from Moneywatch Personal Finance
 
New laws that mandate consumers be given free credit reports come into effect later this year. Personal Finance Editor Andrea Coombes gives you the tips you need to save money and guard against ID theft.
 

from CNN On The Money
 
A recent Bloomberg article “Unintended Consequences of Mortgage Modifications: Falling Credit Scores” addresses a topic that deserves serious follow up. The article accurately identifies that loan modifications could damage your FICO credit scores, if they are reported to the credit bureaus using the new reporting guidelines set up by the credit [...]

An R-4 indicates that the consumer paid 90 or more days past due but less than 120 days. R-5 indicates that a consumer paid 120 or more days past their due date. R-7 usually means that a creditor repossessed collateral on the account and R-8 reflects that the account was turned over to collections. R-9 [...]

A tradeline contains:

Name of the creditor
Account number (usually incomplete or coded for security purposes)
Type of account (installment loan or revolving)
Balance owed
Summarized payment history
Date the account was opened
Credit limit
Co-signers on the account
Date information was last reported to the bureau

In their efforts to evaluate consumer credit worthiness, creditors depend on credit reporting bureaus to supply reports that provide more specific consumer information. Most creditors have automated systems that allow them direct access to credit reports from the different credit bureaus. Credit bureaus maintain reports that contain personal information about consumers, their account histories, legal [...]