Credit Card Now

We’re used to California being declared in a state of emergency for wildfires, but on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over California’s finances, according to Reuters. It’s no surprise that the state has experienced financial turmoil in the past few years, but things have reached a dire point now that there is a $19 billion budget shortfall.

The budget is five weeks overdue, and it might take a few more weeks until the Democrat-heavy legislature and Schwarzenegger, a Republican, can get their act together and agree.

The red ink totals 22 percent of the $85 billion general fund budget the governor signed last July for the fiscal year that ended in June, Reuters reports.

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Tags: Red, Red Ink

Dear Creditnet: I’m currently in the market for a new TV and Best Buy is offering 0% financing for three years.

My question is when you open an account like this, how big of a hit does your FICO score usually take and how long will it take to rebound?

I could easily pay cash for the TV up front, but the “finance” person in me says it’s free money—why not take the terms?

Answer: Hard inquiries for a new credit card will generally drop your FICO score about five points, but it should bounce back within a few months. In some cases, a hard inquiry may not even affect your FICO score at all, so I wouldn’t worry too much about having an extra inquiry on your credit reports.

However, what you should worry about is how retail credit card deals (what Best Buy is actually offering you) can often wreak havoc on your credit utilization ratio, which accounts for about 30% of your FICO score. Here’s how

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Tags: Credit, Credit Scores

Oh my gosh, I’m so excited I could just go and flip a table.

My blog titled “‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ credit card tales of trouble” about the broke but fabulous RHNJ co-star Teresa Giudice was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Beating Broke.

Teresa and her husband are dealing with some nasty credit card debt right now. They’ve filed for bankruptcy but potentially face more legal troubles for allegedly concealing assets and lying under oath. Check out the carnival to get more information on this and a plethora of other finance-related topics.

Tags: Blog, Blog Goes

President Obama recently signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  It is commonly known as the Financial Reform Legislation and is designed to help prevent economic failure.  To accomplish this it has many new regulations and restrictions on lending and credit.  Its far reaching effects go all the way down to your individual credit score.

This legislation means your credit score is now more important than ever to get a loan or financing for both you personally and for small business owners whose personal credit is used.

Among other things, lenders will be required to certify that consumers have a reasonable ability to repay a loan.  Lenders will look at your income closely, but this will also force more scrutiny on your credit score and credit report showing your prior ability to pay your obligations.

This means your credit score is now more important than ever to get a loan and especially a mortgage.  It is interesting to note that Auto lending is exempt from this legislation, but your credit score plays a big role here too.

Make sure your credit score is the best it can be, before you apply for any loan.  Also, make sure you have credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

How to get the best credit score possible.

No credit score will last forever.  It w

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Tags: Financial Reform, Financial Reform Legislation, Reform, Reform Legislation

I just read something on CNN that shocked me. When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was a mere 18-year-old college student at Harvard, he allegedly granted a businessman an ownership stake in what was then a small online side-project. Now it’s a billion-dollar Internet company, and New Yorker Paul Ceglia is trying to claim what he says is rightfully his.

Ceglia claims that he hired Zuckerberg in 2003 to work on two business ventures, one of which was “designed to offer the students of Harvard university access to a wesite [sic] similar to a live functioning yearbook with the working title of ‘The Face Book.’” Sound familiar? Ceglia says he paid $2,000 to Zuckerberg for the job. CNN reports that Facebook’s lawyer has admitted that Zuckerberg signed a contract with Ceglia, but they aren’t sure yet whether the document he has produced is the real document in question or whether the real contract states what he says it does.

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Tags: Ownership Stake, Stake