Credit History

Roberto Pagan-Franco didn't have a bank account for decades. His employer paid him in cash or with a check that the Baltimore resident took to a check-cashing store. A few years ago he lost his job after a severe illness and for a time was homeless. Not exactly the type of customer you'd expect a big bank to court. But Pagan-Franco enrolled in a PNC Bank program that targets consumers who otherwise might be shut out of the banking system. And today, the 54-year-old has checking and savings accounts at PNC and is in the process of getting a credit card.

With “The Bachelor” casting call coming up at McHenry Row on June 28, here are a few tips to help you decide if being on the show is right for you. Men and women of ages 21 and older are encouraged to attend the event. But let's get real, not everyone is encouraged to show up. ABC and Warner Bros. have a list of 23 eligibility requirements and here are some things to consider before applying for the show: Am I a convicted felon? Have I been issued a restraining order in the past or am currently issued one?

Personal finance guru Suze Orman says she never would have introduced her prepaid debit card if there wasn't a possibility that some day it could be used in credit scoring. Orman launched the Approved Card this month. She has partnered with TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus, in a pilot program to see whether spending activity on the prepaid card could be used to develop a credit score. Some credit experts are doubtful. People load money on a prepaid card that can be used at places that accept plastic.

As concern grows over child identity theft, Maryland is considering legislation that would make the state the first in the nation to protect a youngster's credit report. Minors aren't supposed to have such reports because they're too young to get credit. But the Maryland legislation would allow parents or guardians to create a credit file for a child and then immediately freeze it. This would prevent a thief from opening credit under the child's name. "It's a great step in the right direction," says Bo Holland, chief executive of AllClear ID, an identity protection company in Austin, Texas.

For years if consumers wanted to know their credit score, they had to buy it. But starting this year, potentially millions will be able to get their score for free thanks to new federal regulations. Moreover, the score will be the actual one used to determine a consumer's creditworthiness — not one of the knock-offs offered online that can be off by dozens of points. "Knowledge is power," says Ed Rice, general counsel for Zoot Enterprises, which provides software to help financial institutions make credit decisions.

With “The Bachelor” casting call coming up at McHenry Row on June 28, here are a few tips to help you decide if being on the show is right for you. Men and women of ages 21 and older are encouraged to attend the event. But let's get real, not everyone is encouraged to show up. ABC and Warner Bros. have a list of 23 eligibility requirements and here are some things to consider before applying for the show: Am I a convicted felon? Have I been issued a restraining order in the past or am currently issued one?

Q: I am unemployed and have no income of my own. My husband and I were issued VISA cards in each of our own names. All our assets, including our home as well as our savings and checking accounts, are owned jointly. If something were to happen to my husband, would I have a credit history?A: Income and assets have very little to do with a credit history. A credit card, a car loan or a mortgage should show up on your credit history, whereas a checking or savings account and even stocks and bonds probably will not.In order for a joint credit source to appear on a wife's credit history, her name should appear on the loan or credit-card application.

Q: I recently decided to buy a home after renting for several years. I called several lenders and each lender asked for the same documents. I was surprised at the amount of documents needed. When I purchased my car, they ran a credit report and gave me the loan within one hour. Why does a bank need somany documents for a home purchase?J. Woody, Severna ParkA: Most mortgage lenders follow guidelines set by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

Credit repair scam artists will charge you anywhere from $500 to $1,500 or more upfront, and promise you everything from a new Social Security card to perfect credit. What should you do if you have bad credit? Here are 10 tips that are designed to improve your credit history and raise your credit score: Pull a copy of your credit history from AnnualCreditReport.com. Sponsored by the three credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place you can go to get a truly free copy of your credit history.

IN GRADUATE school, I had two friends - one raised in Scotland, the other in Mexico - who wanted to escape the dorms and get an apartment. They managed to find the perfect two-bedroom with reasonable rent, but there was a hitch. The landlord wanted six months' rent upfront because they had no credit history in the United States. As my friends discovered, credit reports play a significant role in your ability to achieve any number of financial goals. Landlords and mortgage lenders will require a credit report before you move in. Employers increasingly use them to screen job candidates to help assess trustworthiness and responsibility (they first have to ask you if they can do a credit check)

Personal finance guru Suze Orman says she never would have introduced her prepaid debit card if there wasn't a possibility that some day it could be used in credit scoring. Orman launched the Approved Card this month. She has partnered with TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus, in a pilot program to see whether spending activity on the prepaid card could be used to develop a credit score. Some credit experts are doubtful. People load money on a prepaid card that can be used at places that accept plastic.

Breaking up with a bank can be hard to do — and expensive if you don't do it right. Patsy Pahr of Towson says the mark left on her credit when she tried to close her Capital One credit card years ago came back recently to threaten her business license. And Norman Chase, a retired filbert farmer in Oregon, discovered that leaving $3.21 in an unused checking account led to a debt collector pursuing him for hundreds of dollars. Ending a relationship with a bank takes a little more work than starting one up. Both sides bear responsibility, but consumers should be extra vigilant.

What do you think about state lawmakers' proposal to restrict how businesses run credit checks on potential new hires ? Sun statehouse reporter Julie Bykowicz wrote in today's paper about how the practice has impacted some Maryland residents who have been denied jobs due to their credit history. Some businesses oppose the limitations because they feel it helps them identify The Senate's version of the bill would allow employers who deal with sensitive information to run the checks, as well as for high-level employees such as a CFO. But businesses would otherwise be prohibited from denying employment based on the results of a credit check.

Losing a job for any length of time can have a profound impact on a person's credit history. Even many who did all the right things, from saving money to budgeting frugally, weren't prepared for the worst recession since the Great Depression. Sometimes, bills don't get paid on time. But at what point should someone's credit worthiness become an impairment to his or her employment? That question is at the heart of legislation before the Maryland General Assembly that would prohibit employers from using a credit history to deny someone a job, fire someone or provide the basis on which to set a salary.

For years if consumers wanted to know their credit score, they had to buy it. But starting this year, potentially millions will be able to get their score for free thanks to new federal regulations. Moreover, the score will be the actual one used to determine a consumer's creditworthiness — not one of the knock-offs offered online that can be off by dozens of points. "Knowledge is power," says Ed Rice, general counsel for Zoot Enterprises, which provides software to help financial institutions make credit decisions.

Theodore Casser has been a loyal Bank of America credit card customer for about 10 years. But the prospect that the bank might start charging him an annual fee because he pays off his balance monthly has the Baltimore software developer ready to sever that relationship. "I take it almost as an insult," says Casser, who hasn't heard yet if he will be among the small percentage of unprofitable Bank of America customers to be charged a $29 to $99 fee starting next year. "I'm happy to take the hit to my credit rating to cancel the card."

Ignoring industry protests, Gov. Parris N. Glendening signed a bill yesterday that will bar insurers from raising policyholders' premiums or denying them coverage because they run into credit trouble. The legislation makes Maryland one of a small but growing number of states to pass laws curbing "credit scoring," insurance companies' practice of using a customer's bill-paying history as a major factor in deciding whether to issue a policy and how much to charge. Few bills passed during this year's legislative session are likely to have as much of an impact on consumers.

IF PERSONAL ADS were pragmatic, you might see a pitch like this: Single female with 820 credit score seeks single male with 800+ score who enjoys moonlit walks on the beach. But in matters of the heart, people are rarely practical. It's not unusual for financial opposites to attract, where someone with a good credit history marries a bad credit risk. Often these differences go undiscovered until the two try to buy a house and are denied a loan -- or at least one with favorable terms -- because of a partner's poor money management.

As we get ready to say goodbye to 2008, it's worth looking back at the year that was for home buyers, sellers and owners. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this year goes down as one of the worst ever for housing since the Great Depression. Housing values fell by double-digits in many metropolitan areas. Housing starts virtually stopped. Inventories of new and existing homes grew dramatically. Mortgage interest rates remained relatively high, even as the short-term Federal Funds rate plunged to nearly zero by the end of December.

A good credit score matters a lot now if you're in the market for a home loan and don't want a 10 percent interest rate. Lenders are much, much pickier than they were before being hit by the foreclosure wave. Two years ago, a 620 FICO score was enough to get the best mortgage rate, says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for Credit.com, a financial services and consumer education firm. Nowadays? The 700s. His top score-improvement suggestion: "Never ever give a lender a reason to say anything bad about you to the credit bureaus."