Understanding the difference between VantageScore and FICO Scores

July 13, 2020 by Norm Schriever

Understanding the difference between VantageScore and FICO Scores

At first glance, you may think they’re the same thing – complex software algorithms that crunch credit reports and spit out a credit score based on that data. Digging deeper, we even see that the scoring models known as VantageScore and FICO have similar goals: to gauge the risk of a consumer falling behind at least 90 days on one ...

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August 17, 2018 by Norm Schriever

Las Vegas & Nevada residents falling short when it comes to debt, collections, and credit.

Residents of Las Vegas and Nevada are known for many things, including hosting millions of tourists, gamblers, and vacationers every year to the ‘Vegas Strip. But Nevadans are now known for another, more auspicious, reason: mismanaging their finances.

Unfortunately, that’s the ugly truth we find by looking into the wallets of the average Las Vegas or Nevada consumer – a fact that’s backed ...

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May 10, 2018 by Norm Schriever

Sky-high with the San Jose, Ca housing market

California is known for many things, including beautiful coastline, amazing peaks and parks, wine country, and plenty of sunshine. But there’s another thing that the Golden State is known for – high housing prices. While we usually think of San Francisco, Los Angeles, or even San Diego first when luxury real estate comes up, it’s another city – San Jose – that ...

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April 14, 2017 by Norm Schriever

Thanks to new rules, millions of consumers will see a boost to their credit scores

If you’ve been toiling with a low credit score due to a tax lien, civil judgment, or similar negative item being reported, you’re in store for some good news coming very soon. Starting this summer, millions of Americans will be getting a credit score boost even if they haven’t paid down debt or don’t anything else ...

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March 3, 2017 by Norm Schriever

Using Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball method to pay off your credit cards.

Amid our current rosy good news of stock market surges and economic growth, there sits an extremely prickly thorn: high credit card debt. In fact, the levels of U.S. consumer credit cards and other personal debt have reached levels not seen since the debt parade stopped in 2008 with the U.S. financial collapse.

In fact, as of 2016, our collective consumer credit card debt ...

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February 26, 2017 by Norm Schriever

3 Things to consider when getting a secured credit card

There are many reasons why a record number of consumers are getting shut out of traditional lending, unable to get a mortgage, auto loan, or even a single credit card. In fact, millions of Americans suffered significant damage to their credit scores through the Great Recession, leaving them with foreclosures, bankruptcies, and a whole ...

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January 26, 2017 by Norm Schriever

Mortgage brokers and loan officers: here are 10 ways you can increase a borrower’s credit score in short order (Part 2)

Loan officers and mortgage brokers often see potential home buyers fall a few points short of qualifying when it comes to credit score, but that doesn’t mean they need to be turned away. In fact, there are strategies we can employ to increase a borrower’s credit score by 5, 10, or even 25 points in a short period, ...

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January 21, 2017 by Norm Schriever

Mortgage brokers and loan officers – here are 10 ways you can increase a borrower’s credit score in short order.

Anyone who’s in the mortgage business knows that the halcyon days of an easy refi boom driven by historically low rates is probably over, which means that credit score will be more important than ever in getting a borrower approved for the right loan product. But even if you pull their credit and they ...

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January 5, 2017 by Norm Schriever

17 Tips to Improve Your Credit Score in 2017

It’s 2017, and that means it’s the perfect time for you to get your finances in order – starting with an improved credit score. Here are 17 great tips for improving your credit score in 2017:

Keep your credit card balances low. The most effective way to improve your credit score is to pay down ...

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November 16, 2016 by Norm Schriever

21 Financial Red Flags (Part 2)

These days, so many people are struggling financially, failing to save, awash in debt and student loans, shut out from home ownership, and wondering how they’ll retire comfortably. So it’s more important than ever to identify the red flags in our financial picture, and then fix them.

In part one of this blog we covered the first 7 financial red flags to look for. Here are 7 more to identify in case you’re inadvertently sabotaging your finances, and most importantly, action ...

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