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How does a credit card limit increase work?

November 18, 2021 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert When you take on any form of debt, there are limits to how much money you can borrow. For a loan, that limit is represented as the total sum offered to the borrower. For a credit card, it’s represented as the credit limit.If you want the ability to spend more money with …

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What Consumers Don’t Know about Free Credit Score Companies

November 2, 2021 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert If you’re trying to actively monitor your credit, paying for a copy of your credit score can be a frustrating expense. In this situation, companies offering a free copy of your credit score probably seem like a godsend. But while these services can show you a free credit score, it might not …

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Credit Report Mistakes

September 2, 2021 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert Most people think of a credit score as a concrete, unchangeable piece of data. The reality, however, is a bit more open to interpretation.While your score is determined with a reliable algorithm, the incidents on your credit report that are used to calculate that score are often open to dispute – and …

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What is a Credit Builder Loan?

April 7, 2020Shawn LaneConsumer Credit Expert Starting from the bottom is always hard. With no upward momentum, just getting started can feel like a monumental task.That holds especially true for your finances. Money tends to make more money, and good credit lends itself to even better credit. All the best loan products – credit cards, mortgages and personal loans, for example …

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What Makes Up Your Credit Scores? Part 2: Amounts Owed

February 21, 2019 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert   Many people think that paying your financial obligations on time is all it takes to earn great credit scores. The truth, however, is that credit scoring is more complicated than that. Believe it or not, the majority of the points in your credit scores don’t have anything to do with how …

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What Makes Up Your Credit Scores? Part 1: Payment History

February 7, 2019 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert Your credit scores are an important component of your financial wellbeing. Without solid credit scores, life can be a lot more difficult (not to mention more expensive) than it needs to be. The good news is that if you learn what influences your credit scores, you’ll be better equipped to improve them. …

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Credit Repair: Hire a Pro or Do-It-Yourself?

December 6, 2018 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert Recovering from credit problems is often a long, uphill battle. There are certainly steps you can take to potentially speed up the process, but it’s important to begin any credit repair journey with the proper expectations. Your credit problems most likely didn’t happen overnight. It’s probably going to take some time to …

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Free Credit Freezes: Do You Need Them?

October 18, 2018 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert There is no surefire way to keep your personal information safe and protected. The Equifax Data Breach of 2017 alone exposed the sensitive, personal information of some 143 million consumers in the US. The Under Armour data breach, which occurred in the spring of 2018, exposed another 150 million consumer records as …

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How to Rebuild Your Credit After a Bankruptcy

July 11, 2018 Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert Bankruptcy has its pros and cons. Chances are that you considered the facts, weighed your options, and did not choose to file bankruptcy lightly. Although bankruptcy can certainly hurt your credit, filing for bankruptcy does not mean that you have to be stuck with horrible credit forever. There are steps that you …