Credit & Lending Terms

A person who signs credit agreement, will take responsibility for paying
back the loan if the primary signer default

A score based off of your payment history reported to credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Transunion), its a three digit number from 300 to 900 and tells a lender how reliable you are as a borrower

A payment put off to a future date for an extended period of time. For example: when you have a student loan and you don't have a job, you can defer your payments until you have a job.

An account in which a payment has not been made or payments are behind or late.

If a payment is not rcceived on the required due date there is a period of time in which the cardholder will not have any penalties, fees, or charges for a certain number of days (i.e. 5 days)

Credit provided to two or more people (usually spouses) in which each party is equally responsible for the paying the debt back. Shows up on both credit reports.

A payment made after the required due date or the last day of a grace period.

A card that debits money from a checking account and deducts your money almost automatically

An interest rate on a credit account that does not change and stays the same for the duration of the account.

An interest rate that can go up or down depending on the market (prime rate) without notice or permission from the card holder.

A fee that is charged when a payment is not made on time

The lowest possible and accepted payment a cardholder can make on a credit account which includes principle and interest.

The amount of a credit account that has not been paid back and will continue to have interest charged to it.

When you charge or create a balance that is greater than the limit assigned by the creditor.

This is the interest rate for a credit account (credit cards) for a specific period of time. If you pay 36% for the APR your periodic rate is going to 3% (36% divide by the number of periods paid back in one year)

Fee applied once a year (annually) for just for having an account with the lender or in some cases inactivity.

ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE:
cost of carrying a balance for one year equal to the amount owed in interest each month for 12 months

The amount of money left on a credit card.

Credit Limit - Account Balance = Avail. Credit

A legal declaration of the inablility to pay debts, in which a persons debt is abolished, the creditor must charge off your account. However, the declaration stays on a persons credit report for 7 years.

The number of days between each statement date - shows the charges, payments and finances charges for a specific period of time.

A listing of all the charges, balance owed, payment required, credit limit available and payment due date.

A written statement of terms and conditions relating to a credit card account when the account is opened.

A non profit organization that provides free or low cost counseling and guidance to people who are experiencing financial difficulty.

Companies that collects and sells credit information about how well people manage their debt. The only sell information to accredited agencies (banks, credit unions, and lenders).

Record of how people manage their debts. Includes how well accounts are paid, how much debt a person has can include any backruptcies or judgements.

The maximum amount a creditor will let you spend.

When a borrower supplies some sort of collateral (car, cash, asset) to secure a loan with a lender. Usually in the case of extremely large loans, or people who have bad credit or little credit history.

A loan given on approval based alone on someones credit history.

A line of credit in which the borrower can charge and pay on the account for any given amount of time. Example - Credit Cards

A loan given for a specific amount of money with equal payments due on a spefic day until the loan is paid in full. Example - Car Loan