Money Talk: Options for Building Credit Score
Question: I am selling my car to an old friend with no credit history. (The used car salesman wanted to charge her 6.5 percent interest.) Is there a way that I can report her timely payments to the credit reporting services to help her build her credit? Answer: It’s not really practical for individuals to report payments, since subscribing to credit bureaus is expensive. The rate your friend was quoted actually isn’t bad given her...
Consumer Confidential: When Collectors Call, Demand Proof of Your Debt
Suzanne Husted went through a rough patch about a decade ago and had to take out a pair of $300 payday loans to get by. She said she paid each back within a couple of months. Now she’s getting calls from two different debt collectors insisting that $2,400 in principal and interest is owed and that she better come across with some scratch or she’ll be dragged into court. “When I ask when I took out the loans, they say it was in 2010...