When buying a car there are good car dealers and bad car dealers.  There are those that finance using Manufacture Financing and those who use Finance Companies to do their financing.  For those who use Finance Companies this can hurt your credit scores considerably.  Using any Finance company will hurt your credit scores. Using Manufacturer Financing will improve your credit.

But let’s talk about the car dealerships that offer “Bad Credit Ok” or “We will help you restore your credit”. Usually this does not work because the car dealership will only report if you fail to pay on time.  Now, if you understand credit as well as I do, then you will realize that won’t help at all… ever, because they won’t report the good payment history, just the bad payment history if you forget, slip or fail to pay on time.

So, avoid these game players and stick to a car dealership that offers Manufactures Financing or get your own at a credit union or bank before you go shopping and improve your credit scores.

Valuable Lenders are those lenders that are reputable nationwide. We see lots of advertising from some not so valuable lenders. They are not so valuable because they don’t show all the information needed on a credit report that will allow our scores to be the highest possible. For instance, if your account shows the “high balance” but not the credit limit, as soon as you use that card you have a debt to credit ratio of 100%. This can lower your score dramatically. This is an example used by many, not so reputable lenders such as major credit card companies.

Valuable Lenders are those lenders that are ethical in their practices and are national or international banks and financial institutions.

Good installment loan companies are those loan companies that require a higher credit score and ask for more information about you to determine if you are a good risk. This loan can be for an auto or mortgage, student loan or furniture, etc. It’s important to keep these loans in balance with revolving type loans as the balance will play a key part in a portion of your credit score. In other words, one installment loan for every revolving loan or credit card is the correct combination.

It is important to know that if you have even one late or negative on your secure credit reports, it will cause your interest rates to be much higher. If you have more than one, most will not even look at you or your request to take out a loan with them. It is better to get the negatives removed first than to try for a loan with a reputable lender.

There are 3 types of inquiries to know about as you look over your credit report. It’s important to understand them and how they affect your credit scores because they can affect your credit scores very seriously. I have seen a couples credit scores drop over 120 points because of “shopping for credit” and not realizing their inquiries were costing them points.

The third type of inquiry is an investigation inquiry for companies who are looking to see if you qualify for their loan program or their credit card.  You don’t initiate it and if you do qualify, then you will probably get a letter in the mail for a special credit card offer, a special car loan or mortgage loan offer.  Basically junk mail offers.  If you are looking for credit, then these might be helpful but if you already have established credit then these might be a nuisance.

You can “Opt Out” of this program to send you junk mail.  To do so, you can call or go to their website…  The phone call will opt you out for 5 years – 1–888–567–8688.  To opt out permanently go to www.optoutprescreen.com.