Payment History Tips

Pay your bills on time.
Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on your FICO score.

• If you have missed payments, get current and stay current.
  The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your credit score.
• Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report.
  It will stay on your report for seven years.
• If you are having trouble making ends meet, contact your creditors or see a legitimate credit counselor.
  This won’t improve your credit score immediately, but if you can begin to manage your credit and pay on time, your score will get better over time.

*www.myfico.com

What is FICO?

FICO is short for the first company The Fair Isaac Corporation that started collecting data and that created the first credit scoring system to determine credit worthiness. They are NOT government agencies or government appointed they are an independent company that created a scoring system that they sold to other industries.

The regulation that does apply to them is in the Fair Credit Reporting Act that says you have the right to know what information credit bureaus are reporting and to argue the validity of the information that they submit about you. You would contact one of the three credit bureaus to get that report.