Credit Facts That Will Surprise You
There are an estimated 40 million American’s in serious credit trouble. That’s nearly 14% of the entire adult population of the United States!
Looking to buy a new car? With a poor credit score, you’re likely to get a 36-month auto loan for just over 18% interest. Somebody with a clean credit can get the same loan for about 7% interest! That can be a difference of thousands of dollars.
Consumer Reports cited a study in their July 2000 issue showing that more than 50% of the credit reports the study checked contained errors, some very significant.
Mistakes in credit reports cause 29 percent of Americans’ credit ratings to vary significantly from one agency to another, according to a 2002 study by the Consumer Federation of America.
One in every 20 consumers has been the victim of credit card fraud in the past 12 months.
Overall, more than 33 million Americans, about 1 in 6 adults, say they have had their identities used by someone else sometime since 1990.
Sources: Motley Fool Credit Center, myFICO.com, Consumer Reports, Consumer Federation of America, Gartner Inc., Fair Isaac, MSNBC
You may also find these pages of interest:
- Debt Not Always Bad – More debt isn’t always a bad thing.
- Online Credit Scores Often Differ From FICO Scores – Why there is often a difference between online and FICO credit scores.
- Does Bankruptcy Wipe The Slate Clean For A Second Chance? – What happens to your credit after you declare bankruptcy?
