Advertiser Disclosure The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act—also known as the CARES Act—is a $2 trillion stimulus package passed by the federal government. The goal of the CARES Act is to provide relief for individuals and businesses struggling with the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdowns. One of the components... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Many businesses are laying off employees or shutting doors, at least temporarily during the coronavirus pandemic. Only you can make the decision about what’s right for your business—and you should do so in consultation with business experts such as CPA advisers or business coaches. You’ll also want to make sure that you are... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure The coronavirus has quickly overtaken the world, causing physical, emotional and economic struggles. Although everyone is affected to some degree, small-business owners are taking a huge hit. Many of the forced closures involve their line of work, and small businesses often have the least amount of cash available to cover loss of income... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Bankruptcy deals a major blow to your credit and hurts your ability to qualify for credit cards and loans. Depending on the type of bankruptcy you file, it can stick on your credit report for up to 10 years. But that doesn’t mean you can’t rebuild your credit andaccess certain loans in the... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Want to be 100% responsible for someone else’s obligation? Cosign their mortgage, and you’ll be just as responsible for repaying the loan as they are! That’s true even if you’re cosigning simply to help them qualify for the loan. Before you take the plunge on cosigning for a house, make sure you know... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Looking for the perfect home on the real estate market? Unfortunately, it can be tricky if you have unpaid taxes. Failing to pay your federal income taxes can lead to the Internal Revenue Service placing a lien on your property or your assets. These legal tools protect the government’s ability to get its money. They also set off alarm... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure When you buy a house, a big part of a lender’s decision whether to approve your mortgage rests on whether or not you can afford it.If you have a lot of debt, the monthly payments on those obligations chip away at the total amount you can pay each month on a mortgage. But... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Federal student loans have some of the most forgiving repayment options. If you can’t make student loan payments because of financial issues, you may be able to pause those loans via a deferment. But if you default on your student loans and you have serious student loan debt, collectors can take numerous actions against you—including taking your tax refund.... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure When starting your own business, funding can be a big hurdle—in more ways than one. And if you’re not careful, the lines between business credit and personal credit can get blurry. As you start setting up your business accounts, make sure you understand your business financing options and how they may affect you... Read More
Advertiser Disclosure Car insurance can be confusing. First, there are all the policy considerations: Do you want a policy with comp and collision? How much liability should you carry? Do you need uninsured motorist coverage? Even once you make decisions on all these things, the bill that arrives can be difficult to understand—exactly what goes... Read More
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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
David Lord
Natalie Issa
McCall Robison
