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Bad Credit Repair – Solving The Problem

Bad Credit Repair – Solving The Problem

It is possible to fix your bad credit, with time, patience, and determination. The first step to bad credit repair is fixing any problems you may have with money.

1) Get a credit report on yourself and check out what is on them. You are allowed by U.S. law to get a free copy from each of the three major credit companies once every 12 months.

2) Once you have your credit reports, check them for accuracy. If there are any errors or things you disagree with, you are entitled by the Fair Credit Reporting Act law to dispute anything in the report that is not accurate. Write to the credit reporting company and explain what the problems are. They will then investigate the matter and let you know what happens. If they find the information is not accurate, they will fix that on your credit report.

Unfortunately, you can’t remove anything negative that is accurate information about you. Only time can do that. But adding more good information does help.

3) If your credit needs repair, start work on it now. Start paying off old unpaid debts and loans, starting with the smallest ones.

4) Start paying more than the minimum payment on your current credit card payments.

5) Do not get into any new debt. This is essential. Make it a priority to get out of debt. Cut up (or lock up) the credit cards, if they are a problem for you. Make it a commitment to become debt-free.

6) Live within your means. Make a budget and live by it.

7) Start saving money. If you have poor credit, it is much easier to buy a home or a car with a cash down payment, than without one.

There are many sources of help available. Consumer Credit Counseling Service provides budget counseling, educational programs, debt management assistance, and housing counseling. There are also many local branches of this nonprofit organization, so check for one near your location.

There are many “for-profit” organizations that will help you with debt consolidation loans, but beware! They often are very expensive. You can get free reliable help that you can trust from a non-profit organization like Consumer Credit Counseling Service instead of paying hundreds of dollars to one of them. Or, you can educate yourself and do it for free.

Approved CSI is a good place to check out for more credit and financial advice!

Consolidate Credit To Stop Getting Turned Down

Consolidate Credit To Stop Getting Turned Down

If you have been applying for credit and always being turned down, that is because your credit report has negative information on it. Time to do something about that! Your credit file is the information kept by credit reporting agencies concerning your record of payments to creditors. There are three major credit reporting agencies that perform these services for companies who are interested in finding out how good or bad a risk you are. Whenever you apply for a loan, try to rent an apartment, and even apply for a job, you can be sure your credit report is being looked at. Time to consolidate credit and do something about your personal finances if you have a bad credit report and you get declined for any of these.

Your credit file is built up over the years by the credit reporting agencies that keep track of all of your bills and your bill-paying habits. If you have been in the habit of missing payments, being late, or just forgetting to pay, that will all be in your credit file as marks against your credit. These will result in lower credit scores, and lower credit scores mean you will not have a very good chance of getting a loan, or some other things you might be interested in, such as an apartment or a job. The opposite will also happen: if you are consistently a good payer, you can be sure you will be able to get a car loan, mortgage, credit card line, or just about anything else from a lender.

With so many people filing bankruptcy these days or using debt management programs, the lending companies lose money. So they want to avoid risks with people who may end up in bankruptcy. A bankruptcy ruling will stay on your credit record for ten or fifteen years. Debt management companies help you temporarily, but you are extending your debt and paying more fees, so it is harder to get out of debt.

You do have some protection under the law, but if you have bad credit, you will never really breathe easy until you can completely clean it up. In addition to a negative credit report and low credit number, we are also going to be facing judgments, foreclosures on a home, or repossession of goods, and even perhaps lawsuits. No one wants to risk being homeless and penniless. You know you have to find a way out.

What if you are in a situation where you cannot make a living, such as if you are on welfare or on disability? Look at any option you can to repair your credit. If your car is too expensive, find a cheaper one. If your home is too expensive, you may have to size it down to the one you can afford. Once these big expenses are eliminated, you can start to pay down debt and get your credit report back on track. This is the only way you will stop being turned down for credit.

Don’t Despair With Credit Score Repair

Don’t Despair With Credit Score Repair

Just because you have a poor credit report doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get credit. Creditors set their own credit-granting standards and not all of them look at your credit history the same way. Thankfully, credit score repair is available to give you hope.

Some creditors may look only at more recent years to evaluate you for credit, and they may grant credit if your bill-paying history has improved. It may be worthwhile to contact creditors informally to discuss their credit standards.

If you’re not disciplined enough to create a workable budget and stick to it, work out a repayment plan with your creditors, or keep track of mounting bills, consider contacting a credit counseling organization. Many credit counseling organizations are nonprofit and work with you to solve your financial problems. But not all are reputable. For example, just because an organization says it’s a “nonprofit,” there’s no guarantee that its services are free, affordable, or even legitimate. In fact, some credit counseling organizations charge high fees or hide their fees by pressuring consumers to make “voluntary” contributions that only cause more debt.

Most credit counselors offer services through local offices, the Internet, or on the telephone. If possible, find an organization that offers in-person counseling. Many universities, military bases, credit unions, housing authorities, and branches of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service operate nonprofit credit counseling programs. Your financial institution, local consumer protection agency, and friends and family also may be good sources of information and referrals.

If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, you should know about one major change to the bankruptcy laws: As of October 17, 2005, you must get credit counseling from a government-approved organization within six months before you file for bankruptcy relief. You can find a state-by-state list of government-approved organizations at the website of the U.S. Trustee Program, the organization within the U.S. Department of Justice that supervises bankruptcy cases and trustees.

Reputable credit counseling organizations can advise you on managing your money and debts, help you develop a budget, and offer free educational materials and workshops. Their counselors are certified and trained in the areas of consumer credit, credit score repair, money and debt management, and budgeting.

Counselors discuss your entire financial situation with you and help you develop a personalized plan to solve your money problems. An initial counseling session typically lasts an hour, with an offer of follow-up sessions.

Consolidating your debt, paying your bills on time, cutting on the frivolous expenses, and preparing a budget for your discretionary income will help you overcome the mountain of credit card debt.

It may look bleak – even impossible – but if you stick to your plan, you will be able to dig yourself out of this hole.

Finding Debt Relief with Unsecured Credit Card

Finding Debt Relief with Unsecured Credit Card

Unfortunately, your bad credit is probably keeping you from getting an unsecured credit card. These are cards that are for people with non-damaged credit, simply for the fact that the credit card companies feel as though they can be trusted. Don’t beat yourself up over this, however, because the past is the past and one day soon you will be able to qualify for such a card.

Before even thinking about applying for any more credit cards, then perhaps it’s time to begin to eliminate the credit card debt that you have already. The stress that this debt relief can do for you will not only help you with your credit rating but with your physical well-being as well.

When you are all caught up on your debt management, then you’ll want to shop around for a credit card with the lowest interest rate that you can possibly find. This is good for a multitude of reasons since it saves you money on your monthly interest charges, but it also becomes quite significant when you’re in need of a loan for a couple of hundred dollars. Finding a loan with as low of an interest rate as you can get one for with a lower rate unsecured credit card would prove to be quite a feat.

As well, some of the rewards and benefits that you can receive right along with a low-interest rate can be quite pleasing to most consumers. You’ll want to figure out exactly what you want from a card and shop around. The Internet is a great place to do this shopping as a matter of fact.

One especially good card is the Chase Platinum Card because it has a 0% introductory APR for the first six months, and follows up with no annual fees. The Chase Travel card goes a step further by rewarding card users points as they use their card, which can be used for airfare, cruising, car rentals and hotel stay.

On the subject of car rental, Chase Travel will also reward you five-hundred-thousand-dollars in Worldwide Auto Travel Accident Insurance from Hertz Car Rental Discounts.

Moving onto another great card that you will enjoy is the Discover Platinum Card. This card offers a 0% Introductory APR as well, with no annual fees, and will give you up to 2% Cash Back in Bonus awards. Some can even offer up to 5% in cashback bonus rewards.

Getting Out of Debt With Credit Counseling

Getting Out of Debt With Credit Counseling

If you are deep in debt and it seems that there is no way out, there is hope. Credit card counseling and/or debt consolidation may be the best solutions to get out of debt. A credit counseling professional can help you establish a plan to fix this problem and help you learn ways to stay out.

Credit counselors will work with you to create a debt management program, which may include consolidation, and they will also educate you on how to avoid the careless spending and lax payments that landed you in debt in the first place. With the help of a credit counselor, it won’t be long before you are transformed into a responsible and reliable consumer.

When you begin a debt management program, your objective is to completely eliminate all of your debt. Therefore, you must do whatever it takes to reach this goal. So don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t worry about appearing unknowledgeable. The credit counselor is there to help you and answer any questions you may have. So ask plenty of questions, and if you still don’t understand something, simply ask your counselor to explain again.

If your debt management program includes consolidation, be sure to ask about any conditions, such as whether you will be able to continue using your credit cards after the debt is consolidated. Oftentimes, consolidation programs stipulate that you must forfeit the cards once the debt is consolidated. This may or may not be the best decision for you. However, if you really want to resolve this issue once and for all, you may want to consider not racking up any more credit card debt.

Lastly, feel free to do some of your own research. After all, you want to make sure that you are with the right debt counseling company.

Good Money Management Is The Only Way Out Of Debt

Good Money Management Is The Only Way Out Of Debt

Establishing a budget, keeping on track with it, and keeping a record of all of your expenses is the real solution for rebuilding and repairing your credit once it has been damaged. Don’t be tempted to file for bankruptcy; you will only ruin your chances for the future. Even the solution of a debt consolidation loan will only add more and a continued debt burden. You have to pay interest on the loan, and you will just be worried about making it until it is finally paid off. The best solution is to save your way out of debt by establishing good money management skills. It is a much better idea to keep track of your expenses so you know what you are spending your money on and then you can eliminate unnecessary expenses and start to save.

A small first investment you might want to make is a software program that will assist you in budgeting and saving. By making it easier to keep track of things, this small expenditure will save you a lot in the long run. The first thing you need to do is establish a budget. A software program will ask you all the questions you need to establish a budget. By answering the questions, the program will put all of your income and expenses in the correct categories and show you what you have leftover. You can also do this on your own, by using a form where you write all of your income on one side and all of your expenses on the other.

Each week write down what you spend on each item, how much you put in your savings account or retirement fund, taxes, etc. Record your earnings and track how much you have left. If you see that each week you have nothing left to pay an essential bill, you will have to change your payment system. Each week as you pay your bills, try to make as large a payment as you can on each of your necessary bills, such as rent or mortgage, electric, water, phone, etc. Then you have to survive on what is left by cutting back on non-essentials. You may have to stop going to the movies for a while and just rent inexpensive ones from the library.

You may have to cut back on eating out. Next, examine all of your essential bills to see how you can save money there. If you start to limit the phone calls your family makes, if you make sure to turn off lights and stop wasting water, you can probably save a lot of money. Making these cutbacks and sacrifices will pay off big if you can catch up on all of your bills. You will not even remember which movies you missed while you were putting money away to pay off all of your bills.

Another way to ensure that you build a good money management skill is to make a survival budget. What is the absolute minimum you and your family need to survive? Cut every expense down to its lowest, like budget meals every night, no entertainment except whatever is free, basic water, basic T.V. cable, basic telephone. Follow this survival budget for a few months and you will be shocked at how much extra you will have to pay off your bills and debts. Certain items are important to keep up, such as health insurance and your rent or mortgage, so you don’t end up with no roof over your head or medical bills you can’t pay. But everywhere you can cut back, you should. Any savings can be applied to catch up on bills or debt.

The other strategy for good money management is to look at is your income side. Can you ask for a raise, or can you find a better-paying job, or perhaps you can find a second job? Find any way you can (any honest way, that is!) to increase your income while you cut down on your expenses, and you will repair your credit before you know it.

How Consumer Counseling Can Help You Get Out Of Debt

How Consumer Counseling Can Help You Get Out Of Debt

Even the most sensible of us end up borrowing with the idea that we will have no trouble paying back what we owe. The monthly payments that looked so easy when you took out the loan can soon become overwhelming and you may find yourself unable to keep up the payments. If you find yourself in this situation you should consider consumer credit counseling. This article will explain how credit counseling works and how to find a good consumer credit counseling company to help you manage your debt.

It is easy to understand how some people can find themselves over their heads in debt when it is so easy to obtain credit. Everyone wants to drive a nicer car and live in a nicer home, and this is usually attainable with easy to get credit. Just don’t forget that everything you borrow has to be paid back, with interest.

Most people start their search online or in the phone book. Try to avoid any company that claims they can clear your debt entirely or repair your credit history within a short time. Entirely avoid any offer of obtaining a new credit identity as this is obviously a claim of a disreputable organization.

Legitimate credit counseling companies have certain criteria that you have to meet before they will take you as a client of theirs. These criteria usually will include you have some income to work with and unsecured debt that you need help managing. Usually, credit counseling companies will not be able to help you manage secured debt such as a mortgage loan or car loan.

For your first meeting with your credit counselor, have available all your financial documents loan statements, bank statements, credit card statements, pay statements, and make a list of all your outstanding debts and the amounts of your minimum monthly payment.

The credit counselor will then begin their work by getting in touch with your creditors and trying to negotiate for you repayment amounts that you can live with. Once these amounts have been agreed upon, the consumer credit counselor will help you develop a budget that you can live with and still pay off your debt.

While you are clearing your debt through the consumer credit counseling service, it is important not to use your credit cards or take on new debt. Remember, this is designed to get your out of debt entirely.

How Debt And Bill Consolidation Work

How Debt And Bill Consolidation Work

Although you probably won’t find anyone who says that want to get heavily into debt, the reality is that many people find themselves in that situation for a variety of reasons, including taking on too many credit cards and personal loans, high medical bills, your children’s or your education expenses and just not paying close enough attention to your personal financial situation. If you find yourself in that situation and are wondering what you should do, you might want to consider a debt or bill consolidation. What is debt consolidation? It is simply that – consolidating all your debt into one payment and taking the hassle out of it so that you can become debt-free and avoid an awful lot of stress in the meantime.

So how do you get started on a bill and debt consolidation plan? The first thing you do is find out exactly how much in debt you are. To do this you will need to collect all of your account statements and write down the name of the creditor, the total amount that you owe that creditor, and the number of your monthly repayments.

The next thing you do is make up a realistic monthly budget. Go over all over your monthly expenditures such as rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, car loans, insurance payments, child care costs, grocery money, and upkeep for your car. Then add in some for miscellaneous expenses such as hair cuts and birthday gifts, things that don’t come up every day. Total it all up and that is the amount of money that it costs you every month to maintain a basic living.

The final part of organizing yourself is to subtract your monthly budget from your take-home pay. The amount left over is the amount that you have available to pay off your creditors each month. Now, this amount is likely to not be enough to make the minimum payments, which is why you need a debt and bill consolidation plan.

Now that your finances are organized and you know exactly what you can afford to pay in debt repayments each month, you need to contact each creditor and negotiate with them a lower payment amount. Most creditors are quite used to this and willing to help you out as long as you are willing to pay them what you can. Obviously, they realize that you can’t give them what you don’t have. Just be straight forward with them – you’ll be surprised at how accommodating they can be!

How To Bounce Back From Bad Credit Ratings – Starting Today

How To Bounce Back From Bad Credit Ratings – Starting Today

Credit has a very important place in most people’s lives today. Bad credit ratings can prevent you from having essential things we need every day, such as, use a credit card, rent an apartment, qualify for financing for large purchase department store items, or buy a car, just to name a few.

If for whatever reason, you don’t make timely payments to a creditor or miss a payment, your creditor reports this to the credit bureau, and it is added to your credit report. If you do this too often, or default on a loan, you will have a bad credit rating and a low credit score. Once you have a bad credit rating, many doors will be closed to you: you will be unable to obtain most kinds of loans, and without a credit card you won’t be able to shop online, or rent a car, or do many of the other things you have grown accustomed to doing.

For these reasons, it is important that you protect your good credit rating. However, if misfortune causes a change in your circumstances and your credit-worthiness becomes an issue, you should begin your credit repair as soon as possible.

How to Repair bad Credit Ratings

Credit repair is usually a slow process requiring you to build your credit rating little by little over a long period of time. Although you might consider going to a reputable company offering credit repair services, you can effectively repair your own credit.

A good place to start repairing bad credit ratings is to get your credit report from the credit bureau and examine it carefully for errors. If there are no apparent errors, you can then begin your credit repair.

First, obtain a secured credit card and use it regularly but sensibly. Pay your monthly installment amounts in full and on time. Secured credit cards are issued by companies that usually cater to people who have bad credit. These types of credit cards usually require that you give an initial deposit equal to the card’s credit limit. For example, you give the company $500 for a card with a $500 credit limit. They have the right to use that deposit against any balance you have that remains outstanding for too long.

Using this formula, the credit card company assumes no risk because you will never owe more money than they are holding as your deposit. Secured cards also require annual fees that regular credit cards do not.

Using secured credit cards and paying the bills on time is one of the best ways to improve your credit rating. You develop a history that shows lenders that you take your debts seriously, and that is what lenders want from you — to be paid in full and on time.

To your advantage, paying bills on time not only helps in establishing a good history for you, but it also eliminates late fees and other financial penalties that make paying your bills so difficult.

How To Find A Legitimate Debt Settlement Company

How To Find A Legitimate Debt Settlement Company

It is important that before you consider filing for bankruptcy protection or go on a debt management plan that you consider contacting a legitimate debt settlement company first.

What is a debt settlement? Debt settlement is a way of negotiating and reducing the amount of debt you have with each creditor. A debt settlement company can negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and get them to agree to a lesser amount. In addition to negotiating the amount owed to each creditor, a debt settlement company will also send them the payment for you, take care of all the paperwork and agreements reached with each company, and also negotiate how the settlement of your debt will be reported to the credit bureaus.

You may wonder why companies would agree to lower the amount that you owe them. In most cases, companies realize that if you are not paying back the unsecured debt that you owe them unless they can come to some terms to help you pay it back they will likely end up getting nothing. So when you look at it from their perspective, something is definitely better than nothing, even if it is less than they were originally owed.

Using a debt settlement company can be an excellent way to recover your financial freedom and repair your credit rating. The best thing about using the debt settlement process is that after the debt has been paid, you owe nothing at all. The debt is settled and you are debt-free.

So now that you know what a legitimate debt settlement company is, and what it is that they do, the next question is how do you find a good, reputable debt settlement company?

In order to find a reliable debt settlement company, you will have to do a little research. You can start by looking in the usual places – online in search pages and in the phone book. When looking for them keep in mind the following criteria and see if you can get these answers: How long have they been in business? Are they registered with the Better Business Bureau? If so, how is their rating with them? Do they have references that you can check up on? It is extremely important that you entrust your financial future to a reputable company, and the more you know about them the better able you are to make an informed decision.