For my US co-dwellers Fair Isaac Corp. FICO -1.19% said Thursday that it will stop including in its FICO credit-score calculations any record of a consumer failing to pay a bill if the bill has been paid or settled with a collection agency. The San Jose, Calif., company also will give less weight to unpaid medical bills that are with a collection agency. The moves follow months of discussions with lenders and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aimed at boosting lending without creating more credit risk. Since the recession, many lenders have approved only the best borrowers, usually those with few or no blemishes on their credit report. The changes are expected to boost consumer lending, especially among borrowers shut out of the market or charged high interest rates because of their low scores. It expands banks ability to make loans for people who might not have qualified and to offer a lower price [for others], said Nessa Feddis, senior vice president of consumer protection and payments at the American Bankers Association, a trade group. As of July, about 64.3 million consumers in the U.S. had a medical collection on their credit report, according to data from credit bureau Experian. And of the 106.5 million consumers with a collection on their report, 9.4 million had no balance—and wont be penalized under the new credit-score system..... online.wsj/articles/fico-recalibrates-its-credit-scores-1407443549?tesla=y
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 11:55:12 +0000