Liz Pulliam Weston - Your Credit Score: How to Improve the 3-Digit Number That Shapes Your Financial Future

Recommended reading!

Wall Street Journal Online

A great credit score can help you finish rich! Liz Weston gives solid, easy-to-understand advice about how to improve your credit fast. Read this book and prosper.

David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner

Excellent book! Insightful, well written, and surprisingly interesting. Liz Weston has done an outstanding job demystifying an often intimidating and frustrating topic for the benefit of all consumers.

Eric Tyson, syndicated columnist and bestselling author of Personal Finance for Dummies

No one makes complex financial information easy to understand like Liz Weston. Her straight-talk and wise advice are invaluable to anyone with a credit card or checkbookand thats just about all of us.

Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., author of Nice Girls Dont Get the Corner Office and Nice Girls Dont Get Rich

In a country where consumers increasingly pay more when they have bad credit, Liz Westons book provides excellent tips and advice on ways to improve your credit history and raise your credit score. If you just apply one or two of her insightful suggestions, youll save many times the cost of this book.

Ilyce R. Glink, financial reporter, talk show host, and bestselling author of 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask

Your credit score can save you money or cost you moneysometimes a lot of money. Yet, most people dont even know their scores, much less know how to make them better. Liz Weston can help you fix that. In this easy-to-understand guide, youll learn how to make sure your score helps you get the best deal on loans and insurance. You cant afford not to read it.

Gerri Detweiler, consumer advocate and founder of UltimateCredit.com

How to Improve the 3-Digit Number That Shapes Your Financial Future

Fourth Edition

Liz Weston

Vice President, Publisher: Tim Moore
Associate Publisher and Director of Marketing: Amy Neidlinger
Executive Editor: Jim Boyd
Editorial Assistant: Pamela Boland
Senior Marketing Manager: Julie Phifer
Assistant Marketing Manager: Megan Graue
Operations Specialist: Jodi Kemper
Cover Designer: Alan Clements
Managing Editor: Kristy Hart
Senior Project Editor: Lori Lyons
Copy Editor: Geneil Breeze
Proofreader: Gill Editorial Services
Indexer: WordWise Publishing Services, LLC
Senior Compositor: Gloria Schurick
Manufacturing Buyer: Dan Uhrig

2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Publishing as FT Press
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

This book is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services or advice by publishing this book. Each individual situation is unique. Thus, if legal or financial advice or other expert assistance is required in a specific situation, the services of a competent professional should be sought to ensure that the situation has been evaluated carefully and appropriately. The author and the publisher disclaim any liability, loss, or risk resulting directly or indirectly, from the use or application of any of the contents of this book.

FT Press offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales, 1-800-382-3419, .

Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing November 2011

ISBN-10: 0-13-282349-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-282349-4

Pearson Education LTD.
Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited.
Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education Asia, Ltd.
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weston, Liz.
Your credit score : how to improve the 3-digit number that shapes your financial future / Liz
Weston. 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-282349-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-13-282349-7
1. Credit scoring systemsUnited States. 2. Consumer creditUnited States. 3. Credit
ratingsUnited States. I. Title.
HG3751.7.W47 2012
332.7'43dc23
2011032211

To Will

Credit and credit scoring can be a mysterious, complex subject, which means any journalist trying to cover this area of personal finance needs great sources. Ive been extraordinarily fortunate to have found experts who not only knew their fields, but who were willing to spend time helping me understand them, too.

At the top of this list is Craig Watts, spokesman for Fair Isaac Corp., who invested hours researching and carefully answering my endless questions. Several of his current and former colleagues at the company were also generous with their time and expertise, including Ryan Sjoblad, Lamont Boyd, and Barry Paperno.

John Ulzheimer, founder of www.CreditExpertWitness.com and president of consumer education for SmartCredit.com, is another of my go-to sources. John has a couple of decades experience with credit, including stints at both Fair Isaac and Equifax, which gives him a unique depth of experience and authority.

Special thanks also to Gerri Detweiler of UltimateCredit.com, Robert Hunter of the Consumer Federation of America, Gail Hillebrand at Consumers Union, Deanne Loonin and Robin Leonard at Nolo Press, and the folks at Insurance Information Institute, VISA, and Citibank. Thanks, too, to Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Linda and Jay Foley of the Identity Theft Resource Center for their insights into credit fraud.

Sam Gerdano of the American Bankruptcy Institute and Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, author of The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke, provided their vast knowledge and perspective about the bankruptcy epidemic in America.

Richard Jenkins, formerly my editor at MSN Money, conceived and helped shape the series of bankruptcy stories I wrote for that Web site. The project deepened my understanding of the bankruptcy process and its effect on people and their credit. Thanks, too, to the hundreds who volunteered their personal stories about the often-difficult decision to file.

Then there are the cheerleadersthe people who encouraged me to take on and complete this sometimes daunting project. Leading the charge was my husband, Will Weston, who picked up a lot of slack around the house and encouraged me to return to my computer on those many nights when I would have much rather watched a rerun of Friends.

My friend and colleague, Kathy Kristof, gave a realistic assessment of what was in store when juggling family, full-time work, and book writingbut told me to go for it anyway.

My editor, Jim Boyd, instantly understood why this book needed to be written and guided me expertly along its route to completion. He and his staff at FT Press have been terrific.

Finally, Id like to thank my readers who generously shared their experiences, opinions, praise, and criticism. Your letters and emails helped shape the information in this book and inspired me to keep digging for answers that could make a real difference in your lives.