Everyone wants an 800 score. We get calls every day with people saying they want to be at 800. We always try to be polite. But the truth is, 800 credit scores are for people who pay their credit perfectly, for a long time (think years), on all the various types--revolving (credit cards, HELOCs, installment (student loans, mortgage, auto loans, etc)--and they likely have a lot of those types.  But...here’s some good news, you won’t get any better rates at 800 than you will at 760. 760 is considered an elite score, and once you reach it, you get…

  Recently we did an article talking about a major credit repair firm and how their whole operation was slapped with an injunction by the FTC. Needless to say, that company is not among the kind of companies you want to work with. If you want to piggyback off of someone else’s credit, you can either find someone who has a great card or pays a company to place you on one. We’ll get into what makes a great tradeline company in a bit, but first, what do you need to know to find a good tradeline if you do…

Tradelines, those magical things that can turn your lowdown, slimy frog of a credit score into a princely number worthy of the best rates on whatever it is you would want to get lending on. But how do you get them? Are you trying to find out how to add tradelines to your credit report yourself, or are you well in your search and believe you must pay to add tradelines to your report? First off, can you add them yourself? Not really, not unless you get approved for cards in your name. That is the only way you can…

  Meet Jimbo, he’s seventeen, a highschool senior, runs track, likes Netflix and video games and girls, a typical young man about to enter adulthood. Fall semester he applied to several colleges, some in state, some out. He wants to study anthropology. HOW TO NOT WASTE ANYONE’S TIME WITH TRADELINES On his eighteenth birthday, his dad, who has an average credit of 700, adds Jimbo to his Cabela’s Capital One as an Authorised User, in essence offering a piggybacking credit card to help his son jumpstart his credit, saying “Jimbo, my good son, credit is important in this world. Protect…

Tradelines are a miracle. They do things that nothing else can. If tradelines were winches, they could raise the Titanic. That might sound like hyperbole, but where else can you find a literal answer to “how can I raise my credit score 100 points?” We’ve seen tradelines raise a score 50 points. We’ve seen 100, 150. If you want to get technical, we’ve seen tradelines raise a score 750 points, though the reports started as blank--but still, NA (or 0) to 750, is a 750 point raise.  That said, if you add credit lines, the results are not entirely predictable.…

Ah, purchasing a mortgage, that bastion of financial success, the flashing sign that you’ve made it, the smartest way to spend money, and the best way to build wealth.  Is this still true?  In times past Real Estate was the smartest way to use your money, because, like the stock market, housing values (while experiencing minor dips occasionally, usually went up over time), but then 2008 happened. Prior to that year, hedge funds and other financial institutions [cough big banks] created mortgage-backed securities, and insurance companies covered them with credit default swaps. High demand for this rock-solid can’t-fail securities led…

  Recently, a credit repair and tradeline company was shut down by the FTC. According to the FTC’s complaint, the owners scammed people out of $6.2 million dollars over the course of their operations since 2014. If you want the details, the press release is here. This company had several websites where they claimed to be able to boost credit by removing negatives and inquiries, then adding tradelines afterwards to shoot the score up even more.  So what happened? Does this mean that all companies, even the “best tradeline companies” are out to take your money and give nothing in…

  Part 1 The most constant thing in the world is change. Sometimes drastic--think major life events, natural disasters, etc...and sometimes subtle and slow--think erosion, paint drying, etc. Credit is one of those things that change gradually over time, hopefully a slow steady rise to elite territory (760+) and staying there...but credit can also drop drastically if you miss a payment on your credit card, mortgage, etc.  You can get your credit to jump quickly, with tradelines, which are credit cards that report authorized users. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. “Piggybacking” is the official term, as you are using someone…

  Fifteen years ago on December 26th, a giant tsunami flattened the islands of Nicobar and Andaman in the Bay of Bengal. The causal earthquake was the 3rd biggest ever recorded. It was the deadliest tsunami in history, killing 230,000 people across 14 countries. But a week or so after the tsunami, members of the ancient Jarawa tribe on Nicobar made contact with the local government, informing that all 250 members of their tribe had survived. They would not say how they survived, but anthropologists postulated the tribe’s knowledge of movement regarding the wind, sea, and birds. What does this…

  You are a financial professional. Maybe you clean credit. Maybe you’re a loan officer. Maybe you’re an accountant, a lender, a renter. Hell you could be anything in the business world and have credit be somehow relevant.  A great credit score is something everyone wants, but having credit that can at least get qualified is, in a lot of cases, what many people need. So if you are someone who is a broker selling tradelines, what are the big things you need to know in order to be able to sell tradelines effectively? Do Tradelines Still Work?   You’re…