• In a new development, some landlords now reporting on-time (or late) payments to the credit bureaus (Washington Post):

Most property managers don’t report rental payments to credit bureaus, partly because there is no national standard for how and when that information should be included, says Mike Doherty, head of the rental screening business for TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting bureaus. Now some in the industry are trying to change that.

• You think you are going to be rich so you don’t need to worry about credit scores, right (Credit.com)?

All sorts of financing options exist to give people access to big-ticket items, but if you want to be approved for loans and qualify for low interest rates, you need good credit.

• This furniture company made loans to consumers with FICO scores below 550; guess what happened to this company (Investors’ Business Daily):

“In the third quarter, we drove significant growth and expanded gross margins in the retail segment, but these gains were more than offset by additional provisions for credit losses,” CEO Theodore Wright said in the earnings release. “Customer credit scores continue to deteriorate.”

• What are 6 credit score myths (Forbes)?

Myth No. 1: Closing out your credit cards improves your credit score. If you’re thinking about terminating a card to boost your credit score, think again before you reach for the scissors.

• You apply for a bunch of credit cards.  How will that impact your credit score (NerdWallet)?

It’s important to understand how applications for new credit impact your credit score, so here’s a quick explanation: Ten percent of your FICO credit score is determined by new credit inquiries. A credit “inquiry” is any review of your credit profile, but only so-called “hard inquiries” impact your credit score. A hard credit inquiry is performed whenever you apply for a loan or credit card, and will stay on your credit report for up to two years.  Every hard credit inquiry will cause your FICO score to drop by a few points.

• Just to complicate things for consumers, you have more than one credit score (Time).  Find out how they differ and which ones matter most:

Each of us has dozens of credit scores used by financial institutions to judge our creditworthiness. FICO alone offers more than 50 different FICO scores to financial institutions and in some cases, directly to consumers. In addition to FICO, the companyVantageScore offers credit scores, each of the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – offer their own credit scores, and a number of other companies have credit scores, too.

• Infographic from Experian shows the State of the Credit Markets (Experian):

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.