Even long after the recession is over, millions of Americans will be left with a reminder of the economic crisis: a wounded credit score.
Some consumers have seen their credit scores improve as they cut back and tightened the reigns on their wallets, but others have watched their scores drop significantly due to foreclosures, late payments, and rising credit card debt.
Consumers with credit scores so low that they qualify for credit only at very high interest rates- if at all, rose from 34.4 million to 39.8 million from the third quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2009, while borrowers who were able to qualify for the best rates dipped in recent quarters because of late payments, according to Experian credit bureau and Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm.
Even those with near perfect credit are experiencing closed credit card accounts and lower credit limits, and some lenders are adopting a new scoring model that could move consumers’ scores more than 20 points up or down. Consumer advocates say regulators and Congress need to focus on lender actions that are inadvertently hurting credit scores. They say as underwriting standards tighten, a small change in a credit score could have an effect on a consumer’s chances of getting a loan and the rate of the loan.Â
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit/2009-09-21-lenders-scores-credits_N.htm
Do you Want to say something?