Introduced in 2005, the NFCC’s Making the Difference Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to assisting consumers with financial literacy, awareness and education, furthering the NFCC’s mission, vision and programs through a national presence.

“Maxine Sweet personifies this award,” said Gail Cunningham, vice president of membership and public relations at the NFCC. “Her level of commitment, passion and knowledge combined with Experian’s financial education resources has made a remarkable impact on consumers’ lives.”

“It is a true honor to receive an award with such great meaning,” Sweet said. “As a company, we strive to make a difference. Through the services we provide, the organizations we support and the communities we serve, we will continue to make financial education the heart of Experian.”

The NFCC’s Annual Leaders Conference addresses relevant and timely topics affecting the credit counseling sector. Attendees convene to network and to learn more about the latest developments in the housing, bankruptcy, legislative and financial education sectors.

Sweet and Rod Griffin, Experian director of public education, also conducted a Credit Ambassador workshop for NFCC educators and counselors at the conference. The workshop provided an overview on how to build or restore credit and what to do in case of fraud as well as discussed other consumer resources available from Experian.

To learn more about Experian’s financial education resources, please visit http://www.LiveCreditSmart.com.

There are two sides to every story. It’s one of those old clichés you hear time and time again. When I think about the collections process, this is the first thing that comes to mind. You have the consumer or debtor who enters into an agreement to pay for something and at some point, makes the decision not to pay.

It could be a credit card bill or a car payment –or maybe they even forget to pay a library book fine (this actually happened to someone I know!). On the other side, you have the debt collector, who has the task day in and day out, of collecting on the debt the debtor has agreed to pay.

This can be stressful, daunting and even unpleasant for both parties. The debt collector is concerned with finding the right party and working out a way to get the debt paid and they use a number of tools to help them do this, including skip tracing products. They definitely don’t want to spend time going down the wrong path wasting valuable time and resources.

With Experian’s introduction of TrueTrace today, collectors now have a new industry-leading product that can improve the collections process. TrueTrace provides a very comprehensive and unique combination of data sources that can include everything from payday lending information to rental information through Experian’s RentBureau database. With increasing margin pressures in this industry, a product like TrueTrace offers the most up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate contact data to streamline their skip-tracing efforts.

This process is part of the business, part of an agreement, but what strikes me as a pleasant surprise is the turn of events where many debt collectors are spending more time understanding consumer credit to better their understanding of the consumer. In turn, they can make themselves more effective and create a more positive experience for the consumer as well. This increase in knowledge can help the collector make better determinations about the consumer’s ability to pay and allow for a more meaningful conversation with the debtor.

With the debt recovery industry focused so heavily on results, TrueTrace will surely play an important role, but combining this with education and professional development can really make for a winning combination for everyone. For more information about TrueTrace, you can read the news release here.

Photo: Shutterstock

In the recently released Experian 2012 State of Credit report, we found that the national average credit score is currently 750, which is up one point from 2011.

We also crunched some numbers in more than 100 cities throughout the country and ranked the top 10 and bottom 10 cities according to credit score.

The infographic shown here reveals who came out on top (Minneapolis, MI) and bottom (Harlingen, TX) as well as everyone in between. There were also a few cities who are slowly, but surely pulling themselves up—those cities include Las Vegas and Bakersfield.

Credit scores can affect everything from your ability to open a credit card to determining your rates when buying a home or a car. Credit plays a key role in all of our lives and it’s never too late to start becoming more aware of the behaviors that influence your score.

Check out the full report to see where your city stands.

Did you know that there are 64 million people in the United States that have little or no traditional credit history?

These people are typically referred to as underbanked or underserved consumers, and Experian just announced a new Extended View Score that can help these consumers gain access to credit products and services, which can lead them down the path of building a fuller credit history. Extended View is also beneficial for lenders as it can help them expand their lending universe.

Steve Wagner, president of Experian Consumer Information Services, who also spoke today at CFSI’s 7th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum, said:

Many of the estimated 64 million consumers with limited to no credit history that are unscoreable by traditional credit scores are creditworthy. Extended View can redefine how businesses evaluate this underserved population and empower more consumers with cost-effective credit and financial opportunities.

See our news release for more information on Extended View Score.

Photo: Shutterstock

Experian® RentBureau®, the leading provider of rental payment history data to the multifamily industry, today announces the agreement of Riverstone Residential Group to contribute its residents’ payment data to Experian RentBureau.

With the collaboration, Riverstone Residential Group becomes the largest fee-management apartment firm to furnish rental payment history to Experian RentBureau, enabling faster debt collection, enhancing protection from lease skips, and encouraging residents living in Riverstone Residential Group rental communities to pay rent in a timely and comprehensive manner.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Riverstone Residential and receive valuable rental payment history data from the company’s Riverstone-owned and fee-managed communities across the country,” said Brannan Johnston, vice president and managing director for Experian RentBureau.

“By furnishing resident rental payment history data to Experian RentBureau, Riverstone Residential will immediately enhance the effectiveness of its rental collections while decreasing bad debt levels and encouraging proactive rental payment practices among its residents, leading directly to increases in net operating income (NOI) and the bottom line.”

“We have witnessed the impact of rental payment history from day one, and being able to furnish that data as a credit item — whether it is above or below the line — is the key to creating a better rental prospect for everyone,” said Mark Stringer, senior vice president of Riverstone Screening Services and Riverstone Receivables.

“I believe this type of risk management helps not only Riverstone, but all companies, and as a data furnisher we expect to play a lead role in creating a rental payment history data set that not only assists with tracking skips on behalf of owners, but over time ultimately helps the resident to improve their payment practices.”

Based in Dallas, Texas, Riverstone Residential is one of the largest apartment fee-managers in the United States, approaching 170,000 multifamily apartment units under management.

Furnishing data to Experian RentBureau will augment the firm’s internal collections department, greatly reducing the likelihood of resident skips while improving collections and lessening the need for listing outstanding bad debt with third-party collections agencies while encouraging more efficient, prompt and complete rent payments from residents.

Since beginning the collaboration with Experian RentBureau three months ago, Riverstone Residential has already received more than 400 “hits” of rental applicants attempting to move in to a community while still owing a rental payment debt elsewhere.

Without access to rental payment data, residents and community managers alike can typically wait six to eight months for negative rental history to appear on a credit report as the result of traditional collection efforts.

“Now that our rental payments are being reported, residents can find out more quickly if there is outstanding debt that will negatively impact their efforts to get credit or lease an apartment,” Stringer said. “It makes it easier for both us and the resident to identify what the problem is and have it corrected.”

Experian RentBureau is part of Experian, the leading global information services company and the first and only major credit reporting agency to include rental payment data in its credit reports.

Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced that it has extended its capability to accept rental payment data from individual landlords and property managers through its new collaboration with ClearNow®.

ClearNow offers a low-cost and easy solution for collecting and making payments electronically and automatically. Experian, through its RentBureau® business, currently receives rental payment data from more than 3,000 apartment communities, most of which are managed by large property management companies. Whether a renter lives in a large apartment complex or rents from a landlord that only manages one property, Experian now will provide an opportunity for all renters to build credit history through rental payments.

“We’re thrilled to offer a simple way for many responsible Americans to get the credit they deserve by making their rental payments as agreed,” said Steven Wagner, president, Experian Consumer Information Services. “In the past year, we have led the industry in helping renters build credit history, and with the latest collaboration with ClearNow, we are achieving another major milestone.”

ClearNow allows landlords and property managers to electronically collect rent from their tenants via an automatic bank account debit. This relationship will allow renters to enjoy the convenience of automating their rent payment, which can help avoid late payments, and opt in to reporting their rent payment history to Experian RentBureau.  Experian currently includes rental payments on its credit reports which helps many responsible renters build credit history.

RentBureau is the largest and most widely used credit reporting agency for the multifamily industry. RentBureau’s database receives rental payment histories every 24 hours from property management companies and currently includes more than 9 million residents nationwide. Data contributors report their rental data to RentBureau directly and automatically. Property management companies utilize this data to screen new rental applicants’ payment history as part of their existing resident screening services.