I cannot stress enough the importance of your credit scores, whether you are thinking about buying a home or buying a new car.  I’ve talked about understanding the simple steps to correct your credit scores, but some people still don’t realize the importance of the credit scores.

Your credit scores will have a major impact on the type of interest you will pay on your mortgage.  I’ve gone over how important your credit scores are in “Credit scores are very important, but how important?”.

Your credit scores will also have a major impact on whether or not you will get approved for a credit card.  It’s important to take the time to check your credit report for errors and get things corrected if needed.

As for mortgages today, most lenders are requiring a minimum of a 620 middle credit score for approval.  I say the middle score, because in the mortgage world we pull credit on all three major credit bureaus.  Of the 3 different credit scores, the middle one will determine approval and interest rate.

There is one mortgage program called Rural Housing, which allows below a 620 middle credit score.  The lowest middle scores I’ve seen get approved with this program lately is a 600.  In order to get a 600 middle credit score approved, you will need compensating factors.  Examples of compensating factors would be liquid assets, a lower debt to income ratio, larger down payment, etc.

As our economy slowly gets better over the next few years, lending guidelines will continue to be tighter.  Again, please take the time to look at your own credit report at least once a year.  Take a look at freecreditreport.com and get access to your credit scores, along with credit protection.

If you need help with fixing your bad credit, Lexington Law – Credit Report Repair is a very good company.  A bunch of my own clients have said their service is great and they will tell you upfront if they can help you or not.

This is a very serious topic and only getting more serious, because theft and fraud will only continue to increase while we are in a struggling economy.

This sentence alone should make you think about identity theft protection:

“Identity theft has become more prevalent, with nearly 10 million American victims losing $48 billion in 2008.”

We give credit advice on this blog, so we only thought it was only right to talk about identity theft protection.

The number of identity theft victims rose 22% to a record 9.9 million in 2008 from 8.1 million a year earlier, with about one in 23 U.S. adults becoming victims, according to the fifth annual study by Javelin Strategy & Research. (source: cnnmoney.com)

When it comes to a subject like identity theft, strong statements like, 10 millions American victims, should make you stop and think about looking into getting identity protection for yourself and your family.  Even though we can give you advice on what to do to correct your credit report, there is not much we can advise on when it comes to falling victim to identity theft.  The only cure is prevention.

ProtectMyId is an extremely good identity theft protection program.  Along with identity theft protection, you also get your 3 credit score reports and regular credit and theft monitoring.

If there is one thing that will only cost you a few dollars and help prevent a lot of frustration, time, and money it’s getting some sort of identity theft protection.