Bank failures have captured the headlines over the last few weeks. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank along with a few others have been taken over the U.S. government. How does that impact you when you have an account with one of these failed banks. It can have a huge impact – almost always lower – on your lender’s FICO Scores.

Millions of consumers have been surprised to pull up their credit report and find a collection from a doctor showing up on their credit report. In a historic change, many of these past due bills will no longer show up on a credit report.

It takes a lot longer now to get FICO scores to show up after opening the first new account. A change in recent times from FICO requires a longer wait before a person can generate FICO Scores in their credit report.

When reviewing a credit situation or teaching a class on credit scores, it is always interesting to get feedback. People always state that they know a lot and are an “A” student in understanding their credit score. After a review is complete however, they quickly discover that many important points have been completely overlooked, and their credit score understanding is more like a “D”. As one professor put it, “The vast majority of individuals do not even have any fathom idea of all the factors impacting their credit scores.”

No one wants to have a late payment show up on his / her credit report. Nevertheless, it happens. Due dates or recent charges are easily forgotten and before you know it, a 30-day late payment appears on your credit report. Your FICO® credit scores suddenly decline and you are left wondering, “Following a late payment, why does one FICO score for one consumer drop a lot more than another consumer's FICO score.”

There is one issue that lowers your FICO scores for as long as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy – up to ten years. It is not a late payment, a judgement, or a tax lien. It has nothing to do with utilization ratios or on-time payments. What is it?

During the Financial Crisis of 2008 and beyond, many homeowners found themselves upside down in their primary residence: they owed more on their mortgage than the value of their home. Lenders came up with a possible solution to offer consumers a loan modification. How did a modification impact their FICO® scores and their finances? There is something critically important to know before anyone goes down this path of skipping mortgage payments.

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

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?

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.