Here's Why Your FICO Credit Score Could Be Going Up Soon

In a move that is likely to boost many people’s credit scores, all three major U.S. Equifax (efx), Experian (expgy) and TransUnion are set to introduce the changes around July, but there is a catch, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tax liens and judgments will only be erased if they don’t contain all of the following information: a name, an address, and either a date of birth or a social security number.

Nonetheless, many liens and judgments don’t contain all three pieces of required data, reports the Journal—so this change to how FICO scores are compiled could mean that many people will be regarded as more creditworthy based on their credit reports. Having a credit report with less black marks and better scores not only means a higher chance of getting a loan, but also a higher likelihood of success in everything between renting a home and landing a job. The latest omission of negative information from the compilation of FICO scores comes in response to regulatory concerns, according to the Journal. Since 2015, the three credit-reporting firms have reached settlements with more than 30 states over practices including handling of errors. Since then, some information unrelated to loans, like gym memberships and traffic tickets, have been struck off credit reports.

Once you’ve been denied for a business loan, you’ll get a letter in the mail from the business credit bureau that the lender contacted when taking a look into your business credit score. You can receive a copy of your business credit report from the bureau if you send the letter back within 90 days—with a written request to access your free business credit report. You’ll get a look into your business credit score for free, but it won’t have the full information on your score.

You’ll only get information from the bureau your lender worked with, so you’ll just see one score. But if you’re curious as to where you business credit score stands and your business’ payment history—and why it didn’t qualify you for a business loan—it’s an easy way to access a free business credit report! The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows consumers free access to personal credit reports every 12 months.

But as you can tell from the relatively short list of where you can go to get a free business credit report, the same laws don’t apply to a small business owner. Sure, you can find a free business credit report from these 6 services—or something really close to it. But to get the full, totally accurate picture of your business credit rating, you’ll probably need to pay a fee.

Many of these services also let you purchase single credit reports from just one bureau. So if it’s more cost effective for you to do so, consider just buying a single business credit report about every 6 months. That should be sufficient for keeping up to date with your business credit.

If you’re planning to grow your business with a business loan from a bank or other lenders or business credit score at any point in the future, it’s crucial to stay on top of your business credit score. It’s pretty likely that at some point in the near future, business owners will have the same right to a free business credit score every 12 months.

When your credit score is higher than average but still not spectacular, a lender might think there's a greater risk you won't make good on your loan. To compensate for that risk, a bank or loan company will often saddle you with a higher mortgage rate than someone with a higher score would pay.

A higher interest rate means a higher monthly mortgage payment and steeper total interest charges over the life of the loan. If your credit score needs work, you'll want to carefully consider whether the cost of a higher interest rate is worth it. You may decide it's better to delay your home purchase to give yourself time to improve your score.

The easiest way to bring up your credit score quickly and snag that mortgage is to obtain copies of your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and make sure everything on them is accurate. If you find any mistakes, dispute the errors so they can be removed. Also, credit scores have a great deal to do with your credit utilization. If you're using too much of your available credit, that can hurt your score.

It’s no secret: your credit health is important. While you might hear about your credit in terms of your credit report or credit score, the truth of the matter is that each person has three of each from the major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These days, everything from credit cards to banks to financial websites seem to be offering free credit scores or credit information to customers, but these are often only sourced from a single credit bureau.

Identity theft is a far-reaching crime and can take a number of forms, from someone using your social security number to open up a utility account to someone obtaining medical care with your insurance. While not all identity theft can be spotted by looking at your credit reports, an awful lot of it can — and the key to catching it is regular monitoring of all three of your credit reports.