Archive for January, 2009
Friday, January 30th, 2009
You should check your credit bureau report at least once a year, if not once every quarter. In today’s world there are many reasons for a savvy consumer to want to keep good tabs on their credit. Identity theft, fraud and the increasing reliance on credit scores make it more than just wise, but necessary for you to monitor your credit report on a regular basis.
I can list many great reasons why should you get a new copy of your scores…
1. Identity Theft – You suspect something? Be sure, and pull your credit report. Identify Theft is an increasing epidemic. With so many crimes of ID theft, it is definitely a good idea to be on top of your credit scores.
2. Late Payments – Late payments can be incorrectly reported or not followed up on, damaging your credit over a minor issue.
3. You Are Planning a Big Purchase – It is wise to look in to your credit before you apply for a loan. This way there is time to repair problem entries before they affect the loan you require.
4. You Were Denied Credit – Find out what made a lender choose not to give you a loan so that you can fix it if possible.
5. Plain Simple Curiosity – It is good to know your credit scores and keep tabs on your credit history. Your diligence will pay off in better rates on loans and other of life’s necessities.
A negative score can hurt you a lot as it can be potentially irreversible for up to seven years. Poor credit scores can affect your ability to get loans, credit cards, rent an apartment or even get a job. These days your credit score is being used in more and more places, making it increasingly important that you monitor your credit rating.
Fortunately, it is not hard to get your hands on a free credit bureau report and find out where you stand. If you dont know what type of credit report to go for, try a site that offers multiple credit report offers. When you pull the report, you should always pull a 3 in 1 report with scores for each bureau as this is the most accurate and comprehensive look at your credit history available.
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Thursday, January 29th, 2009
First of all, what is a charge off?
The term “charge off” is simply an accounting term used by creditors to remove bad debt from the company balance sheet. Creditors typically charge off debt if there has been no payment on the account for more than 180 days. However, some companies will do it much sooner. The account is usually sent to a collection agency where it will remain until it is settled.
Having charge offs on your credit report can be extremely damaging to your credit scores. Since your credit scores are so important to your financial well-being it’s natural to wonder whether charge offs can be removed from your credit report. In fact it’s a frequently asked question amongst consumers with bad credit. The short answer to the question is yes, charge offs can be removed from your credit report. In fact, there are many ways to get charge offs removed from your credit reports.
The most popular way to have a charge off removed from your credit report is by sending a dispute letter to the credit bureaus. Negotiating with the original creditor is another way. Waiting for it to fall off after 7 years, though not advisable, is yet another way.
Smart consumers will use the consumer reporting laws to put pressure on both the creditor and credit bureau to have the charge off removed from their record. You can learn more about these laws by reading up on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other civil and consumer right laws enforced by the FTC.
The credit bureaus receive the most FTC complaints by consumers. They also receive plenty of complaints about collection agencies. If you ever have problems with a credit bureau or collection agency, don’t hesitate to contact the FTC or your state’s attorney general. You may even want to contact a credit repair law firm.
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
It may appear that credit card fraud has been so rampant that credit card companies have taken it upon themselves to make life difficult for unscrupulous con artists. Credit cards nowadays have, aside from the magnetic strip on which all your details are contained and strip where you should place your signature specimen, security numbers (the three digits at the back of your card), and some have even integrated the chip and pin safety into the card itself (allows users to pay by plugging in a pin number). Another safety feature some card companies have incorporated is the issuance of Photo ID Credit Cards.
Photo ID Credit Cards are just your ordinary credit card except that a small photo of the cardholder is printed on a corner of the card itself. Usually, underneath this photo is the signature of the card holder, so merchants can check the photo image and the signatures on the front and back of the card; to see if the picture resembles the person using the card and if the signature affixed on the transaction document is similar to the ones imprinted on the card.
If you want to make sure that, even if your credit card is stolen, no one can be able to make unauthorized purchases on it; you can opt to secure a photo ID credit card. With this kind of credit card, you can be certain that whoever has it will have second thoughts about using it. In case, however, that you do misplace your card, even though you hold a photo ID credit card, it still is best to report its loss to the credit card provider so that they can immediately block any further purchases.
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) obligates the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – to provide a free credit report to any consumer who requests it.
The importance of a credit report cannot be ignored. An accurate report can help you obtain loans for major purchases, or even help you rent an apartment. All this, and more, becomes difficult if you have negative errors in your report.
A negative report can prove to be an obstacle if you are job hunting. This is because most employers will go through your credit history before offering employment. If you are actually employed, then a negative report can reduce your chances for further promotion. And, what if the end of it you realize that these errors were because of no fault of yours and that they could have been sorted out in the first place. You can avoid this situation by ordering a free credit report.
Once you get it, make sure the information provided in it is correct. This means that you must verify that your personal details such as your name, address, date of birth, and also the name of your current employer are correct. When this is done, do a check on your financial status. This is because your report will also contain information of your bank accounts, loans, credit payments. In other words, your credit card is also in a way your financial statement on which your future transactions will depend.
If you find any discrepancies, file a report in writing, with any one of the consumer reporting companies, for action. Apart from providing you with the opportunity to verify your accounts and check your credit score, these reports also provide a listing of the companies who have made enquiries on your reports.
These consumer reporting companies sell this information to bankers, creditors, insurers, employers and other business houses. It is imperative to order a free copy to ensure that there are no inaccuracies or errors in your report.
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Monday, January 26th, 2009
If you are a property owner, than knowing your tenant credit report is crucial before allowing them to rent out your property. Fortunately, obtaining this info is really not very difficult. When you get a report, simply consider whether or not they met your criteria, and if so, allow them to rent it out.
Obviously I can’t tell you who you need to allow, or what a good credit score is, as this will be different for every property owner. You need to make this call. However, the first place to start in this process is getting a tenant credit report.
To do this, simply fax in your order to companies that provide this, and you will need to include your personal data such as name, address, social security number, business name, etc.
Fortunately, there are many tenant screening companies out there today that can quickly and easily give you access o their credit score, and finding these companies is not difficult.
There are more and more popping up all the time. How do you find the best one? First of all, make sure you find a company with a good screening strategy.
Make sure they check out your potential prospects thoroughly before giving you the info, because many companies can be a little careless in searching for data, and might leave out some valuable info you needed.
What do these companies do? First, they will give you a credit score from one of the 3 large countrywide credit companies. They will provide you with other important information such as any court cases against your client, bankruptcy, tax defaults, bank accounts and records, and of course, criminal info.
Knowing all of this is important to not only understanding how likely they are to pay their rent on time, but also whether they will repel other people from renting in your property. If you allow the wrong kind of people in there, they very likely will annoy the other tenants in the building, and cause you to have vacancies.
Obviously, you can simply go to the trouble of getting his info yourself if you really tried hard enough, but as a property owner, you no doubt have to much on your plate to go about this lengthy process.
This is where these tenant screening companies come in so handy. Simply hire one of the, get your tenants credit report along with the other info provided, and make a decision on whether or not they are right for your property.
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