Credit rebuilding: Join the club!

ST. PETERSBURG — Having good credit matters. Creditors use credit-scoring systems to determine if you’d be a good risk for credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. Other types of businesses, including auto and homeowners insurance companies and phone companies, are using credit scores to decide whether to issue you a policy or provide you with a service and on what terms. A higher credit score is taken to mean you are less of a risk, which, in turn, means you are more likely to get credit or insurance – or pay less for it.

If circumstances such as job loss or health problems caused you to experience difficulties in paying bills and meeting all your obligations on time and your credit suffered as a consequence, there is no better time than now to start rebuilding your credit. And Neighborhood Home Solutions (NHS) is here to help you.

On the second Tuesday of the month, from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m., NHS offers the Credit Zone Club. In a comfortable and informal setting, participants meet to learn and share knowledge, to discuss money truths, how to reduce debt, budget expenses and improve credit. And when the subject is credit rebuilding, the group is in “the zone” – focused on individualized plans to help them reach their financial goals.

If you are interested in joining the Credit Zone Club or in finding out about our other financial education programs, please call NHS at 727-821-6897.

NHS is a 501 (c) (3) HUD approved nonprofit housing counseling organization. Services are provided free of charge. Partners include the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HomeFree USA, Florida Hardest-Hit Fund, Pinellas County Community Development, and the City of St. Petersburg.