Over a year ago, I had a conversation with an executive vice president of one of the largest secondary credit reporting agencies in the country. He was talking about the lack of quality assistance to help their clients improve their credit scores. He stated that loan officers too often talk a big game but offer very little in substance. He called their so-called credit optimization, "Gimmick programs."  There are four primary reasons why banks, credit unions, and loan officers struggle to provide real assistance with improving your credit scores.

Many lenders advertise that they offer “Credit Builder loans”. This is just a blatantly false advertisement. The sole purpose is to get you to open a credit card or take out a loan with them. Don't do it. I'll explain why.

Everyone knows that interest rates are impacted by credit scores. The lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate. But hardly anyone understands the impact of a lower credit score to your home purchasing power. It is a lot more than everyone understands, and even mortgage loan officers.

Many times I hear consumers say that they need to have a certain number of credit cards to “build their credit scores.” Credit cards can both build, but also drop your credit scores. What is a good mix of credit cards you should have?