Sadly, today's busy agendas often find women canceling most positive and healthy thing they can do: gather with other women to engage in kind of "rapport" and "report" talk that hallmark feminine conversations. The corporate women's networks that generate most return for time and money investment allow for nuts-and-bolts training needed for business while also creating plenty of opportunity for mentoring, problem-solving and informal sharing of personal issues.

Create a gathering of women and stand back. The energy reborn from conversation, caring, compassion and concern can move a community, a business, and a nation into a higher place.

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NOTE: This information is free if you request it within 60 days of being turned down for credit. The credit reporting agency can tell you what’s in your report, but only creditor can tell you why your application was denied. If you’ve been denied credit, or didn’t get rate or credit terms you want, ask creditor if a credit scoring system was used. Be sure to ask what characteristics or factors were used in that system, and best ways to improve you application.

If you get credit, ask creditor whether you are getting best rate and terms available and, if not, why. If you are not offered best rate available because of inaccuracies in your credit report, be sure to dispute inaccurate information in your credit report. Under Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a credit scoring system may not use certain characteristics like: Race, Sex, Marital status, National origin, or Religion. However, creditors are allowed to use age in properly designed scoring systems. But any scoring system that includes age must give equal treatment to elderly applicants. What can I do to improve my score?

Credit scoring models are complex and often vary among creditors, and for different types of credit. If one factor changes, your score may change. But improvement generally depends on how that factor relates to other factors considered by model.

NOTE: Only creditor can explain what might improve your score under particular model used to evaluate your credit application. Nevertheless, scoring models generally evaluate following types of information in your credit report: • Have you paid your bills on time? Payment history is a significant factor. It is likely that your score will be affected negatively if you have paid bills late, had an account referred to collections, or declared bankruptcy, if that history is reflected on your credit report.

• What is your outstanding debt? Many scoring models evaluate amount of debt you have compared to your credit limits. If amount you owe is close to your credit limit, that is likely to have a negative effect on your score.

• How long is your credit history? Generally, models consider length of your credit track record. An insufficient credit history may have an effect on your score, but that can be offset by other factors, such as timely payment and low balances.

• Have you applied for new credit recently? Many scoring models look at inquiries” on your credit report when you apply for credit. If you have applied for too many new accounts recently, that may negatively affect your score. However, not all inquiries are counted. Inquiries by creditors who are monitoring your account or looking at credit reports to make “prescreened” credit offers are not counted.

• How many and what type of credit accounts do you have? Although it is generally good to have established credit accounts, too many credit card accounts may have a negative effect on your score. In addition, many models consider type of credit accounts you have. For example, under some scoring models, loans form finance companies may negatively affect your credit score. Scoring models may be based on more than just information in your credit report. For example, model may consider information from your credit application as well: your job or occupation, length of employment, or whether you own a home. Bottom Line: To improve you credit score under most models, concentrate on paying your bills on time, paying down outstanding balances, and not taking on new debts. It’s likely to take some time to improve your score significantly.

Credit and You are a group of expert on credit and author of “CREDIT AND YOU ... Secrets To Improving Your Credit Rating.” Feel free to pass this article along to family and friends. And be sure to pick up your FREE 7 day course on “Credit Basics” at http://www.creditandyou.com.

Copyright © 2002-2003 Credit and You | All Rights Reserved |

Credit and You are a group of expert on credit and the authors of “CREDIT AND YOU ... Secrets To Improving Your Credit Rating.” Feel free to pass this article along to family and friends. And be sure to pick up your FREE 7 day course on “Credit Basics” at http://www.creditandyou.com