Our Credit Repair Terms Glossary provides you a quick definition of terms which are commonly used by the credit industry:
Tri-merged: When all three credit reports from Transunion, Equifax and Experian compile the information in to one report and taking the duplicate information and merging it as one account. This is usually provided by a service.
FICO Score: Fair Isaac Corporation, A credit score is a reference number which represents an individual’s credit worthiness. It is based on a variety of information in an individual’s credit report. This number is calculated primarily by the payment history, credit balances verses limits, judgments and liens, number of credit inquiries . Lending institutions will use fico scores determine if they will approve the credit request and/or what your rate and terms will be.
Credit Bureau Services: A credit bureau service is a company that will take the information from the credit bureau agency(ies) and filter and compile it into a format that is constant. Always for a fee.
Credit Bureau Agency: An agency is the organization that collects personal financial data on individuals, from financial institutions with which there is some sort of credit granted. The data is made available on request to contributing credit bureau service companies for the purposes of credit assessment and credit scoring.
Most credit history information is collected and kept by the three national credit bureaus, Experian formerly TRW Incorporated , Equifax and TransUnion. These agencies posses no governmental affiliation.
Re-establish Credit: Opening new accounts while making timely payments along with not maximizing credit limits to new and existing creditors.
Creditor: A creditor is a party that claims that a second party owes them some property or service. In other words, your creditors are people to whom you owe money.
Debtor: In short a debtor (or a borrower) owes money to a creditor.
Judgment: in a legal context, is after a debt goes unpaid and creditor takes debtor to court to force collection legally. Courts may allow for garnishment of wages, if the judgment is enter and approved by the court. The judgment may also attach to real estate owned by the debtor. Then that judgment is also a lien.
Lien: The term lien is any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the debt, it is then considered a secured loan. Auto loans and mortgage loans are the most common.
Settlement: A settlement is a contract . When creditors and debtors agree to resolve the dispute between themselves without a trial. In most cases, the creditor agrees to accepting less than full amount due of the original contract. If a creditor settles on an account with a debtor for less than the full amount this may show as a negative on the credit as , settled for less than full amount.