Follow along · Class companion
Personal & Business Creditand how to leverage it
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Two Hours · 12:00 – 2:00 PM · Doors 11:45
Keller Williams Clarksville · Building 2 · 2271 Wilma Rudolph Blvd
Everything on the screen, in your hand. Tick things off as we go — this page remembers what you checked on this device, so it still works three weeks from now when you actually sit down to do it.
Time
12:00 – 2:00 PMDoors 11:45
Where
KW ClarksvilleBuilding 2
2271 Wilma Rudolph Blvd.
Clarksville, TN 37040
2271 Wilma Rudolph Blvd.
Clarksville, TN 37040
With you today
Two speakersJames Church, KW Commercial
Aaron Glenn, U.S. Bank
Aaron Glenn, U.S. Bank
Finding the room
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Open 2271 Wilma Rudolph Blvd in Google Maps →
Open 2271 Wilma Rudolph Blvd in Google Maps →
This is the view from Wilma Rudolph Blvd. We are in Building 2 — drag inside the image to look around before you drive over. Park anywhere in the lot; the class is on the ground floor, and doors open at 11:45.
Running orderTwo hours, two voices
12:00
Welcome & frame
James
12:08
Personal credit
James · 32 min
12:40
Your personal credit is in the business file
Aaron Glenn · U.S. Bank
12:50
Break
Cookies & fruit
12:57
Business credit build order
James · 33 min
1:30
What actually gets approved
Aaron Glenn · U.S. Bank
1:48
Open Q&A
Both · index cards on the tables
1:58
Close
James
Part One
Personal Credit
You do not have "a" credit score
You have dozens. Different models — FICO and VantageScore, in multiple versions each. Different bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion hold different data. Different vintages — mortgage lenders often pull older FICO versions than the app on your phone shows you.
So the useful question is not what is my score. It is what is on my report, and which of it can I change? The report is the fact. The score is one opinion about the fact, and every lender buys a slightly different opinion.
What actually moves the number
These are the published weights for the classic FICO model. Two of them are 65% of the score — spend your effort there and treat the rest as rounding.
VantageScore weights the same ingredients differently. Ranges and weights are the publishers' own and change over time.
Payment history — the expensive one
- A single 30-day late stays on your report for seven years.
- Recency matters more than age. Last month hurts far more than four years ago.
- Severity ladders — 30, 60, 90, charge-off, collection. Each step down is a much larger drop.
- If you are going to be late, call the creditor first. Some will not report a single miss.
- Autopay the minimum on everything. The minimum protects the 35%; you can always pay more on top.
The statement-date trap
Your utilization is measured on the balance your card reports on its statement closing date — not on whether you pay in full afterward. You can pay every bill in full, every month, and still look maxed out to a lender.
What is your card actually reporting?
Enter what the balance will be on the statement closing date — not what you will pay.
80%
This is what the bureau sees, even if you pay it off the next day. Pay it down before the closing date and the reported number drops with it.
- Find each card's statement closing date — it is on the statement, and it is not the due date.
- Pay the balance down a few days before that date, not after it.
- Per-card utilization counts too, not just the total. One maxed card in a wallet of empty ones still hurts.
Your free reports, and the rights nobody claims
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only federally authorized source. Free weekly reports from each of the three bureaus are now permanent. Beyond that, you are entitled to additional free reports directly from a bureau when:
- You were denied credit, employment, insurance or housing based on your report — request within 60 days of the notice.
- You are unemployed and intend to look for work within 60 days.
- You are receiving public assistance.
- Your file contains fraudulent information, or you have placed a fraud alert on it.
The question we get every time
No — checking your own report does not hurt your score. Pulling your own file is a soft inquiry. Only a lender's hard pull, made for a credit decision, can affect the number.
Disputing, without hurting yourself
- Dispute in two places — with the bureau in writing, and separately with the furnisher who reported it. Keep copies; send it so you can prove you sent it.
- Be specific, not sweeping. "This account is not mine" or "the balance should be $X" beats a blanket demand to delete everything.
- Bring evidence — a payoff letter, a bank statement, a police report for identity theft. Assertion alone rarely moves anything.
- Know the limit. Accurate negative information is not removable by dispute, and the seven-year clock runs from the original delinquency — not from when the debt was sold or last paid.
- Watch the re-aging trap. Paying on or acknowledging an old debt can restart a statute of limitations in some situations. Get advice from an attorney before you pay on something old.
Six ways to lose a house you already won
Lenders re-pull before closing. Between pre-approval and the closing table, do not:
Open a new credit card
Close an old account
Finance furniture or a car
Move large sums with no paper trail
Co-sign for a family member
Change jobs mid-file
Part Two
Business Credit
Order beats speed
Built in order
Looks like a business
An entity in good standing, a real address and phone, revenue moving through a business account, and vendors who report. An underwriter can follow the story.
Built for speed
Looks like a shell
A mailbox address, no deposits, and a stack of tradelines opened in a month. Underwriters see this pattern constantly, and no quantity of tradelines repairs the impression.
If someone sells you a shortcut through this, they are selling you the second column.
The build order
Steps 1 through 3 are questions for your CPA and attorney, not for this room. Tick these off as you complete them.
Three scores that will not agree
| Score | Range | What it reads |
|---|---|---|
| D&B PAYDEX | 1 – 100 80+ low risk | Payment behavior against terms, weighted by dollar size. Driven entirely by what your vendors report. |
| Experian Intelliscore Plus | 1 – 100 76–100 low risk | Statistical risk of serious delinquency. A newer version of the model runs 300–850 — ask which one you are being shown. |
| Equifax Business | Varies | Equifax publishes several separate business scores on different ranges. Ask specifically which one a lender pulled. |
| FICO SBSS | 0 – 300 | Blends business and owner personal data. SBA discontinued its own use of SBSS for 7(a) Small Loans in 2026 — individual banks still set their own criteria, so ask your lender what they use today. |
On time is a middling score
Your personal score punishes you for being late. PAYDEX rewards you for being early — a different behavior entirely, and one most owners never learn because nobody tells them the scale is asymmetric. A PAYDEX of 80 means you pay exactly on terms. Above 80 is reserved for businesses that pay ahead of them.
If you have net-30 terms with a vendor who reports, paying on day 10 is worth more than paying on day 30.
The uncomfortable one
A personal guarantee makes your business debt your debt. Nearly every small business bank product carries one. Building business credit does not put a wall between you and the loan — what it buys you is better terms, higher limits, more lenders willing to look, and a file that stands on its own over time. Anyone promising "business credit with no personal guarantee, guaranteed" is selling you something. Ask Aaron.
Three doors, priced differently
General orientation only — terms, thresholds and availability vary by lender. Aaron has the real numbers.
Door one
Bank line or term loan
The cheapest money and the hardest to get. Wants time in business, real financials, and a deposit relationship. Start here even if you expect a no — the conversation tells you what you are missing.
Door two
SBA-guaranteed
A government guarantee lets a bank say yes to a file it would otherwise decline. More paperwork, longer timeline, competitive rates. Still a bank loan, still underwritten by that bank.
Door three
Alternative and online
Fast and expensive. Useful for a genuine short-term gap, dangerous as working capital. Read the true annualized cost, not the "factor rate."
Before you forget
This week
Six things, none of which take more than twenty minutes. Everything in the last two hours depends on you actually looking at the file.
Free, official, no upsell
Where to go next
| Source | What it is good for |
|---|---|
| AnnualCreditReport.com | The only federally authorized source for your free reports. Free weekly from each bureau. |
| consumer.ftc.gov Federal Trade Commission | Plain-language guides on free reports, disputes, debt collectors, and credit repair scams. |
| consumerfinance.gov CFPB — Your Money, Your Goals | A free toolkit of 43 fillable tools and handouts, including requesting reports, reviewing them, and disputing errors. |
| fdic.gov/moneysmart FDIC Money Smart for Adults | Fourteen free modules with instructor guides, slides, and participant guides. |
| IdentityTheft.gov | Step-by-step recovery plan if accounts on your report are not yours. |
| sba.gov · score.org | Free small business mentoring and lending guidance. SCORE mentoring costs nothing. |
| dnb.com · experian.com | Register your business file and get your D-U-N-S number. Free to obtain. |
Questions after today
Talk to us
Instructor
James Church
Guest speaker
Aaron Glenn
Credit: Personal & Business — an educational class presented by James Church, Keller Williams Clarksville, with guest speaker Aaron Glenn, U.S. Bank. September 17, 2026.
Educational content only. This is not credit repair, and it is not legal, tax, or financial advice. No outcome, score change, or credit approval is promised or implied. Score ranges and scoring models are the publishers' own and change over time — verify independently. Every person's situation differs; consult your own CPA, attorney, and lender before acting. Mr. Glenn speaks in a general educational capacity; nothing here is an offer of credit or a commitment to lend by U.S. Bank or any other institution. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Educational content only. This is not credit repair, and it is not legal, tax, or financial advice. No outcome, score change, or credit approval is promised or implied. Score ranges and scoring models are the publishers' own and change over time — verify independently. Every person's situation differs; consult your own CPA, attorney, and lender before acting. Mr. Glenn speaks in a general educational capacity; nothing here is an offer of credit or a commitment to lend by U.S. Bank or any other institution. Equal Housing Opportunity.