How to Eliminate Unsecured Credit Card Debt

Everyone's debt situation is unique and determining what will work best for you begins with categorizing your debt. Whether your debt is secured or unsecured significantly effects the measures you can take to eliminate debt.

Secured debt is a loan which is "secured" by property. Simply put, if the bank can come and take something from you if you don't pay (ie; home, car) then the debt is secured.

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Unsecured debt is the most common type of debt and is typically in the form of credit card debt.

How to Eliminate Unsecured Credit Card Debt

Eliminating Unsecured Debt

The three most common ways to eliminate unsecured debt are

1. paying as agreed

2. bankruptcy

3. reaching a settlement with the creditor for less than the balance due - also known as debt settlement or debt negotiation

Bankruptcy is rarely a viable option. Due to the changes to the Bankruptcy Law in 2004 by the Bush administration, estimates are that less than 10% of people who file for bankruptcy are successfully discharging any debt. Most have to pay it back now under Chapter 13.

Credit Counseling and Debt Consolidation services typically focus on eliminating your debt by settling with your creditor for less than the balance due. These services are typically owned by large banks and credit companies and typically charge a fee. The good news is, this is something you can do on your own.

Settle For Less than the Balance Due

The key to a successful settlement is leverage. If a bank thinks they can get more out of you, they will not settle. This means that you may have to go months without making any payments. This will reflect poorly on your credit report and affect your credit score, but it is a necessary to obtain a good settlement.

During the time you are not making payments to the credit card company they will constantly attempt to contact you to discuss it. This is best dealt with from the very beginning by sending them a letter requesting that they only contact you in writing. Also, it is very important that you familiarize yourself with your rights under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Collections representatives often behave in unscrupulous ways and knowing your rights is your key to fighting back.

Once you have sufficient leverage against the company it is time to attempt a settlement. A realistic goal would be to settle the debt for between 35%-50% of the balance. Contact the bank or credit card company directly and they will likely transfer you to their collections department. Once in touch with the collections representative simply let them know you wish to resolve the debt. Typically, they will make you an offer to settle for 65%-80% of the balance before you ever make an offer to pay. Let them know what you do have; an initial offer of 15%-25% of the balance is reasonable. They may tell you no or tell you that they have to speak with their manager but continue the negotiation as necessary to settle within the range that you desire.

Some credit companies are more apt to settle than others. For instance, American Express can be a very difficult company to settle with for less than 60%. Search the internet for information on your particular bank or credit card company to see how others have fared.

How to Eliminate Unsecured Credit Card Debt

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The Disadvantages of a Credit Card

When looking at the advantages of having a credit card it is very easy to overlook the disadvantages and the possibility of the spiraling costs of items compared to waiting and paying for them once you have saved enough money to pay outright. Here area few of the basic disadvantages.

With a credit card comes the interest payments. Unless you pay off the total amount of your credit card each month (and chances are you won't) you will end up paying interest. This interest will mean that the cost of paying for items ends up being much more than they originally cost.

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It is easier to buy on impulse. When you have the ability to pay for something there and then on the spot means that you are more likely to pay for something on your credit card. This means you are more likely to get into debt buying things that would normally be either too expensive or a luxury.

The Disadvantages of a Credit Card

If you are late with your payments then you will pick up charges, the average late charge is so imagine if you miss 3 payments by a day you will pick up in charges. Doesn't matter if you owe 00 or you will pick up the full charge so always pay on time!

Annual fees are very common with credit cards which again can push up the cost of paying for items without you even realizing. There are some transaction fees that you will encounter when buying certain items but this varies from card to card.

Basically be very careful when you are applying for a credit card make sure you weigh up all sides of the argument for getting one.

The Disadvantages of a Credit Card

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How Often Do Creditors Report to the Credit Bureaus?

Credit reports provide great details about a person including name, birth date, Social security number, home address, how payments are made, income, employment history, home ownership, previous address, court cases, judgments, and bankruptcy and foreclosure records.

Above all it gives details about a person's credit history. These include all the creditors with balances and accounts that are closed or in collections. It will also indicate if there are any late payments, and any other irregularity. In addition it will also list the requests for that credit report by creditors during the past year and requests for credit reports including those by employers for the past two years.

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These reports are maintained by three nationwide credit bureaus which use slightly different sources to compile the information. Based on the information they have credit bureaus calculate a figure called the credit score. The three credit bureaus Equifax, Transunion, Experian use different formulas to arrive at their score. The credit score can be considered a mathematical way of determining the likelihood of the borrower paying back a loan.

How Often Do Creditors Report to the Credit Bureaus?

This information can be accessed by creditors, insurers, employers, and others who have been legitimately allowed access subject to conditions through The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It is clear that accurate information in the credit report is important to everyone concerned not only for the person about whom it is concerned but to anyone else who may want to rely on it for decision making. As such it is important to understand how the credit report is compiled and the accuracy of the information and sources on which that compilation is made.

It is important to know how and at what frequency credit information reaches the credit bureau. On examination of their procedure, it is clear that frequency of reporting varies depending on the creditor. While some creditors will report any changes in the customers' balances every day, others will report once a month or at longer periods. This is mainly due to efficacy reasons, since with most people there will not be much of a change in credit balances. Because of that creditors will only report if there are any changes in the credit balances. This therefore means that for some people their credit report will get updated about once a month while others may not see any change in their credit reports for 3 or 6 months. On the other hand creditors will report late payments and other negative activities quite promptly.

How Often Do Creditors Report to the Credit Bureaus?

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Loans For People With Fair Credit, A Second Life Chance For You

If you are classified as a bad credit holder, the financial market tends to shy aware from you. If you approach a lender or any financial provider, you are likely to be turned away. This is not good for you, especially if you find yourselves in a dire financial need. Some financial hurdles, such as unexpected medical operation, utility bills, urgent car repair and such others, can not wait until the end of the month or your next payday, rather they have to be settled immediately. This is why a person should always try their best to see that any due loan installment is settled immediately before it develops into something they can not be able to handle.

Otherwise they are those who are considered as fair credit holders, meaning that their credit rating is not very bad and lenders can avail them with the loan amounts they require without much of a hassle. Though they are considered as risky borrowers, lenders still grant them with their loan request but at a high rate. When they get the money they required, their credit rates improves greatly if they show a consistent repayment pattern. The reason the lenders charge them a higher interest is to cover themselves, just incase the borrower defaults once again.

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It is always a good idea for a borrower to know their credit history score before approaching a lender for a loan. This is done by getting a credit score from organizations such as fair Isaac credit organization (FICO). Their score ranges from 350-800. If a borrower scores more than 720, then their score is considered as good, whereas if the score is lower than 600, then it is considered as a bad one. Anything between 600-720 is considered as a fair credit score. This is where those borrowers seeking for Loans for People with Fair Credit falls in. Other agencies that will help you to know your credit score rating includes; Trans union, Experian or Equifax.

Loans For People With Fair Credit, A Second Life Chance For You

A loan for people with fair credit can be used for various purposes; for instance, paying for your education, debt consolidation, paying for your wedding expenses. There are two ways of attaining a loan for people with fair credit; unsecured and secured. If you obtain your loan in the secured format, then you must pledge an asset that corresponds with the loan amount requested. Here, the rate of interest is comparative lower and repayment term is flexible, it can be extendable to suit your financial resources. However, if you take your loan in the unsecured format, then the rate of interest is higher with a shorter repayment period the reason being that you pledge no security or collateral against the loan amounts. The money that can be availed is also smaller and it is dependent on what you earn per month or your total monthly income. The higher you earn, the greater the amounts that can be availed and the vice versa is true.

Proper documentation is required with these types of loan products. The documents required includes, a full detailed credit report, income tax returns, bank statements and details of property on which you are pledging as the security. Depending on the borrowers credit history, and repayment capabilities, amounts ranging from ,000 to ,000 can be availed. The repayment duration varies from 5-25 years depending on the borrowers repayment capabilities. If you shorten the loan repayment duration, then your debts burden is reduced significantly because less money is paid off as interest. Moreover, if you paid your loan installments in a timely manner, your credit score improves greatly.

There are various methods of applying for Loans for People with Fair Credit; you apply by physically visiting your financial institution or you can apply online. Applying online is the easiest and most hassle free amongst the two methods. Your loan will be waiting for you, the shortest time possible. But before the lender can grant you with your loan request you must fulfill their basic loan requirements. These are; you must be 18 years of age or over and must be a permanent citizen of the country you are applying in. Another requirement is the need for a regular persistent income that comes at regular duration. Lastly, you must have a valid and active bank account on which the loan amounts will be deposited in.

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Landlord Background Checks - Do a Background Check On A Tenant

Many people with properties earn an extra income or make their income by renting out their home or establishments. The landlord usually tries to rent out their home or other establishment to known people or through people known to them in order to avoid the risk of getting tenants who may not pay the rent properly.

But, renting out the home or establishment to a known person is not always a possibility and the landlord might have to rent out their place to a person unknown to them. In such cases, it becomes necessary for the landlord to run a background check on the tenant to ascertain his credibility and the ability to bear the financial responsibility of paying the rent.

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There is also the risk of the person whom the landlord wants to rent out his premises having a criminal background or being a terror suspect, etc. There are chances that the person may be a habitual sex offender. All these associated risks make it imperative for background checks by a landlord on his tenant.

Landlord Background Checks - Do a Background Check On A Tenant

Usually, such background checks for the landlord are conducted by accredited agencies that work on the guidelines from Fair Housing Laws and Fair Credit Reporting Act. As per these acts, there are certain types of landlord background checks on the tenant that require a consent to be signed by the prospective tenant before they can be conducted.

Based on data provided by the prospective tenant, the agencies will verify the information with references and also by checking various data bases. The agency will first conduct the employment verification and tenant verification by contacting the list of references provided and checks the authenticity of the information.

Once this has been completed, the agency will then continue the landlord background check on the tenant by accessing several public records such as social security number, driving motor vehicle records, etc to check the identification of the person and also to cross refer the information provided by the tenant as well as his references.

They will then conduct a search on some databases such as state or county criminal records, sex offender registers, state eviction records, etc to search whether the person has any criminal background and to ascertain whether the person has any history of violence and creating nuisance. The also access a database called the terror watch list report that has a list of terror suspects and most wanted people to eliminate the chance of the person belonging to any such lists.

If sought for, the agency conducting the landlord background check on the tenant will also run a check on credit history of the person. This is to ascertain whether the person is running any bad debts that may affect his financial standing and his capability to pay the desired rent.

Landlord Background Checks - Do a Background Check On A Tenant

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Short Sale Credit Repair - How to Remove Short Sales From Your Credit Report

As most of you know, short sales do negatively affect your credit. With regard to your FICO Scores, the credit ramifications are very similar to that of a foreclosure. In fact, the largest difference between the two on your credit report is the ability to obtain a mortgage. After a short sale, it is possible to obtain a mortgage in as little as 24 months (or even sooner, more on this later) whereas with a foreclosure, it typically takes 3-7 years for people to qualify for a home mortgage.

Moreover, if you've gone through any of the above scenarios, most likely your credit report is riddled with 30/60/90 day late payments which further reduces your FICO score, especially 90 day late payments (which has often been said to be as bad as a short sale or foreclosure itself).

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So here is the question of the day:

Short Sale Credit Repair - How to Remove Short Sales From Your Credit Report

Can Short Sale Credit Repair & Foreclosure Credit Repair Companies truly REMOVE these items from your credit report?

Many believe that this is not possible simply because of the fact that the items are negative. Well, as a nationally recognized short sale expert, I am here to tell you that this is far from the truth.

Within the Fair Credit Reporting Act, there exists a loophole that attorneys have taken advantage of for years on behalf of their clients. The key to removing negative items from your credit report is not to question the accuracy of the items, but rather, how verifiable the items are, according to FCRA requirements.

This is not something that people should try on their own. There is a specific list of items that must be documented in the event of these kind of disputes, and without proper knowledge of what these items are, creditors will not take you seriously. This is why attorneys are best known for this line of work. There are multiple, virtually unknown resources out there that have been proven to reduce & eliminate the typical consequences of a short sale & foreclosure. I highly suggest taking advantage of these built in "short-cuts" within our system.

Short Sale Credit Repair - How to Remove Short Sales From Your Credit Report

For more information on how this all works, feel free to check out my blog post by clicking the following link:

On Credit Repair

Kevin Kim is author of SeattleShortSaleBlog.com and founder of Short Sail Solutions, LLC, one of the largest team of short sale negotiators in the nation, with multiple offices in 13 states.

Sample Dispute Letter For the Credit Bureaus - Equifax, Transunion and Experian

Writing a letter to the credit bureaus is the first and most important step to repairing your credit. When writing to the credit bureaus you will have to write a letter to each bureau per negative and/or incorrect item.

An example of a situation in which you would have to write a credit repair letter to the credit bureau(s) is if you are analyzing your credit report and you see accounts that are closed, negative, and more than seven years old. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, accounts that are older than seven years must be deleted from your account.

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Remember when you write a letter to the credit bureau you want it to be yours. Copy and pasting a letter from another website is not recommended! A sample of a good credit repair letter looks like this:

Sample Dispute Letter For the Credit Bureaus - Equifax, Transunion and Experian

Equifax Consumer Services

To Whom it may Concern,

Good Afternoon my Name is First Last. My address is 9999 Address street, City, State. My SSN 999-99-9999 and my birth date is January 01, 1900.

I have critically analyzed a copy of my credit report and I noticed that there are two accounts on my report have been closed for seven years. As you and I both know the Fair Credit Reporting Act states that accounts more than seven years old are to be deleted from my credit report.

Listed below are the details of the accounts that I mentioned above:

Bank of America MasterCard:
Account Number: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1745

HSBC VISA
Account Number XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-5690

In order to expedite this process I included a copy of my driver's license and social security card in case you all need proof of identity. I would also appreciate it if you would send me a copy of my updated credit report once the correction as been made.

Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
First Last

When sending your letter to the credit bureaus you want to include a copy of your driver's license with your letter. Please do not forget to send your letter registered mail. By doing this you allow your letter to be tracked. That way you have proof when it was received by the credit bureaus.

Sample Dispute Letter For the Credit Bureaus - Equifax, Transunion and Experian

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How to Remove Negative Items on Your Credit Report

Negative Paid Accounts

Unfortunately, you have no leverage in this case as the creditor has already been paid their money. The best strategy for accounts which were paid off a great while back and now just show up as a "Paid Charge-Off' or "Paid Collection Account" is to find something wrong in the reporting of the information so that you can initiate a reinvestigation for verification. The hope is that the accounts (now being an inactive paid account) may be stored on electronic files not in the main system of the creditor.

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This might create more work as far as research than the creditor wants to pursue just for
verification purposes. If so, the account must be deleted from your file for lack of a response from that creditor. The effectiveness of this method is hard to determine. It is as varied as the number of data storage systems in use today and the variety of people overseeing the process.

How to Remove Negative Items on Your Credit Report

I have heard about using the term: ESTOPPEL in some cases. What I have read is this: The creditor has already been paid and the consumer makes the claim that, when the debt was paid, the consumer was under the impression that the creditor would make a favorable entry on the consumer's credit report. BUT, when the credit report showed a PAID COLLECTION, this damaged the consumer's credit rating. So, the consumer files a lawsuit claiming damages.

The logic to this is that because the creditor already has the funds, what more can they gain by defending this lawsuit. Especially, if they are in another town. So, the creditor either loses by default or succumbs to the consumers demands. Personally, I think that this type of action requires guidance from your trusted attorney.

Old Delinquent Accounts:

(EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MISS THIS)

This has long been probably the most unfair provision in the FCRA. The original 1970 law allows for a seven-year waiting period before negative collection accounts were automatically removed. This is referred to in Section 605(a)(4) "Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years."

That seven-year clock begins ticking from the time reported as the last activity. If you have an account that never was fully paid, that you have not made a payment on in five or six years, beware!

If you go make a payment on it now, you will restart that clock and have to wait another seven years for it to be removed. There is a distinct wording in Section 623(a)(5) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that reads "the seven year period of reporting derogatory entries begins when an account is FIRST late and never get caught up. That is fact and there have been numerous court cases where Collection Agencies have been fined millions of dollars for violating this statute.

Confused, guess what? So is the system. BUT, you can rest assure that when a collector or mortgage broker tells you that by paying on an account you restart the seven year clock, that is hogwash. It begins when the account was first late and NEVER gets caught up. It is directly identified in Section 623(a)(5) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Is it fair to be sentenced to seven years in a credit prison only to have your sentence increased for good behavior? I don't think so!
As you can see, in some cases, you may have to make a decision whether to live with a charge-off for another year, or, a paid charge-off for seven more years. A paid charge-off will trigger a credit denial almost as easily as one that hasn't been paid. It's a shame that our system provides no more incentive to pay these old debts.

Credit Fraud

How do you know if you are a victim of credit fraud? The signs can vary, but typical indicators of fraud include: Unusual purchases appearing on credit card bills

· Calls or letters advising that you've been approved (or denied) for credit for which you've never applied.

· Calls or letters from collection agency about accounts you don't have.

· Or you suddenly stop receiving your credit card bills, or all of your mail

Even though you didn't cause the problem, your credit is adversely affected. As with any other crime, as soon as you know or suspect that you are the victim of credit fraud, you should contact that creditor's fraud department and FILE A POLICE REPORT. You must advise the creditors of the fraud. Remember, the criminal may have used your identification to open the account, so the creditor may have no knowledge of the fraud until you report it. In order to establish the crime and to identify and possibly prosecute the criminal, creditors may ask you to complete certain paperwork.

Additionally, the bureaus have fraud departments to review cases and assist you, however assistance has not always been forth coming.

How to Remove Negative Items on Your Credit Report

Regis Sauger is a licensed Mortgage Broker in Florida, an author, lecturer on credit awareness. He has conducted seminars for underwriters, attorneys, mortgage lenders, realtors and the general public.

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How to Deal With Midland Funding LLC

Midland Funding LLC is a collection agency which purchases debts from banks & creditors and then tries to collect them with their own plans and techniques. It is not easy for ordinary humans to deal with Midland Funding LLC because people are not trained to tackle collection agencies like Midland. Discussed below are some useful ways which are helpful for individuals to deal with the issues raised by Midland Funding LLC.

Fair Credit Reporting Act instructs them to not contact consumers for the debts which have reached the expiration age according to FCRA. Whenever collection agency would violate this law then they would get into troubles as consumer does carry the right to sue them for contacting them at this moment of time. They wipe out debts which age more than seven years and in some cases 10 years.

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Sometimes Midland Funding LLC comes in contact with you for the debts which do not have any relation with you. If you are not sure about the ownership of debts then legally you could ask credit firm to validate your debts. The validation process would help you to get the true picture oft debts to determine whether they belong to you or not. In the case of failure to validate your debts, collection agency would have to withdraw because they do not have any evidence to ask you for the debts.

How to Deal With Midland Funding LLC

But in cases, where collection agency provides you all evidences which prove your debt ownership then you may negotiate with credit firm on payment or settlement agreements. Try to mould collection agency on pay for delete settlement. Pay for delete is an ideal option because it would not only help you to get rid of debt hassles but would also be helpful to improve your credit score. If Midland becomes agree on this agreement, at that time bring all agreement in writing to obtain proofs of your agreement.

How to Deal With Midland Funding LLC

For help removing credit report collections, dial: 1-866-246-7311. Learn more about midland funding and visit http://www.707creditscore.com/midland-funding-llc for more information.

Cashless Transactions - The Most Convenient Way of Making Payments

The recent studies of consumer behavior show immense increase in use of cashless transactions. Yes nowadays more and more people are dependent on their Credit Cards or ATM/Debit Cards for making different types of payments.

Why People Are Going Cashless?

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This is an important question, but the answer is very simple. Ask any of the shopping geeks or a frequent traveler, or even an average common man, they will explain the benefits of going cashless. There are many advantages of carrying Plastic Money rather than cash. You don't have fear of theft, loot or losing cash in hurry while opening your wallet. Apart from that it's not possible to pay huge amounts by cash (like when purchasing a car or while in Casinos). You need an alternate solution for all such problems and the only solution is your credit cards or debit cards that help you in dealing out all these cash related problems.

Cashless Transactions - The Most Convenient Way of Making Payments

ATM Card Payments - Going Ahead of Credit Cards

Some surveys done by economic agencies reveal that nowadays people use their ATM's cards more often rather than using credit cards on every occasion. The reason is credit crunch facing by companies offering credit card due to economic slowdowns. Several credit card services providers reduced the credit limit of their customers. One more reason is fear of overspending through credit cards.

Buy today and pay later principle was very popular all around United States during last few years. However, now people understand the value of their earnings and savings. A majority of people are no longer interested in this following that rule of buy today and pay later. So, such sensible customers are using their ATM cards for making payments.

Popularity of Cashless ATM's Among Merchants

You must have used credit card processing machines at grocery stores, gas stations, or in Hotels and Restaurants. Merchants and business owners used to keep different credit cards processing machines for VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover credit cards. Now they are switching to cashless ATM's to provide convenience to their customers. Merchants have understood that installing a Cashless ATM at their stores will not only provide facility of using their ATM cards more freely to their customers but it will also help in increasing their sales and profits more and more every day.

This change in shopping behavior of consumers and transaction processing mechanism provided by merchants is of mutual benefit for both consumers and merchants. This is soon going to be a global trend in processing payments.

Cashless Transactions - The Most Convenient Way of Making Payments

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Prepaid Business Credit Cards

Prepaid business credit cards are a new generation of credit cards that are becoming increasingly popular amongst individuals and businesses alike. There are many advantages to using a prepaid card, so if you have yet to find a business credit card solution to suit you then here are some ideas about why prepaid cards could be the answer.

What Are Prepaid Cards?

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Prepaid business credit cards work just like credit cards. Instead of being forced to carry around large sums of cash, you can make purchases (large or small) using your credit card. You can use this anywhere where you would use a traditional credit card, and you will enter your PIN number as if you were using a normal credit card. What is the difference? The fact that you are not spending money that is credited to you, because you are spending money that you have already paid into your account in advance (much like a debit card, but branded as a credit card).

Prepaid Business Credit Cards

The Benefits of Prepaid Credit Cards for Business

Many business like to make large purchases, so prepaid credit cards avoid the hassle of carrying around cash and offer a solution just like a regular credit card. They help in keeping track of the business funds and spending. This means you will never overdraw on your business account and never encounter interest rates, which is a big bonus!

Prepaid business credit cards are not suitable for all business, but in many cases they could save you a lot of money. All it takes is to ask the credit card issuers to see if that have a prepaid option available.

Prepaid Business Credit Cards

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How to Clean Up My Credit Report? 3 Simple Tricks For Fast Credit Repair

Are you wondering "how to clean up my credit report"? Are you fearing applying for a mortgage or auto loan because of a low credit score? Are you unwilling to pay thousands of dollars in high interest? Is finding employment in your area getting harder, because of the mandatory credit checks performed by employers? Whatever your specific problem is, raising your score is always a good solution. Raising your score FAST is even better. Contrary to the general myth that credit repair takes time and considerable financial effort, there are a lot easier and quicker ways to improve your score. The only requirement for success-credit knowledge.

1. Don't be the misinformed victim. Educate yourself.

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When it comes to credit repair, knowledge is vital. A lot of creditors and debt collectors actually prey on the huge crowd of misinformed people. They threaten, intimidate and leave you with the impression that paying what you owe in FULL is the only option if you want to raise your FICO. In reality that's more bark than bite. Do you know how your FICO score is calculated and which are the most important credit factors? Why paying off your debt in full can actually lower your credit? Why having items deleted from your report is the most successful tool for credit score increase? Do you know how to dispute with credit bureaus and debt collectors? How to ask for validation of debt every time you dispute an item? How to file paperwork in court and have legal judgments deleted from your report? How to pressure creditors and debt collectors if they fail to meet their obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act? Credit knowledge is your best offense and defense. The more you know about the loopholes in the system, the better you chances to raise your score.

How to Clean Up My Credit Report? 3 Simple Tricks For Fast Credit Repair

2. Not all debt is created equal.

It's important to keep in mind that different types of debt have different impact on your overall FICO score. In general the more current the debt, the bigger influence it has. That's why missing a single payment on your car or house can lower your score more than several old negative items. Examine your report in detail and focus on the most detrimental accounts.

3. Learn your rights and...exercise them.

When it comes to credit repair, you have many rights. By law you can dispute any item in your report that you find outdated, inaccurate, biased, incomplete, questionable, unverifiable. You can file disputes with credit bureaus and with the companies reporting to credit bureaus (the so called 623 dispute). You have the right to ask for verification of debt. If the credit bureaus or the debt collectors fail to provide proper documentation, they have to remove the item from your record. You also have the right to be notified when a negative item is placed on your report. The creditor is in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act if no written warning is sent to you within 30 days. In a nutshell-you have various rights. The key to credit success is to use those rights.

The answer to the question "How to clean up my credit report?" is simple -- Educate yourself on the shortcuts and the loopholes in the system. There are easier and faster ways to clean credit report once you start thinking outside the credit box.

How to Clean Up My Credit Report? 3 Simple Tricks For Fast Credit Repair

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CBCS Collection Agency

CBCS, otherwise known as CBCS National, is a collection agency based out Columbus, Ohio. CBCS is a leader in the collection industry. They are known for illegally trying to collect on accounts that are out of the statute of limitations. They typically send letters stating that you owe them money. They will also call you by phone. Many times they are very rude and will even yell at consumers.

At their website, they claim to specialize in health care collections, but they are also known to collect for telecommunication companies such as MCI WorldCom and Bell South. CBCS seems to be highly disorganized and usually has very little knowledge of the accounts they collect on. They are known to frequently mix up family member names and call the wrong homes and workplaces harassing people that don't even owe them money.

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If a CBCS employee ever calls you and asks you for personal information the best thing to do is ask them to quit calling and tell them you will handle the situation by mail. Never give them names of family members, work phone numbers, social security numbers, etc. Don't even tell them where you work. Debt collectors try to upset and intimidate consumers you into paying them money. They will also try to embarrass consumers and make them feel guilty - whatever it takes to get their money.

CBCS Collection Agency

When dealing with collection agencies like CBCS, it's best to be prepared. Learn your rights and get familiar with the Fait Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FDCPA gives consumers the right to dispute and obtain validation of debt information from a collection agency to ensure accuracy. The FDCPA creates guidelines under which debt collectors may conduct business and eliminates abusive debt collection practices.

It's also wise to get familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and your state's debt collection laws. By being a wise and informed consumer you can fight back against debt collectors and their unlawful tactics.

CBCS Collection Agency

Learn how a credit repair service can help you legally and permanently remove CBCS from your credit reports.

The Meaning of Credit Card Numbers

If you take a close look at your credit cards, you'll probably wonder what all those numbers stand for. Every digit actually stands for something specific. Let's have a look at each of those numbers in sequence.

The First Digit

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Gasoline cards, department store cards and phone cards have their own programs.

The Meaning of Credit Card Numbers

The major credit card companies operate on a standardized system for assigning credit card numbers. The first digit in the series will always be a 3, 4, 5 or 6. This number designates the type of card you have. For instance, a 3 means it's a travel and entertainment card, such as American Express or Diners Club. A 4 is Visa and Visa-branded debit cards, cash cards; a 5 is MasterCard and MasterCard-branded debit cards, cash cards; and 6 is Discover.

The Other Numbers

American Express and Diners Club use the second digit to identify the company. That means that Diners Club cards will start with either 36 or 38, and American Express cards will lead off with 34 or 37.

The remaining numbers in the series are used for other purposes, depending upon the card type and issuer. Generally, the numbers grouped after the opening series is the routing number of the bank and the next group is the user's account number. The final digit is special -- a check digit. This is a number calculated by applying a specific formula, and it is used as a fraud check.

Look At Your Card

American Express uses digits 3 and 4 for business or personal card type and the currency of the cardholder's country of origin. Digits 5 through 11 are the account number. Digits 12 through 14 show the card number attached to that account. The last digit is, of course, the check digit.

Visa uses digits 2 through 6 for the bank number. Beginning with digit 7 and running through 12 or 15, they're the account number, and the last number is the check digit. The number of digits in a group may vary because Visa cards don't all have the same number of digits.

With MasterCard, the second digit through digit 3 (to as high as 6) is the bank number. All remaining digits, except the end check digit, identifies the cardholder's account.

And that's it. A slightly complex system necessary to track billions of credit cards across the globe.

The Meaning of Credit Card Numbers

Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Visit new-credit-card-now to learn more about this fascinating subject.

Copyright 2005 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact.

How to Write a Dispute Letter to Challenge a Collection Account on My Transunion and Equifax Report?

Collection accounts on any of your three credit reports can cause serious problems when it comes time to use your credit rating to make a big purchase such as a car or home. Some lenders will take a look at just one of your three reports but most want to see the contents on all three.

For this reason you want to make sure that you work to improve each one separately. The secret to having collection accounts removed from your report lies in the law that governs how the main bureaus input accounts on your files, it's known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, (FCRA). Collection agencies simply tell the bureaus what information to put on a consumers report, and within a few days it shows up on the person's file. The problem with this is you (the consumer) never got to be part of this process.

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This is where writing a dispute letter helps, the FCRA allows you to challenge any accounts that you think are incorrect or misleading. The bureaus at that point must investigate the account in question and request proof that it is valid and accurate. Without this proof they must delete the entry from your files. In theory it's that simple but you must use the proper language in your letter to let the bureaus know that you are aware of how the process works.

How to Write a Dispute Letter to Challenge a Collection Account on My Transunion and Equifax Report?

That's the only way you will see the desired result of a restored credit rating. By making sure your letter references your awareness of the law, and the process that must be followed, Equifax., Transunion and Experian will take your dispute letter with the seriousness it deserves.

How to Write a Dispute Letter to Challenge a Collection Account on My Transunion and Equifax Report?

Visit do-it-yourself-credit repair or credit repair services to learn more on raising your credit score 200+ points to get approved for car, home and credit card loans.

Alliance One Collection Agency

Alliance One is one of the biggest collection agencies in the world. Alliance One was formed in 1999 through the merger of five predecessor companies. As of August 1, 2007, Alliance One, Inc. is a subsidiary of Teleperformance USA, Inc. They specialize in health care debt collection and have more than a dozen offices and call centers in the United States.

If you do a search for Alliance One on the internet, you will no doubt see many complaints about them and their harassing phone calls and incompetent, untrained employees. Avoid talking to debt collectors on the phone. All communication with a debt collector should be written. Learn your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act before dealing with collection agencies.

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When Alliance One is assigned a collection account from one of your creditors, they report the account on your credit report. Collection accounts on your credit report can severely damage your credit.

Alliance One Collection Agency

The good news is collection accounts are removed from credit reports by the thousands everyday. If you have collection accounts on your credit report there are a few ways you can have them removed. The most effective method is to dispute the account with the credit bureaus. You are permitted by law to dispute any item on your credit report that is "questionable". If you're not sure that the details of an account are being reported correctly or if you are completely unfamiliar with the account at all, then you can dispute it with the credit bureaus.

Debt validation and pay for delete methods are other techniques used by credit repair services and consumers trying to repair their credit. It's important to explore these methods when dealing with collection agencies like Alliance One. By getting collection accounts taken care of and removed from your credit reports, you can raise your credit scores and have a better chance of getting a loan with a good interest rate.

Alliance One Collection Agency

To learn more about removing Alliance One collections from your credit report, check out the top credit repair services.

Annual Credit Report Request Form - How to Request For Your 3 Credit Scores in 1 Report For Free

Annual credit report request form is required by an individual when he wants to check his credit ratings. It is very essential to avail the annual report due to numerous reasons the prominent among them is the detection of identity thefts. It is also a fact that the issues of fraudulence would also get wiped off if each and every citizen initiates to check the annual credit report without fail.

Is it necessary to check the Annual Credit Report?

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Well the answer is yes. The report would actually act as the gateway which would help you to fulfill all your wishes without any fail. As a matter of fact, if you possess good status then your can lay your hands on the best loan programs and avail the best rates of interest. Furthermore, checking the status before applying for a loan would also help you to rectify your score by 50-100 points as there are many easy methods of doing so.

Annual Credit Report Request Form - How to Request For Your 3 Credit Scores in 1 Report For Free

How to request for your 3 Credit Scores in 1 report for free?

Americans are actually entitled to avail free credit reports from the three major bureaus every year. The three national bureaus i.e., Equifax, Transunion and Experian provide free copy of report to the consumers once in every twelve months. It is also a fact that the reports of these three national bureaus are not necessarily the same. You are actually required to check all the three reports to make sure that you are maintaining a good profile. Moreover, a healthy profile would help you to grab the best loan programs and that too at the best rates. This is particularly because the lenders before approving the loan check the status to analyze how the consumer has utilized his credit in the past.

As per the 2003 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) a consumer is entitled to get a report from all the three major bureaus at least once in a year. Moreover, these reports would just add to your advantage. Now in order to request for 3 fico scores in 1 report for free one can seek the support of the Online medium. It would definitely help you to get a clear idea of your status and offer you the scope to rectify it at ease.

Annual Credit Report Request Form - How to Request For Your 3 Credit Scores in 1 Report For Free

Get Your All 3 Credit Reports Free

Click Here ---> Free Credit Report & Scores [http://www.consumercreditrepairsecrets.com/Credit-Repair]

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Discover Card Bill Payments

One of the many services on offer by Discover is the online bill payment. No more having your payments getting delayed or lost through snail mail. Use the online Discover card bill payments service to pay your bills in time. You can pay your bills now no matter where you are. You can also avail this service to pay your bill on the last due date and your payment will be received right away - provided your payment is not later than 5 p.m. Eastern time. On top of this you get this service free of charge!
 
Discover also offers its cardholders an automatic bill payment service. Through your Discover card you can now pay your merchants and other billers through it. Whether you need to pay to your mobile phone supplier, your Satellite TV or Cable service supplier, your security or Insurance supplier, or anyone else, you can do it all through your Discover card. In addition, with every bill you pay you win rewards!
 
Biller Directory
 
To begin with, you need to set up your directory just once. Easy, simple and secure, you need to get online and register for automatic payment of your bills to set up the payments. Discover has a Biller Directory listing many merchants and service providers who accept automatic payment of your bills. If you find any of your billers not listed, you need to enquire from them if they are ready to accept automatic payment from you through Discover card.
 
The biller may request for information, such as: Biller account number; your Discover Card number; Expiry date of your Discover card; Amount you authorize to be charged; and whether it is a one-time or a regular automatic bill payment. Update the list with those ready to accept automatic payment.
 
This service form Discover ensures that you pay your regular monthly bills, such as your household bills, every time, in time. You can also make a one time payment. You just need to get online, have your bills ready, and get your billers latest contact information. Paying bills to your multiple and various billers, each and every month, is a chore. Now simply leave it with Discover and you just have to track your payment records, along with tracking your CashBack Bonus.
 
You receive your usual CashBack Bonus of 5% on office supplies, 2% on gas and 1% on other purchases, as per the Rules and Regulations of Discover Financial Services. Just as Discover offers its Discover card bill payments service free to its cardholders, many billers too may not charge any fee. It is advisable, however, to check up while setting up payments.
 
Though there is no limit to the number of billers you put on your biller directory to be paid automatically, ensure the total bill charges are not in excess of your card's credit limit. If your Discover cards account number, or when the expiry date of your card changes, Discover normally tries to have them updated with your merchants.

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Discover Card Bill Payments

Discover Card Bill Payments

The author has written thousands of website content articles on various topics.

Car Loans For People With Fair Credit

If you have fair credit and it not have anything tragic on your credit report, then there are a few good sources that you can use to obtain auto financing. If you have tried to obtain a car loan at a local dealership or two, have been turned down and are looking for an approval and a good interest rate, then there are sources that can help you in obtaining a "fair credit auto loan".

If you have a really good credit score, you can go pretty much anywhere that you want to, to obtain a car loan.

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If you have a fair to marginal credit rating, then you can expect to pay a slightly higher interest rate however, there is absolutely no reason that you should have to come up with a down payment to put down a car. The only reason you would ever need a down payment is if the price of the car far exceeds the loan value. If the price of the car exceeds the loan value by very much, then you are getting a good deal anyway and should avoid that type of deal. In other words, don't give a dealer a down payment because you don't have to. It's simply a matter of understanding the system.

Car Loans For People With Fair Credit

If you have fair credit, the easiest and fastest way to obtain a car loan is online. It used to be that only the major lenders accepted applicants on the Internet, now second chance finance and secondary lending sources have programs that allow you to get started online.

One thing to keep in mind, is that although there are many offers for car credit online, make sure that you're dealing with a reputable source. All companies and websites are certainly not created equal and it's in your best interests to use sources that are reputable.

Car Loans For People With Fair Credit

Recommended: Fair Credit Loans for cars can be obtained through a good source listed at http://www.BuyingCarswithBadCredit.com.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

Jason Lanier