Credit is the key to wealth building. Before you embark on any financial transaction you must understand your credit. Do you have good credit, ok credit, at risk credit?

A credit report is a snapshot of one’s payment history. It is used by lenders, insurance companies, landlords, and employers to determine a consumer’s willingness to pay and demonstrate their credit worthiness. One’s credit report and their FICO score (ranging from 300-850) will help financial institutions decide if one is eligible for a loan and if so what type of interest rate they can obtain. As consumers, we must use our credit reports to prove to others that we are a good risk when they consider us as a potential borrower, employees, tenants, etc.

Your credit score determines the interest rates you receive on home loans, car loans and credit cards. The better your credit score is the better the interest rate.

When you pay a lower interest rate (also considered the cost of taking the loan out) you save thousands of dollars in wasted interest and you build your equity much faster when you buy a home or any real estate investment.

FCLS understands that along the way good people face credit challenges. It is important to know that you deserve respect and fair lending practices regardless of your credit history. Yes you will pay higher interest rates on your loans; however you do not have to be gouged.

You can rebuild your credit regardless of your past history. The Fair Isaac Company, the company who created the system that tabulates your score, weighs the negatives and the positives through their software scoring system. Scores change daily based on activity and length of time since negative activity. If you work on adding new credit and rebuild your payment history your score will increase over time.

Consumers often surrender their credit and if you surrender your credit you will never build a solid financial future for your family.

Every year consumers are entitled to receive a free credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com.