Having a “Good Mix of Credit” is basically ten percent of your FICO score – so what does that mean exactly? Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean that you should have an AMEX, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Card. Instead it means that you should have different types of credit lines open to improve your credit score.

Most people are aware of the importance of a good credit score. Not only is it necessary for better rates when getting loans, but the application of the credit score as a measure of how “good” someone is has been extended to employees, renters, medical positions and so on. As such, it is vital to maintain a good credit score.

A “Charge Off” is an accounting term that creditors use when they assume after a period of delinquency that they are not able to collect on a debt that is owed to them. Creditors write that debt off as a loss against their income taxes. Just because a debt is charged off (or written off) does not mean the debt is forgiven. The money is still owed. The creditor will usually sell or assign the debt to a collection agency or a lawyer to effect collection.

Identity theft is a form of stealing someone’s identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person’s name. The victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if they are held accountable for the perpetrator’s actions.

Learning how to recognize credit repair scams will save you pain and money. The scammers promise to remove negative information from your Credit Report, so that you can be approved for future credit. They can’t deliver on those promises, and the fee you pay to them is lost. The good news is that these scams follow the same patterns, so once you understand how they work, you can avoid them.