LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Julia King was a mom of two when she was in school for social work. She paid for classes and supported her family by helping people repair their credit. 

What You Need To Know

  • People with higher credit scores save more monthly compared to those with lower credit scores

  • Insurance prices and interest rates are based on credit scores

  • Credit cards determine 30% of a person’s credit score

  • Job loss, medical emergencies, and divorces can trigger negative impacts on credit scores

“I love it when people call me from the closing table or they call me and say 'Julia ‘my score went up 100 points oh my God, we're almost there.’ They refinance their car loan and save hundreds of dollars every month. They're able to stop renting and paying half the price by purchasing a home and building equity and building something for their family and future,” said King. 

One month before graduation, she changed her major and then started King Financial Repair in Feb. 2013. 

“The reason that people contact us is they lost a job, they got sick, or they went through a divorce. Major life crises happen to good people. Bad things happen to good people and it's not their fault,” King said.

While it might not be their fault, it can make a big impact on their credit score which is reported to lenders and insurance companies.

“Anytime you have a collection a late pay or anything like that, that's going to drop your score 35%,” said King. “One late payment can affect somebody's score by 70 points, or two collections could drop their score by 100 points.”

King says on average a person with a credit score of 500 spends $1,000 more a month compared to a person with a score of 740 or higher making saving money, a common New Year’s resolution, challenging. 

“They're buying a house for $1,000 but they're paying rent for $1,750 for the same house. Their car insurance can go from $200 a month down to 120 because 40% based off of your credit score, and if they are financing a car they could get 0 or 1% on a new car, or they could be paying as much as 24.9%,” says King. 

King says small steps like staying off the phone with creditors, keeping credit card utilization below 20%, and checking your mail can help rebuild credit. 

“Avoiding any kind of collection letters and just throwing them away is detrimental to the credit report,” said King. 

King said it all starts with taking a look at your credit report. 

“You'd be surprised at the things in the errors that are on the report and being able to correct those errors. You can go to buy a home this year, be able to refinance that car loan save 10s or 1000s of dollars being able to do that,” said King. 

If you need help making sense of your credit report, King suggests reaching out to a professional. 

King Financial Repair offers a free 15 minute phone consultation for new clients who pay $1 to pull their credit report. 

King has written two books explaining credit reports and how to improve your credit score. 

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