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August 12, 2010

How to fix bad credit
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Counseling,Credit Repair — Tags: — admin @ 11:32 pm


Credit Repair and Bankruptcy
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Counseling,Credit Repair,General — Tags: — admin @ 11:25 pm

Credit Repair and Bankruptcy

Each year, millions of consumers are forced to file bankruptcy because they have more debt than they can afford. Though bankruptcy provides relief from overwhelming debt, it leaves a devastating effect on your credit. Chapter 13 “repayment” bankruptcy remains on your credit report for up to 7 years from the date you filed while Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years.

Bankruptcy is one of the worst things that can happen to your credit making it hard and sometimes impossible to get new credit cards and loans, especially in the few years right after you file bankruptcy. Just like any other serious financial blunder, you can repair your credit after bankruptcy and your creditworthiness back.

Bankruptcy and Your Credit Report

Start bankruptcy credit repair by making sure all accounts included in bankruptcy are reported correctly on your credit report. Debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy should report a $0 balance and indicate that the account was in bankruptcy. If that isn’t the case, you can submit a dispute to the credit bureau along with your bankruptcy discharge papers.

Once you’ve made sure that everything is reported correctly on your credit report, you should start rebuilding your credit. You can do this by opening up a new credit card, making small charges on it monthly, and paying the bill in full each month. Naturally, you’ll have some trouble getting a credit card directly after your bankruptcy, but there are alternatives.

Getting Credit After Bankruptcy

First, you can repair your credit after bankruptcy by getting a secured credit card. This is a credit card that lets you make a deposit to secure a credit limit on the card. If you default on the credit card, the deposit is used for payment. Secured credit cards are often granted to people with bad credit histories. Make sure the credit card you choose reports your payments to the credit bureaus. That way, your timely payments will be reflected in your credit score.

Another option for opening up a credit card is through the bank that you have your savings or checking account with. If you’ve kept your account in good standing, no overdrafts, and your bank offers a credit card, you have a good chance of getting approved. Talk with the bank manager rather than putting in an automatic application. That way, you can explain your circumstances to the manager and improve your chances of getting a credit card.

The key to credit repair after bankruptcy is proving that you have good credit management skills. You can do that by getting new credit and using it wisely.


May 19, 2010

You Now Need Good Credit For Any Job
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Repair,General — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:45 pm

Proof that you now need good credit for a low paying job or any job.

Despite the massive loss of jobs, with Americans behind on their mortgages and the foreclosures crisis this country has faced, the practice of doing credit checks on prospective employees continues to climb sharply in popularity. The Society of Human Resources Management’s recent survey found that 60 percent of employers run credit checks on at least some job applicants. When the economy was considered healthy in 2006 the figure was 42 percent.. Employers in this weak labor market are becoming more selective about whom to hire. Credit checks are a fast and cheap way to screen out candidates. And one in 8 employers checks the credit of every applicant for every job–meaning that people like janitors and retail workers can suffer employment discrimination on the basis of their credit score.

Legislatures and Congress have expressed concern about the use of credit checks in the employment context. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced the Equal Employment for All Act. And a recent AP article reported that lawmakers in at least 16 states have proposed outlawing most credit checks for employment. Most of those bills continue to languish (despite in the case of Rep. Cohen’s bill, 53 co-sponsors and support from organizations such as the National Organization for Women, the AFL-CIO, and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights under the Law.) But there is resistance to legislation of this type. In California, the country’s largest labor market, and the one hit the hardest in foreclosures, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill to regulate employment credit checks, calling it a job killer. Do you believe that an employers or industries would relocate or spurn California on that basis? Moreover, the California Chamber of Commerce made the silly argument that this was a “costly workplace mandate.” This is crazy! The bill would stop employers from spending money on credit reports thus saving them the money; how can that be a costly mandate?

On the ground everyday, the real job-killing happens at the individual level, when a person trying to climb out of financial trouble is told that they are not hired because of their poor credit in the past.

While everyone is arguing about the pros and cons; consumers need to make sure that they stay on top of their credit or it can and usually will, cost them a job. If you have bad credit or no credit, we recommend you fix bad credit and get help soon.


May 7, 2010

Rebuilding Credit – Re-Establishing Your Credit
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Counseling,Credit Repair,Unsecured Lines of Credit — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 12:39 pm

Rebuilding Credit – Re-Establishing Your Credit

Rebuilding Credit Isn’t So Easy

A crucial part of credit repair is rebuilding your credit history. Rebuilding your credit involves adding positive payment history to your credit report. The more positive payment history you have, the better your credit will be. But, when you’re rebuilding credit, there are some things you have to watch out for. Call us for credit cards that offer guaranteed approvals at 800-605-9085.

Watchout For Store Credit Cards

Store credit cards are often the easiest types of credit cards to get, especially when you have a tarnished credit history. When the store clerk offers to sign you up for their credit card, your mind quickly thinks to the positive impact the credit card will have on your credit score, but that might not be the case. Store credit cards often have low credit limits, so low that you only have a little available credit left after making your purchase. When your credit card balances are high relative to your credit limit, you have a high credit utilization. Credit utilization is 30% of your credit score and your credit limit takes a hit.

Not only does the high balance have a negative effect on your credit score, so does the new credit card. Credit inquiries are placed on your credit report each time you make a credit card application. These inquiries count 10% of your credit score. The more inquiries, the more your credit score will be hurt. The new card will also lower your average credit age which is 15% of your credit score.

FICO, the company who calculates the widely-used FICO score, doesn’t place much emphasis on store credit cards because the cards area associated with future default. So, the store credit card you just opened won’t do much good in the way of rebuilding your credit history.

The Best Credit Card for Rebuilding Credit

If you want to start rebuilding your credit, the best option is to get a major credit card from an issuer like VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. These credit cars are given more weight in the FICO scoring calculation and will go a lot further in helping you rebuild your credit score than store cards.

Major credit cards can be difficult to get, especially when you have a bad credit history following you around. You have a couple of options for getting one of these credit cards on your side.

First, you might get a friend or family member to add you as an authorized user on one of their credit cards. This account history would get included on your credit report and aid in rebuilding your credit.

The second option is to get a secured credit card. Though secured credit cards require a deposit to be made to secure the credit limit, you can often covert to an unsecured credit card after a few years of timely payments.

The best and third option is to apply with  unsecured lines of credit. Give us a call so we can set you up at 800-605-9085.


March 27, 2010

How Your Credit Scores Are Calculated
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Counseling,Credit Repair,Unsecured Lines of Credit — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:10 pm

How Your Credit Scores Are Calculated

Let’s take a look what makes up your credit score and what You can do to directly impact Your Credit Scores!

What’s in your FICO® score

FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report.

These percentages are based on the importance of the five categories for the general population. For particular groups – for example, people who have not been using credit long – the importance of these categories may be somewhat different.

Payment History
• Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
• Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgements, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
• Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
• Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
• Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
• Number of past due items on file
• Number of accounts paid as agreed

Amounts Owed
• Amount owing on accounts
• Amount owing on specific types of accounts
• Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
• Number of accounts with balances
• Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit
limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
• Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)

Length of Credit History
• Time since accounts opened
• Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
• Time since account activity

New Credit
• Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
• Number of recent credit inquiries
• Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
• Time since credit inquiry(s)
• Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

Types of Credit Used
• Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)

Please note that:
• A FICO score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two.
No one piece of information or factor alone will determine your score.
• The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report.

For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your FICO score. Thus, it’s impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score – even the levels of importance shown here are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles. What’s important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.
• Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.

However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.
• Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.

Late payments will lower your score,

Source: Fair Isaac Corporation, ” What’s in your FICO® score”

In the United States credit is part of life and it’s very important to know how to establish, reestablish, and or repair your credit. And once we have it, protect it. At www.AttractiveCreditSecrets.com they show you the ins and outs about credit repair and restoration they never taught you in school or anywhere else. For a limited time only we are offering a FREE credit e-course to get you started.

And at Attractive Credit Cards, they are offering an unsecured revolving credit card with high credit limits up $10,000. They report to the major credit bureaus and get you on your way to getting the credit scores you deserve to build a solid and reputable credit profile.

As with all credit cards and loans, financial responsibility relies on YOU. Developing responsible spending habits and timely repayment schedules are an essential part of establishing and maintaining rock solid credit scores.


Authorized User Account Scams – Unsecured Lines of Credit
Filed under: General,Unsecured Lines of Credit — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:03 pm

Authorized User Account Scams – Unsecured Lines of Credit

Authorized User Accounts Scam – Authorized User accounts did a lot of good things to your FICO score and exploited a big loophole in the credit scoring system that millions of people used to build their credit.  It was known as “Piggybacking”.  You could “piggyback” your social security number onto someone else’s credit card, as long as the creditor allowed it and agreed to report the new information (social security number) to the bureaus every month.  Once reported the “authorized user” would inherit the primary users credit history. The end result, Instant Credit.  You were then able to qualify for major purchases due to the artificially increased credit scores.

This loophole was closed by the development of a new credit scoring system known as FICO 08.  This new scoring module would no longer take into account “authorized user” accounts.  However, the release of FICO 08 has been delayed by a lawsuit and the scoring model hasn’t been implemented.

This does not mean you should still use this strategy as an effective means of increasing FICO scores.

Even though the credit bureaus haven’t eliminated the loophole, the lenders have. You must understand that the lenders read the newspapers also, and as soon as this loophole was made into public knowledge their underwriting guidelines changed to specifically address credit reports that have multiple authorized user accounts listed. This means that even if you were to add authorized user accounts and see large credit score increases you would still get denied for your loan. Unfortunately, many people are still selling this type of tradeline. They are even sometimes calling them “joint” accounts or “seasoned primary accounts”.

Although the loophole remains open, the lenders have identified and effectively closed it.  Lenders have been hit hard with fraudulent loans by clients artificially inflating their credit scores, so lenders have changed their underwriting guidelines to exclude authorized user accounts from their lending decision process.  It’s unfortunate, but it’s a fact.

Still people are falling for these types of scam tradelines everyday.  They are being dressed up and sold as “Joint” and or “Seasoned” or “Primary Seasoned Accounts”.

The only tradelines that are legitimate and can stand the test of time are primary tradelines that are not artificially aged.

It can be difficult to get a car loan or credit card if you’ve never had credit in your own name and having bad credit is the same or worse having no credit.

So what do you do???

Here’s the solution!

Now you can get $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 unsecured line of credit reported monthly on your credit file!

This immediate positive new credit with high credit limits reporting to your credit profile will do wonders to your credit score!

Due to the different scoring modules with the FICO® formula some customers have experienced higher credit score increases than others, but nonetheless a positive increase in credit scores is better than no increase at all.

These tradelines are not artificially aged, and will ultimately help your credit. This is the only real solution to increasing your credit scores.  And to keep boosting those credit scores is to keep an on-time payment history and to keep the account active for at least 2 (two) years so you can reap the full benefits of the merchant store card.

In the United States credit is part of life and it’s very important to know how to establish, reestablish, and or repair your credit.  And once we have it, protect it.  At Attractive Credit Secrets we show you the ins and outs about credit repair and restoration they never taught you in school or anywhere else.  For a limited time only we are offering a FREE credit e-course to get you started. 

As with all credit cards and loans, financial responsibility relies on YOU.  Developing responsible spending habits and timely repayment schedules are an essential part of establishing and maintaining rock solid credit scores.


March 23, 2010

Ways to reduce credit card bill
Filed under: General — Tags: , — admin @ 2:51 am

Ways to reduce credit card bill
It is imperative that you take stalk of your credit situation from today.  Creditors can be contacted for friendlier payment terms, discontinuation of credit instruments and at times few service providers can even work around in providing free credit card consolidation solutions. Credit card debt can be quite unsettling and annoying once it crosses personal threshold. Some of the possible avenues of worries are as follows:

• Next month’s utility bills are already due and you are yet to pay for last month’s dues
• You have stopped looking at the statements. Their very sight annoy you
• You have defaulted a couple of times and paid the dues along with late charge fees
• There is hardly a running balance in your checkbook

There are various ways to battle out this situation and sustain liquidity. Some of the possible ways to get through are as follows:

• Service providers at times work around to provide free credit card consolidation solutions to their valued customer base on the go. They aim at offering a competitive interest rate and elongate the tenure of payment repay. Debtors can negotiate with their creditors in order to get out of precarious debt situation.

• Stop overusing your credit card. Try and use your debit card instead. With debit card the money comes directly from your bank account. You won’t end up paying service charges or additional taxes. Over a period of time this can translate into decent savings.

• You should track your monthly purchases. This can give you an overall perspective on your spending. An insight on the kind of expenditure you have been making, where you have made the purchases and for how much can be easily understood.

• If you want to use your credit card to support your daily expenditures then ensure that spend is checked and it stays under control. Spend the amount which you think you can pay within 30 days of spend.

• If you are tighter on your budget then stop using credit card temporarily. It would be better to put your debit card in use while shopping or purchasing grocery items. It can help you take control of the financial crunch situation.

• Have you signed up for a new credit card off late? And did you notice that the interest rate it carried was much higher than what you have been paying? You should discontinue such credit cards from immediate effect.

I’m sure credit card users will benefit from the ways and means mentioned. One can reduce the owed debt if actions are taken to curb it down under manageable levels.


March 17, 2010

The Top 10 Complaint Generating Industries For 2009
Filed under: General — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:45 pm

Here is a list of the top 10 complaint generating industries for 2009.

 

Where does credit repair organizations fall on this list?

Industry Total
Complaints		 Rank by
number of
complaints		 Percentage
change over
2008		 Percentage of
resolved
complaints
Cellular phones
service &
equipment		 37,477 1 2.1% 97.4%
Television – Cable,
CATV & Satellite		 32,616 2 8.7% 97.2%
Banks 29,920 3 42.3% 95.2%
Auto Dealers -
New Cars		 26,888 4 -2.4% 84.1%
Internet Shopping 21,494 5 9.4% 71.7%
Collection Agencies 15,797 6 -3.3% 86.6%
Auto Dealers -
Used Cars		 13,686 7 2.5% 70.8%
Telephone Companies 13,470 8 11.2% 96.1%
Furniture – Retail 13,158 9 -2.9% 78.3%
Auto Repair
& Service		 12,736 10 9.5% 65.9%

How about all the way down at 189 on the list! That’s right. The credit repair industry only generated 993 complaints for the entire year of 2009.

Far from the sensationalized picture the media and other entities try to paint.  BBB bans credit repair companies as a whole and/or gives blanket “F” ratings….For an industry that only generated less than 1 complaint per company on average?

The limousine industry gets more complaints than we do.

Wow… Makes us wonder!


5 Steps to Establish Good Credit History
Filed under: Building Credit — Tags: , , , — admin @ 1:41 pm

5 Steps to Establish Good Credit History

Good credit is important in so many aspects of your life. Though you can get by without having a good credit history, it will be an unnecessary hassle. Work on building a good credit history so that you have good credit when you need it.

Get credit. To build a good credit history, the first thing you need to do is get credit. Your credit score, the numeric snapshot of your credit history, can’t be calculated if you don’t have at least one account that’s at least six months old. So, get a credit card or a loan to help you start building a credit history.

Use credit. Just having credit isn’t enough to build a good credit history. You actually have to use credit (responsibly) to show start creating a positive credit history. When you use credit, especially credit cards, you should never charge more than you can afford to pay back. Credit isn’t a substitute for cash and shouldn’t be used as one.

Pay your bills on time. Once you get a credit account, it’s important that you pay it on time. The most important part of your credit history is how well you’ve paid your bills. So, make sure you pay your credit card and loan bills on time every month.

Building a good credit history isn’t just about paying credit card and loans; it requires you to pay all your bills on time. If you fall behind on other bills, like utility or cell phone bills, it could end up on your credit report as a debt collection. These collection accounts hurt your progress with building a good credit history.

Keep your balances low. The second most important part of a good credit history is the amount of debt you have. Your credit history is better when you only use a portion of the credit available to you. So, when you make purchases on your credit card, only use about 10% to 30% of your credit limit. Paying down loan balances quickly also helps build your credit score since it shows that you’re reducing the amount of money you owe.

Hold back on new applications. Avoid taking on too much credit at once. The more credit applications you make, the harder your credit score gets hit. That’s because recent applications for credit account for 10% of your credit score. You should also limit your credit and loan applications to avoid taking on more debt than you can afford. Starting out with just one or two credit cards or loans is ideal.

A good credit history takes time to build. You can’t rush a good credit score. Instead, you have to take it one step at a time making the best credit decisions along the way.


January 29, 2010

How Credit Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score
Filed under: Credit Repair,Inquiries — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:43 am

Your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life. It’s a reflection of your creditworthiness and is based solely on information that’s in your credit report. Your credit score is calculated using five different criteria: your payment history, level of debt, credit age, mix of credit, and credit inquiries.

Hard vs. Soft Inquiries

Credit inquiries are placed on your credit report whenever a business pulls your credit report. Sometimes this happens when you make an application. These are known as “hard” inquiries. Other times it happens when a business wants to promote products or services to you. These are called “soft” inquiries. Your own requests for your credit report are also soft inquiries.

Soft inquiries don’t affect your credit score. However, those hard inquiries made when you put in applications do affect your credit score. Credit scoring researchers have found that borrowers who have a lot of credit inquiries within a short period of time are more likely to default on their accounts.

How Much Will an Inquiry Affect Your Score

Just how much your credit will be affected by credit inquiries depends on your current credit score and the other information in your credit report. Generally, you can expect inquiries to only have a small impact on your credit score since they only accounts for 10% of your credit score. According to FICO, developers of the FICO score, an additional credit inquiry will likely take a maximum of five points from your credit score. You’ll receive greater damage to your credit score if you only have a few accounts on your credit report or if your credit history is short.

Credit Inquiries and Rate Shopping

Some credit scoring calculations won’t penalize you for rate shopping, as long as you do your shopping within a certain period of time, typically 30 days. (Note: some credit scoring models have a 14-day window while others have a 45-day window.) All inquiries made within that 30-day window will be treated as a single inquiry and your credit score won’t be affected during that time. After you’re done rate shopping, those multiple inquiries will be treated as a single inquiry rather than several separate ones.

Credit Inquiry Time Limits

Fortunately, credit inquiries only remain on your credit report for 24 months. Even better, only those inquiries made within the past 12 months are included in your credit score. As inquiries pass that one year mark, they no longer affect your credit score.

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