Apparently LifeLock Can be Picked Quite Easily
Published Monday, March 29, 2010 @ 7:47 am
Dear Consumers,
Just kidding.
Yours,
LifeLock
To follow up on a recent post about the overzealous marketing of credit report monitoring services, we bring you the latest in what can now be called a disturbing trend in financial fear-marketing.
LifeLock , the company that boasted their monthly fee-based privacy system could thwart even the Impossible Missions Force from seizing your identity or accessing your credit is now on the hook for $12 million to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for … wait for it … misleading consumers about the nature of its products.
You can’t make this stuff up.
From the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt. Call today for a free and confidential debt consolidation. 1-800-899-1414.
Not long ago, LifeLock had mobile billboards plastered with its CEO’s social security number parading through major metropolitan areas and were blistering radio and television channels with endless pronouncements about the strength of their identity monitoring products. The ads were extremely effective.
The company managed to positively boost its product without literally telling you to run under the bed and hide from all the identity thieves lurking inside your computer and around your trash cans. The understated importance of the CEO’s claim made one think, “Man, I better do something or I’ll be a victim.” Life insurance salesmen were taking copious notes.
The company is also settling with more than 30 states, including North Carolina. In a written statement, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz summarized the issue, “While LifeLock promised consumers complete protection against all types of identity theft, in truth, the protection it actually provided left enough holes that you could drive a truck through it.”
Ouch.
The settlement contains language that orders the company to immediately cease making claims that its service can absolutely prevent identity theft and make customer information useless to identity thieves.
The company also has to agree to—this is toughest part of the settlement—protect its customers’ information. Apparently, the FTC investigation uncovered that once under the watch of LifeLock employees, the privacy of customer information was neglected.
According to the FTC, the most misleading component of the company’s marketing plan was the claim it can stop all forms of identity theft. The truth is that it can only prevent a very specific type of theft that is found in a minority of cases.
Very much like keeping track of your credit, you can monitor fraud quite easily on your own. If you have credit cards, you can arrange a number of alerts that pertain to spending habits and frequency. Your bank can do the same for your debit card as well.
This post is not meant to minimize the impact of identity theft. It is certainly a very painful and common type of crime that has lead many people to bankruptcy court. And in many cases, even the most diligent purveyors of their finances have been become victim. However, it is unfortunate that today, in the age of the Great Recession, we have to be as equally watchful of the those who come to us with help, regardless of how often they are put in front of us as heroes.
The LifeLock case has rendered the company’s advertising plan somewhat mute. In response, you may have noticed a few other industry players fighting for the competitive space. LifeLock did right by their investors by placing a very positive spin on the settlement, calling it a step forward for consumers.
Todd Davis, LifeLock CEO, remained front and center in the case, saying, “We welcome federal and state efforts to regulate our industry, because doing so helps to protect consumers from the risks of identity theft.”
Mr. Davis, who else should we be worried about?
Enabling the Unemployed by Curtailing Employer’s Credit Checks
Published Wednesday, March 3, 2010 @ 8:10 am
As all American’s attempt to make their way out of their own Great Recessions, there is an old joke about the difference between a recession and a depression that goes something like this: “A recession is when your neighbor is out of work. A depression is when you are out of work.”
Well, the unemployed just got a whole new reason to feel depressed post-national recession.
Now, potential employers throughout the country are beginning to hold credit histories against already underworked and overwrought applicants. In fact, according to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resources Management, some sixty percent of employers said they run credit checks on at least some job applicants, compared with fewer than 42 percent in 2006.
While employers say these types of credit checks provide invaluable information about a job applicant’s “honesty and sense of responsibility,” according to The Huffington Post, lawmakers in at least 16 states—from South Carolina to Oregon—have proposed “outlawing most credit checks, saying the practice traps people in debt because their past financial problems prevent them from finding work.”
One such anti-credit check lawmaker is Wisconsin Rep. Kim Hixson. He drafted a bill in his state shortly after hearing from constituents who have continually struggled to find work. “If somebody is trying to get a job as a truck driver or a trainer in a gym, what does your credit history have to do with your ability to do that job?” Hixson told HuffPost.
Under federal law, these same prospective employers must actually get written permission from applicants in order to run their credit check. Unfortunately, even with these protections in place, many desperate job seekers don’t feel they are in any position to refuse a potential employer’s requests.
Most of the state bills being proposed in 2010 prevent employers from using credit reports when hiring for most positions. According to The Huffington Post’s Kathleen Miller, “The laws contain exceptions in cases where such information could be relevant to the job – for example, if the person is applying to work in a bank or an accounts-payable office.”
Based on a 2008 survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), employers and other credit check advocates argue that the two most common red flags for employees who commit workplace fraud are “living beyond their means and having difficulty meeting financial obligations.” The ACFE report also estimated that U.S. employers lost $994 billion to workplace fraud in 2008.
But in these tough financial times, many believe the economy can’t afford the credit checks.
“We are in the great recession and this creates a vicious cycle,” said Maryland Delegate Kirill Reznik, who drafted a similar bill being considered in his state. “People lose their jobs, that naturally precipitates them getting behind on bills, their credit scores go down, they are trying to find a job to pay off the bills, and employers won’t hire them because of their credit score.”
In the meantime, consumer advocacy groups are showing their support for legislative bans on these types of credit checks, pointing out that credit reports can also contain inaccurate information.
A qualified bankruptcy attorney can assist jobless citizens with even the worst credit histories to conquer their fears of losing it all. Specifically, the bankruptcy attorneys at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt offer a totally FREE debt consultation and now, more than ever, it’s time to take them up on their offer. Just call toll free to 1-800-899-1414, or during the off hours, you can make your own appointment right online at www.billsbills.com. Simply click on the yellow “FREE Consultation Now” button.
Enrollment in Federal Government’s Making Home Affordable Program Causes Additional Debt Problems
Published Tuesday, December 29, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
It hardly seems fair.
Those needing help with a bad mortgage that can be blamed on banking industry profit strategies are now faced with the problem of having their credit ratings ransacked as a result of enrollment in a federally-backed mortgage modification program.
The subprime mortgage crisis forced hundreds of thousands of Americans into bankruptcy or foreclosure. As the government realized, despite its public reticence, that it played a tremendous role in the state of its citizens’ bleak checking accounts, it announced the creation of the Making Home Affordable program, a concerted effort to offer banks financial incentives to adjust their customers’ mortgages at more favorable terms to the customer.
In the program’s wake arose countless private organizations and state-run mortgage assistance efforts. However, deep under the surface of the seemingly endless field of good will grows a bitter small seed of realization that your credit rating will experience increased erosion by entering into a mortgage modification plan… As if the impact of missed home payments and additional debt wasn’t already hard enough to swallow.
Jason Axelrod, a Chicago city employee, was one of many Americans who recently realized that seeking mortgage help would lead to negative consequences. He enrolled in a trial modification a number of months ago, at which point he sustained a reputable credit score of 750. With overtime cut and a quick jump in property taxes, it became increasingly difficult for him keep his monthly payments on track. The mortgage modification adjusted his payments by $565.
Trial modifications are generally intended to last a few months while banks and program representatives collect paperwork and gauge the homeowner’s ability to handle the new payments.
Eight months later, Jason remains in a morass of confusing paperwork and has yet been able to provide his lender with the appropriate paperwork to finalize the trial plan into a permanent one. Oh, and his credit score, despite no additional big ticket items or debt troubles, has dropped by more than 100 points. He was recently offered a car loan at 12 percent interest. He had previously enjoyed a low rate of 4.7 percent.
It is during the trial period that industry guidelines require lenders to report information on those enrolled. Specifically, the credit bureaus want to know a borrower’s status before entering the program. And it is in this reporting effort where the less-than-above-board practices of the credit bureau come into play. Essentially, to the folks at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the mortgage modification enrollment process is simply another credit checkpoint, supplied by the government, that they use to collect information on consumers. It’s like shooting debtors in a barrel.
A jointly devised coding program was installed to signify a borrower’s status as a “partial payee.” The presence of this code alone is enough to negatively impact credit standing. The full scope of its impact is based on a number of mortgage payment factors, such as number of missed payments before enrolling in the assistance program.
However, according to the Treasury Department, even those who were current on their mortgage could see their credit score cut by 100 points, simply because they chose to enroll in a program offered by the government.
At the start of September 2009, 24,000 people current with their mortgage entered into trial modifications. Just after Thanksgiving, the total number of trial modifications was just under 700,000. That’s a lot of credit reports. And most likely, a lot of frustration.
Credit Card Agreements Explain a Lot About How We Get Into Debt.
Published Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 10:33 am
While credit card debt may not always be the reason a person files bankruptcy, it is a significant factor in many cases. There are myriad reasons why those balances become so unruly. Impulse purchases, for example. However, a lot of that debt can also be attributed to deliberately confusing contract agreements.
Any graphic designer or communications professional would agree that if you don’t want your audience to get the message, present it in multiple pages of minuscule, light-grey type on a white background and scramble it with a liberal dose of intimidating legal context. Talk about a page turner! Or more realistically, a page shredder.
It isn’t like we don’t understand the concept of hidden messages in “fine print.” We scrutinize the heck out of car salesman, don’t we? They never get the benefit of the doubt. Yet, we agree to credit card agreements like we would to, well, free money. And that’s what Visa, MasterCard and American Express love about us.
A brief study by CNN asked 13 credit card holders to review a standard, five-page credit card agreement. A total of four people were able to find the annual percentage rate.
The argument on behalf of the credit card industry is that it needs such extensive language to remain protected. That argument alone should tell us a lot.
However, we would be remiss to not credit Bank of America with taking a step in the right direction. They will soon be sending credit card agreements with a simple, one-page breakdown of fees and rates. They will continue to fold up the longer-version into their approval mailings but the new approach should enable the customer to understand the most critical components of their agreement. This is a good thing.
The U.S. Government is already underway with devising legislature to limit the length and complexity of credit card documentation. The effort will be one of many, to be sure, to emanate from a proposed “consumer protection agency,” which would be a conglomerate of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
Many of the credit card issuers cite banking laws as the reason for so much superfluous content, referring all questions from the CNN article to the American Bankers Association (ABA). The ABA promptly pushed blame on to government regulation and corporate pencil-pushers.
The ABA, in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made it known it will debate any serious legislative effort to alter their methods on the grounds that it will limit consumer choice. It even went so far as to say that “vulnerable groups” should be protected but those who manage money well should be afforded the respect of free choice.
Credit Card Reward Points Go Away With Missed Payments
Published Wednesday, October 7, 2009 @ 8:40 am
With the government’s new credit card legislation possibly reaching its stride two months early on December 1, a lot of frustrated credit card users may be breathing a collective sigh of relief. Given the tighter restrictions on credit card issuers, you might want to take the opportunity to be a little more choosy in selecting your new card, as industry players are going to push hard to win customers from competitors, using reward plans and low introductory rates as incentives. However, unknown to many credit card users is how reward plans are handled when payments are missed.
What far too few consumers understand is that not only do credit reports get the news when a payment is missed, so do the third party companies that handle the reward plans. Understandably, most people find themselves worried more about the late fees and interest rate bumps that occur when a balance goes unpaid. However, if you’re counting on the reward points to finance your next vacation, you may be in for a big surprise when they are told that as a result of missed payments, a big chunk of those rewards have been taken away.
A research effort at www.cardhub.com showed that each of the major credit card companies employ rules which revoke reward points when a payment is missed. That list includes American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank and Discover.
Discover seems to be a bit more brazen than their competitors. For example, miss your due date for two months and all of your points go away. All of them. (Don’t forget, Discover is “the card that pays you back.” Maybe.) American Express examines situations individually but will seemingly not hesitate to take away what you have earned. With all the other penalties for missing payments, like late fees, interest rate spikes, credit report dings and dinner time phone calls, this is just one more slap in the face to consumers.
Also, remember that the credit card companies can change the terms of a reward program at any time, without notice. Essentially, the lending industry allows points to be accumulated but not necessarily returned. Thus, a consumer may be using a card for a specific rewards program only to find that program is suddenly no longer available. Furthermore, reward programs are marketed as perks, gifts for simply doing business with a specific bank. Yet, that gift can be revoked without notice. Thanks for nothing.
Consumer advocates preach that those looking for a card with a rewards program should choose only those that offer cash back, because it can’t be devalued. Plus, you are more apt to take the cash reward earlier than if it was simply a pile of points accumulating in cyberspace over time for you to “eventually” use for a new mountain bike, kayak or trip to Yosemite.
Remember, if a card’s rewards plan is the main reason you choose to open the account, as it is for more card users today, make sure you understand all of the fine print before you make a decision.
From: The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, with 4 convenient office locations in Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville and Wilson. Call us today to set up your free initial consultation. 1-800-899-1414.
Building A Credit Identity Separate From Your Spouse
Published Monday, August 3, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
Marriage is a partnership, and it works much better with each partner pulling his or her own weight. To avoid problems down the line, it’s a good idea for each partner to establish and maintain a separate credit identity. As a matter of fact, that is how the law will see it in all but the nine community property states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.) This means that if your spouse takes on a financial responsibility without you, you will not be legally liable for it, and vice versa. But it also means that good financial behavior on the part of your spouse won’t necessarily reflect on your credit report, even if you share in the actual payments. Here are a few tips to help you create and maintain your personal credit identity, apart from your spouse’s.
- Keep separate checking accounts. When people get married, they often choose to combine their checking accounts into one account both can access. This is certainly easier, logistically speaking, for maintaining a household. However, this exposes you to trouble if your spouse should turn out to have less than great habits with ATM withdrawals and checks. A better idea is to keep separate accounts, and also open a joint account for household use.
- Don’t take out joint credit card accounts or personal loans. This is another step many people take when they get married, but it’s a bad idea for some of the same reasons separate checking accounts are a bad idea. Besides, remember that in a bankruptcy filing, credit card debt can be fully discharged, and with separate credit card accounts, one spouse can file for bankruptcy without involving the other. In states which recognize tenancy by the entirety or similar forms of marital ownership, a judgment obtained by a creditor against one spouse will not become a lien against jointly owned property. However, if the credit card is a joint one, a judgment will attach to the property, possibly enabling the creditor to sell your home by sheriff’s execution sale! Talk to your bankruptcy attorney to determine how your spouse’s assets will be affected during bankruptcy.
- Understand how creditors are permitted to consider your spouse’s credit. When applying for credit in the non-community property states, a lender is not allowed to make a determination based on your marital status. Thus, he cannot ask to see your spouse’s information, unless her income will be a basis for repayment of the debt.
- Make sure joint accounts with good records are reported on both credit reports. If you’ve been building good credit together on joint accounts like your mortgage or car loan, you want to make sure that the information is being reported under both names. If you find out it isn’t, you can write to the creditor and request that they report to the credit bureaus about both of you.
With tightening credit markets, having a separate credit identity is crucial to maintaining your family’s financial viability. If you or your spouse are overwhelmed with debt, talk to a bankruptcy attorney today to find out how a properly planned bankruptcy can help your marriage and your finances.
Your Apartment Rental Options After Bankruptcy
Published Saturday, July 18, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
As we’ve discussed here several times, there is a very good chance you can keep your home when filing bankruptcy. However, those of you who rent may find reason to worry about that ubiquitous “credit check” that shows up on every new rental application.
Whether a faceless, multi-billion dollar property management company or a private duplex owner down the street, landlords need to know they can collect rent. It’s normal to be nervous about the process. But just like all other sorts of transactions and business relationships, your best first step is to be open about your financial history.
When seeking an apartment after bankruptcy, the smoothest route may be to seek out a private landlord. In other words, a local owner who is either in the apartment business full-time with a small operation or who just has a couple of places around the city. One of the disadvantages inherent to many Class-A apartment communities operated by national real estate firms is that they may not have flexibility in negotiating lease terms. While an amenity-rich, intricately landscaped apartment community is an attractive option, the leasing representatives are limited in their ability to negotiate. Even if you can afford the rent, the company may have a credit report policy that is simply too stringent.
If you run in to this, ask to see a manager. Not unlike a car dealership, the “salesman” rarely makes the final decision. It is worth your time to be face-to-face with someone with decision-making power for the benefit of learning to better vocalize your financial history and demonstrate that paying your bills is a serious priority. Clearly, a good job and proven steps toward a new credit history will help your case.
That being said, higher-end apartment homes come with a cost. How else are they going to pay for the pool, theater, gym, basketball courts and arborists? Ask yourself, “Will I even use all these amenities?” If you can save the money for a gym membership by working out at your apartment complex, great. Can you exercise in the pool? Is parking a hassle? Financial decisions, especially after bankruptcy, demand looking at the specifics; so weigh your considerations carefully.
Private landlords will rarely have the type of amenities available that a commercial apartment complexes do but that doesn’t mean that they are less desirable options. For the smaller landlord who values his properties, keeping a nice, well-maintained unit is critical to attracting solid tenants.
Perhaps the best advantage to working with a private landlord is their ability to be flexible with the rent amount or payment schedule. You may find some landlords are open to you paying twice a month or just in cash. They will still seek market rates for number of bedrooms and location, but for good tenants, they are more likely to have some flexibility. Additionally, you may not be subject to strict credit rules printed in bold on the tenth page of a complicated lease. Most individual landlords have simplified leases that clearly describe the most important rules and fees, and are more likely to be understanding about your financial situation.
In whichever direction you head for an apartment, always be prepared with knowledge of your credit history. Be alert to its status, knowing exactly what appears on it and in fact, have a copy of it with you when looking at an apartment. In addition, bring a recent pay stub, tax returns and even a reference letter if possible. The more prepared you are about your financial situation, the more apt you are get find a comfortable, affordable place to call home.
Post-Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors
Published Thursday, July 9, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
Coming out of bankruptcy is a great milestone. It renews confidence, offers comfort and provides you with a sense of accomplishment from meeting a tough challenge head on and surmounting it.
Like most people who have experienced these emotions, you have comprehensive understanding of how to better control your spending and look out for your financial well-being. One component of that is learning to identify common credit report problems that arise after bankruptcy.
Look for a record of credit agency activity that is listed separately from the debt they tried to collect. This makes it appear as if you had two outstanding debts. The original debt should have been discharged as a result of your bankruptcy and thus, the agency should not appear on the report. This is a very frustrating component of a post-bankruptcy credit report because a bankruptcy eliminates debts with organizations to which you owe money but does not eradicate the record of the debts. In other words, it’s a two-step process: removing the debts and reporting that they were removed. Parts of the second step often fall through the cracks.
Another common reporting error involves accounts that were reported closed by the creditor instead of it being closed by you. This would indicate that a creditor shut down the account instead of it being done as a result of a bankruptcy, intimating that it was done outside of your control because of your inability to pay. If a closed account appears open and the payment history demonstrates a clean record, leave that one alone because it will help.
We’ve said on the blog many times but it bears repeating: make sure your credit report looks good at all reporting agencies. It’s very possible that one bureau reports a solid history and the other still shows bad debts. It is also crucial to ensure any existing debt is correctly reported by all agencies.
One technique for proving credit report accuracy after a bankruptcy is to compare your report with your bankruptcy paperwork. Look at discharged debts and then what is listed on your credit report. This is bare-bones way to rest comfortably that your information is being handled the right way and won’t derail any future loan plans, such as a mortgage or student loan.
One last bit of advice: Do not turn to a credit repair business to repair mistakes in your credit report. These are businesses that charge a hefty up front fee, promising to improve your credit score quickly. As someone who took the initiative to contact an attorney, gather your wits and decide that bankruptcy was the best option, you can repair your credit on your own. With some time and a little bit of effort, you can rebuild your credit.
From: The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt. Helping thousands of families with the power of bankruptcy. Call 1-800-899-1414 to set up a free initial debt consultation.
Renting a Home After Bankruptcy
Published Tuesday, June 16, 2009 @ 10:22 pm
Despite the fact that credit reports are widely acknowledged to contain inaccuracies― for example, wrongly listed accounts, computer errors showing delinquencies where there were none, or discharged debts still showing up after bankruptcy―more and more of our interactions are touched by the huge industry that is credit reporting. Virtually every kind of loan will hinge on the information in your report, and even landlords will now require you to sign your consent to have your credit history checked along with the more standard criminal background checks.
If you are a renter and have declared bankruptcy, or are thinking about it, you may be concerned about how a bankruptcy on your record will affect your ability to find a new rental situation, or even to keep your current one. Before considering strategies for success in your rental search, keep in mind that lots of missed payments and delinquent accounts look worse on your credit report than a bankruptcy. A bankruptcy is your chance to start over and get control of your financial situation.
If you are not planning on moving, declaring bankruptcy will almost certainly not affect your living situation, since your landlord is very unlikely to find out about your bankruptcy unless you tell him about it. On the other hand, you may encounter some trouble with finding a new situation if you listed your current landlord in your bankruptcy. However, these difficulties are far from insurmountable.
The best strategy for finding a new rental situation after bankruptcy is to deal with private landlords or connections you have made through personal networking. Private landlords are less likely to be uncompromising in their credit check policies, more likely to deal with you fairly and listen to your side of things, and more likely not to bother with a credit check at all. The classified section of the local paper is a good place to look for apartments or houses for rent from private landlords. Another great place to look is on-line: classified services such as Craig’s List will often provide pictures of the property and more details than will be included in newspaper classifieds. The website for Craig’s List is www.craigslist.org.
Another good strategy is to ask your friends and relatives if they know about rental situations, if they can recommend you to renters, or if they themselves are renting and can introduce you to their landlord. That personal touch is often what you need to get someone to consider you beyond what it says in your credit report.
Rental applications generally ask if you have declared bankruptcy, so it is a good policy to be open about having filed if it comes up. Many management companies have rules about renting to people with two or more accounts that are past due or habitually paid late. Again, remember that declaring bankruptcy actually helps you take care of the negative information in your credit report. Make sure to check your credit report to ensure that derogatory accounts that ought to have been discharged with your bankruptcy are no longer listed as delinquent. After a bankruptcy, you can improve your chances of finding a new rental by working to repair your credit history. One good way to do this is through steady payments to a credit card that reports to the credit bureaus regularly. Another great method is to request a letter of reference from your current landlord that testifies to your timely payments. This shows your new landlord that you will take your responsibilities as a tenant seriously.
Renting after bankruptcy is not so hard after all, so there’s no need to be cowed by the prospect of a landlord’s credit check.
From: The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, with convenient office locations in Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, and Wilson. Call (toll free) 1-800-899-1414, to set up a free, confidential debt consultation. Visit www.billsbills.com for more information.
Can you take advantage of the great car dealer discounts?
Published Tuesday, June 9, 2009 @ 2:08 pm
As a result of General Motors and Chrysler filing bankruptcy, thousands of dealerships across the country will be shutting the garage doors and deflating their obnoxious balloon animals and banners. But first, many of them will be liquidating cars at prices that, even for a car dealer, can be considered “Out of this World!”
So if you are on your way out of bankruptcy and the time has come to for a new ride, will you be able to get a car from a dealer? Of course. Let’s discuss it.
Keep in mind that dealers are now in the business of financing cars, not selling them. The industry has done a great job over the years in convincing consumers that affording a car is all about the monthly payment. However, you’re a smarter consumer than you once were, so you need to focus on price, not monthly payment.
The financing structure of car sales can be quite vexing. The key thing to remember is that while you may be able to afford $300/month for a car, there is a big difference between paying that much for two years and paying it for five or six years. If you let the dealer know what you can afford per month, their aim will be to get you in a higher priced car that can simply be financed at $300/month over a longer period. You need to remember that more expensive cars are also much more expensive to maintain, insure and repair.
Determine the top number you can afford to pay for a car, new or used, and start $1,000 lower. This cushion will provide you some nice negotiating room and help pay for the fees that get tacked on to the cost of buying a car.
A down payment helps immensely. It gives you more bargaining room and “buys down” your interest rate because you will be financing less money. If you don’t have at least $1,000 to put down, wait. Make whatever minor repairs may be needed on your current car or use mass transit for a short time.
Reliable, well-conditioned used cars are easy to find today. They are also lasting substantially longer. Older generations often retired cars after 100,000 miles. Today, 200,000 is not at all uncommon. Thus, don’t get caught up in the idea of a “new” car. After only a little bit of searching, you should be able to find a vehicle to match your needs and price range within the $7,000 to $10,000 dollar range.
The Internet has made car buying a nationwide exercise. While it’s not wise to buy without a test drive and mechanical check-up, you can use the price of a car in at least another county as leverage against the price of a local car. Basically, your net of comparison vehicles can be cast much wider. Also, write down what you want in a car ahead of time and bring it into the dealership. This checklist will help you stay honest with yourself and once again demonstrate to the dealer that you are serious about your self-imposed buying rules.
The best part of this whole process is the fact that you will be creating another great benchmark in the establishment of your new credit history. Car payments are a very common occurrence on a credit reports because they are typically a set amount for a number of years. Therefore, they are easily tracked and when paid on time over a number of years, your report will look better every month.
Common credit report errors and how to handle them
Published Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
We see the commercials, hear the clever tag lines and are inundated with information about how to receive our credit report. So while a goofy guy singing catchy tunes about the perils of not knowing what’s on your credit report certainly has its marketing merits, his chorus doesn’t say much about what to do when you find something on your report that doesn’t ring true.
First, make sure that your report is indeed your report, as many of the mistakes found involve the most basic information, such as your name, social security number or birth date.
Look for items that are older than seven years, which signifies that a report item must be removed. Watch for accounts that are reported more than once or any indication that you were part of a lawsuit. Some potential creditors may believe that to be a sign that you owe part of a settlement and therefore may not be a worthy credit risk.
There is a reason why your credit report will arrive with a dispute or investigation request form: you have to take care of reporting any errors. Credit reporting agencies are not at all proactive about investigating mistakes not brought to their attention; it’s simply too tall a task. Therefore, your first step in taking care of any error is to complete and submit the form. It helps a great deal to include a personal letter identifying the particular issues in more detail.
Next, contact each of the organizations involved with an error notifying them of the mistake and asking for an official receipt that includes the account number in question, their reasoning for the dispute and all accompanying information related to the account. Be firm but professional in your letter and demonstrate that you will continue to follow up and pursue the matter indefinitely until it is solved.
Should your efforts return positive results and your report is corrected, don’t just sit back and assume the best. It is not at all uncommon for deleted information to re-appear. Remember that somewhere amidst all the computer-generated data and automated financial reporting, there is a person in front of a computer. Order another report a few months after you believe the errors should have been corrected and if you do spot the same mistake, send yet another letter with the evidence you gathered the first time around, demonstrating their recognition of the error.
Remember that if a creditor believes their dispute is valid, the information will stay on your report. Continue your efforts of paper-based contact with the creditor to create a provable record of your persistence. Should the creditor come around and finally confirm the fault is theirs, you should forward that confirmation to the credit bureaus as soon as possible to ensure the mistake is removed.
Credit report errors can do some real damage if not taken care of quickly. Paperwork, forms and phone calls are all part of it, so be patient but persistent and always remember that it’s your good name on that report. And remember, if you are in over your head in debt, bankruptcy is often the most efficient solution to rebuilding your credit. Talk with a bankruptcy attorney to find out how to take control of the debt collectors now. Serving North Carolina residents, contact the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt today for a free bankruptcy consultation.