How Credit Repair Saved My Life

How Credit Repair Saved My Life

once upon a time in my life, i was dead. dead not in the physical sense mind you, but the consumer sense. you see, i had bad credit. actually, bad credit would have been an upgrade. i even got a denied letter for a debit card. that?s right, the bank did not trust me with my own money. it was so bad that i thought life was over?and i was only starting my twenties.

what they teach you

nothing of use really. we are taught, through our societal guidelines, that we are to obtain credit to buy items. it works like magic. one minute you are just getting by and the next minute you have a kind company willing to loan you hundreds to thousands of dollars?all for a price. we are taught to go buy items of our dreams and not to worry. just pay your small monthly fee and all will be fine.

what happens if i miss payments?

all is not fine if you get in over your head. most of us grow up getting credit lines and not knowing the first thing about credit itself. if we did, oh how different we would act. however, that day almost always comes when you miss your first payments. for many of us that is just the beginning. for me, it was one missed payment at first and then many missed payments. the many missed payments became many collection accounts, a reposed vehicle and more.

as you might now, missing payments leads to a lower credit score. we are told that once we mess up, that is it for seven long years. ruin your credit at 18 and wait until you are 25 to start at it again. mess it up at 26 and wait until your mid 30?s. why would they be so harsh? the answer is five large letters?m-o-n-e-y.

why are they lying to me?

why do most humans lie? for personal gain of course. by holding you down in the bad credit well, you can be taken advantage of. sure, you may still be able to get an auto loan, but now it will cost you 29% interest. are you insane? back to my youth, i was way past this point. i could not even get approved for a secured credit card.

think about this for one moment. how many advertisements have you seen in your lifetime where the company said something like bad credit is ok or they lead the way in second chance financing. if you had a way to repair your credit back to normal, companies like this would lose billions of dollars each year. moreover, there would be no need for credit agencies like equifax, experian and trans union. these companies make a fortune annually because of negative credit reporting.

credit repair is a scam!

this is what we are fed daily isn?t it? the truth is somewhere in the middle, as usual. many places that offer credit repair are indeed bad news. however, many do indeed work. the worst lie is that you are helpless for seven years. did you know there is a way to correct your credit report on your own? it does not take any supreme knowledge or special connections inside the powers that be.

so how did credit repair save me? well, it opened my eyes to the possibilities and cast the lies into the darkness where they belong. it made me go read and understand the laws that govern the credit arena. it helped me realize that i did not have to let bad companies, who claim to simply be helping those in need, take advantage of me. finally, my journey allowed me to reclaim my credit identity and experience life as it was meant to be.

my website (jaketruman.com) has more articles about credit and what you can do about your credit identity. don?t get taken advantage of, educate yourself. i can show you how to stop collection agencies from calling and how to correct items on your credit report quickly. additionally, there is a credit repair information website at creditliberty.com that you should visit.

jake truman is a real estate & stock investor and credit informer. website: real estate. he has published a book on credit help, which is available at his website jaketruman.com

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Credit Cards for People With Bad Credit - How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off

if youve had credit problems, then youve probably received offers for credit cards aimed at people with bad credit. these offers range from legitimate, to questionable, to outright scams. how can you tell the difference? the answer is to read the fine print, usually to be found in a document called terms and conditions. to show you the difference between the good, the bad, and the ugly in the low-end credit card market, lets take a look at the fine print associated with such offers.

well start with one of the more popular low-limit starter cards available today. these are actual terms published by a major company at the time this article was written. the card comes with a visa logo on it and looks like a regular credit card, so you can use it as an extra piece of identification when youre booking a hotel room, renting a car, and so on. in the terms and conditions document, the first thing we see is the annual percentage rate (apr), listed as 19.5%. thats not a particularly attractive rate, but its not as high as a lot of other cards. a little farther down, we see that the apr for cash advances is higher, 25.5%, which is normal since there is greater risk involved to the company.

where it really gets interesting is the section that lists the fees associated with the card. in this example, there is an annual fee of $150! there is also a $29 fee to open the account, as well as a monthly maintenance fee of $6.50. whew! thats a lot of fees. but wait! it gets better. toward the bottom of the document, buried in the fine print, we see something called available credit limitations. in 8-point typeface (very tough to read on a computer screen or printed page), you are informed that your generous initial credit limit will be a whopping $300. on your very first statement, you will be billed for the $150 annual fee, plus the $29 setup fee. the $6.50 monthly fees will start appearing after you make your first purchase on the card.

lets take a closer look at the math here. it will cost you $179 up front, plus $78 per year, to obtain $300 worth of credit. your total cost for the first year is $257, assuming you pay off the balance each month and dont incur any regular interest charges. sound like a good deal? does it make any sense at all to pay $257 to obtain $300 worth of credit? thats 85.6% in effective interest! if you keep a running balance of $300 on the card, and just make the minimum payments every month, your effective interest rate will be 105.2% for the first year, and 95.5% for subsequent years. thats some pretty expensive credit! this credit card offer, while legal, still counts as a total rip-off.

as bad as the above sounds, it still only qualifies as questionable rather than being a full-on scam. there are much worse offers floating around out there. ive even seen some deals where the fees are so stiff you start out above the credit limit before receiving the card in the mail! in the bogus category id also include cards where you are forced to pay an advance fee prior to receiving the guaranteed credit card, which of course never arrives. there are also catalog cards, where you supposedly build credit by purchasing items through a card tied to one particular company and their catalog of goods. the problem is that the catalogs usually consist of grossly overpriced junk.

so what constitutes a good credit card offer for someone whos experienced serious credit problems and wants to take action toward rebuilding his or her credit? at the risk of annoying the big credit card marketing companies who target the sub-prime market (consumers with bad credit histories), my advice is to completely avoid any offer that comes to you unsolicited. instead, do the research on your own. check out www.bankrate.com for current offers by legitimate credit card companies. shop and compare before you apply. remember, the apr is only one aspect of your decision, and not necessarily the most important. what you want to look at very carefully are the annual fees, setup fees, and monthly fees.

its important to realize that you may not be able to obtain an unsecured credit card when youre just starting to rebuild your credit. instead of paying $257 to obtain $300 in credit, youd be far better off placing $250 as a deposit toward a good secured credit card from a reputable major bank. in this real-world example, the annual fee is only $29, the apr is 19.99%, and there are no setup fees or monthly maintenance charges. your $250 deposit will net you $250 worth of credit (less the $29 annual fee), and youll build positive credit history just as quickly as with the ridiculously expensive offer discussed above. plus that original $250 deposit is still your money. after youve been granted unsecured credit again, and youve paid off any outstanding balance on the secured card, you can get your deposit back.

one final tip. if you have the opportunity to join a credit union, you should consider checking out their offers for low-limit unsecured and secured credit cards. credit unions frequently offer much better terms than regular commercial banks. through credit unions, you can often find credit cards with no annual fees, lower interest rates, and more flexibility. be sure, however, to confirm that the credit union reports account activity to the credit bureaus. otherwise, your positive payment history on the new credit card wont lift your credit score. and remember, no matter what card offer youre considering, be sure to read that fine print!

charles j. phelan has been helping consumers become debt-free without bankruptcy since 1997. a former senior executive with one of the nations largest debt settlement firms, he is the author of the debt elimination success seminar?, a five-hour audio-cd course that teaches consumers how to choose between debt program options based on their financial situation. the course focuses on comprehensive instruction in do-it-yourself debt negotiation & settlement designed to save $1,000s. personal coaching and follow-up support is included. achieves the same results as professional firms for a tiny fraction of the cost. http://www.freeroller.net

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Credit Repair: Improve Your Credit Rating

in today?s world of financial credit it is of the utmost importance that you have a sound credit rating, or score, as this is the benchmark that all financial institutions use to determine whether they will advance you credit.

now this form of credit may be for any number of purposes such as an automobile purchase, a mortgage on a home or even a family holiday, whatever it is that you are looking to gain credit for will involve a credit worthiness check and so you will see how vital a good credit score is necessary.

obviously things taken into consideration by the financial institutions when arriving at this credit worthiness rating are previous loan repayment history and basically anything in your financial history that might give them doubts as to your possible worthiness to repay any credit given.

obtaining a good credit history is usually something that is acquired automatically over your normal lifetime of using bank accounts and generally paying credit arrangements on time, however if at anytime you have been in the unfortunate position to have defaulted on credit repayments or even had to come to some arrangement on credit repayments by a forced legal action then this will obviously affect any future possible credit advancements.

one-way you can start to build, or rebuild your credit worthiness might be by obtaining a secured or pre-paid debit card. these can be used exactly the same way as a traditional credit card however you place cash advancements on the card first, which in effect becomes the limit on the card you are able to use. these cards are available fairly easily as there are no risks to the financial lenders and thus gives you all the advantages of a normal credit card without any possibility of placing yourself into a debt situation.

over time using this means of payment while maintaining any other financial commitments you may have will regain your credit score and in time will lead to you being able to approach companies for a traditional credit card, should you wish, plus all other forms of credit arrangements.

copywrite 2005 terry till

http://www.freeroller.net

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