Debt Repair Blog

The Fair Credit Reporting Act orders all Credit Reporting Agencies to conduct immediate investigation on disputes filed by consumers. After 10 days upon receiving your dispute letter, the agency must send notice that an investigation is on the way.

You may have to wait up to 30 days for the investigation to be completed. After this period, you should receive a letter from the credit reporting agency, informing you of the result of the investigation. If your dispute has been found to be valid, you should be provided with an updated credit report, free of charge.

What happens if you dispute has been found to be invalid? In that case, you should still be notified by the credit reporting agency about the status of your complaint. Nevertheless, there are instances when credit bureaus are slow in responding to a dispute.

If you have been waiting past 10 days for without any notice or response from the agency to whom you submitted your credit dispute letter, what can you do? Should you just let go of the matter and live up with incorrect details in your report? Certainly not!

How to Send a Follow Up Letter

You should send a follow up letter informing the bureau that you intend to file a formal complaint to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) if they refuse to take appropriate action right away.

Continue Reading: How to Follow Up a Credit Dispute Letter

Credit card issuers are facing tough competition and one of the best marketing strategies they came up with are low interest credit cards. Obviously, people are more attracted to a low interest rate credit card and they’re most likely to pay attention to these credit cards compared to credit cards with standard rates and costs.

What are the benefits of having low interest credit cards? Are they really as good as they promise to be? Which particular low interest credit card should you choose? How can you make the most out of your low interest credit card? Let’s try to answer these questions one by one.

Benefits of Low Interest Credit Cards

• Ideal when you carry over a balance. It is recommended to pay off your credit card balance in full each month. However, if you’ve made a large purchase, it may be necessary for you to carry over your balance for the next month. In this case, a credit card with a low rate of interest is your best partner because you’ll only have to add a small additional fee for the interest rate.

Continue Reading: Benefits Of Having Low Interest Credit Card

Trying to find the best prepaid credit card in the market can be a big challenge. If you do not know exactly what you’re looking for, you may find it difficult to do comparison. If you’re not familiar with prepaid credit cards, read on to find out how you can make the right choice.
Important Factors that Must Influence Your Decision

What factors must influence your decision in getting a prepaid debit card? First, you want to go with a prepaid card that is supported by a major processing company like Visa and MasterCard. These two credit card processing companies are the two leading names in the market.

Prepaid cards with Visa or MasterCard logos are widely accepted anywhere in the world. Cards that bear the Visa or MasterCard logo can be used wherever credit cards are accepted. It can also be used for buying products and making reservations online.

Continue Reading: In Search for the Best Prepaid Credit Card

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Are you bothered by creditors who constantly remind you of your past due debts? Would you like to be free from stressful contacts with your creditors? Are you aware of your rights as a borrower? This article focuses on the consumer rights included in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ll be able to take the proper action against creditors who may be violating your rights as a borrower.

Stop Your Creditors

Can you really stop your creditors from collecting the debts you owe? According to the Federal Law, you can stop a creditor from making further attempts to contact you about your debts. How is this done? Send a letter to your creditor or the collection agency advising them to stop contacting you about your debts. However, take note that this doesn’t change the fact that you have unpaid debts to pay.

You are under the obligation to pay back what you owe, and although a creditor may have stopped contacting you after you sent your letter, a creditor can still take legal action against you if you fail to make your payments. Yes, you can be sued if you ignore your responsibility to your lender.

Limitations of Your Creditors

Are you being represented by an attorney? If yes, then collection agencies should be directly contacting you about your debts. Instead, the debt agency should be collecting your debts through your lawyer. If your creditor continues to contact you despite your advice to contact your lawyer, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

Continue Reading: What are My Rights When in Debt

How you use your credit cards play a big role in staying away from debt problems. Some of the steps on the correct use of credit cards are pretty obvious however, putting them into practice is where the challenge comes in. In this article, we’ll discuss some important reminders about you can use your credit cards wisely and keep that plastic money from causing trouble in your life.

Don’t charge everything on your credit card. Some people with reward credit cards may reason that charging every single purchase on their card enables them to rack up those reward points more quickly. But charging every single expense on your credit card puts you at risk of not being able to pay off your monthly balance completely.

Do not charge more than what you can afford to pay off. Again, your goal should be to pay off your balances in full at the end of each billing cycle. Don’t be tempted to pay only the minimum payment even if your credit card allows it. Remember that paying off your balances each month enables you to save a great deal by not incurring the interest rate.

Continue Reading: The Rules on Using Credit Cards

In real life, most people wait until the last minute before checking on their credit scores. It is only after getting denied on their credit application that many people decide to take a look at their credit reports. But waiting until a lender has rejected your application can prove to be risky. By that time, you may have incurred too many negative entries on your credit report and you may need to wait a longer time to work on improving your credit before you can re-apply for new credit.

Checking Your Credit Score

When the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act was passed, everyone is entitled to get a free copy of their credit reports each year. Therefore, there really is no reason why you should not be aware of the status of your credit. How can you get your free report?

Visit the annualcreditreport.com and exercise your right for a free credit report. This website was put up by the three major credit bureaus- Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union as compliance to the new credit legislation. Take note that you can only receive your free credit report by going to the annualcreditreport website and not from any of the credit bureau’s official sites.

Continue Reading: The Importance Of Checking Your Credit Score Regularly

Related Article:

• How To Read And Interpret Sections Of Your Credit Report

Parents are often uncomfortable with the idea of their kids having their own credit cards. But if you have a child who’s about to enter college, this is the perfect time for them to learn about how to handle credit and debt repayment responsibly. More importantly, this is their chance to build their personal credit history so they can be prepared for the financial challenges they will face in the coming years.

In this article, let’s talk about prepaid debit cards and how these cards can be the perfect tools for building early credit history and for teaching kids about proper credit management.

Prepaid Cards – How They Work

Prepaid debit cards are another form of cashless payment. These cards can be used for buying items in stores, supermarket, diners, and other establishments. Prepaid cards can be used to shop online as well. What makes it different from a traditional credit card?

As a prepaid cardholder, you will not be given a credit line. This means, you need to deposit cash into your account before you can start paying with your debit card. When you run out of funds, you will not be able to charge expenses to your card. You must submit a new deposit before you can shop with your debit card.

Continue reading Prepaid Debit Cards – The Perfect Credit Card for Teens

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As the name suggests, prepaid credit cards are paid in advance. Instead of purchasing in advance and paying at a later time, a prepaid cardholder is expected to pay first before charging purchases to his/her card.

Today, prepaid credit or debit cards are increasing in popularity. More and more people prefer to get a debit card than a regular credit card to keep away from bad debt. But can you really stay away from bad credit with prepaid debit cards?

Who Needs A Prepaid Card?

Prepaid cards are wonderful tools for teenagers or students who need a cashless mode of payment. Parents can also send monthly allowances for their teens using a prepaid account. These special cards are great for people who cannot qualify for standard credit cards because of a bad credit history. More importantly, prepaid cards can be used to rebuild damaged credit.

Continue reading Can You Really Stay Away from Bad Credit with Prepaid Credit Cards?

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We often hear the importance of building good credit and striving for a high credit score. A higher credit score gives you the power to bargain with your creditors, ask for better rates, and instantly get an approval. But do you really need a perfect credit score? Will a few points in your credit score really make a big difference in your life?

Understanding the FICO Scoring System

Today, the three major credit bureaus, lenders, insurers and most financing companies use the FICO score in determining one’s credit worthiness. The FICO score ranges from a very low of 300 to a very high of 850. Let’s consider how your FICO score is calculated and how it can affect your status as a borrower in the eyes of your creditor.

Lenders have different standards in measuring a prospective client’s credit worthiness. For some creditors, a score between 775 to 850 is considered as excellent rating while other creditors may consider 750 as the cut-off for an excellent credit.

So do you really need to reach a perfect score of 850 just to be considered as an excellent borrower? Technically, no. As long as your score falls in between 700 to 850, you will be getting the same rates that are given to people with excellent credit. In fact, statistics prove that it is very rare for someone to achieve the perfect credit score of 850.

Nevertheless, if your credit score falls even just one point below 700, you will be charge with rates that are given for people with average credit. In this case, you want to make sure that you improve your credit at least a few points above what is considered as excellent score.

Continue Reading: Do You Really Need a Perfect Credit?

Related Topics:

• How To Build A Killer Credit Score

Good credit history is not just essential for obtaining a loan or applying for a credit card. Finding a decent home to rent, a stable job, or obtaining an insurance policy with reasonable rates often depends on the quality of one’s credit score.

If a prospective landlord, employer, or insurer looks into your credit report, will he find an impressive rating? Will you be turned down because of your credit score? If you feel that your present credit score is not at its best, consider these eight ways on how you can build a killer credit score that will never let you down.

1. Examine your credit report. Obtain a copy of your credit report and see what impression it makes on your prospective lenders, employers, landlords or insurers. Are all the information in your credit report accurate?

If there are mistakes, make sure you notify the credit bureaus right away and ask that these errors be corrected. Nevertheless, if all details are correct, ask yourself, which area in your credit history needs improvement?

2. Open a savings account. Banks don’t require your credit report when opening a savings account. Although checking and savings accounts are not reflected in your credit report, lenders also use bank accounts as a way to determine one’s credit worthiness.

3. Pay your bills on time all the time. If you want to establish credit history and maintain good standing, there’s no substitute for paying your debts on time at all times. Lenders love clients who take on their payment responsibilities seriously. Be aware of you due dates and be consistent in submitting your payments promptly.

Continue Reading: 8 Ways to Build A Killer Credit Score