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Here is a very nice article which really discusses debt problems. Being in debt and having bad credit is a mindset. If you think you will always be poor and have bad credit you always will. It doesn’t matter if you win the lottery, you still need to change the way you think about yourself and how you handle money. Here’s a link to the article

http://debtfreeplaybook.com/blog/poor-lottery-winners.html

The fastest growing crime in America is Identity Theft according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Last year businesses in the United States lost approximately 50 Billion dollars to Identity Theft. Another 5 billion dollars was spent by consumers trying to undo Identity Theft that happened to them. Identity fraud affected nearly ten million people last year. The worst part is that many of these people spent their life building up their credit, only to be ruined in 30 days by a criminal. Criminals get off easy in comparison to the damage they inflict on unsuspecting victims! It is so popular we can’t find solutions fast enough to stop the new ways the theft is done. This article is going to show how to virtually “identity theft” proof yourself.

One of the fallacies that is prevalent is thieves get your information over the Internet. In fact, only 10% of all identity theft cases are Internet related. Almost 40% of all identity theft happens by someone who is in close contact to the victim. Something like a co-worker, waiter, neighbor, relative, or financial institution employee. Nearly one third of the offenses come from a stolen purse, checkbook, or credit card. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure which translates to; It’s more efficient to prevent the problem in the beginning, rather than let it go and have to invest a large amount to fix the results later. There are two ways the hijackers can inflict damage. The first is by using your current cards and charging them up and the second is by opening new accounts with your information. Here is how you stop those two attacks.

The best defense for identity theft is through placing a fraud alert on all three of your credit reports. By doing this you accomplish three things:

1.)Your information can not be sold by the credit bureaus to any third parties for marketing purposes like credit card offers, loan solicitations, etc.

2.) No one can approve you for credit without calling the phone number you have put on your consumer credit report. If someone applies for new credit with your name they must call you directly to approve it.

3.) By requesting the initial fraud alert you receive a free copy of your credit report. this allows you to make sure nothing has happened already.

As you can see it will be very hard for anyone to open credit in your name even if they have your information. To extend your fraud alert you will have to notify the bureaus in writing, they will extend it for seven years. I would also opt out of any offers by calling toll free 1-888-5-opt out (1-888-567-8688) or going to visit www.optoutprescreen.com for details. When you call or go on line you will have to give them your personal information to opt out but they are owned by major reporting consumer agencies.

The second type is when the criminal tries to hijack your current credit cards. First off, most on line services utilize a security feature known as “Address Verification Service or AVS”. This is simply that something purchased on line must be delivered to the address on the card or the credit card authorization will be declined. If you don’t have this set up, do so immediately. This forces the hijacker to call up all of your cards and switch your address to something that they can access. Because they changed your address the charges would be approved and whatever was ordered will be sent. The easiest way to defend against this is to set up a personal security code with all of your accounts. This is set up by calling them and asking to put in an additional security question to verify it is you. Only you will have access to this code so when someone calls up and they ask them to give the security code, it will stop them in their tracks. No one can change anything without knowing that code and you will be the only one with it!

Here are some tips to use to help prevent fraud. First keep a list of all accounts, account numbers and phone numbers so in case of a total loss you can call banks and creditors immediately to notify. Open a mailbox at the post office because no one has access to steal information unless they have a key, just an added layer of security. Never give out sensitive information unless you are sure of who they are. If someone calls you from the bank, call them back at the number you have so you know it is them. Don’t sign the back of your credit card, put “CHECK ID” so they will ask for a drivers license to verify identity. Store everything in a safe lock box that is fire proof and only close family know the combination.

I hope this article gives you some ideas on how to lock up your identity. It is very important to be in total control of your financial identity and credit. Someone can always steal your identity but the last laugh will be by you, when they can’t do anything with it. Take these steps and you can sleep a little better knowing that your identity is safe and you will keep being YOU!

Have you ever had a credit card company just raise a rate on you and never tell you why? Do you feel that credit card companies are trying to scam you? Credit cards are a necessary evil in todays world because of the added convenience they provide. There is a reason that credit card companies send you paper on top of paper with fine print even those with perfect vision can not read. Even if you feel they are not trying to scam you, you must at least admit they follow practices that are unethical at best. This article will delve into the credit card industry and some things you may have too watch out for.

According to many experts on the card industry, the credit card issuers are misleading consumers and making up their own rules as they go. They advertise with cute commercials, offer a very low introductory rate, and hire the finest minds to figure out a way to trap you in the fine print. The real problem lies in the fact that the industry is basically unregulated with no over site committees around. Lets go a little deeper and expose some things.

The industry basically has a couple kind of customers. The first is the customer who pays off all of the balances before they are due. There is no profit to the credit card issuers so these people are called deadbeats. These people are using cards the way they should, don’t buy with money you don’t have and pay before you have any finance charges. Approximately 33% of all credit card users fall into this category.

A majority of users carry a balance and are the “profit-makers” for the banks. The average user runs a balance of just over 8,000 in credit card debt. These users pay interest and fees for the privilege of carrying that balance. Over the last ten years this balance has doubled and credit card companies are generating record profits. Last year alone the credit card industry earned an estimated 30 billion dollars.

The name of the game today is the 0% interest offer for the first six months. This can be legitimate if you know how to use it and of course pay your debts off. The trouble comes in when you carry over a balance because many times this will cost you more in the long run. The rate after six months will jump higher than a normal rate and you will end up paying more for carrying the charges.

The second way the companies gain massive profit is with rate hike triggers. The industry provides many reasons to justify a rate hike and some are legitimate ones. The ones I am worried about are the deceptive reasons. One of these ways is how the “default” terms are spelled out in the fine print. The terms and conditions of this credit card can be changed at any time, for any reason with a 15 day notice.

The following are ways that can trigger late fees, penalties, or rate hikes.

Late payments If you don’t pay your bills on time, the company is justified in taking away your rate. You broke the rules. The problem is the card issuers are becoming very anti-consumer to help you trip up. One single late pay or lapse, a payment lost, or a charge on another card can trigger the rate increase and excessive late fees. I have even seen card issuers lower the available balance of the card holder to the exact amount of debt owed and then charging them an over the limit fee.

Spending on other cards If you don’t think the credit card companies don’t know what you are doing with the other cards think again. As a result if you go over your credit limit or a late payment on another card it triggers a “universal default clause”. It gives the card issuer the right to raise your interest rate on a card that you have never made a late payment too.

Defaulting on non credit card bills Everything is tracked by the big three credit bureaus and a late pay on a mortgage, cellular bill, utility, or car payment is readily available for the credit card issuer. If you default on anything they will spot and then increase your rate.

When I look back it seems that credit card issuers started to profit massively when the banking industry successfully eliminated the limit on interest rate a lender can charge a borrower. This deregulation and the technology upgrades that allow for real time tracking of finances, lead to record profit year after year. Now with nationwide banking the industry keeps growing and makes even more credit cards available. The real cost of this credit is actually a lot more than most people would realize but that is for another day. If yo get your rate increased I would close out that card and try to find one with a lower rate. If thats not possible your only other recourse is to overpay and get rid of those excess charges. Good Luck

I have a car, a nice place to live, and a decent life but I have bad credit. Why do I care? It won’t affect me, as I don’t need to charge anything and I seem to be on top of everything. Although it seems bad credit wouldn’t hurt you, think again. Now days credit scoring has seeped into our everyday lives like the television. Let me explain how and why it will cost you nearly ten thousand this year.

Employment: Most companies now pull a credit report as a pre-requisite to employment. Employers want to know if you have been financially responsible in the past. Why does this have a bearing you ask? Late payments on your credit reports show a lack of responsibility. How many employers want to hire someone who repeatedly shows a lack of responsibility? These missed payments surely show signs of bad organization, careless attitude, don’t learn from mistakes, and can’t plan. All things an employer wants to avoid.

Landlords: This is obvious as they will pull a credit report to see the likelihood of you paying your rent on time. Maybe you own your house but what about starting a business, or renting a garage, or a son or daughter that needs a consignor. Just because you can’t envision it happening doesn’t mean in the future you won’t need good credit. If you do decide to rent you will most likely have to put a a significantly higher security deposit.

Mortgage: Nowadays every loan application is based on your fico score. Bad score means loan denial or even worse high interest rates. It’s those high interest rate arms that have put a serious crunch on the economy, so watch out if you fall into this category. if you want to buy a house the better the credit, the lower your down payment can be. You may have to come up with thousands more to put down on the house of your dreams.

Car Loans: If you want a car and the credit isn’t good enough it will affect you in two ways. First they will require you to put down a significant down payment to cover their buts in case of a default. Secondly the interest rate will be twice as high as the current going rate for great credit which means a couple hundred dollars a month in payments.

Car Insurance: Almost all insurance companies pull up your credit report now to see how you’ve been. Don’t believe me? Go on line and get a quote and one of the questions they ask is how is your credit. It will disqualify you with some insurers and raise the price by two hundred dollars on others. Either way it is costing you money.

Utilities: When applying for gas and electric you will have to put up a security deposit because your credit is not up to their standards. They will hold this for a year until they feel comfortable with your payment history. So add that onto your new rental place and see just how much more bad credit is costing you?

Cell Phones: Have you heard of a prepaid cellular phone? The reason they came into existence was to be able to give people with bad credit a cellular phone. Now don’t get me wrong their are other uses but if you have bad credit this is your only option. On top of that you will pay more per minute than a good credit consumer.

Elective Medical Procedures: Think you can have that new nose without good credit? Think again as the hospital will require you to prepay because of the concern you will stiff them. Have unpaid medical bills on your credit? Watch out you may not get in to see the doctor till they are paid or they have extra time.

School Loans: If you or your kids are going to school then get ready for higher interest rates. With bad credit they will charge you about three percent higher for the privilege of going to school.

Marriage: I know how the…. Well if you want to marry someone and they owe thousands in credit cards, delinquent taxes, and many other bills that are delinquent, wouldn’t you think twice? Would you now want to take on the debt burden with them? Do you want to pay more because of their financial negligence before you even knew them? Not to mention the costs involved with a marriage with no loans possible. Finances are the number one reason marriages don’t wor, it wouldn’t be smart to start with that hanging over your head!

So, lets tally this all up and see how much it may cost you. Can’t get that job with the higher pay 400 a month, housing will cost you at least 200 more a month, car equals 125, insurance another 20, utilities about 15, phone around 30, and other misc. stuff we talked about, 50 a month. That comes up to, on the conservative side, about 800.00 a month for bad credit! I haven’t even added the increased deposits needed! Nearly ten thousand a year to carry bad credit, not too mention the less luxurious lifestyle bad credit provides. What is my motivation for pointing this out? I want you to do something about it, today, as it is certainly worth it!

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The Golden Rules for Eliminating Debt

I have helped a lot of clients get out of debt over the years. No matter what the circumstances are some clients succeed and others fail miserably. I have tried to put together a rules list so to speak to help others before they start down their debt elimination plan. Follow these rules and you will have a great chance to get rid of your debt. Throw these rules away and most likely you will end up with the 75% of people who fail at getting out of debt!

First and foremost set up a budget before embarking on debt elimination. Do not start a plan without knowing whether or not you will be able to afford it. Sit down and plan out housing expenses, auto expenses, food and any other variables that may cost you money. Most people mistakenly allocate the money to a debt elimination plan first and try to plan the other expenses around it. Nothing is more important than your families survival! When push comes to shove and you have to decide between survival and debt elimination, survival wins, so don’t get into that position.

Secondly, you will not avoid your creditors like a plague. You will actually call them to work out your plan. Your creditors will not just disappear from the earth if you ignore them. Out of sight out of mind philosophy doesn’t work here. You owe them money and they are going to come after that money. Why not go to them and avoid the problems of them coming after you. The best way to get a creditor to attack you and your finances is to try and hide. I realize that you are fearful of what may happen therefore the natural tendency is to do nothing. You will feel like it is better to do nothing than to do something wrong. In this case communication is really the key. By telling your creditor what is going on and that you are asking for their help, they will realize you are trying to pay the debt. Once they feel you are trying your best to repay them, they will do anything to help to get their money back. Asking for help usually brings out the best in people.

The next step goes hand in hand with the previous one. When you say you are going to do something, DO IT! Your integrity is all you have working for you at this stage of the game. If you have made concessions with your creditor and you fail to do your side, the creditor will not trust you again. Think how many times the creditor has been lied too, do you want to be associated with those people? The reason we budgeted as the first step was to put you into a position to be able to keep your word, not go back on it just to temporarily appease them. If your income isn’t stable don’t set up a repayment plan. If you are uncertain of your being able to commit to a plan, don’t. Communicate these reasons to the creditor so you have a chance to work something flexible out.

Finally, don’t do a plan unless it takes less then five years to complete. Depending on the amount of the debt three years may be the maximum here. With chapter 13 bankruptcy you can take 5 years to pay back the debts. I see no reason to go over the time allotment for the worst case scenario. Any debt elimination plan should be planned for three years so that you can see progress and it is not a perilous process. Adhering to this rule means you need to know how long any plan is going to take, so ask your creditors for something in writing.

I hope this helps in organizing you to get out of debt. One of the largest problems in the country is the current debt load we are facing. The fastest way to financial independence and great credit, is to first get out of debt. My hope is that everyone gets out of debt and builds financial freedom.

For 95% of Americans buying or refinancing your home is the most important, complex and stressful financial decision you’ll ever make. Many mortgage companies, real estate appraisers, and realty professionals stand ready to help you get a dream house and a fantastic loan. However, you need to be aware of the home buying process to be a smart consumer. Every year, misinformed home-buyers, often first-time purchasers or trust worthy consumers, become victims of loan fraud.

Do not allow this to ruin your most important financial decision! Here are 11 Tips On Being A Smart Consumer:

1. Before you buy a home, attend a homeownership education course offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved, non-profit counseling agencies. They will be a third party resource, with nothing invested, that you can get help from.

2. Interview several real estate professionals (agents), and ask for and check references before you select one to help you buy or sell a home. Interview them like you are hiring them as an employee of your business.

3. Get information about the prices of other homes in the neighborhood. Don’t be fooled into paying too much. In the past few years over-inflated values has become the number one fraudulent act committed.

4. Hire a properly qualified and licensed home inspector to carefully inspect the property before you are obligated to buy. Determine whether you or the seller is going to be responsible for paying for the repairs. If you have to pay for the repairs, determine whether or not you can afford to make them. Make sure the home inspector is hired by you and in no way knows the seller or real estate agent. You want an impartial third party to be looking out for your best interests.

5. Shop for a lender and compare costs. Be suspicious if anyone tries to steer you to just one lender. When you interview that lender ask for a good faith estimate and truth in lending, as they will break down the real costs.

6. Do NOT let anyone persuade you to make a false statement on your loan application, such as overstating your income, the source of your down-payment, failing to disclose the nature and amount of your debts, or even how long you have been employed. When you apply for a mortgage loan, every piece of information that you submit must be accurate and complete. Lying on a mortgage application is fraud and may result in criminal penalties.

7. Do NOT let anyone convince you to borrow more money than you know you can afford to repay. If you get behind on your payments, you risk losing your house and all of the money you put into your property. Also, if you get an adjustable rate mortgage so you can afford the house, make sure you can afford the maximum adjustment down the road.

8. Never sign a blank document or a document containing blanks. If information is inserted by someone else after you have signed, you may still be bound to the terms of the contract. Insert “N/A” (i.e., not applicable) or cross through any blanks.

9. Read everything carefully and ask questions. Do not sign anything that you don’t understand. Before signing, read your contract and loan agreement and ask quetions. When in doubt get and attorney or HUD agency to review them.

10. Be suspicious when the cost of a home improvement goes up if you don’t accept the contractor’s financing.

11. Be honest about your intention to occupy the house. Stating that you plan to live there when, in fact, you are not (because you intend to rent the house to someone else or fix it up and resell it) violates federal law and is a crime.

Watch out for Predatory Lending

In communities across America, people are losing their homes and their investments because of predatory lenders, appraisers, mortgage brokers and home improvement contractors who:

Sell properties for much more than they are worth using false appraisals.
Encourage borrowers to lie about their income, expenses, or cash available for down-payments in order to get a loan.
Knowingly lend more money than a borrower can afford to repay.
Charge high interest rates to borrowers based on their race or national origin and not on their credit history.
Charge fees for unnecessary or nonexistent products and services.
Pressure borrowers to accept higher-risk loans such as balloon loans, interest only payments, and steep pre-payment penalties.
Target vulnerable borrowers to cash-out refinances offers when they know borrowers are in need of cash due to medical, unemployment or debt problems.
“Strip” homeowners’ equity from their homes by convincing them to refinance again and again when there is no benefit to the borrower.
Use high pressure sales tactics to sell home improvements and then finance them at high interest rates.

What Tactics Do Predators Use?

A lender or investor tells you that they are your only chance of getting a loan or owning a home. You should be able to take your time to shop around and compare prices and houses.
The house you are buying costs a lot more than other homes in the neighborhood, but isn’t any bigger or better.
You are asked to sign a sales contract or loan documents that are blank or that contain information which is not true.
You are told that the Federal Housing Administration insurance protects you against property defects or loan fraud - it does not. The cost or loan terms at closing are not what you agreed to. You are told that refinancing can solve your credit or money problems. You are told that you can only get a good deal on a home improvement if you finance it with a particular lender.

Please be careful of all the tactics above.

Be careful when doing business over the internet. When at all possible I recommend you meet with your counselor in person so that you can see who they are and make sure you are compatible with them. You can do some research and make sure they have been around. Always take your time and never be hurried into doing something. Only those that are afraid you will “catch them” want you to make a decision right now! The bottom line is if you feel pressured and hurried and “your gut” says watch out, then step back and re evaluate your decision.  The extra days are not going to hurt you.

There are many little factors that can make lenders feel less inclined to give you credit and even having a large number of inquiries on your report can raise a red flag. The reason for this is because the lender might assume that you have been trying to get credit from many different lending institutions. If you have done this and been rejected by the other companies then the one you are currently applying to will be reluctant to give you their money, as they will assume that their funds are at risk if others have declined your applications.

The number of inquiries will be noted on your credit report so it will always be available for lenders to access.

It is better to have all the inquires made within a short time period as it will be reasonable to assume that you were shopping for one loan rather than to have many inquiries spread over a long period of time where it will look like you have been constantly searching for money. Unless you are shopping for a mortgage or a car each inquiry can lower your score around 5 points.

Many inquiries close together will often be combined and represented as one inquiry that won’t have any detrimental affect on your score.

The best course of action to take is to do your research of the companies that you intend to use and see what their terms are before you take the next step and get them to do a credit check on you.

By eliminating as many of these businesses as you can with your research you will reduce the number of inquires made against your name.

You can also reduce inquiries by using companies you currently deal with rather than seeking new sources of credit. When you apply somewhere ask for a copy of your credit report or at least ask what your score is. You can then take that information and shop without having your credit pulled again. The worst thing you can do is try and open accounts every month for a long period. Each pull will lower your score.

These are small factors that can affect your credit score and when you are trying to boost it all these little actions can amount to some positive changes while you are in the rebuilding process.

Answer these questions truthfully:

1.) Does your spouse or partner complain that you spend too much money?

2.) Are you surprised each month when your credit card bill arrives at how much more you charged than you thought you had?

3.) Do you have more shoes and clothes in your closet than you could ever possibly wear?

4.) Do you own every new gadget before it has time to collect dust on a retailer’s shelf?

5.) Do you buy things you didn’t know you wanted until you saw them on display in a store?

If you answered “yes” to any two of the above questions, you are an impulse spender and indulge yourself in retail therapy. Retail spending although good for the economy can be bad for your pocketbook. Spending money that you don’t have to get stuff that you don’t need is not a good thing. It will prevent you from saving for the important things like a house, a new car, a vacation or retirement. You must set some financial goals and resist spending money on items that really don’t matter in the long run.

Impulse spending will not only put a strain on your finances but your relationships, as well. A very high percentage of divorces is because of financial strain. To overcome the problem, the first thing to do is learn to separate your needs from your wants. I highly recommend that you make a list and separate the two so that you won’t spend irrationally.

Advertisers blitz us hawking their products at us 24/7. The trick is to give yourself a cooling-off period before you buy anything that you have not planned for. An easy way to do this is put whatever it is you want on layaway so that you can separate your emotions and decide if it is a need. When you go shopping, make a list and take only enough cash to pay for what you have planned to buy. Leave your credit cards at home. Another good way to budget is using a debit card only so you spend only what you have. Leave the credit cards in the vault for emergencies only.

If you see something you think you really need, give yourself two weeks to decide if it is really something you need or something you can easily do without. By following this simple solution, you will mend your financial fences and your relationships.