What Is A FICO Score?
March 19, 2010
A credit score is most commonly known as a FICO score. FICO stands for Fair Isaacs Corporation. It’s a company that developed the credit scoring software used to evaluate your credit worthiness.
Most lenders use the FICO score to determine whether they should extend to you a mortgage, car loan, credit cards and any other type of credit. The higher your score, the more credit worthy you are. Lenders will know that more than likely, you pay your bills on time. The lower your score, the more risk the lender takes on, guessing that you might not pay the loan on time.
The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. More than likely, you’ll end up paying a larger monthly payment on your mortgage if your score is below 650. Your credit score, according to MyFico.com, is determined by:
If you don’t have any credit, your credit score can be lower than someone who has had a credit history for several years. When you personally check your credit often, this will not affect your credit score. When existing creditors review your credit, these inquiries are not counted in your score.
5 Steps You Can Take to Get Paid!
March 15, 2010
There are always some companies that have past due invoices and can’t seem to get them paid. They might be quietly waiting to get paid not wanting to contact the client for fear of appearing "desperate". Sometimes a big part of the problem is no response, it is bad enough when you are not getting paid, but when orders keep coming in and you are not getting any acknowledgement to your collection efforts, you just can’t keep processing orders.
There are steps you can take to get paid on those past due invoices and keep new invoices current.
Step #1 Gather together all the past due invoices, and stamp them PAST DUE.
Step #2 If you have an email address or phone number with a contact name for your client, email them or call them and give them the information on the past due invoices and let them know their account is on hold.
Step #3 Mail the invoices to your client with return receipt requested or send them in a flat rate Priority Mail envelope with delivery confirmation.
Step #4 Send a letter with these invoices stating the age, invoice numbers, their PO#, your account #, total amount due, and any other pertinent information.
Repairing Your Credit Score and Clearing Derogatory Marks on Your Credit Report
March 12, 2010
Raising your credit score can be a fairly simple and straightforward process unless you have derogatory marks that need to be disputed (which will be explained below).
The reasons for bad credit can be as follows, high balances, bankruptcies, late payments, and many others. The most significant thing you can do to raise your score is to change your financial habits. Chances are that if you have a bad credit score, you did something to make it that way. Here are some of the best ways to quickly raise your credit score:
1. The most obvious: pay off your debt! This doesn’t include a home mortgage, but revolving balances such as credit card debt, a car loan, etc.
2. Make every payment on time. This is the most important factor in your credit score rating. If you have had late payments in the past, it will take some time to see real results from your on-time payments, but keep it up, sooner or later the credit bureau will notice the change in your payment habits. Develop the mentality that no late payment is acceptable!
3. If possible, pay over your minimum amount. This is especially important with credit card balances, and will reflect a slight boost in your score.
Trying to Land a Job? Poor Credit Scores May Hurt Your Chances
March 7, 2010
Many employers are now looking at an applicant’s credit report for hiring purposes. During an interview process a potential employer may request your written consent to access your credit report. A credit report is essentially your credit history created by CRAs (also known as credit bureaus). Debtors that grant (or deny) you credit make regular reports about your account status to CRAs. This information is then aggregated on a credit report and calculated into your "credit score".
Besides your credit history a credit report also contains a substantial amount of sensitive personal information. This includes your date of birth, social security number, telephone numbers (including unlisted numbers), current and previous addresses, employment, credit payment status and even legal information. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has made regulations too keep this information private. There are state and federal laws on who can obtain this information and how they can use it. However as mentioned earlier, any potential employer can access this information upon your written consent and take it in account during your hiring process.
What can you do? Depending on where you live you can may be entitled to receive a free copy credit report. Your may also find about who has viewed your credit report and other related information. For information we recommend visiting www.privacyrights.org
Which Credit Card?
March 4, 2010
Bewildered by the sheer variety of debit cards and credit cards? Here is a breakdown of some of the main types of debit and credit cards available:
Debit card
You can use a debit card to buy goods and services. A debit card is very much like a cheque, unlike a credit card, you pay for goods straight away and the money comes out of your account quickly. The amount you spend using a debit card is immediately deducted from your current account.
A debit card allows you to make purchases whereby the money is taken straight from your current account, the benefit of a debit card is that your finances are kept up to date immediately, without having to wait for a monthly bill as is the case with a credit card.
Your banking institution issues you with a debit card. Debit cards offer less protection than credit cards in the event of a billing dispute. In addition, if your debit card is stolen, it is possible that your debit card account could be emptied. Most debit cards have a Switch/Delta/Solo/Electron symbol on them. If you become overdrawn you will pay interest on the amount due.
10 Ways of Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft
February 28, 2010
1- Check your credit report regularly
2- Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your home.
3- minimize the amount of information someone can steal, do not carry extra credit cards, your Social Security card, birth certificate or passport in your wallet or purse, except when needed. Always store your wallet in a safe place.
4- Make sure you have a locked mailbox, post office box or commercial mailbox service. When you are away from home for an extended time, have your mail held at the Post Office, or ask someone you trust to pick it up.
5- Pickup new checks at the bank. Do not have them mailed to your home.
6- Reduce the number of credit cards you actively use to a minimum.
7- Cancel unused bank or credit accounts.
8- Keep a photocopy of all your credit cards, bank accounts, and investments.
9- Never give out your SSN, credit card number or other personal information unless you are sure the source is secure.
10- Do not throw out your credit card receipts in public places always take receipts with you.
Watch Out For Credit Repairs
February 25, 2010
It is very easy to find a site that is neat, professional-looking, and one that offers a free three-agency credit report and free credit report without a credit card.
This scam is too good to be true. Usually the only catch is an upfront charge to the consumer of $7.95 or something similar for each disputed item on your report. I was on the verge of signing up, but got a sneaking suspicion that something wasn’t right.
Every other site I’d seen offered an Equifax report for free, and a three-agency report for around $35. How could they offer it for free, and How could anyone get a free credit report without a credit card?
Skeptical, I researched the company and found multiple complaints. One of the prominent ones was a claim that they disputed every negative entry on your credit report without your approval, and then charged you $7.95 for each one.
I requested an explanation of the above link to give them a chance to share their side of the story. While I awaited their response I continued my research.
How To Protect Yourself Against Credit Card Fraud
February 21, 2010
In the high tech world of today, credit card fraud is an ever increasing problem.
By 2005 it is estimated that the online payment industry will capture $12.5 Billion in revenue. This is up over 20% from 2004.
In the United Kindom alone, credit card fraud cost companies £504.8 Million in 2004.
With so many people shopping and paying online it is no wonder that credit card fraud is on every online consumer’s mind.
There is no way to guarantee credit or credit card fraud will never happen to you. But there are a few steps you can take to make it more difficult for someone to capture your card or card numbers and minimize the possibility.
Sign your cards as soon as they arrive.
Carry your cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment.
Keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates, and the phone number and address of each company in a secure place.
Keep an eye on your card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.
Void incorrect receipts.
Destroy carbon copies.
Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
UPS Delivers the Goods, Your Identity
February 18, 2010
Well now we add CitiGroup and UPS to the Identity Theft corporations who have allowed Americans identity to be lost. Each time we have another identity theft case, we find larger and large numbers being lost. We have hear of some of them; Petco, choice Point, LexisNexis and the Citigroup, where a UPS van was broken into and a tape was stolen with 3.9 million US customers personal financial data and identity information?
In small cases of identity theft most police departments find a 90% connection to crystal meth drug addicts. So if you lose you identity or credit cards, generally it is a meth user. It is estimated that 50 million Americans have had identity theft issues and over 100 million Americans have bogus data on their credit reports.
If one-third of all Americans have bogus information on their credit, then why are we using the credit information for anything? After all it is garbage in garbage out as they say? As we link up the data bases of government agencies, credit bureaus we find that all the data is bunk, meaning why are we linking all the data together if we now it is all junk data?
Four Tips How Homeowners Can Rebuild Their Life After a Foreclosure
February 14, 2010
Let’s face it, if you are facing the possibilities of losing your home due to a foreclosure and you think that you may never be able to purchase another home anytime soon. Keep reading.
I am going to share with you four steps you need to prepare yourself for that transition down the road. First, if you lost your home because of a foreclosure or you’re about to, don’t give up. The worst thing you can do right now, is to do nothing.
First: Get a copy of your credit report to see what a potential creditor will see and immediately start making repairs to clean up any negative infractions, stay away from credit repair companies.
Visit: http://www.creditinfocenter.com
Second: While you are rebuilding your credit, start putting together an emergency fund. Start off by saving three months of your mortgage/rent payments and three months of car payments for obvious reasons.
Three: Go to your book store, library or online and start educating yourself on lease purchase. I mention lease purchase because of your temporary credit and money requirements. You can normally get into a house with a small down payment and no credit check. Just be prepared to purchase that property down the road. That’s why you need to clean up your credit and who knows, you might start making money with this new found information.
