Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

If you get behind on payments to a creditor or file for personal bankruptcy , will each credit score reflect your credit history in the same way? According to a recent report from NBC News , there are distinctions between new and traditional credit scores, and it is important to understand how your personal history can impact what creditors see. Alternative Credit-Scoring Methods As the article explains, the way in which credit scores are calculated is not the same as it used to be. If you have ever applied for credit and have had a potential creditor look into your financial history and your credit score, you may know that the three companies of Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have been the ones providing credit reports and scores for many years now. However, “in the last few years, these companies have founded a new company, VantageScore Solutions, that provides an alternative credit-scoring tool.” What does this new credit-scoring tool mean for you? First, ...

Chicagoans constantly receive credit card offers in the mail, many of which tell us that we have been pre-selected or pre-approved for credit cards. Even after filing for consumer bankruptcy , Illinois residents may receive these offers. But should you apply for them? Or can you risk doing damage to your credit profile as you are attempting to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy ? How Do Credit Card Companies Determine Offers of Credit? According to a recent article from Bloomberg Business , there is actually a method behind the credit card mailings most of us receive. A Federal Reserve working paper analyzed the “business of credit-card solicitation,” tracing the ways in which these communications have been steady or have shifted in the years during and after the financial crisis. Who tends to receive these offers? It depends, in large part, on the types of offers and the individual’s credit history. Lenders tend to target borrowers by looking at a number of diffe...