October 19, 2010

10 Things You Must Know About Good Credit.


10 Things You Must Know About Good Credit Credit

Too many people use credit without fully knowing how. If you want to get and keep a good credit score, there are some things you have to know about credit.

1.  Credit is a loan. Using credit is the same thing as borrowing money from a friend. The  main difference is that you have to pay back interest on credit whereas most friends won’t make you pay a fee for credit.

2.  Good credit matters for more than just credit cards. More and more businesses are starting to use your credit standing to make decisions about doing business with you. This includes banks, employers, landlords, utility companies, and even insurance companies.

3.  Your credit history is tracked. Information about whether you pay your bills on time and whether you pay them at all is collected in your credit report. At least seven years worth of credit history is in your credit report waiting for businesses to see how you’ve been acting with the credit you’ve been given.

4.  Negative credit information follows you. If you make a late credit card payment or have a collection account, it remains on your credit report for seven years from the date of the delinquency. Only after that seven years has passed will that late payment fall off your credit report.

5.  Your credit score is based on your credit report. A credit score is a numeric snapshot of your credit history at a point in time. It shows where your credit stands at that moment. Higher credit scores are better.

6.  Your credit report could be wrong. Mistakes happen and sometimes errors appear on credit reports. Fortunately, federal law gives you the right to have this information removed when it can’t be verified. Simply submit a credit report dispute to the credit bureaus.

7.  Five key things impact your credit score. These things are: your payment history, your  level of debt, your credit age, your mix of credit, and the number of recent credit applications. Payment history has the most significant impact on your credit score and level of debt has the next biggest influence on your score.

8.  Unpaid credit accounts end up in debt collections. After you miss a certain number of credit card payments, usually six, your account will likely be passed on to a third party debt collector who will try harder to get you to pay the unpaid bill.

9.  If you take on too much credit, you can hurt your credit score and end up in debt. You should only take on as much credit as you can comfortably afford to repay. Taking on more than that puts you at risk of having too much credit.

10. First credit cards may be hard to get, but once you get one, the others come easily.   Be careful not to open too many credit cards since you may be tempted to charge more than you can afford.

http://www.attractivecredit.com


August 12, 2010

Credit Repair and Bankruptcy


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


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.


March 27, 2010

Authorized User Account Scams – Unsecured Lines of Credit


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: credit cards, debt — 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: Credit Repair, credit repair industries, credit repair organizations — 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!