DO IT YOURSELF: Debt Settlement & Credit Report Negotiation
Did you know that you could resolve your debts yourself without compensating a third party debt settlement company? Did you know that you could have trimmed down your debts yourself by considerable margins? You could even have formulated payment plans at 0% interest rate and set up monthly affordable payments. All these things could have been if you considered speaking to your creditors and working out a path yourself. These days, many debt burdened people are reluctant to approach the debt settlement companies to settle their debts and credit score. It is only because they do not want to pay money to another entity for settling their debts and want to do that on their own. Below are few steps to do it properly.
Instructions
Collect your each financial credentials. The records you need are, the amount that you owe to each creditor, number of months you are behind in your payments, your account numbers, phone numbers of each creditors, your monthly income and expense. Collect your free annual credit report from any one of the companies who provide this.
Frankly tell your financial condition to your creditors. Explain them the reasons why you are unable to pay back the money you owe. The reason might be a job loss or an unexpected medical expense. Let your creditors know the fact that you are incapable of paying back the debt if it is not reduced.
Seek a free consultation from an attorney. Contact several bankruptcy law firms in your area until you find one that provides free telephonic counseling. Tell them your situation and enquire the best way to proceed to become debt free. Also, make sure to ask them the entire time span if you declare a bankruptcy.
Let your creditors know the fact that you are thinking of filing bankruptcy. If you file bankruptcy then your creditors might run the risk of not getting a single penny from you. Usually, in such a situation creditors agree to come on a settlement. However, if the customer support associates do not listen to you, talk to the higher authority.
Have minor blemishes on your credit report and want to fix them without settling or filing bankruptcy? Contact a legal credit repair company today.
Read MoreHow to Avoid Late Payments
Making your credit card payments on time is extremely important to your credit score. Late payment fees and higher interest rates are undesired results of late credit card payments.
What does a late payment really do to your score? Credit score calculation doesn’t treat all late payments the same. While thirty- and sixty-day late payments affect your credit score more in the months they occur, their effects diminish over time as long as they’re isolated incidents. A ninety-day late payment, on the other hand, is more harmful to your credit score, especially if it occurred within the past 24 months.
Whether it is a 30, 60, or 90 day late payment, the results are detrimental to your credit score; so you don’t want to drop the ball and miss a payment. How your creditors respond to late payments can continue to affect you for months, even years to come. The ball is in your court so step up and make the play, or in this case the payment!
Five Things Happen When You Drop the Ball and Pay Late:
1. Your creditor will charge a late fee. Your next billing statement will include a fee for the late/missed payments. Late fees typically range from $15 to $35. You’ll receive a late fee each month your payment is late.
2. Your interest rate will increase. Creditors don’t just penalize you with a fee, they’ll often increase your interest rate to the default rate. The higher interest rate increases your finance charges, making it more expensive to carry a balance.
3. Other credit card interest rates might increase. If any of your other creditors include a universal default clause in your card agreement, you would see those interest rates rise, too.
4. The credit bureaus are notified when your payment is more than 30-days late. An entry added to your credit report and will stay for seven years. Unless you work with a Legal Credit Repair Company
5. Your credit score will drop. Remember, we’ve told you before that payment history makes up 35% of your credit score. Late payments can have a significant effect on your score affecting your ability to get new credit in the future, causing you to sit out on the bench!
Credit Tips: Set up auto-pay on your all your credit cards to make the minimum payments. This will insure that at least your minimum payment is made on time, regardless of how hectic things can get! This is what Best Credit Blog calls strategic planning for your future.
If your balance on your Credit Card is not maxed out, you can purchase an item (must cost more then your minimum payment) and return it a week later and it will count as a payment on the Credit Card.
If you have late payments, collections, judgements, or just want to understand your Credit Score better… Set up a Free Consultation with a Credit Repair Expert
Read MoreCredit Tips – Easy Credit Mistakes to Avoid
Credit Tips – Credit Mistakes to Avoid
Most of us realize that our credit report is reviewed when we apply for a credit card, mortgage, or car loan. However, it is often forgotten that your credit report may also be reviewed when you apply for auto or homeowner’s insurance, utility services, or a cell phone.
Landlords often use credit reports to decide among rental applicants. A potential employer may even assess an applicant’s credit report before extending a job offer. Your personal credit score is often used when a creditor is deciding whether or not to extend your business credit.
Many of these same creditors will also report to the credit bureaus if you do not pay your bill. Beware of what we at Best Credit Blog call “Fouls.” If you decide to change your cell phone company, change your insurance company, or move to a new apartment, make sure you pay your final bill in full. An unpaid bill will most likely get you a Foul – by way of a COLLECTION ACCOUNT ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT. Imagine what that looks like to a potential employer or to a lender from which you have applied for a line of credit for your business.
That’s why it is so important to remember the rules of the game. Even the small forgotten accounts (like unpaid cell phone bills and parking tickets) are considered fouls that can get you a penalty, and keep you from scoring!
Tip: Remember it is a smart play to notify all creditors if you move. Make sure your creditors always have your most recent address so that you’ll receive your billing statements promptly. Some creditors allow you to notify them of your change of address online. This also includes temporary address changes or PO Boxes.
Tip #2: There are too many bad stories about online automatic bill pay missing a mortgage payment, or a car payment. Don’t let this happen to you, check your bank every week to make sure ALL your bills got paid in time.
If you have a “Foul” on your Credit Report, Call 800-216-2725 and Speak to Cobalt Credit Services. They give you a free credit consultation and show you how to get a free credit report. Don’t let a simple credit mistake keep you in “Credit Prison”
Or us online: Legal Credit Repair
What is a Credit Report?
What is a credit report?
When you apply for credit, the lender reviews your credit report before approving your application. The three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These agencies, which are also called “bureaus,” collect and report information about the consumer’s financial habits and put that information into a credit report along with a rating, referred to as your FICO Score. Each agency’s report contains the same basic information: name, Social Security number, current and previous addresses, current and previous employers, details about how you have opened and closed accounts/ loans, public-record information (such as bankruptcies, court judgments, or liens) and a list of companies that have reviewed the credit report.
What is FICO Score?
The FICO Score is a scoring method developed by Fair Isaac Corp, which determines a person’s credit worthiness. It is a computer model established to aid the three major credit bureaus; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
How does it work?
The computer model compares your credit history in terms of the status and number of credit cards, balances owed, mortgage, installment loans, late payments, delinquencies and bankruptcies. It calculates your score depending upon your current credit status, and takes into consideration your past credit history. It collects data on the credit available to you, credit used by you, and timely repayment, and compares it with the other thousands of customers. Then, you are assigned credit scores in points. The break-down of the calculation can be as follows:
35% — payment history
30% — amount of outstanding debt (in comparison to available revolving credit (credit limit)
15% — length of credit history
10% — types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance)
10% — inquiries and amount of new accounts opened or applied for
Points
You can get a score ranging between 300 to 850 points. The higher the points, the better the FICO Score, which in turn gives you the financial advantage to succeed in our credit based society. Inversely, the lower the points, the lower the FICO score, which in turn can severely limit your financial options, resources, and growth.
Read MoreCredit Bureau Dishonest Rating System
Ms. Wu – Staff Attorney for National Consumer Law Center testifies to congress about the dishonest rating system of the Credit Bureaus. We’re talking about Equifax, Experian and Transunion.
The major question that should be asked by all consumers is; “Is my credit 100% accurate?”
If you are like 82% of Americans, the answer is NO. The way the Credit Bureau gathers information and blindly reports it to your report is flat out illegal. However, the bureaus are mandated to follow laws like the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act). These laws state that all reports must me 100% accurate, 100% verifiable, and 100% timely.
If each account reporting is not in compliance with these rules, it should be removed from your report completely.
Ms. Wu states that, “Millions of consumers lives are sabotaged by inaccurate reporting, victimized by errors generated by faceless computer generated reports.”
The Fair Credit Reporting act requires “reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy.”
It has been shown time and time again that the procedures for monitoring the accuracy are not only unreasonable, but unfair to the consumer.
Ms. Wu talks about the FCRA dispute process and says “That system is fundamentally flawed with perfunctory investigations and its formalistic reduction of serious controversies into 2 or 3 digit codes.”
She is talking about the process by which the bureaus conduct the investigations. When the bureaus receive your disputes, they are scanned into a computer using an OCR (optical character recognition) machine. This OCR reads the dispute and interprets each dispute into a 2 or 3 digit code. So when you say “This account has been closed since 2006, please update or remove this from my record,” it would be turned into a code. For Example #314. By turning disputes into codes, you are not only taking the human factor out of the equation, you are missing the relevant information that goes along with the dispute.
Ms. Wu stresses the fact that the bureaus are conforming to data records and considering this accurate. In truth they should be conforming to reality because data is not accurate. 82% of credit reports contain errors. Could these errors be putting hardworking families on the street? Keeping honest people from getting the job of their dreams? Or hurting our economy?
YES. The Credit Bureau has a Dishonest Rating System and it needs to be fixed.
There is a trick to getting your dispute letters to a human being. You cannot use form letters off the internet! The OCR recognizes these letters (it sees thousands of them every day). Your letter needs to correctly cite the laws, you need to send it in a handwritten envelope and you need to keep track of every correspondence you have with the bureaus. With the lack of extra time on their hands, consumers are turning to easier methods of getting this information fixed. Credit Repair and Restoration Services like Seattle Credit Repair or Better Credit Guaranteed are great options for getting your disputes into human hands without the hassle of having to do it yourself.
Here is the video of Ms. Wu. Thumbs up to her for taking a stand for us consumers!
Where to apply for a Credit Card with Bad Credit
With banks tightening their regulations these days, it’s a lot harder to find a Credit Card that will approve you with less than perfect credit. Credit Cards are a very important asset. Their payment history helps determine your credit score, and they can help leverage your cash flow. The better your credit score, the better the card’s benefits get and the more options you have. But until then, let’s focus on the cards you can get approved for NOW so we can prepare for the future.
Starting to build or rebuild your credit can be difficult. We have done research with over 350 clients and found the best places to obtain credit with no or low credit scores. We are going to show you the top 4 ways to obtain credit:
4) Prepaid Credit Cards
If you have no credit or bad credit, one of your options is a prepaid credit card. This is where you deposit money (usually a minimum of $300) into that bank’s savings account. The bank will give you a credit card with the same limit as the savings account. This card is now “secured.” If you default, they keep the contents of the savings account.
We highly recommend Orchard Bank Secured Cards. They have a convenient online bill paying system that DOES NOT charge you a fee to make a payment and their savings account gains interest.
3) Another great Pre-Paid card is American Funding Network’s Public Savings Bank Card, which has a 0% APR for the first 6 months. Like the Orchard Bank Secured Card, it reports to all 3 credit bureaus.
2) Your next option is a little different than the first two. It is actually an Un-Secured card that you can use! Most un-secured cards for less than perfect credit will have extremely high prices on their products, and extremely high interest rates. We highly recommend The Hutton Chase Unsecured Card if you are looking to secure credit, raise your scores, or get your first credit card.
This card has a 0% interest preliminary period and $20 per month after the first 60 days.
1) After months of review, we have found the best card for obtaining new credit, raising your credit scores, and getting your first credit card. It is US Gold Cards. They will approve you for up to $10,000 of un-secured credit.
This card reports to all 3 credit bureaus and will significantly raise your score and your credit worthiness. The cost of this credit card is $150 upfront and $20 per month. After a while, you will be ready to move to your Bank’s Credit Card at a LOW interest rate.
Our top-rated credit card if you are establishing credit or rebuilding credit is US Gold Cards.
If you have questions, feel free to contact Seattle Credit Repair
Read MoreHow your Credit Score Is Calculated
Understanding your credit score can be confusing and often frustrating. We are going to make it easy for you.
These are the factors that make up your credit score:
35% Payment History
30% Credit Utilization Ratio
15% Length Of Credit
10% New Credit
10% Mix Of Credit Accounts
To ensure that you have the best score, sign up for credit monitoring at Go123Credit.com, make all of your payments on time, keep your credit utilization ratio under 30%, keep your credit accounts open, strategically get new accounts, and always have a good mix of credit accounts.
A good mix is 5-7 accounts.
1) Secured Credit Card
2) Unsecured Credit Card
3) Retail Credit Card
4) Car Loan
5) Installment Loan
6) Mortgage Loan
Read MoreBetter Business Bureaus Dishonest Rating System
The Better Business Bureau has long been regarded as the place to go to check a business’s credibility. A business’s reputation often rests on its rating from the Better Business Bureau, similar to how your credit rating reflects your payment reputation to your creditors.
This week, ABC’s 20/20 did an investigation into the Better Business Bureau’s rating system and found a lot of corruption and dishonesty. Members of the Bureau are getting A ratings, while non-members struggle to get an A rating with little to no complaints and an outstanding history.
Watch the 20/20 story:
Read MoreGet hired in any economy
In today’s job market, setting yourself apart from other candidates is the most important strategy to getting hired. In an interview with Jesse G. Rodriguez, author of The Business Owner’s Guide to Keeping Customers For Life, we discussed some tactics and strategies to obtaining your dream job and getting hired by any employer.
First off, you need to position yourself as the only logical option for the position. Meaning, you can’t be just another resume in an executive’s inbox with a plain cover letter and a boring email opener. You need to personalize your cover letter to fit the position you are seeking, and highlight your strengths that pertain to that specific job. Being vague in your opener email, cover letter and resume can put you at the bottom of the list.
Second, you need to dress for your interview like you are an executive. Men should wear a black suit with a white shirt and a flat blue, pink, or yellow tie. Women need to wear a black suit with a matching skirt (or black pants) with a flat white or blue high collar dress up shirt. Never wear too much jewelry, or show any tattoos until after you are hired. Always shine your shoes, and have your hair and nails groomed. Statistics show that men are more likely to get hired with a completely shaved face. Women are more likely to get hired with completely shaved legs.
Third, get those credit scores up. 80% of employers check your credit as a prerequisite to being hired. We have heard horror stories about people going through 3 interviews and they are denied the job because of low credit scores. We recommend that you know what your scores are. Visit Go123Credit.com and pull a free copy of your report. If your scores are lower then 700, you need to work with a credit professional to get your scores raised. You can get a free consultation by visiting Cobalt Credit Services and Repair or calling 1-800-216-2725 from 10am-6pm PST.
Fourth, follow up! If you really care about the job, send an email within 24 hours of your interview. Tell them it was nice to meet them, and bring up something that you talked about in the interview that pertains to your call. Tell the executive that you are very interested in working with their company and ask when to expect a call or email. In a sales job environment, it is helpful to remind them that you are a valuable asset and you have a lot to bring to the table.
Last but not least, give great references. If you can get video testimonials from past customers, character references, community groups, or lifelong friends and family, send them in an email. Videos set you apart from everyone else applying. Videos change the dynamic of your application; they are very popular and severely underused in the job market.
We believe that if you follow these easy guidelines, you will soon have a fun, fulfilling, well-paying job that lets you retire early.
Recap:
1) Position yourself as the only option for the job, and be different from other applicants.
2) Choose your outfit wisely; you have to play and look the part for the job.
3) Check your credit scores at Go123Credit.com. If your scores are low, talk to an expert at Cobalt Credit Services & Repair.
4) Follow up, remind them you are alive, and show interest.
5) Give great references, and get video testimonials.
Sponsored by Plumber Idaho Falls
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Good Credit = Low Car Insurance
Did you know that how much you pay for auto insurance is based on your credit? Most people are shocked when they hear that auto insurers use credit scores to help decide whether to cover drivers and what premium they should be charged. If you are like most people, it could be difficult to see the connection.
Why should you have to pay a higher rate for your car insurance because you had unpaid bills or some other financial problems? Some customers who had never had an accident or violation were faced with sharply raised premiums when their renewal notices arrived.
In fact, auto insurers are passionate in their belief that credit scores are one of the best predictors of future claims.
According to the American Insurance Association, here are some of the kinds of data from credit reports that are of most interest to insurers?1. Payment history (any late payments?)?2. Bankruptcies?3. Collections?4. Credit history?5. Amount of outstanding debt?6. New applications for credit
Solution? Know what is in your credit report. It is a good idea to run your credit regularly and monitor it for any inaccuracies. For
more information on how credit affects you, visit: Cobalt Credit Services Website
Thank you,
Best Credit Blog Staff
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