What a week for interest rates! Rates have taken a wild ride lower over the last several months. This week however, rates have broken through new lows. The 10 year treasury bond hit historical lows on Friday, February 28 at 1.13%. This historical rate drop gives a generational opportunity for many homeowners to lower their monthly payments. What opportunity is there for consumers? Let’s take a look.

My Credit Plan has released its 2019 results – and it shows phenomenal success. The average Classic FICO® score increased 53 points for those who enrolled into My Credit Plan during 2019 – which means an improvement between 2 to 3 grades better in mortgage and auto loan terms. That is a lot of money saved by lower interest rates and fees.

FICO® announces the rollout of their new credit score, FICO 10. They warn consumers that this scoring model will lower their FICO scores by 20 or more points if you are a heavy user of credit cards. Most consumers are concerned about their FICO scores dropping going forward. There is one BIG issue practically every reporter has failed to mention. Sarah O’Brien at CNBC highlights this issue and how it will impact you, the consumer. Great job Sarah!

Experian™ claims it is offering consumers an opportunity to raise their credit scores. Is it real? Is it true? Experian unfortunately provides an incomplete picture of its Boost program.

Major business news outlets such as CNN Business, CNBC, and Fox Business are reporting that for many, your FICO® credit scores your lenders use are going to drop 20 points under the new FICO score calculation. This reporting is simply not true.

No. That's not how the lender's Classic FICO scores work.

“We are doing what?” was the surprised response from a vice-president of a major credit card company. She had just discovered that her employer was providing a "consumer" credit score to their clients, while using a different "lender’s" FICO® score to approve the same company's credit cards. This vice-president wasn't even in the know. These two scores are always different. This "consumer score" creates mass confusion for all consumers when lenders use an entirely different (FICO) credit score for their credit card approvals.

Do you know when a lender's inquiry lowers your FICO scores? Or how your interest rate is determined on your mortgage? And the best loan to take out when trying to reestablish and build your FICO scores the fastest?

There are four separate home buyers purchasing the same exact home with the same sales price of $300,000, same seller concessions and down payment. Everything is the same for the four buyers except how much they eventually pay. You would think since the sales price is the same for the four buyers, they will all pay the same. They don’t. They all will pay different amounts. This unfamiliar oversight is the most costly mistake most prospective homebuyers make!

A frantic mother called me after she discovered her daughter’s FICO® scores had dropped 30 points within a few weeks and she wanted to know why. She was told her daughter’s mortgage interest rate would be almost 1/2% higher on a $325,000 loan because of her lower scores. What happen next is beyond criminal.