Every strong business credit profile starts the same unglamorous way: with vendor accounts. Before the credit cards and the credit lines come the net-30s. What Is a Net-30 Account? A net-30 account is simple trade credit: a vendor lets your business buy now and pay the invoice in full within 30 days. (Net-15 and net-60
Net-30 Vendor Accounts: The First Tradelines Every New Business Should Open Read More »
A charge-off is one of the most misunderstood lines on a credit report. People see the word and assume the debt was written off, forgiven, or closed out. It was not. A charge-off is an accounting decision the lender made about its own books, and it says nothing about whether you still owe the money.
Charge-Offs on Your Credit Report: Fix These 5 Issues Read More »
Most business owners find out about business credit the hard way: a bank denial. You have revenue, you have customers, and the lender still says no, because on paper your company has no credit history of its own. Business credit fixes that. What Is Business Credit? Business credit is a credit profile built under your
What Is Business Credit and Why Your EIN Needs Its Own Score Read More »
If business credit has a front door, it is the D-U-N-S number. Before most vendors, lenders, and even some contracts will recognize your company, Dun & Bradstreet needs to know it exists. What Is a D-U-N-S Number? A D-U-N-S number is a unique nine-digit identifier that Dun & Bradstreet assigns to your business. It is
How to Get a D-U-N-S Number (and Why It Matters) Read More »
Pay for delete is a negotiation: you offer to pay a collection account, in full or settled, in exchange for the collector removing the account from your credit reports entirely. Not marked paid. Gone. Here is how it actually works, when it is worth attempting, and how to protect yourself while you try. Does Pay
Pay for Delete: How It Works and How to Negotiate It Read More »
A credit builder loan is the backwards loan: you make the payments first and get the money at the end. That reversal is exactly what makes it one of the safest, cheapest ways to build credit from nothing or rebuild after damage, because the lender takes almost no risk and therefore does not need your
Credit Builder Loans: How They Work and Who They Help Read More »
Secured credit cards are the workhorse of credit building: nearly guaranteed approval, real bureau reporting, and a refundable deposit instead of a credit check standing between you and an account. But the difference between the best secured cards and the worst is enormous, and the worst ones are marketed hardest to the people who can
Best Secured Credit Cards: How to Choose One That Builds Credit Read More »
Corporate credit is the credit profile a company builds in its own name, scored under its EIN and separate from any owner’s personal file. The term is often used interchangeably with business credit, and for good reason: the machinery is the same. What people usually mean by “corporate credit” is business credit taken to its
Corporate Credit: What It Is and How to Build It Read More »
You formed the LLC, you have revenue, and the bank still said no. For most LLC owners the decline has nothing to do with how good the business is. It comes from a short list of fixable setup issues that make the company look risky, or invisible, to lenders. Lenders and credit bureaus verify your
Business Credit for LLCs: Fix These 9 Issues Read More »
A tradeline is simply any credit account that appears on a credit report: a credit card, a car loan, a mortgage, a business vendor account. Every tradeline tells the same short story, who opened it, how big it is, and whether it gets paid on time, and your credit score is essentially a grade on
What Is a Tradeline? (And How Tradelines Build Credit) Read More »