F.A.Q. s

What Will Negative Tradelines Cost The Borrower ?

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What can be removed?

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How often are credit reports wrong?

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Expiration of Negative Credit Information

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Get a Free Credit Report. A Federal law the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once a year.

What Will Negative Tradelines Cost The Borrower ?

Consumers credit reports, with just a few negative tradelines are paying the price.
Consumers with lower  credit scores will have a much higher payment, whenever they
make a purchase over time. Here are a few examples:


Mortgage Loans  

 One, two or three percentage points will make a big difference in how much a mortgage costs the consumer. The chart below shows the difference in costs of a 200,000 mortgage for borrowers of Excellent, Average and Poor credit.  

Credit
Rate
Monthly Monthly Cost Total cost
Excellent 5.75 1,168.00 0.00 0.00
Average 7.75 1,433.00 265.00 95,400.00
Poor 10.75 1,867.00 699.00 251,640.00

Auto Loans and Vehicle Financing 

Smaller loan costs can be dramatic. The following table shows the difference Excellent, Average or Bad credit can make on a loan of 15,000 over five years.   


Credit
Rate
Monthly Monthly Cost Total cost
Excellent 7.00 298.00 0.00 0.00
Average 9.00 312.00 14.00 840.00
Poor 12.00 332.00 34.00 2,040.00

Many Americans these days are discovering the Catch-22 of unemployment. And that is: You might fall behind on your bills because you've lost your job, and you might not be able to land a new job because you've fallen behind on your bills.

A fair chunk of employers want to examine your credit history before offering you a position or a promotion. Blotches there repossessions, collections, high credit card balances  could cost you the job you want. For example, applicants for Transportation Security Administration airport screener jobs are rejected if they have more than $5,000 in overdue debt.


Credit Cards  

With excellent credit it is easy to get a credit card with a major credit card company, with no annual fee and a low interest rate, often under 10%. With Average to poor credit it is much harder to get a credit card, and the only cards available are likely to have an interest rate of at least 19% and a steep annual fee.   

The amount this can cost will depend on what kind of balance you carry on your cards. Paying interest on a high balance can cost hundreds of dollars each month.  

The extra costs of Average to bad credit can create a vicious cycle. Higher payments make it harder to keep up, and late payments will cost the consumer even more in late fees and default interest rates.


Employment and Housing  

Poor credit can even hurt consumer's  when applying for a job or renting a home. Landlords are hesitant to rent to tenants that they can't trust to keep up with the rent. Sometimes employers will screen out prospective employees based on poor credit history, especially if they are applying for jobs dealing with money, valuables, or finances.

Even a simple thing like getting a cell phone or starting a utility account is harder with average to bad credit. Utility companies and cell phone providers often require large deposits or fees for customers with medium to bad credit.