1. Which of the following factors do not affect your FICO score?

1. Your Household Income
2. How many credit cards you have
3. How many loans you have recently applied for
4. Having a mortgage

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a. The FICO score only incorporates information that is available from the three national credit bureaus. Your income is not reflected on any of those.

2. Which of the following actions will not likely improve my FICO score?

1. Paying my bills on time
2. Paying down my credit card balances
3. Opening a lot of new accounts to build my credit history
4. All of the above

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c. While establishing credit is important in building your credit profile, opening too many new accounts in a short period of time is likely to have the opposite effect and decrease your score.

3. True or False: Once my score drops below 680 it is impossible to raise it?

1. True
2. False

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b. False: By making your payments on time and controlling your level of debt, you can absolutely improve your score from whereever it is today.

4. True or False: If I am declined for a credit card, I have the right to request and receive a copy of my credit bureau report.

1. True
2. False

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a. True: If you are declined for credit, you have the right to request and receive a FREE copy of your credit bureau report from the credit bureau that was used by the credit card company in making its decision. This right is yours under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

5. Which of the following is not one of the major consumer credit bureaus in the United States?

1. American Express
2. Experian
3. Trans Union
4. Equifax

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a. American Express is an issuer of credit cards, not a credit bureau.

6. Which of the following should you do if your credit card is stolen?

1. Call the police
2. Call your credit card company
3. Call your mom
4. Just use another credit card and forget about it

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b and a. You should call your credit card company as soon as you realize your card is missing. It is also a good idea to report any theft to the police.

7. Which of the following items cannot be used by a lender to make a lending decision?

1. Your total amount of debt
2. The number of credit cards you have
3. Your household income
4. The source of your income

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d. It is not legal for a lender to consider the source of an applicant’s income in making a lending decision.

8. Which of the following describes the consumer credit bureaus?

1. Government agencies
2. Not-for-profits owned by the FDIC
3. For-profit companies owned by the banks
4. Independent for-profit companies

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d. The three consumer credit bureaus are independent companies working to make a profit from the information they sell.