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Advertiser Disclosure Credit repair may seem like a complex concept at first blush. But that’s often because several misconceptions cloud the reality of the process and the potential for results. The truth about credit repair is that it isn’t as complicated as you might have been led to believe. And if you’ve read negative reviews about... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Since the National Consumer Assistance Plan went into effect in 2017, public records must meet strict requirements in order to appear on consumer credit reports. Civil judgments and tax liens do not meet these new requirements, so they were removed from credit reports. At this point, the only derogatory public record that should... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Article originally published August 29th, 2012. Updated October 29th, 2018. The emails usually come in the form of a slightly panicked plea, often from individuals who have just used Credit.com’s Free Credit Report Card for the first time. They’ve seen something that they either didn’t expect or think is wrong, or they think their credit... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Usually, a charge off occurs when an individual doesn’t make payments – usually for six months. This is more than just a credit card status though. It affects your relationship with your credit card issuer, your general credit standing, your ability to get a credit card or loan approved and other credit-related services.... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure You may already know the common items that appear on your credit reports, like personal identifying details as well as the debts you hold, payments you’ve made and hard inquiries generated whenever you fill out an application for credit with a lender. But knowing all that, you could still find surprises on your credit report.... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure If you’re considering adding someone to your credit card accounts — a spouse, child, parent or even close friend — you might be wondering how it could impact your credit, both positively and negatively. The simple answer is that it won’t really. As long as you’re making your payments on time and neither... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Does trying to read your credit report feel like you are reading another language entirely? This is a perfectly normal reaction when reading one of your reports for the first time or if you are not in the habit of reviewing your credit reports regularly. “While your credit reports may be hard to... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Q: I have a credit card that I have been using for about five years, and [it] has never showed up on my credit reports. I usually keep the card paid to a zero balance. How do I get this to show up? It should help my score. — Anonymous A. Opening a new... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Most of us take pride in the way we present ourselves to people — our actions, appearance and words tell the world who we are. Our credit reports should work the same way and be an accurate representation of us as consumers. This way, lenders can use them to fairly evaluate loan and... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure You know you’re supposed to review your credit, and you’ve even heard that you can do so for free. But is anything in life really free? Turns out, your credit reports are. Yes, that’s right, you really can get your credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and... Read More
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them.
Hello, Reader!
Thanks for checking out Credit.com. We hope you find the site and the journalism we produce useful. We wanted to take some time to tell you a bit about ourselves.
Our People
The Credit.com editorial team is staffed by a team of editors and reporters, each with many years of financial reporting experience. We’ve worked for places like the New York Times, American Banker, Frontline, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC and many others. We also employ a few freelancers and more than 50 contributors (these are typically subject matter experts from the worlds of finance, academia, politics, business and elsewhere).
Our Reporting
We take great pains to ensure that the articles, video and graphics you see on Credit.com are thoroughly reported and fact-checked. Each story is read by two separate editors, and we adhere to the highest editorial standards. We’re not perfect, however, and if you see something that you think is wrong, please email us at editorial team [at] credit [dot] com,
The Credit.com editorial team is committed to providing our readers and viewers with sound, well-reported and understandable information designed to inform and empower. We won’t tell you what to do. We will, however, do our best to explain the consequences of various actions, thereby arming you with the information you need to make decisions that are in your best interests. We also write about things relating to money and finance we think are interesting and want to share.
In addition to appearing on Credit.com, our articles are syndicated to dozens of other news sites. We have more than 100 partners, including MSN, ABC News, CBS News, Yahoo, Marketwatch, Scripps, Money Magazine and many others. This network operates similarly to the Associated Press or Reuters, except we focus almost exclusively on issues relating to personal finance. These are not advertorial or paid placements, rather we provide these articles to our partners in most cases for free. These relationships create more awareness of Credit.com in general and they result in more traffic to us as well.
Our Business Model
Credit.com’s journalism is largely supported by an e-commerce business model. Rather than rely on revenue from display ad impressions, Credit.com maintains a financial marketplace separate from its editorial pages. When someone navigates to those pages, and applies for a credit card, for example, Credit.com will get paid what is essentially a finder’s fee if that person ends up getting the card. That doesn’t mean, however, that our editorial decisions are informed by the products available in our marketplace. The editorial team chooses what to write about and how to write about it independently of the decisions and priorities of the business side of the company. In fact, we maintain a strict and important firewall between the editorial and business departments. Our mission as journalists is to serve the reader, not the advertiser. In that sense, we are no different from any other news organization that is supported by ad revenue.
Visitors to Credit.com are also able to register for a free Credit.com account, which gives them access to a tool called The Credit Report Card. This tool provides users with two free credit scores and a breakdown of the information in their Experian credit report, updated twice monthly. Again, this tool is entirely free, and we mention that frequently in our articles, because we think that it’s a good thing for users to have access to data like this. Separate from its educational value, there is also a business angle to the Credit Report Card. Registered users can be matched with products and services for which they are most likely to qualify. In other words, if you register and you find that your credit is less than stellar, Credit.com won’t recommend a high-end platinum credit card that requires an excellent credit score You’d likely get rejected, and that’s no good for you or Credit.com. You’d be no closer to getting a product you need, there’d be a wasted inquiry on your credit report, and Credit.com wouldn’t get paid. These are essentially what are commonly referred to as "targeted ads" in the world of the Internet. Despite all of this, however, even if you never apply for any product, the Credit Report Card will remain free, and none of this will impact how the editorial team reports on credit and credit scores.
Your Stories
Lastly, much of what we do is informed by our own experiences as well as the experiences of our readers. We want to tell your stories if you’re interested in sharing them. Please email us at story ideas [at] credit [dot] com with ideas or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for stopping by.
- The Credit.com Editorial Team
Natalie Issa
David Lord
McCall Robison
