When I say, “revolving credit,” I’m referring to any credit account you have where the monthly payment can vary. Credit cards are the most common form of revolving credit.

Of course, “revolving credit” refers to almost everything in your wallet or purse that’s plastic that you can use to buy something. This includes American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa credit cards. This also includes retail store cards such as Macy’s or Target, and gasoline cards.

The exceptions are check cards and debit cards. These little dudes may be plastic and have a MasterCard or Visa logo, but they aren’t really credit cards. They’re more like plastic checks than anything else. Debit cards have nothing to do with your credit scores.

Why your credit reports can show that your credit cards are maxed out when they’re not

In my case, my credit scores were lower than they should have been because I was using my personal credit cards for my business. An easy fix…I just applied for a corporate card and began using only that card for anything business related. (You should do the same if you have a small business.)

A few small business leases were also reporting as revolving accounts on my personal credit reports. Those were simple to resolve by just paying the small amounts off.

Then, I did a quick analysis of my credit reports.

The only way to really discover if revolving credit is lowering your scores is to do a quick analysis of your revolving credit accounts. (I’ll show you how at the end of this newsletter.) That’s how I found the big culprit that was destroying my credit scores…

Beware of home equity lines of credit

When I analyzed my credit reports I got a big surprise…I discovered several of my home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) were being misinterpreted as credit card accounts.

This was fooling the FICO scoring model into thinking that I had an enormous amount of credit card debt. But of course, I didn’t.

What I learned was that HELOC accounts can look exactly like a credit card account on your credit reports.

When I was trained by Fair Isaac Corporation, I got a different story. I was told there are two situations when a HELOC won’t be mistaken as a revolving credit card:

1. When the original amount of the line of credit is more than $50,000
2. If the account has a narrative attached to it (e.g., equity line of credit or real estate)

Even though Fair Isaac claims the above is true, I didn’t find that to be the case with my HELOCs.

It’s bad enough that my HELOCs were being mistaken as credit cards…but to make matters worse…all of my HELOCs were maxed out!When a HELOC is mistaken as a credit card, and it’s maxed out, then it looks like you have a high-limit credit card and you’re using all of its available credit—which lowers your credit scores. Ouch!

My HELOCs were lowering my FICO scores, and it was making it more expensive for me to get personal and business credit. This HELOC issue was a tough nut to crack. We were able to pay off a few of the smaller HELOCs. But we couldn’t afford to pay them all off. So we decided to refinance them into home equity installment loans (HEILs).

What’s better—a HELOC or a HEIL?

There are a couple of important differences between a HELOC and a HEIL. Once you understand the differences you can strategize on what’s best for your credit and financial situation.

Here are the differences:

- A HELOC is a revolving account. This means you can have variable monthly payments determined by the balance you owe each month. A HELOC also allows you to take some or all of the available credit out as you need it…just like a credit card.

- A HEIL is an installment account (just like a car loan or mortgage). This means you’ll have the same payment every month until it’s paid in full. A HEIL lets you take out only a fixed amount in one lump sum.

- A HELOC could be mistaken as a credit card account by the FICO scoring model because they report as revolving accounts. However, a HEIL cannot be mistaken as a credit card account because a HEIL appears on your credit reports as an installment account.

Because of the effect HELOCs may have on our credit scores, my wife and I are now committed to always using HEILs to tap equity in our properties even though the interest rates are usually higher.

How to protect yourself against holes in the credit system

Here’s a strategy you can use to insure yourself against the flaws we’ve been talking about in the credit system. If you want to tap into your home’s equity, apply for the highest HELOC amount you can qualify for. Just don’t use more than 10% of the limit. The most essential part of this strategy is your discipline after you’re approved. If you can keep yourself from going out and buying things with your new line of credit, you can really protect your credit scores.

This way, even if your HELOC is misinterpreted as a credit card, your credit scores can’t be hurt…in fact, it could even help them. So, a HELOC can be a good thing if your balance is extremely low or nonexistent.

My Wake-up Call

Had I not performed a quick revolving analysis of my credit reports—I never would have known my credit scores were suffering because of a simple credit misinterpretation.

Think about all of the things that can lower your FICO scores…late payments…too much credit card debt…too many inquiries, etc.

These are legitimate and understandable reasons why your scores would go down. But to lose points for a silly loophole in how HELOCs are reported is just…irritating.

It goes to prove what I’ve been teaching for more than 10 years now…having good credit takes more than paying your bills on time. Way more.

Stephen Snyder is the founder of the After Bankruptcy Foundation a non-profit organization that helps people recover after bankruptcy. He has helped thousands of people obtain a credit card after bankruptcy with a fair interest rate.

In practice, bad credit cannot prevent you from having bad credit business loans. Bad credit business loans can be difficult to find but they are certainly not impossible to find. Writing a good business loans application is key to getting it approved. There are a few things that the lender won’t neglect while providing you with business loans for bad credit. Business plan and its feasibility are crucial for bad credit business loans. Along with that lender will look for equity, collateral and repaying ability.

Now credit history is fundamental to getting a business loan approved. Since you have bad credit, you should start with your credit score. Obtain your credit report from any of the three credit reporting agencies – Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. Many people are unable to understand what the report and credit score signify. Credit score is given after studying the data in the credit history –

• Late payments

• The amount of time credit has been established

• The amount of credit used versus the amount of credit

available

• Length of time at present residence

• Employment history

• Negative credit information such as bankruptcies, charge-offs, collections, etc.

A Bad credit business loan lender will usually use a FICO score to identify your bad credit. Fico score ranges from 340-850. The lower your score is the chances are you might be seen as a greater credit risk. Any business loan borrower with a credit score below 600 is considered as bad credit. Here the business loans application will be approved with the added compensation of higher interest rates and down payment. Higher interest rate is attached to bad credit business loans. Research would be an investment worth it while finding a bad credit business loan. Comparatively low interest rates are possible for bad credit business loan.

You should be aware of your exact credit score before you apply for bad credit business loan. In case you have improved your credit score since you last saw, you can get lower interest rates. Credit repair may be a good step before you apply for bad credit business loans. Bad credit will not vanish immediately but there will be a gradual improvement. Don’t make credit repair without thinking for it may backfire. For shutting down a credit card because the interest rates are high, can harm your credit score.

Bad credit would not be the only criteria for getting business loan. If you can prove the ability to repay in spite of bad credit your loan will be approved. Bad credit business loan application should have

• nature of your business
• the objective of using the business loan
• business name
• Your social security number
• proof of ownership
• letters of reference
• contracts, tax returns
• financial statements, credit references
• Incorporation or LLC organizational document

It is important that a lawyer reviews your bad credit business loan application. Read the fine print and check carefully for things like hidden charges, including annual fees, bank charges, closing costs, commissions and balloon payments.

$50,000-$200,000 is the range for bad credit business loan. This will depend basically on your loan repayment ability. Try to make a claim that is practical for your situation. Failure to repay will have serious repercussions on your credit which is already marred.

A business loan works in exactly the same way as a personal loan, the only difference is that it is the business doing the borrowing, not the individual. Bad credit business loans are used for a variety of reasons, including starting a new business, purchasing an existing business or refinancing an existing business. Whether it is to alleviate cash flow problems or fund future activity, a loan can provide a business with instant funding.

You are in record a financial risk – you may not be that otherwise. Bad credit business loans are meant to argue against the record in favour of the creditability of the person himself.

After having herself gone through the ordeal of loan borrowing, Natasha Anderson understands the need for good quality loan advice. Her articles endeavor to provide you the wise counsel in the most elementary way for the benefit of the readers. She hopes that this will help them to locate the loan that beseems their expectations. She works for the UK secured loan web site uk finance world.To find a Secured or unsecured loan that best suits your needs visit http://www.ukfinanceworld.co.uk