Credit Education
What To Do if Contacted by a Debt Collector
It’s a new world out there, to say the least. With the current downturn in our economy, consumers who have never had even one derogatory mark on their credit file are now experiencing something new: accounts in collection. Along with this, we are seeing a dramatic increase, not only in debt collector activity, but also...
The 4 biggest credit card mistakes—make sure you aren’t making them
I think we all make mistakes with credit cards at one point or another. I made mine in college, and paid for those mistakes for years. The trick is to learn from those mistakes—or better yet, learn from other people’s mistakes and never make them yourself. Here’s a list of what I think are the...
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Experian
Chances are you’ve heard the ads for FreeCreditReport.com. They’re the ones with the catchy jingle and the guy walking around singing about the website and how his life was ruined because he didn’t check his credit. In one particular commercial he tries to buy a car and ends up in an old jalopy due to...
Practical credit card management advice
I’ve written about credit card debt several times in the past, but I figured today it would be nice to just consolidate things down to some practical, no nonsense advice on managing your credit cards. TAKE INVENTORY. How many credit cards do you have? What’s the balance and minimum monthly payment on each? What’s the total...
Building credit when you have no credit or damaged credit
You’ve probably noticed your mail load has been lighter over the past months. The once ubiquitous credit card offers aren’t rolling in like they used to in our troubled economic climate of tightened credit requirements and soaring default rates. This can be seen as good or bad, depending on how you view the situation. On one...
What you need to know: new credit card rules spelled out by the Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve’s new rules for credit card companies mean new credit card protections for you. Here are some key changes you should expect from your credit card company beginning on February 22, 2010. What your credit card company has to tell you When they plan to increase your rate or other fees. Your credit card company...
Credit Myths Busted
Myth #1: Checking your credit hurts your credit score. Depends on what type of report is pulled. If you obtain a copy of your report on your own to review from the credit bureaus you will be doing a “soft inquiry” which does not affect your score. If you have a lender pull your...
How helpful is HAMP?
New information has come to light in the past few days regarding HAMP, or the Home Affordable Modification Program. Aside from the fact that they need someone new in Washington to come up with better acronyms, the HAMP program was designed to assist homeowners in danger of foreclosure by reducing their mortgages and interest rates. The...
Now’s the time to make deals with debt collectors
It’s sometimes hard to look for the positive in an economic climate like the one we’re currently experiencing. It’s all too easy to focus on the negatives and ignore the positives—positives like the low housing prices for those trying to buy, government assistance like the homebuyer’s tax credit, and the willingness of debt collectors...
Been Rate Jacked? 3 Ways to Stand Up to Your Double Crossing Credit Card Issuer
By: Joe Taylor Credit card rate hikes have become a popular strategy for lenders who want to purge their portfolios of less profitable accounts. New federal credit card regulations give consumers the power to reject a credit card rate increase, but only at the expense of an active credit line. “Freezing” a credit line to lock...
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