STROUDSBURG — After filing chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, Sears has announced they will close an additional 40 Sears and Kmart stores, including the Stroud Mall Sears location. The announcement came less than three months after the company stated they would close dozens more locations. A total of 142 locations will close before the end of the year.The list of new closings, reported Thursday afternoon, would bring Sears' store count down to nearly 500 stores nationwide. [...]
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الخميس، 8 نوفمبر 2018
This FTC Lawsuit Could Help Protect You from Health Insurance Scammers
The suit was filed against six corporations operating out of the same Hollywood, Florida, address and Steven J. Dorfman, who owned or was affiliated with all of them.
“Defendants prey on consumers who are seeking comprehensive health insurance,” the Federal Trade Commission wrote in the suit.
One woman received $61,000 in hospital bills she was assured her policy would pick up, but not a dime was covered, the Federal Trade Commission alleges.
Simple Health Plans — which operated under a dozen other names — and several other companies were shut down temporarily by a federal judge in South Florida last week after being sued by the commission.
Dorfman’s attorney, Ryan O’Quinn, told the Miami Herald that Dorfman “vigorously denies” the allegations and “looks forward to having an opportunity to defend himself in the appropriate forum.”
How the Alleged Health Insurance Scam Works
The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Simple Health Plans and its affiliates accepted premiums of as much as $500 per month, plus a one-time enrollment fee of up to $175, for sham insurance coverage. The companies have taken in more than $100 million in the past three years, according to the suit.
The commission is asking a judge for a temporary restraining order that would permit a receiver to seize assets the government believes were bought using corporate funds. They include more than $1.1 million in luxury jewelry-store purchases and three cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars combined.
Simple Health Plans marketed a product it claimed was a PPO (preferred provider organization), deceiving consumers into believing that their plans covered pre-existing conditions as required by the Affordable Care Act, the government alleges. PPOs are health insurance plans that contract with medical professionals to provide care to policyholders at a reduced rate.
In fact, the products sold through Simple Health Plans were not health insurance, but medical discount or wellness program memberships or limited benefit plans — also known as limited benefit indemnity plans — that don’t cover pre-existing conditions or prescription drugs, the Federal Trade Commission says.
A typical plan paid for a maximum of three annual doctor visits at $50 each and a maximum of $100 a day for a hospital stay — both a fraction of the real cost. A telemarketer told an undercover investigator that he would pay between $4 and $12 for a diabetes drug that actually would have cost between $850 and $900, court documents show.
When customers agreed to sign up, they were transferred from a telemarketer to another employee for a “verification process” and pressured to commit even if they didn’t understand contract language that was read or sent to them by email or text, the lawsuit alleges.
“There is a vast difference between what Defendants promise consumers and what consumers actually get,” according to the suit.
Health Benefits One, Health Center Management, Innovative Customer Care, Simple Insurance Leads and Senior Benefits One also are named in the complaint, filed Oct. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
How to Avoid Falling for Health Insurance Scams
So, how can you protect yourself?
The Federal Trade Commission has advice for spotting a host of health care scams — including medical discount scams, phony insurance agents, con artists who insist you must divulge personal information to get a new Medicare or other health insurance ID card and fraudsters who offer to help you shop for coverage in the Health Insurance Marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act.
If you suspect a health-insurance scam, call the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 or email the agency.
Shop directly in the Health Insurance Marketplace for coverage under the Affordable Care Act or see The Penny Hoarder guide on how to enroll.
Susan Jacobson is an editor at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes about health and wellness.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Uber Launches a Subscription Plan in 5 Cities — Starting at $14.99 a Month
That’s why Uber launched a subscription plan last week promising riders consistent prices on unlimited rides throughout the month.
Those who sign up for the plan don’t have to worry about price surges when there’s a high demand for rides or differences in costs based on traffic or the time of day.
Uber’s plan doesn’t lay out a specific cost per trip, but The Verge reported the locked-in rates riders pay will be based on historical prices and will be discounted up to 15%.
The compensation drivers receive will not change based on the discounted rides.
The subscription plans start at $14.99 and is being piloted in five cities — Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami and Orlando. According to The Verge, riders in Los Angeles must pay $24.99 a month for the plan, but the service in that city is expected to expand soon to include free access to Uber-owned JUMP bikes and scooters. Subscribers in the other four cities pay $14.99.
The subscription plan cost is the up-front fee to enroll users in the program. Riders pay for each trip separately when they schedule a ride.
Once you’re signed up, the service automatically renews your subscription at the end of the month, but you can cancel anytime.
The announcement of Uber’s subscription service follows news earlier in October that Lyft’s subscription plan is available throughout the country. Subscribers to the rival company’s plan pay $299 for the month to get 30 “free” rides — as long as the ride would typically cost $15 or less. We wrote about Lyft testing a version of that plan back in July.
Uber’s $14.99 base price sounds a lot less daunting than Lyft’s $299, but it depends on the locked-in rate of the Uber trip and how often you’d use the service. For example, if you’re taking 30 $10 rides a month with Uber’s Ride Pass, you’d be paying $300 — plus the initial $14.99 or $24.99 — which would bring your total to more than the cost of Lyft’s subscription plan.
You’ll have to tap into your math skills to figure out which subscription plan is better for you, but it’s worth it if it saves you money.
Opting in to a subscription plan can also benefit riders who don’t want to gamble on price fluctuations throughout the month. It certainly makes it easier to stick to a budget when you know that $15 ride to work won’t jump to $25 on the way home.
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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What Is Wealth in America?
A few readers pointed me to a Bloomberg article entitled How Much Money Do You Need To Be Wealthy in America? and wanted to know my thoughts.
Before I dig in, I want to point out that the author of this article, Suzanne Woolley, did a good job of reporting on the results of the survey in question. My issue is with the results of the survey, not the survey itself or how Suzanne summarized it.
Let’s back up for just a second. This Bloomberg article provides a summary of the 2018 Modern Wealth Index, a study done by Charles Schwab in which the company surveyed a thousand Americans on their financial state and financial goals.
Schwab’s summary of the results of the survey is pretty on par with what I’d expect:
New research from Charles Schwab shows that three in five Americans live paycheck to paycheck and that only one in four have a written financial plan, but those who do exhibit positive investing and saving behavior.
It’s when you start digging into the details that some revelatory things appear. Here are seven big things I noticed when looking at this information that are helpful for me (and probably for you) in terms of looking at personal finances.
#1 – How Much Do You Need To Be Wealthy?
The Bloomberg offers up this interesting look into what people define as “wealthy”:
To be financially comfortable in America today requires an average of $1.4 million, up from $1.2 million a year ago, according to the survey. The net worth needed to be “wealthy”? That’s an average $2.4 million.
It’s really important here to look at this as an “average.”
Let’s say that you have five recipients. One of them says that you need $4 million to be comfortable and the other four say $600,000. The average? $1.4 million, just like the survey.
There’s also the issue that the amount varies a lot from area to area across the United States. $1.4 million in San Francisco just doesn’t go as far as $1.4 million here in northern Iowa.
The third issue that springs to mind here is that different people have very, very different views of what is needed to be “wealthy,” beyond merely what cost of living is in their area. For me personally, being “wealthy” merely means that there’s no short term situation that can really derail your life. Your car fails? You can replace it without derailing your life. You lose your job? No major crisis, not for years. Your house burns to the ground? You can quickly rent an apartment.
To me, that’s “wealthy,” at least in a financial sense, and the dollar amount needed to get there is pretty small. I would define us as definitely “wealthy” within that constraint.
Others define “wealthy” much differently (in the financial sense) and it usually involves some material trappings or access to high end experiences (like world travel on a consistent basis). It’s my belief that there are people in very bad financial shape that couldn’t afford much of a negative turn who enjoy the kinds of trappings people associate with “wealthy,” but I don’t consider them wealthy.
What do you consider “wealthy”? It’s worth remembering that, when you read media articles describing someone as “wealthy,” it might not remotely match what you’re thinking of.
#2 – What Is Wealth?
Another quote from the Bloomberg summary:
While 18 percent defined wealth as being able to afford anything they desired, 17 percent said it was “loving relationships with family and friends.”
It goes on:
When asked about what made respondents feel “wealthy” in their daily lives, the survey found that spending time with family was most commonly cited, at 62 percent overall. That was followed by what can be the most elusive of things, cited at about the same level across generations: “taking time for myself,” which came in at 55 percent.
This is a part of the article I really enjoyed, because it centered wealth in terms of other aspects of life besides money.
Wealth isn’t just expressed in dollars and cents. It’s expressed in the number of great relationships you have. It’s expressed in the number of meaningful quality experiences you have.
For me, it’s expressed in the frequency in which you can slip into a flow state, where you’re able to be so engrossed in something that you lose track of time and place. To me, a wealthy life is one where that happens quite frequently.
Wealth does not just mean money. In fact, I often view money as merely a tool to help build this kind of wealth, but this kind of wealth actually doesn’t require a whole lot of money to build. It just requires commitment and a willingness to use one’s spare time in a meaningful way rather than just letting time pass on unimportant things.
Use your spare time to build relationships and build understanding and build knowledge and experience meaningful things. That’s a powerful way to build personal wealth in a way that isn’t expressed in one’s net worth. Don’t just let your time and energy and focus idle by.
#3 – What Is “Luxury”? A Good Daily Life
Another quote from the Bloomberg article:
Life’s little luxuries matter, too—but they are called “luxuries” for a reason. Having meals out or food delivered made 41 percent of people feel “wealthy” in their daily lives. Even services such as Netflix, Spotify or Amazon Prime made life feel richer for an overall 33 percent—particularly for millennials, at 44 percent, compared with 29 percent and 23 percent for Generation X and baby boomers, respectively. Write-in comments for what made people feel “wealthy” included “access to healthcare,” “being able to help close friends and family financially” and “just waking up in the morning.” Only one of those doesn’t require money—sort of.
If you dig into the survey data, the top seven items that people listed when it comes to a rich daily life were spending time with family (62% of respondents), taking time for myself (55% of respondents), owning a home (49% of respondents), meals out or delivered (41% of respondents), subscription services like Netflix (33% of respondents), grooming and pampering (29% of respondents), and having the latest tech gadgets (27% of respondents). All other items were below 25%, including having a busy social life and a bunch of specific examples of spending.
It’s worth noting that the top two responses have very little to do with money at all, while the next five are all “treats” that people buy for themselves that require some degree of financial commitment.
It has been my experience that when you buy a “treat” for yourself, the happiness and pleasure that you derive from the actual treat is fleeting. On rare occasion, it will form a lasting happy memory, but that happy memory often has more to do with other people or for a minor aspect of the “treat” than the treat itself. This becomes particularly true when a “treat” becomes a daily thing and goes from being something special to being an ordinary daily routine.
In other words, I’m truly glad that “spending time with family” and “taking time for myself” were the top choices here when describing a rich daily life. A rich daily life, in my opinion, centers around things from which happiness bubbles up from naturally – relationships, meaningful experiences, using your skills and talents – rather than efforts to simply buy your way straight to fleeting happiness by buying “perks.”
A great example: investing the time to build the skills needed to cook at home provides a foundation for happiness to bubble up regularly. It might be really frustrating at times to get there, but when you do, you don’t have to “buy” the joy of a good meal any more.
You can’t buy lasting happiness. Instead, you find it while doing other things. You can buy luxuries, but those provide fleeting happiness.
#4 – Needing a Written Financial Plan
From the Bloomberg summary article:
In line with many other surveys put out by financial services firms, the Schwab survey stresses how people who have a written financial plan feel more stable and are more on top of their daily finances. Some 52 percent of boomers, however, said they didn’t have a plan because they didn’t have enough money to need a plan. People that chose “other” to explain why they lacked a financial plan wrote in responses such as “I have trust issues with financial people, especially after the 2008 crisis” and “all my information has been compromised by criminals.” Not a lot of “peace of mind” there.
If you want to achieve financial success, one of the most important things you can do is come up with a financial plan, write it down, review and revise it, finalize it, and stick to it. It doesn’t matter whether you have almost no assets or you’re a millionaire – without a clear plan for how you’re going to move forward and improve your financial state, you’re probably not going to improve your financial state.
It does need to be said that a plan alone doesn’t fix everything. It’s a given that the plan needs to be solid and it also needs to be realistic, but it also hinges on a person’s willingness (and ability) to follow through with the plan they’ve made.
The reality is that a well-considered plan that you actually wrote down in detail is a plan that you’re far more likely to follow through with than a vague idea of how you’re going to succeed that floats in your head.
It’s the same reason why, although I don’t believe goals are the be-all-end-all of how to improve yourself, I strongly advocate for writing down your goals and creating detailed plans for achieving them.
What’s that reason? It’s all about translating a big vision into everyday action and routine and habit. It is really hard to do that when a big goal is just an idea floating in your head. When you crystallize it, make it clear, come up with a plan, write it down, revise it, and attempt to make the steps toward that goal present in your everyday life, you will vastly increase your chances of success.
#5 – Youth Engagement in Finances
From the Schwab survey results summary:
According to the Modern Wealth Index, millennials are in many cases more focused on saving, investing and financial planning than older generations:
* 31% have a written financial plan compared to 20 percent of Gen X and 22 percent of Boomers
* 36% have specific savings goals compared to 25 percent of Gen X and 17 percent of Boomer
* Nearly three-quarters regularly rebalance their investment portfolios compared to 66 percent of Gen X and 64 percent of Boomers
* Millennials are almost as likely as Boomers to work with a financial advisor (22% and 25%, respectively) while Gen X lags (16%)
* 64% of millennials believe they will become wealthy in their lifetime
I don’t really buy into the whole “generational” thing, as I generally think cohorts by decade are more useful. However, in terms of looking at general trends, it’s a useful way to get a thumbnail of young adults (“millennials”), middle aged folks (“Generation X”), and people at or near retirement age (“Boomers”).
My experience has been that younger people today walk into their early adult lives with far more burdens on their shoulders than previous generations did. They’re often saddled with student loans that add up to more than their initial salary. Many of them don’t have a college degree to get ahead and score a great job, but merely to compete for a halfway decent job.
That forces people into planning ahead and considering their future more than it would for people who walk into the job market and adult life without those burdens, as most people did forty or fifty years ago.
I was on the cusp of that change, entering the job market in 2002. I was lucky enough to have only moderate student loans (still in the five figures, but not nearly as high as they could have been thanks to scholarships), but I certainly witnessed friends having far higher loan totals than me and I witnessed that a college degree doesn’t mean an automatic ticket to a great job.
Because of those factors, I was forced into financial responsibility pretty quickly. I think that the experience is similar for a lot of millennials, simply because the burden is so high.
#6 – The Key to Wealth?
From the Bloomberg summary article:
The survey found that the American Dream is not dead, at least the one that dictates that making money is indeed the path to bliss. Some 49 percent of respondents said that saving and investing is “the key to wealth,” with another 40 percent choosing “hard work.” Eleven percent, however, cited luck.
Investing is the key to wealth only if you have enough income to be able to invest. You get to that point via hard work, frugality, and… luck.
Like it or not, luck plays a pretty big role in things. The circumstances of your birth play a large role in how successful you’re able to become, particularly if you’re a person of average or somewhat above average talent. Truly exceptional people will almost always rise up, but those people are pretty rare. It’s the somewhat talented that really benefit from luck and good circumstances.
That being said, there are many things you can do to create your own luck. Build lots of relationships, and be helpful in those relationships. Make yourself go to situations where you might build relationships and meet people who can help your career (and maybe you can help them, too). Spend your spare time sharpening your skills instead of staring at Netflix. Don’t be afraid to speak up, and when there are opportunities to present or speak publicly, jump on board with them.
Those things make it much easier to find opportunities and take advantage of them when they present themselves. Yes, luck occurs, but you can create fertile soil in your life for luck to take root and turn into great fortune.
#7 – Don’t Let Media or Surveys Tell Your Story
It is really easy when reading survey results like these to try to make your life match up to the patterns described in the article. It’s natural – that’s what humans do. We are very very skilled at pattern matching and we do it all the time, even when it’s not really warranted.
The truth is that big broad patterns like these don’t really fit the realities of your life. This is true for everyone – a big composite picture might look somewhat like you, but it doesn’t look anywhere near exactly like you.
Don’t define what matters in your life by what matters in the lives of others. Figure out what matters in your own life.
Don’t define financial success by how others define it. Set goals that are meaningful for you and work to achieve those goals, not the goals others have for themselves.
Don’t define “luxury” by what other people are saying that they want. Rather, define “luxury” by the moments in your life that bring you true lasting joy and pleasure, whatever they might be.
You can’t buy happiness, so don’t try. Rather, figure out what things in your life genuinely bring forth happiness on their own and strive to build those things.
Information like this is useful for seeing a snapshot of society as a whole, but that shouldn’t be a substitute for looking at your own life. You aren’t that snapshot.
So, why do we even want to look at such snapshots? The reason is simple – we can learn useful things for ourselves from them.
We don’t necessarily want to adopt the goals we read about, but we certainly might want to steal some of their tactics and use them toward our own goals.
We don’t necessarily want to do every single thing on a long list of frugal tactics, but we might see two or three that are really useful for us.
It can provide us an opportunity to step back and look at the hurdles that other people are leaping over in their life, and we can see what similar hurdles are in our own life and think about how we can leap our own hurdles.
Learn from other people. Take the useful things they do and apply them to where you want to go.
Don’t let the media tell your story for you. Rather, define your own story and use the media to steal tactics to help you finish that story with a happy ending.
Good luck!
The post What Is Wealth in America? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Grow Your Money Faster With These 3 Savings Accounts You’ve Never Heard of
More than a quarter of Americans don’t have a savings account, according to recent data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That means we’re missing out on the joys of interest, an effortless way your money can make money for you. (Psst… that’s free money.)
The key to finding the best savings account is to look for one with a high interest rate and few (or ideally no) fees.
3 Smart Savings Accounts You’ve Never Heard of
Interest rates fluctuate with the market. The average savings account pays out 0.09% APY, according to October 2018 data from Bankrate.
With that in mind, we rounded up some unexpected savings options that offer high interest rates so you can make the best choice for your money.
1. Varo Savings Account: Earn 1.75% Interest
It’s time to move your money into the 21st century. An iOS app called Varo Money combines traditional banking tools with modern technology to help its customers become financially healthy.
Here’s the best part: Pair your Bank Account with a Varo Savings Account where you’ll earn 1.75% annual percentage yield. That’s nearly 20 times — repeat, 20 times — the average savings account.
2. CIT Bank Flexible Savings Builder: Earn 2.15% Interest
CIT Bank (not to be confused with Citibank) offers a few high-yield savings options, including its flexible savings builder, which offers interest rates nearly 24 times the average.
You’ll qualify for the 2.15% interest rate when you deposit at least $100 a month into your account. To make this transaction automatic, initiate a direct deposit of at least $100 from your paycheck.
3. Digit: Earn a 1% Savings Bonus
Digit is an app that helps you effortlessly build your savings. Link your checking account to the app and, depending on your goals, its algorithms will determine small (and safe!) amounts of money to withdraw into its separate FDIC-insured savings account.
It offers an annual 1% savings bonus, which is issued every three months and is still higher than most other savings accounts.
The app is free for your first 30 days, then costs $2.99 a month. You’ll snag an exclusive $5 bonus when you sign up through The Penny Hoarder.
Bonus: Long Game Savings: Earn 0.1% APY Plus Cash Winnings
A savings app called Long Game turns saving money into a game. Plus, you’ll earn interest on your balance and even have opportunities to win cash by playing games.
I used Long Game to save money. Every two weeks, it snuck $5 out of my bank account and rewarded me with coins.
In two months, I saved $35.70. Plus, my winnings amounted to a gain of about 2% — way higher than interest on any other savings account.
Once you link your bank account, you’ll earn 300 coins, so you can start playing while you wait for payday. Plus, Penny Hoarders can enter the code PENNY to get a bonus 500 coins.
Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.
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Blakeslee welcomes warehouse as industrial park takes shape
BLAKESLEE — With the opening of the American Tire Distributors warehouse, New Ventures Commercial Park is beginning to take shape and officials are excited.A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday to open the 1,000,000 square foot facility that will hold up to 2.5 million tires and service 40 distribution centers across the continent.“We are proud to open the doors of our newest mega-warehouse right here in Blakeslee – a wonderful community and the [...]
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Don't Waffle On This: Take the Waffle House Quiz
Think you know your scattered from your smothered? Take the Waffle House Quiz and find out your WaHo IQ.
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Don't Waffle On This: Take the Waffle House Quiz
Think you know your scattered from your smothered? Take the Waffle House Quiz and find out your WaHo IQ.
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2zEQRoe
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2zEQRoe
Credit FAQ: When Does a Late Payment Show Up on My Credit Report?
If there are two truths about credit scoring, it’s that paying your bills on time is a must, and there’s no shortage of complicated industry jargon.
You probably already understand the former, which is the importance of keeping your credit reports free and clear of late payments. The latter may be another story.
One such industry term is payment status, which is one of many ways companies that report your information to the credit bureaus can choose to share negative information, when warranted, about your accounts. The most common of all of the payment status options is the “late” payment, which itself is a bit complicated.
When Can a Lender Report My Late Payment?
This question is the source of much confusion and, frankly, incorrect blogging. The credit bureaus have a different definition of “late” than the one you’ll find in Webster’s Dictionary.
Before a late payment can be reported on your credit reports, two things must occur: First, a lender must choose to communicate the information about your late payment to the credit reporting agencies, or CRAs. Second, the CRAs must accept that information.
Credit reporting is a voluntary process. Lenders do not have to furnish your account information to the CRAs. Even if a lender does opt to report your accounts, it is under no legal obligation to report late payments as soon as they occur.
So while many lenders do report late payments to the CRAs as soon as they’re allowed to, other lenders may wait until a customer is 60 or even 90 days past due before reporting the delinquency.
If a lender does choose to report late payments, it must follow the CRAs’ credit reporting guidelines. Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, the three major credit bureaus, have an industry-wide policy with regard to late payment reporting. Per the policy, your lenders aren’t allowed to report accounts as being late until a customer is at least a full 30 days past the due date. There’s no systemic option to report accounts as being past due by one to 29 days. This is where the definition of “late” diverts from the credit reporting guidelines.
If your payment is even one day late, there could be other consequences, of course. Yet while your lender might charge you a late fee, or your card issuer could close your account, your credit reports cannot reflect a late payment status until the due date has come, gone, and 30 more days have passed.
Late Payment Status Credit Reporting Options
The credit industry standards only allow for the following late payment statuses:
- 30-59 days late
- 60-89 days late
- 90-119 days late
- 120-149 days late
- 150-179 days late
- 180 days late or more
Lenders must choose from the above options when reporting any late payment to the CRAs. As you can see, there’s no option available for accounts that are late, but less than 30 days late. Accounts that are late but not a full 30 days late must be reported as still being “current,” even though they really aren’t.
Your credit reports also cannot reflect a more serious delinquency status until you’ve officially crossed over the threshold and into the next category of lateness. You could be 59 days late on an account and your lender cannot report you as being 60-89 days late until at least one more day clicks off the calendar. The same goes for every one of the above late payment ranges. You can’t be reported in any of them until you are squarely within the time frame.
How Long Will a Late Payment Status Stay on My Account?
If your account is at least 30 days late and you have one of these late payments on your credit reports, you’re stuck with it for as long as seven years.
But, if you “cure” your account — meaning you get back to current with your payments — then the lender has to stop reporting you as being currently past due and show your account as being in good standing. The late payment will then drop into a section of your credit report that shows “historical” late payments, where it will sit for the next seven years.
More by John Ulzheimer:
- 10 Things You Won’t Find on a Credit Report
- Here’s How Credit Scoring Models Actually Work
- Which Bills Affect Your Credit Score (and Which Ones Don’t)?
John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. The author of four books on the subject, Ulzheimer has been featured thousands of times over the past decade in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, The Los Angeles Times, CNBC, and countless others. With professional experience at both Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.
The post Credit FAQ: When Does a Late Payment Show Up on My Credit Report? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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