the guide → Credit Cards What Is a Good Credit Utilization Ratio? A good credit utilization ratio is under 10%, not under 30%. People with exceptional FICO Scores report about 6% to 7% of their avai… Read the guide → Credit Cards Hard vs Soft Credit Inquiries: Score Impact The hard vs soft inquiry split comes down to one thing: did you apply? A soft inquiry is a look at your file with no application beh… Read the guide → Credit Cards Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It? No. Checking your own score is a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries sit outside every scoring formula used in the United States. Only… Read the guide → Credit Cards Why Did My Credit Score Drop for No Reason? If your credit score dropped, something changed on your credit report. There is no "no reason" version. The usual suspects are a hig… Read the guide → Credit Cards How Often Does Your Credit Score Update? Your credit score updates at least once a month, because that is how often most lenders send fresh account data to Equifax, Experian… Read the guide → Insurance Car Insurance Quotes: How to Compare Them Right To compare car insurance quotes properly, lock every quote to the same liability limits, the same deductibles and the same add-ons… Read the guide → Insurance Adding a Driver to Your Car Insurance: The Rules Adding a driver to car insurance is not optional for anyone of driving age who lives with you, or anyone outside the home who uses y… Read the guide →