This article originally was published on the Motley Fool. Most consumers are fully aware that their credit score and credit report have a lot to do with whether or not they can get a mortgage loan, a ...

SAN ANTONIO — Hard and soft credit checks both show the same information. The big difference is one has no effect on your credit score while the other will lower it. A hard check happens when you ...

Alexandra Twin has 15+ years of experience as an editor and writer, covering financial news for public and private companies. Khadija Khartit is a strategy, investment, and funding expert, and an ...

Kiah Treece is a former attorney, small business owner and personal finance coach with extensive experience in real estate and financing. Her focus is on demystifying debt to help consumers and ...

Understand credit denial, including common reasons why credit applications are rejected and what you can do next to improve your chances of approval by lenders.

Your credit utilization ratio is the amount of debt you have divided by your total credit limit. Credit utilization accounts for a decent chunk of your credit score, so aim to use no more than 30% of ...

Jerry Brown is a personal finance writer based in Baton Rouge, La. He's been writing about personal finance for three years. Financial products he enjoys covering include credit cards, personal loans, ...

Your credit score will fall into one of five ranking categories, from poor to excellent. Your category will determine what kinds of credit cards you can get. Your payment record and the length of your ...

Your starting credit score depends on your initial credit activity; there is no standard starting point. You need at least one open account with one to six months of activity reported to receive a ...

Your credit score is a three-digit number that reflects your credit history. It's not the complete financial picture, but lenders consider it when evaluating you for ...

The biggest-ever study of real people’s mortgage data shows that predictive tools used to approve or reject loans are less accurate for minorities. We already knew that biased data and biased ...

A minimum credit score is one of the important factors used to determine a borrower’s eligibility for a business loan. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising ...