June 1, 2017 Page 7 Credit Scores Expected to Rise a Bunch in July of consumers to avoid misreporting of unpaid taxes, child support or debts. Civil judgments can hurt a person’s credit score more than ordinary loans, according to industry experts. The effect of a court-ordered judgement on a FICO score is almost immediate, they add. Not all tax liens or judgments will disappear from people’s FICO scores, but most of them will, according to the Consumer Data Industry Association that represents the credit bureaus. The change is expected to push more consumers above the 700 mark and closer to the 750-800 range that signifies excellent credit. The two biggest factors in the FICO scoring model is paying bills on time and not carrying high balances or overextending available credit limits. Car and personal loans and credit card balances that together exceed 30 percent of a person’s available credit are counted against their score. Other factors in the scoring method are length of credit, new applications for credit, and whether a borrower shows a mix of credit. The scoring favors a combination of auto loans, home equity, personal loans and some credit cards. Credit report errors about late payments and balances are common and affect a FICO score. The Federal Trade Commission has estimated Follow Us on Twitter @heraldpub By Rob McCarthy New credit-scoring rules this summer will lift average scores by 20 points and push millions of American consumers into the good-borrower category, the industry’s California-based leader predicts. FICO, which developed the credit-scoring system used by consumer lenders, reported that the average credit score in April reached 699. That average score for American borrowers set a record and was just one point shy of the “good” range of 700 to 749. FICO is a San Jose, California-based analytics company that focuses on credit-rating services used by lenders and employers. About July 1, the nation’s three creditreporting bureaus no longer will count tax liens and civil judgments against FICO credit scores. Nearly 11 million people should see a 20-point jump in their credit scores, and another 700,000 people would see their scores go even higher. The credit bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian are changing the rules in response to findings by a federal agency about shortcomings in how the bureaus use public data in credit scoring. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s April report highlighted a need for changes, specifically better identity-matching Ingredients Directions 1. Start off with a clean slate. Ask the kids to quickly help empty the dishwasher and sink to de-clutter the kitchen. Before you start cooking, have the kids guess how long they think the “Messipe” cleanup will take and time it. The winner gets to try the first bite! 2. In a medium soup pot, heat the oil over medium low heat. 3. Add your diced pancetta to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. 4. “Messipe” moment: Roll up your sleeves, it’s time to get messy! In a bowl, take turns mixing the veal and pork with washed, clean hands. Add your salt and pepper, then add to the pan, browning the meat with the pancetta. Stir occa- sionally, with a wooden spoon, for about 8 minutes, breaking the meat up as you go. 5. Increase the heat to medium and add the wine, simmering until it reduces by half. 6. Add the garlic, parsley, basil and tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce begins to thicken, about 30 minutes. 7. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more (aka walk away till it’s done). Take turns tasting for salt and pepper and serve hot. “I like to pair the sauce with linguine pasta - and it’s also my kids’ favorite,” Prinze says. 8. Cleanup tip: If sauce spills, quickly drop some flour on the spill to stop the spill from spreading. This way, you can keep cooking and not worry about cleaning up the mess right away. When you’re ready, fill a spray bottle with warm water and a few drops of Palmolive Ultra Strength dish liquid. Let the kids squirt the bottle over the mess...or maybe even at each other! The Mess is the Best Cooking with Family Creates Lifelong Memories The first step to family fun in the kitchen is selecting the “Messipe.” One of Prinze Jr.’s favorite “Messipes” is: The Sauce. This tasty tomato-based sauce has enough steps and ingredients to get the whole family involved, yet it is also easy to make and delicious. “Between the prep, taste tests, stirring and adding the Parmesan cheese at the end, the whole family works together,” he says. “This time spent with family is just as good as the meals we make.” • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1/2 pound ground pork • 1/2 pound ground veal or beef • 4 ounces diced pancetta • salt and black pepper • 1/2 cup red wine (something you would drink) • 3 small to medium cloves of garlic • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley • 1 teaspoon dried basil • 1 box or can (26 ounces) tomato sauce • 1 box linguine For more kid-friendly “Messipes” and cleanup tips, visit www.facebook.com/palmolive. that 20 percent of consumer credit reports contain errors. Because of the error rate, consumers are advised to check their credit reports every year for accuracy. Consumers who believe their credit reports contain bad information may write a letter asking the credit bureau and the company that reported the information to make a correction. Both must investigate the dispute. Using a credit repair service is another option for contesting and removing errors from a report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects borrowers and consumers by requiring the credit bureaus to provide correct and complete information to lenders when they process an application. Consumer protections of the act include: --The right to receive a free copy of your credit report. --The right to know the name and identity of anyone who received your credit report in the last year, or the past two years, for employment reasons. --A lender must tell you the name and address of the credit bureau it used to deny an application. --The right to a free copy of the credit report that was used to make the denial; a request must be made within 60 days of the denial. --A consumer may add an explanation to a credit report if the company or bureau refuses to correct disputed information. Lenders have been advised to be cautious about reviewing a loan applicant’s creditworthiness after July 1. Financial planner and blogger Sean Williams with The Motley Fool writes that consumers’ credit habits will be the same in two months, regardless of their higher FICO scores. “Lenders could find themselves at a higher risk of loan defaults as these tax liens and civil judgments are removed from people’s credit reports,” Williams warns. FICO is the most popular credit score formula used by lenders, though there is a recent competitor called VantageScore. The three major credit bureaus created VantageScore, which uses some of the same predictors as FICO to rate a borrower’s creditworthiness. This alternative to FICO also uses what it calls “trended data” in scoring. The data focuses on how a person used available credit over a 24-month period, and looks at money management skills by comparing payment due dates with the actual date a bill was paid, according to Investopedia.com. The last time FICO changed the scoring rules was in August 2014 when it decided that unpaid bills that were settled with a collection agency should not count against a person’s current creditworthiness. •
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