Dave's Blog

The territory which is now the Village of Bartlett was, at times in the past, a part of Spain, France, Virginia, England, the Northwest Territory, Indiana, the Illinois Territory, and, finally, the State of Illinois. The area was at one time a camping and hunting ground of the Pottawatomie, Ottow...

Good Credit Translates into Lower Rates for the ConsumerIn the 1960s, Fair Isaac Corporation started working on a system lenders could use to evaluate the likelihood of receiving repayment on loans. Prior to that, it was really a matter of trusting an individual to be a “man of his word,” so to s...

If you are now reading this, you most likely are experiencing, or may soon experience, one or more of the uncomfortable situations below. You also may have seen ads for "credit counseling" or "debt consolidation" and think that they could be answers to your debt problems. Be prepared to be shocke...

Credit counseling will hurt your credit scores as much as a bankruptcy.Fact:We are told that all current FICO formulas ignore any kind of reference to credit counseling that may be embedded in your credit file.Unfortunately what happens all too often in the credit counseling process is that your ...

 I've been told that if I can't resolve a particular issue on my credit report, I can always add a statement that explains what happened which will help my credit.Fact: The Fair Credit Reporting Act does give you the right to add a "100 Word Statement of Explanation" explaining the circumstances ...

Now that I'm divorced, my ex-spouse's credit will no longer appear on my credit report.Fact: A divorce decree has nothing to do with your responsibility on your financial accounts.Unless you and your spouse came to some agreement on your obligations, all obligations incurred together will appear ...

I cosigned for my son last year on a loan and I was told that it has no affect on my credit.Fact: When you cosign on a loan it looks the same as if you took the loan out by yourself.Now your son is the first person responsible for repayment of the loan however, you are also responsible for that l...

Credit Myth #14 - Bankruptcy is my "get out of jail" card and will allow me to start over again with a clean slate. Fact: My hope is to impress you with the devastating effect a bankruptcy will have on your credit.Every account in the bankruptcy will be appropriately noted on your credit report. ...

Entries such as bankruptcies, judgments and foreclosures are impossible to remove. Fact: All of these items have been removed countless times by thousands of people from their credit reports.Review your credit reports with a fine-toothed comb. Look closely for errors and reporting mistakes. Refer...

 Paying off a collection or charge-off on my credit report will improve my credit score. Fact: Unfortunately, this just isn't true.Going to a "Paid" status on this type of account doesn't help your score one bit. In fact, the accounts are probably going to remain on your credit report for seven y...