This past week I submitted a file for a start-up business to a lender that offers very attractive rates for businesses just starting out. Their minimum Experian credit score to make a offer is 625. Unfortunately, my client was a 624. This caused me to go to another lender that increased the payments. You might think that it would be unreasonable for a lender to not ‘give a little’ and believe me, I tried to get that consideration, but many lenders have already lowered their minimum scores in order to accept the marginal files. Unfortunately, it is fairly common for an occasional missed payment (even if due to being busy or not receiving the bill) to have this result and I see it often. I sympathize with this as years ago I had an employee that just dropped the ball in paying bills. Obviously, that employee was let go, but it affected my credit substantially even though I had the funds to pay the bills and what I figured was a good excuse! I have heard from a number of you that have had similar scenarios.

“Story lenders” are ones that want to hear the reasons behind a bankruptcy, challenged credit, collections on credit report etc. With the economy as strong as it is and lenders being challenged to process all the applications coming in, the number of these so-called story lenders are decreasing. Remember, it is not just your personal credit that is important but also of any other owners that own over 10% so share this information with them!

In a previous newsletter, I recommended a service that has served me well. Although a portion of this service is Identify protection – which I believe everyone needs – their services to monitor credit are outstanding and extremely helpful. The below is a partial of the previous newsletter.

For years I have subscribed to a popular identity protection called LifeLock. I recently have dropped that plan to join a 10-year old company called Identity IQ or IDIQ. Not only am I provided with what I believe to be superior identity protection but they offer numerous tools in order to ensure that you put yourself in the best position possible when it comes time for you to obtain commercial credit, home loans, car loans, etc. Here are some of the services offered:

• Unlimited soft pulls from all 3 Bureaus – updated daily
• Notification of any change in score by 10 points
• Identity monitoring by notifying you of any new cell phone applications, utilities, bank accounts, change of addresses and more
• A ONE MILLION DOLLAR policy that includes coverage for attorney fees to cover stolen identity claims and more

The cost of the preferred service is $27.99 per month. (My LifeLock was $24.99 per month and did not offer nearly the benefits that I have now) Directly below is a link for more information. Click on it and scroll down to see a summary of other benefits that are offered such as Scorecaster IQ, Dark Web Monitoring and Identity Monitoring. It is the right thing to do to be informed about what your options are to put your financial future and identity in the most secure position possible.

Click here to go to our preferred service site.

I challenge you to take charge of your credit and protect your identity at the same time. You can potentially save many thousands of dollars with your next commercial credit loan.

Until next month,

Tim