May 19, 2010

You Now Need Good Credit For Any Job


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


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.