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Posted by Alexander Albert
Having a bad credit history can be a real nightmare and major source of headaches. With a negative credit history you are pretty much financially disabled from everything except transactions that can be covered with cash. Finding an apartment to rent, trying to buy car, putting a down payment on a house, or applying for a credit card or a loan from a bank can all be activities you are basically barred from with a poor credit history. Banks, businesses and landlords can see a poor credit history a mile away and will avoid you like the plague. And it seems like all the steps that are supposed to build credit require good credit in the first place. How can you break out of this credit catch-22 once you get stuck in it?
A good place to start if you have a particularly poor credit history is to contact a credit counseling service. These services will help you to identify why it is you have a poor credit rating, and will help you figure out some steps you can take to repair your negative credit past. A lot of people struggle with credit at one point or other in their lives, and the use of these counseling services is a great way to get back on track.
Most counseling services will tell you that improving your poor credit should start by clearing up any past debts or forgotten bills. Missed payments have a tendency to work themselves into ugly marks on your credit rating, and make for a bad credit file. It is not in their nature for businesses to forget that you didn’t pay them what you owed, and they will almost always eventually contact a collection agency. When a collection agency decides that you aren’t going to pay, they’ll do everything in their power to give you a bad credit history.
These collection agencies are supposed to contact you about your debts first, but if you’ve moved or changed you phone number and they don’t succeed, they won’t be shy about ruining your credit without your permission. If you have a less than perfect credit history, you might have been an unknowing target of one of these agencies.
Whatever the reason, clearing up a bad credit history should start by settling old debts or forgotten bills. Additionally, you want to take steps to show that you can make payments responsibly. Use your credit cards often and pay the minimum payments on your bills immediately. If you don’t have a credit card, get a secured card and likewise make your minimum payments promptly. Credit counseling services can help you find additional ways to fix your bad credit history as well.
Article source: ContentLog.com
Author Description
Bettercreditsecrets is a resource site for those considering an legal credit repair or need bad credit advice. Visit us or check out our credit repair articles at cliksource.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Realities About Bad Credit Debt Consolidation
Thank you for visiting the official blog of RaiseYourCreditScoreNow.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!
Posted by Ng Kerry
You have seen those ads on TV. Companies specializing in bad credit debt consolidation. These companies claim that they can help you consolidate your debt in spite of your bad credit, no matter how much debt you have or how far behind you are. Yep, they claim to have the magic answers to your financial problems. After they’re done with you, you’ll be left with, "just one easy monthly payment!"
There are some companies who legitimately want to help people with bad credit consolidate their debt. These companies usually charge a reasonable up-front fee, avoid making extravagant claims and will offer professional references upon request.
Then there is the "other" type of bad credit consolidation company. These types of companies will prey upon your fears and offer you hope that somewhere out there lies and easy solution to your problems. That bad news is, the latter type of bad credit debt consolidation companies is far more common than the former.
Debt Consolidation Companies: What Exactly Do They Do?
Basically, what a bad credit consolidation company does is that it acts as your mediator. They talk to your creditors and try to lower both your interest rates and monthly payments. Once they have reached an agreement with your creditors, they will let you know what your monthly total will be. Then you will send this monthly amount to the debt consolidation company and they will distribute the money to all your creditors.
Now in theory, that’s what they’re supposed to do. The companies that are running scams often keep much of that money you sent them and call it "administration fees" or " loan origination fees", even though no loan has been or originated. What this means to you is that your creditors will continue to harass you and report your account as delinquent and unpaid to the credit reporting agencies. The money that you sent to these companies never makes it to the creditors.
Does Legitimate Bad Credit Debt Consolidation Really Exist?
There are legitimate bad credit debt consolidation companies. The legitimate companies will not send you unsolicited e-mails or any kind of mail unsolicited. You also won’t find them advertising on late-night television. If your credit score is very poor, chances are you probably won’t qualify for unsecured loans throw a bank. However, you may be able to refinance your house or your car to pay off any unsecured debt. Best to talk to your bank or mortgage broker. Another good idea is to go see a legitimate financial planner. Let this professional assess your budget and then help you find ways to get out of debt and stay out of debt.
One other way to consolidate debt it is to transfer all your unsecured debt to one low interest credit card. This approach does have a few drawbacks though. If your credit really sucks, the credit card company may decide to hike up your interest rate without warning. If you happen to have more then just one credit card, you may have to either cut them up or put them away in a safe place to avoid the temptation of racking up new charges on them. Of course you should make the minimum monthly payments, more if you can afford it, to the card left with the balance of your debts.
Despite the fact that you have bad credit, debt consolidation is still possible. Just make sure that you’re working with a reputable company that truly does want to help you get out of debt.
Author Description
Kerry Ng is a successful Webmaster and publisher of The Debt Info Blog. For more great helpful information about Debt visit The Debt Info Blog
Posted by Ng Kerry
You have seen those ads on TV. Companies specializing in bad credit debt consolidation. These companies claim that they can help you consolidate your debt in spite of your bad credit, no matter how much debt you have or how far behind you are. Yep, they claim to have the magic answers to your financial problems. After they’re done with you, you’ll be left with, "just one easy monthly payment!"
There are some companies who legitimately want to help people with bad credit consolidate their debt. These companies usually charge a reasonable up-front fee, avoid making extravagant claims and will offer professional references upon request.
Then there is the "other" type of bad credit consolidation company. These types of companies will prey upon your fears and offer you hope that somewhere out there lies and easy solution to your problems. That bad news is, the latter type of bad credit debt consolidation companies is far more common than the former.
Debt Consolidation Companies: What Exactly Do They Do?
Basically, what a bad credit consolidation company does is that it acts as your mediator. They talk to your creditors and try to lower both your interest rates and monthly payments. Once they have reached an agreement with your creditors, they will let you know what your monthly total will be. Then you will send this monthly amount to the debt consolidation company and they will distribute the money to all your creditors.
Now in theory, that’s what they’re supposed to do. The companies that are running scams often keep much of that money you sent them and call it "administration fees" or " loan origination fees", even though no loan has been or originated. What this means to you is that your creditors will continue to harass you and report your account as delinquent and unpaid to the credit reporting agencies. The money that you sent to these companies never makes it to the creditors.
Does Legitimate Bad Credit Debt Consolidation Really Exist?
There are legitimate bad credit debt consolidation companies. The legitimate companies will not send you unsolicited e-mails or any kind of mail unsolicited. You also won’t find them advertising on late-night television. If your credit score is very poor, chances are you probably won’t qualify for unsecured loans throw a bank. However, you may be able to refinance your house or your car to pay off any unsecured debt. Best to talk to your bank or mortgage broker. Another good idea is to go see a legitimate financial planner. Let this professional assess your budget and then help you find ways to get out of debt and stay out of debt.
One other way to consolidate debt it is to transfer all your unsecured debt to one low interest credit card. This approach does have a few drawbacks though. If your credit really sucks, the credit card company may decide to hike up your interest rate without warning. If you happen to have more then just one credit card, you may have to either cut them up or put them away in a safe place to avoid the temptation of racking up new charges on them. Of course you should make the minimum monthly payments, more if you can afford it, to the card left with the balance of your debts.
Despite the fact that you have bad credit, debt consolidation is still possible. Just make sure that you’re working with a reputable company that truly does want to help you get out of debt.
Author Description
Kerry Ng is a successful Webmaster and publisher of The Debt Info Blog. For more great helpful information about Debt visit The Debt Info Blog
Monday, April 13, 2009
How to Get a Free Credit Report MP3 Now on Podbean!
Thank you for visiting the official blog of RaiseYourCreditScoreNow.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!
Check out our latest audio, "How to Get a Free Credit Report", on our podcast page at Podbean.com. It is available for listening on the site or you may download it to listen at a later time.
Check out our latest audio, "How to Get a Free Credit Report", on our podcast page at Podbean.com. It is available for listening on the site or you may download it to listen at a later time.
Bankruptcies surge despite law meant to curb them
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AP Enterprise: Bankruptcies are surging despite law that made them tougher and more expensive
Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 13, 2009, 6:40 pm EDT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The number of U.S. businesses and individuals declaring bankruptcy is rising with a vengeance amid the recession, despite a three-year-old federal law that made it much tougher for Americans to escape their debts, an Associated Press analysis found.
"There's no end in sight," said bankruptcy lawyer Bryan Elliott of Hickory, N.C., who is working seven days a week and scheduling prospective clients a month in advance. "To be doing this well and having this much business, it is depressing. It's not a laugh-a-minute job."
Nearly 1.2 million debtors filed for bankruptcy in the past 12 months, according to federal court records collected and analyzed by the AP. Last month, 130,831 sought bankruptcy protection -- an increase of 46 percent over March 2008 and 81 percent over the same month in 2007.
Bob Lawless, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said bankruptcies could reach 1.5 million this year and level off at 1.6 million next year -- around the same time economists expect an economic recovery to begin.
Congress voted in 2005 to make bankruptcy more cumbersome after years of intense lobbying from the nation's lenders, who complained that people were abusing the system. Before the move to change the law, bankruptcies were running at what was then an all-time high of about 1.6 million per year.
The tighter requirements initially appeared to work, with bankruptcies plummeting from a record-shattering 2 million cases in 2005 -- a total that reflected a rush to file before the new law took effect -- to 600,000 in 2006. But now bankruptcies are booming again.
"You wouldn't get this large of a rise without serious problems in the economy," said Lynn LoPucki, a UCLA law professor who researches bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy rate is climbing as well. In the past 12 months, about four people or businesses for every 1,000 people in the country filed for bankruptcy, according to the AP analysis. That is twice the rate in 2006, and close to the average of about five for every 1,000 in the decade leading up to the change in the law.
Lawless said the shame of bankruptcy may have eased somewhat in recent years, but added, "It's still a very stigmatizing, traumatic event for most everyone who files."
Previous recessions also drove people to bankruptcy court, though those increases were more moderate. Bankruptcies went up 19 percent amid the economic contraction in 2001, and about 15 percent during the recession of the early 1980s, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Bankruptcy is considered a lagging economic indicator, since it is generally a last resort. The filings compiled by the AP illustrate the places where the economic meltdown has hit hardest.
In March, bankruptcy filings jumped the highest across the West. In Arizona, filings rose 91 percent from a year ago. They were up 84 percent in Idaho, 82 percent in California and 79 percent in Nevada, though those were trumped by Delaware, home to many large corporations, which saw a 127 percent jump.
Emory Clark, an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney who has been in the business for 25 years, said he is seeing more affluent people, many who have lost their jobs.
"There's something about human nature or American culture, but people hate filing for bankruptcy," Clark said. "It really is a stamp of failure. Nobody wants to come in here and pay us money to file. They are forced in because of circumstances."
Kathy Stevens of Vista, Calif., opened a tea and coffee boutique in August 2007, and it grew steadily. Then enrollment started to fall at a nearby mom-and-tot gym her customers frequented, and her business took a hit. The gym finally closed in the fall.
Stevens and her husband spent more than $35,000 to keep the boutique afloat, drawing on their own money and donations from family. After working from 6 a.m. until almost 10 p.m., seven days a week for months on end, Stevens realized her store would not survive. The couple filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.
"You feel bad, because you never set out to do this," Stevens said. "We're trying to put it behind us and lick our wounds and move on."
Under the 2005 law, Congress imposed higher fees on those seeking bankruptcy and began requiring credit counseling sessions and a means test to assess debtors' ability to pay what they owed.
Lawless, the Illinois law professor, said his research found that the law simply increased the cost of filing by 50 percent and led many more people to cling to false hope longer.
Many filers take a credit counseling class just a day before turning to the courts.
Also, the law's test of a person's ability to pay off debts appears to have failed at one of its goals: steering debtors from Chapter 7, which allows people to sell off their assets to repay what they can and start again debt-free, and into Chapter 13, which places the filer in a repayment plan that can last for years. Chapter 7 cases accounted for 69 percent of all filings in the past year, compared with 71 percent in 2004.
Lawless argued that only a tiny number of people were abusing the system before the 2005 shift, and that the law punishes those who genuinely need help.
"The point of the bankruptcy system is to give the honest but unfortunate debtor a fresh start," Lawless said. "The fact that people are waiting longer to file shows just how mean-spirited the law is."
AP Enterprise: Bankruptcies are surging despite law that made them tougher and more expensive
Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 13, 2009, 6:40 pm EDT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The number of U.S. businesses and individuals declaring bankruptcy is rising with a vengeance amid the recession, despite a three-year-old federal law that made it much tougher for Americans to escape their debts, an Associated Press analysis found.
"There's no end in sight," said bankruptcy lawyer Bryan Elliott of Hickory, N.C., who is working seven days a week and scheduling prospective clients a month in advance. "To be doing this well and having this much business, it is depressing. It's not a laugh-a-minute job."
Nearly 1.2 million debtors filed for bankruptcy in the past 12 months, according to federal court records collected and analyzed by the AP. Last month, 130,831 sought bankruptcy protection -- an increase of 46 percent over March 2008 and 81 percent over the same month in 2007.
Bob Lawless, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said bankruptcies could reach 1.5 million this year and level off at 1.6 million next year -- around the same time economists expect an economic recovery to begin.
Congress voted in 2005 to make bankruptcy more cumbersome after years of intense lobbying from the nation's lenders, who complained that people were abusing the system. Before the move to change the law, bankruptcies were running at what was then an all-time high of about 1.6 million per year.
The tighter requirements initially appeared to work, with bankruptcies plummeting from a record-shattering 2 million cases in 2005 -- a total that reflected a rush to file before the new law took effect -- to 600,000 in 2006. But now bankruptcies are booming again.
"You wouldn't get this large of a rise without serious problems in the economy," said Lynn LoPucki, a UCLA law professor who researches bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy rate is climbing as well. In the past 12 months, about four people or businesses for every 1,000 people in the country filed for bankruptcy, according to the AP analysis. That is twice the rate in 2006, and close to the average of about five for every 1,000 in the decade leading up to the change in the law.
Lawless said the shame of bankruptcy may have eased somewhat in recent years, but added, "It's still a very stigmatizing, traumatic event for most everyone who files."
Previous recessions also drove people to bankruptcy court, though those increases were more moderate. Bankruptcies went up 19 percent amid the economic contraction in 2001, and about 15 percent during the recession of the early 1980s, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Bankruptcy is considered a lagging economic indicator, since it is generally a last resort. The filings compiled by the AP illustrate the places where the economic meltdown has hit hardest.
In March, bankruptcy filings jumped the highest across the West. In Arizona, filings rose 91 percent from a year ago. They were up 84 percent in Idaho, 82 percent in California and 79 percent in Nevada, though those were trumped by Delaware, home to many large corporations, which saw a 127 percent jump.
Emory Clark, an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney who has been in the business for 25 years, said he is seeing more affluent people, many who have lost their jobs.
"There's something about human nature or American culture, but people hate filing for bankruptcy," Clark said. "It really is a stamp of failure. Nobody wants to come in here and pay us money to file. They are forced in because of circumstances."
Kathy Stevens of Vista, Calif., opened a tea and coffee boutique in August 2007, and it grew steadily. Then enrollment started to fall at a nearby mom-and-tot gym her customers frequented, and her business took a hit. The gym finally closed in the fall.
Stevens and her husband spent more than $35,000 to keep the boutique afloat, drawing on their own money and donations from family. After working from 6 a.m. until almost 10 p.m., seven days a week for months on end, Stevens realized her store would not survive. The couple filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.
"You feel bad, because you never set out to do this," Stevens said. "We're trying to put it behind us and lick our wounds and move on."
Under the 2005 law, Congress imposed higher fees on those seeking bankruptcy and began requiring credit counseling sessions and a means test to assess debtors' ability to pay what they owed.
Lawless, the Illinois law professor, said his research found that the law simply increased the cost of filing by 50 percent and led many more people to cling to false hope longer.
Many filers take a credit counseling class just a day before turning to the courts.
Also, the law's test of a person's ability to pay off debts appears to have failed at one of its goals: steering debtors from Chapter 7, which allows people to sell off their assets to repay what they can and start again debt-free, and into Chapter 13, which places the filer in a repayment plan that can last for years. Chapter 7 cases accounted for 69 percent of all filings in the past year, compared with 71 percent in 2004.
Lawless argued that only a tiny number of people were abusing the system before the 2005 shift, and that the law punishes those who genuinely need help.
"The point of the bankruptcy system is to give the honest but unfortunate debtor a fresh start," Lawless said. "The fact that people are waiting longer to file shows just how mean-spirited the law is."
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