Profile:
Collecting debts after they are deleted from the credit report
Dear Experian,
After seven years, if a payment has not been made on a student loan can the creditor or collection agent still try to collect payment on the loan?
- QUA
Prisoners can get a free credit report
Dear Experian,
I am the community outreach director for a credit counseling agency. During a presentation at a federal prison, the inmates had questions about how to obtain their free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. They are not always successful. Is there a way for them to be successful in obtaining their credit report?
- IMB
Steps to take after vehicle burglarized
Dear Experian,
Our vehicle was broken into and confidential identity information might have been accessed. Does this warrant obtaining a security freeze? If so, how long can I expect for it to take place?
- CND
Potential consequences of cosigning an apartment lease
Dear Experian,
Is there any affect on your credit report and getting a loan in the future if you are a cosigner for an apartment?
- ICL
Defining charged off, written off and transferred
Dear Experian,
What are the definitions of charged off, written off and transferred?
- CPL
Girlfriend stuck with motorcycle debt when boyfriend ends relationship
Dear Experian,
My daughter was talked into purchasing a motorcycle for a friend of hers and now he doesn’t want it and is thinking of dumping my daughter. If she voluntarily returns the motorcycle to the dealer, will her credit be ruined, and if so, for how long? If she is not able to pay a deficiency, will a judgment against her affect her credit?
- GBH
Military personnel can add an Active Duty Alert
Dear Experian,
As a member of the Army currently overseas, what can I do to protect my credit? I heard something about placing an “active duty alert” on my credit that only allows credit to be opened if I directly approve.
- MCL
Credit scores aren’t affected by who closed the account
Dear Experian,
What looks better on my credit report, closing a credit card account myself or the credit card company closing my account?
- EAU
Being a cosigner can help build your credit
Dear Experian,
I currently have no credit. Not bad credit, no credit. I am interested in purchasing a new vehicle and a family member has offered to cosign. However, we’ve been offered zero percent interest because of her excellent credit but only if she’s the primary and I cosign. If we do this and I am the one who makes the payments monthly, will me being the cosigner give a positive effect and establish my credit?
- SSL
Separating your credit after divorce
Dear Experian,
My husband I have had a joint credit report for the last 10 years. Our credit is in good standing, by the way. Now that we are divorcing, what steps do we need to follow to establish our own individual credit reports? Will our positive credit history follow us to our newly established individual reports, or does one person retain the good history and the other start new?
- MEL
Several months of recent history needed to calculate credit score
Dear Experian,
I have “N/A” for a credit score. How do I get that corrected? I have been told by the real estate agent that it is because I have no current debt, and my most recent credit history is a payoff two years ago. I do have plenty of bad credit – hospital bills – but I don’t understand why I don’t have a credit score, good, bad or otherwise.
- TTL
Steps you can take at home to prevent ID Theft
Dear Experian,
What is the best way to prevent identity theft at home?
- OBE
Prepaid credit cards not reported to credit reporting companies
Credit scores calculated each time your report is requested
Dear Experian,
I’m planning to buy a house soon, and I just paid off a fair amount of debt and I hope it changes my score. What I was wondering is how often do the credit bureaus reevaluate your credit and change your credit score? Is it monthly, quarterly or less? And if they only do it a few times a year can you request to have your credit rescored so it shows up when my credit is ran two weeks from now?
- NPU
Risk factors are key to improving credit scores
Dear Experian,
What’s the meaning of “proportion of revolving balances to revolving credit limits is too high?”
- ZHN
Effect of short sale and mortgage modification on credit scores
Dear Experian,
I am going through a short sale on my home and the lender is saying that if I take out a promissory note to make up for some of their loss that they will report my short sale as “paid in full -not full amount” Is that better than just a short sale, or because of the “not full amount” will my credit be dinged just as much as if I did nothing and they just listed it as a short sale?
- ATH
Explaining account status descriptions, including “transferred, closed”
Dear Experian,
What does “transferred, closed” mean on an account?
- GER
Ordering your own report doesn’t hurt credit scores
Dear Experian,
If I order a credit report and score for myself, does it count against my credit history?
- SKA
“Potentially negative” items listed on credit report
Dear Experian,
How can I get my credit score up? It seems to keep going down, and I have paid almost everything off. Also, if an account is paid in full, why is it considered potentially negative on my report? Can I remove it?
- EIG
Working together to improve our children’s financial literacy
The difference between credit counseling and debt settlement
Dear Experian,
What is difference between credit counseling and debt settlement?
- CKB
Requesting your credit report after your application is denied
Dear Experian,
How do I get my credit report when it has adversely affected a loan?
- CBR
Negotiating reduced payments can hurt credit scores
Dear Experian,
I have several credit cards and am struggling to make house payments and credit card payments. If I make arrangements with a credit card company to pay the card off with a reduced amount, will that still affect my credit?
- SPS
Helping child in college establish credit
Dear Experian,
My college freshman daughter applied for a credit card, was declined, and then applied for a secured card and was also declined. How can I help her build credit? She obviously has no history, but I am concerned that the two denials are going to hurt her score. I am at a loss on how she can build her own credit.
- UAR
About Ask Experian
Welcome to Ask Experian, hosted by Maxine Sweet, Experian's Vice President of Public Education. The blog responses draw on the knowledge of Experian's experts in credit reporting, credit scoring, direct marketing, automotive history, identity theft and other areas from across the company to answer readers' questions about these and other important topics.