Archive for October, 2009

How My Credit Dropped

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

A few months, I went through some rough moments in my life. I got laid off after the company I worked for went down. The bills piled up and I was unable to make my monthly payments. Eventually, all of my credit card accounts were charged-off and sent to collection agencies.

My life became a nightmare of collection calls and endless harassment from debt collectors. Eventually, I filed bankruptcy and was relieved of my debt, but the damage to my credit was already done.

For years I was denied the chance to own a home, get a new car, or even take a vacation ” all because my credit scores were too low for the banks to even consider giving me a loan. Getting turned down for loans over and over was frustrating and embarrassing.

A neighbor told me about SBFC Law Group and was ranting and raving about how wonderful they were. I was hesitant at the beginning, but after seeing what they did for him, I knew I had to try it out myself. So, I got online and looked them up.

SBFC Law Group Changed My Life

I called the 1-800 number at their website and talked to a credit repair expert who was very nice and understanding of my circumstances. She was also very knowledgeable. So, I went ahead and signed up. Boy, am I glad I did! After about 3 weeks, I started receiving letters from the credit bureaus stating that negative accounts had been removed from my credit reports!

SBFC Law Group did such a great job with my credit score, I would recommend them to anyone who is in the same circumstance. It is so worth it. After the first little while I was able to get a car loan. A year later, and I can now get a home loan. Imagine that.

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Everything You Need to Know About Consumer Loans

Monday, October 12th, 2009
by Martin Elmer

If you are short on money, a private loan (also known as consumer loan or personal loan) could be an option. But there are a couple of things you should know, before you are raising a loan. Learn about concepts like security, interest rates and loan charges.

So what is a consumer loan? A consumer loan is a loan taken by an individual. Normally the loans are raised to pay for some kind of buying expense (like a television or a vacation). But it can also be relevant to take a loan to pay other debt. If you raise a loan for a house, it is called a mortgage loan (and cannot be compared to a personal loan).

The private loan will normally be raised from banks or individual lenders. It will often be paid back after half a year to five years; compared to the mortgage loans 20 to 30 years payback time.

The cheapest kinds of loans are secured loans. Because the lender has security in some kind of asset (like a house or a car) they do not have to take a big risk. If you fail to pay your loan, your debt will be settles against the security asset; and your risk losing your house or car.

If you cannot (or do not want to) supply any kind of security asset, you should raise an unsecured loan. In this case you will not lose your car or house, if you cannot pay. The lender takes a big risk with this kind of loan, so it is normally much more expensive. And it can be very difficult to raise a unsecured loan, if you have a bad credit history or if you are unemployed.

The rate is an important factor to consider before raising a loan. There is a lot of money to save by doing a little investigating on the internet. You can also try to play off one bank against another to get them to lower the rate.

The amount you want to borrow and how long time it will take you to pay it back; do also have a major impact on the interest rate; the longer time, the higher rate. So make sure that you pay the loan back as fast as it is possible for you.

The total price of the loans is not only based on the interest rate. The loan charge will be another important part. And while the interest rate depends on the amount, the charge will normally be the same no matter how much you are borrowing. So rise on large loan instead of several small ones.

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You can expect BIG changes to your credit scores with FICO 08

Sunday, October 11th, 2009
by Ty Crandall

Fair Isaac has finally released their much anticipated FICO 08 credit scoring model. This new credit scoring model has big differences from the previous FICO model.

FICO 08 is the first major change in Fair Isaac?s scoring model since the 1980?s. Fair Isaac predicts this new scoring model will better predict risk of default by 5-15% over its predecessor.

Many experts estimate it could actually improve the current risk model by upwards of 50%. FICO 08 was pushed to be released in 2009 in response to changing economical conditions.

FICO is used by most large banks and financial institutions so understanding the new changes are crucial. Many lenders will quickly be integrating this new scoring model into their lending decisions.

Many of the basic principles of FICO will remain the same such as the score range of 300-850 which will continue with the new model.

One of the most positive changes is that collection accounts with initial balances less than $100 will NO LONGER have an impact on the credit score.

Very small collections such as small medical bills will no longer have an affect on the credit score if the initial balance on the account was less than $100 at the onset of the account on the credit report.

The new model will also be more forgiving on consumers who are late in one area, but not late in other areas on their credit. So if a consumer is occasionally late on a credit card account, the score change will be less than if that consumer was consistently late on all their payments.

The credit score impact of an authorized user account will also change with FICO 08. There will be no more score increases for certain forms of ?piggybacking?. This is when a customer with credit problems or no credit gets added as an authorized user to accounts of someone else with good credit to boost their scores.

With FICO 08 this is only permitted for the consumer?s immediate family.

If the consumer has too few accounts, closed accounts, or has accounts inactive, the damage to the score will be greater than its predecessor FICO.

FICO 08 now contains between 12- 16 scorecards estimated. This is versus the 10 prior scorecards that existed with the prior FICO model. These scorecards are mathematical models that are used to assign a credit score.

Each scorecard is specific to a particular industry. For example the Mortgage Industry Option Scoring Model uses its own scorecard and weighs past mortgage and installment history heavier than all other accounts while computing a credit score.

FICO will be a big welcomed upgrade for Fair Isaac. Most banks and all three major credit bureaus are quick to implement this new scoring model due to its increased ability to accurately predict credit risk.

For more questions on credit scoring and the enforcement of consumer credit rights visit www.PerfectCreditFast.com.

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Find Out How A Divorce Can Influence Your Credit Score

Saturday, October 10th, 2009
by Helen Harris

The information on how many marriages end in divorce are confounding. And as emotionally upsetting as a divorce can be all too often it also has an terribly negative consequence on your finances too.

Oftentimes there are people who have been responsible and unfailing with their credit for years who end up with major problems following a divorce. Divorce is one of the main causes of challenging credit for many people.

When you are married you and your spouse are often equally treated as likewise liable for repaying loans like mortgages, car payments and credit cards. When the separation happens the courts usually hand over responsibility to one or the other party. However, even though this is by order of the court many times the creditors will overlook it, especially if the loan goes delinquent.

A divorce decree does not show up on a credit report. If the ex-spouse who is accountable for the balance due misses a payment the creditors can and will attempt to collect from the other party. Both parties will also have the delinquency reported on their credit reports. If your ex-spouse is supposed to pay but doesn’t, you will be held answerable.

Since you have split households and you are no longer getting mail or notices at the same address, you may not even be attentive that there is a difficulty with the old debts until it is too late and it is already reported on your credit.

While having your credit report being affected may seem bad enough if the other partner decides to declare bankruptcy, you could be held accountable for the full amount of the balance even though the courts assigned it to your ex spouse. You may be targeted by the creditor as the only option accessible for them to collect the money owing.

It is disappointing but at this time the credit system is exceedingly unfair to the parties of a divorce. Often the only way to entirely tie up a divorce is to declare bankruptcy. This is very unfortunate if there is one party who strives to be responsible and desperately wants to keep a untainted credit record.

However this state of affairs is just one instance of why it is valuable that we have the right and we can repair our credit. We can dispute any item on our credit reports, including bankruptcies that we feel may be inaccurate, untimely, incomplete, ambiguous, misleading, untimely, unverifiable, prejudiced or unclear.

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Learn About The Three Unexpected Benefits Of Credit Repair

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
by Evelyn L Morgan

When an person tries to get a credit for a house or a loan on an car they are usually aware of how significant their credit report and credit score can be. A lender can charge a higher rate or even deny credit altogether based upon what is showing on the credit report and the credit score.

Yet there are also a few other things that most persons are not even alert of in connection with credit reports and credit scores. Destructive credit can affect you in a few unexpected ways.

One key reason to try to keep your credit clean and your score high is if you own any credit cards. A credit card company will often use any justification they can to raise your interest rates. They can in reality continue to monitor your report at anytime after you become a cardholder and even if you have never been behind on a payment to them if they see that you have had tribulations with other lenders they can jack up your rates. It is possible that they could double or triple your initial rates.

Any difficulty showing on your credit report is a sufficient cause for them to boost your rates. Many times erroneous and imprecise information can show on your report and your rates will be unfairly jacked up. It is smart to repair any troubles that you see on your report as soon as achievable for this motive.

Credit scores and reports can also influence your job search. Prospective employers can ask to see a copy of your credit report as part of a background check. It is permissible for them not to employ you if you have bad credit. However, be alert that they must have special permission granted from you to query into your credit.

If you are one of a few equally qualified prospects it is probable that your credit rating could become a deciding reason. In these times of fiscal confusion it is crucial to make sure that you continue each benefit you may have in the job market.

The third unforeseen advantage for repairing your credit and making it look as good as possible is that insurance companies can turn you down for coverage if you have bad credit. According to insurance industry investigation, they have determined that people with bad credit submit 40% of all claims. For that rationale if you have bad credit they may deem you to be high risk and they may deny you coverage. Statistics show that as many as 90% of all automobile insurance companies use credit reports for an underwriting tool.

While these things may not seem reasonable or just the fact is that your credit report can affect all of these things and more. If you have good credit, do what you can to keep it that way and if you don’t, you can take actions that can help you improve or repair your credit.

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