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Is It Possible to Clean Collection Accounts from Your Credit Report?

Posted on Tuesday, 5th January 2010 by admin

Depending on how much a creditor claims you owe, even a single collections on your credit reports can do serious damage to your credit score.

Collections for smaller dollar amounts don’t weigh down your credit score as much, but if you have multiple delinquencies on your credit reports, don’t be surprised when your credit score isn’t as high as you would like it to be.

Regardless of whether a collections is reported for $100, $500, $1,000 or more, your credit score would likely be higher if it didn’t show up on your credit reports. Just about everyone would prefer to have this derogatory listing deleted, but few realize there is something they can do about it. What they are not aware of is that there are steps you can take in an effort to remove collections from your credit reports. In fact, Lexington Law, a consumer advocacy law firm with 18 years of experience helping over 1/2 million Americans work to improve their credit, reports that their clients had over 250,000 collections accounts removed from their credit reports in 2008.

You have a number of options when it comes to repairing your credit. For sta

Who Commits Identity Theft

Posted on Saturday, 2nd January 2010 by admin

Just who commits identity theft and why do they do it? While some identity thieves are skilled computer hackers that sell the information on the black market, other’s can gain your sensitive information in less technical ways. Find out how these people operate and what you can do to protect yourself from identity fraud.

Know Your Enemy, Keep Your Identity

Just who are identity thieves? Everybody has heard of the horrible damage they can cause to individuals and their peace of mind, but who exactly are they?

Most people may imagine a highly-sophisticated criminal hacking networks to gain your credit card information, then using high-tech devices to forge cards and id cards with your name to trick financial institutions into lending them money. In fact, some high-profile identity theft rings have done just that. However, in the vast majority of cases, the thief who is forging your signature somewhere is not who you think it is.

Accurate Credit Reporting Relies on Consumer Action

Posted on Wednesday, 30th December 2009 by admin

Originally passed in 1970, the Fair Credit Reporting Act was created with the goal of getting consumer reporting agencies to operate in a way that is fair and equitable to consumers while still fulfilling the needs of lenders, insurance companies and others who use your credit reports. The Act set out to make credit reporting more fair for consumers by making sure the information contained in credit reports is accurate, relevant, kept confidential, and only provided to others under certain circumstances. It is the Fair Credit Reporting Act that made possible a consumer’s ability to clean up their credit.

The part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that credit correction primarily focuses on is the accuracy of information. This is the one aspect where the responsibility of ensuring fair credit reporting lies with the individual. With the other three, it is the credit reporting agencies that are responsible for what types of information get included in credit reports, how this information is kept secure, and which third parties have access to it. B

Revaluing Credit Scores after the Financial Crises

Posted on Wednesday, 30th December 2009 by admin

The numbers of assets and saved up money are not the only things that matter in the financial world. There is a three digit number that can make any credit company go from dismaying a loan application to become more than willing to help the loan applicant. The FICO score or the credit score is the number that all credit companies pay close attention to. This number is simply the numerical translation of the credit bureaus’ report on the credit worthiness of the borrower. This number is important to many credit companies because this number indicate the general risk that the company is taking for giving a loan or installment to the owner of the credit score or the borrower.

In recent years this number is starting to become a large part of one’s financial concern. This sudden importance may have been because to two major changes in the global economy. First, things are getting more expensive every day. The prices of good and commodities are now shooting up beyond the roof. Many people who used to can afford these goods are now forced to get credit card accounts and other debt accounts to pay for these goods. In

The Credit CARD Act – What It Means For Consumers

Posted on Tuesday, 29th December 2009 by admin

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 was enacted to reform how credit cards work. Dubbed the Credit Card Bill of Rights, it bans universal default rates, curbs fees, limits penalties, and much more.

On May 22, 2009, President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009. This new law was established to protect consumers, and especially young consumers, from skyrocketing credit card debt, unfair credit card practices, and deceptive credit offers.

Most aspects of the Credit CARD Act will be effective on February 22, 2010, nine months after it was signed into law. However, two provisions became effective on August 20, 2009. These provisions contain the requirement that issuers provide 21 days for consumers to pay their credit card bills, and the requirement that issuers provide 45 days notice of changes in terms.

The third portion will be effective Aug. 22, 2010. This section requires that penalty fees be reasonable and proportional to the violation and requires that issuers review all interest rates that were raised and reduce them where warranted. Ce

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