1 -
Charge Off – An unpaid portion of a bill that a lender has accepted will never
be paid and has recorded on their books as bad debt.
It is a serious negative item to have your credit report.
2
- Bankruptcy – A legal proceeding designed to help people in financial difficulty
get a fresh start by relieving them from having to pay their current debts. A bankruptcy is an extremely negative item
to have on your credit report and it usually will remain on it for 10 years.
3
- Algorithm – A complex mathematical model.
It is used to compare data in millions of credit reports and predict
the likeliness of an individual to pay back their debts.
4
- Collection – A creditor’s attempt to recover a past due payment by turning
the account over to a collection agency or department.
Having a debt in collection is a negative item on your credit report.
5
- Credit Bureau – A credit-reporting agency that is used as a clearinghouse
for information on the credit rating of individuals or firms.
Often called a consumer-reporting agency, the three largest credit
bureaus in the U.S. are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
6
- Credit History – A record of a person’s use of credit over time.
7
- Delinquent – A designation on a credit report that a person hasn’t made
the minimum payment on a loan or credit card on time.
Delinquencies are usually shown as being 30, 60, 90 or 120 days delinquent
on a credit report. Delinquencies
are a serious negative item to have on your credit report.
8
- Default – A designation on a credit report that indicates a person has not
paid a debt that was owed. Accounts
usually are listed as being in default after several reports of delinquency. Defaults are a serious negative item to have
on your credit report.
9
- Credit Report – A document containing financial information about a person
focusing on their payment history, such as a mortgage, car payment, utilities
and credit cards. It also includes
current balances on outstanding debts, available credit, public records such
as bankruptcies and inquiries (how many times your credit was pulled).
10
- Credit Limit – The most amounts that can be charged on a credit card or
to a credit line.
11
- Credit Risk – The measure of a person’s creditworthiness.
People who are more likely to repay their debts on time are considered
a better risk by lenders and will be charged lower interest rates for borrowing
money from lenders.
12
- Debt to Available Credit Ratio – The amount of money a person has in outstanding
debt, compared to the amount of available credit available on all of the individual’s
credit cards and credit lines. The
higher a person’s debt to available credit ratio, the more risky the individual
appears to potential lenders.
13
- FICO scores – The most commonly used credit score.
The name comes from the Fair Isaac Corporation, which developed the
scoring model. They are used to predict
the likelihood that a person will repay their debts. The scores use information only from credit reports.
14
- Hard Inquiry – An item on a person’s credit report that indicates that someone
has asked for a copy of the individual’s credit report.
Hard inquiries are requests that result from a person applying for
credit, such as a mortgage, a car loan, a credit card or a rental application.
They are also included in the formula for determining a persons credit
score.
15
- Installment Credit – A type of credit in which the monthly payment is the
same every month and the loan has a set time period.
The most common forms of installment credit are mortgages and car loans.
16
- Public Record – Information on your credit report that has been obtained
from court records, such as bankruptcies, judgments and liens.
These are never something that you want on your credit report.
17
- Rate Shopping – Applying for credit with several different lenders to find
the best interest rate, usually for a car loan or a mortgage.
If done within a short period of time, such as two weeks, it should
have little impact on your credit score.
18
- Soft Inquiry – An item on a person’s credit report that indicates that someone
has asked for a copy of his or her report.
Soft inquiries can be from current creditors reviewing the file, prospective
creditors who want to send out an offer such as a pre-approved credit card
or a person’s own review of their file. This
is not determined in the formula for determining a person’s credit score.
19
- Judgment – A decision from a judge on a civil action or lawsuit; usually
an amount of money a person is required to pay to satisfy a debt or as a penalty.
20
- Lien – A legal claim placed on a person’s property such as a car or house
as a security for a debt. A contractor
who did work on your house or a mechanic who repaired your car and didn’t
get paid may place a lien. The property
can’t be sold without paying the lien.
21
- Revolving Credit – An account that requires a minimum payment each month
plus service charges on the remaining balance.
As the balance declines, so does the service charge.
22
- Equifax – One of the three major credit-reporting agencies.
23
- Experian – One of the three major credit-reporting agencies.
24
- Trade Line – An account listed on a credit report.
25 - TransUnion – One of the three major credit-reporting agencies.