Posts Tagged ‘credit help’

Tips To Get Debt Help Online

May 2nd, 2010

One way to improve your credit score and work toward consolidating debt, and that means getting a debt consolidation loan.  Searching the Internet can give you several options. If you've been considering the steps of getting a debt consolidation loan, versus choosing a debt management or debt settlement service, you sholud know the main differences, pros and cons of each so that the option you select is the right one for your needs.  It's understandable that many people get confused about these three different options, but they eahc have specific differences and ways to help individuals pay down debt. Here's a look at each.

Debt Consolidation Loan

A debt consolidation loan will transfer your credit card or other revolving debt to a single, lower interest rate loan. You can find lenders by searching online; start with your own bank, then check services like Lending Tree.  Usually, this type of loan is similar to ahome equity loan, in that the equity  you have in your home will be the collateral for this type of debt. Today, it's more difficult to get a loan based on home equty, due to the instability of home prices, however it's still possible if you have equity in your home. For people with good credit, it might even be possible to get an unsecured loan, if you also close the credit cards.  If your credit is not so good, the lender may ask you to close your cards as a condition of the loan.  when you get a consolidation loan that has a lower interest rate, theoretically your payments will go down and you can afford them better each month.  Be sure though that the length of the loan doesn't mean you are stil paying a ton of money in interest over the life of the loan, and be sure to pay the loan off you will actually be able to afford to pay on the principle and that will help you to eventually get yourself out of debt.

Debt Management

A debt management company is a little different from a lender. They work with debtors to build a plan to get control over their debt and other finances. These types of companies show borrower the way to set up a budget and keep to it each month.  Often, the borrower will create a weekly schedule to show when to pay each of their debts, until they are paid off.  Usually, debt management companies are set up as non profit companies, and their purpose is to work with consumers to get them on the right financial track. you wont' find these companies offering any loan products, and they usually don't work with creditors either to reduce debt. But they will work with individuals to give them the right tools to build a secure financial future.

Debt Settlement

Unlike lenders or debt management companies, debt settlement companies will directly contact your creditors about your credit accounts. There are agencies like Consumer Credit dounseling Service which you can find online at locations near you.  These copmanies will work to negotiate with your current credit card companies and attempt to reduce the balances you currently owe. They are able too work out arrangements that can lower your interest rates, or get a reduction of the penalties and late payment fees that are piling up on your accounts.  They may also be able to reduce the balances you owe the credit card companies. Many times their arrangement with you will require that you send them a single payment, and they disribute the payments to the companies you are paying. this makes it easy to budget.  beware however that this service may have consequences on your credit report, as it will be reported to the credit reporting agencies that you are working with a debt settelment company.

Any of these types of copmanies can be found online with a simple search, be sure to include your location in your search to find companies near you. It's best to find a company online, but visit them in person – don't work with agencies online only, as this is a potential way to get taken advantage of. You want to meet these companies face to face, and get references for the work they do.  Once you find a good company, these services can certainly provide the debt help you need.


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Credit Repair Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy

April 28th, 2010

You don’t need a credit repair guide to reveal credit repair secrets to you. The majority of details surrounding how your credit score is determined is fairly straight forward. If you just remember that the credit score is a measure of how safe you are to the lender, you just need to think like a lender to improve your score.

Credit Repair Secrets #1 – Credit Issues are Time Weighted

What you are doing with your credit today is of much more concern to lenders than what you did in the past. In fact the credit reports don’t even look back further than seven years. However, going back that far isn’t that important. You need to take care of the here and now first. If there is any debt you are currently past due on, you need to clear that up first and get all of your account balances current as soon as possible.

Credit Repair Secrets #2 – Your Income Has No Bearing on Your Credit Score

Some of the credit repair tips you’ll read online or elsewhere would have you believe that factors like income or even gender, race, or location have any bearing on your credit score. This is absolutely not true, in fact it is illegal. Individual lenders may put this in consideration with your credit score, but your credit report by itself does not track these factors in any way. Making more money is only good if you’re using the extra money to pay down debt.

Credit Repair Secrets #3 – Applying for More Credit Doesn’t Help Your Score

A few credit repair guides will say the best credit repair secrets involve applying for lots of credit to increase your overall available credit, since having more credit would reducing your debt to available credit ratio. This is not an accurate tip anymore because now the rating agencies will put a high weighting on any new credit request. Also, any individual who has a house or large car purchase will have so much in fixed debt, that any additional revolving credit increase won’t change the percentage that much after all.

Credit Repair Secrets #4 – Default on Loans to Settle with Them

This is one step that many credit repair services companies use. They tell you to default on your loans, so that once you are seriously past due, it easier for them to settle with the creditors. After you settle, theoretically, your debt will show paid as agreed on your credit report. This is a very dangerous idea, and will cause long term damage to your credit report. Lenders do not approve of this type of action, and remember, anything the lender hates is bad for your credit score.


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Are There Mortgage Bad Credit No Down Payment Products?

February 1st, 2010
This economy has changed a lot of things about the landscape of American lending and credit. One of the items that has been dropped like a hot potato are mortgage bad credit no down payment loans, where individuals with bad credit can get 100% financing.  The main reason for this is that these products are one of the causes of the economic meltdown – or rather, the writing of these products by banks, then the banks' sale of these product broken up into loan packages called CDOs.  As jobs were lost and home fprices fell, so did the likelihood that these loans would be repaid – so banks have run as fast as possible away from offering these types of loans.
 
But what is a person with bad credit supposed to do? Everyone needs shelter. If you ave bad credit, and it's seriously bad say under 600, and you have no down payment, then realistically, you should be looking at renting at an affordable rate, and trying to save money.  Banks will just not want to work with you, and the FHA, which guarnatees 95% of the loans in the United States, suggests a credit score of 640 as the bottom score for which you can qualify for a mortgage.
 
It's especially hard to find loans because no one is sure whether home prices will stabilize or go down. So, if you buy a home today with 100% financing, and the price of the home drops, you aren't the one losing equity – the lender and the government are.  So lenders do not want to take the risk of taking back a home that isn't worth what they lent.
 
Does that mean you can't buy a house with bad credit? No. If you can get your redit score up to the 640 range, which is still considered bad credit, you can qualify for a first-time loan (if you have never had a mortgage, or haven't had one in the past 3 years). As a "first time" homebuyer, you can buy a home with 3.5% down.  There will also be closing costs and fees, but if you can meet that bare minimum standard, which is still bad credit, you can get a home for almost no money down. 
 
Be sure that if and when you do buy, you can afford it though – today, you can probably rent more house that you can buy for the same monthly payment. Make sure you do what's right fo ryou financially, and avoid continued habits – like borrowing no money down – which keep you in financial difficulties into the future!

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Where To Turn For Credit Repair Help

January 21st, 2010

Where do you turn when you’re desperately in need of credit repair help? Well right here at Credit Help Online of course! Seriously, the credit repair tips you need to get started are not that complicated. The worst part of having credit trouble is feeling as though there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Well, we’re here to tell you that there is, we have been through it all, and it might take time and patience, but any credit problem can be solved.

There are plenty of credit repair agencies who will offer to help you, but the fact is, you can do most if not all of it yourself. Except for a severe case, where you seriously should consider filing for bankruptcy, the steps are the same whether you do it or you hire someone to do it. If it’s going to cost you fees or time sitting in a classroom, you might want to give it a try on your own first.

We have several posts on this website that describe how to get started with repairing your credit, so we’re not going to list all of those ideas again here. But the most important thing you’ll need, not on those lists, is a change in attitude. You are having credit problems for a reason – like most Americans, you probably have used credit as another source of income, except it’s not income, it’s debt. You owe someone else, and they can take it back from you, whether through legal action, repossession or otherwise. The first step is to realize that you must live within your means. There is no other way to have a secure financial present or future.

To live within your means, you need to know how much you have coming in, and how much you have going out for expenses. To the extent you have too much going out, that it, spending too much, you need to put the brakes on, and either save that money, or redirect it to paying off debt you have already. We all spend money we don’t even think about – and that’s the second step, to stop spending without thinking about it. You should prepare a budget, which is not rocket science after all, and then stick to it. It might take you three or four months, but by making a commitment to never be in debt again, and stop struggling financially, you can do it.

So credit repair help is best when it comes from you – because you are the only one who really has a stake in fixing your own credit. And you can see all the credit repair agencies you want, if you don’t learn how to stop overspending, you’ll just find yourself in the same boat, all over again. (Believe me, we’ve been there too – making the same insane mistakes twice!) The best help is to decide once and for all you are not going to spend more than you make, and then take that next step to determine that you will know, absolutely, where you spend all of your money.

Now, the only way to know where you spend your money is to do that budget. We have a free budget form right here. It is actually very simple. You have a list of the things you need to pay for this month, starting with the items you must have, like food, shelter, heat and water, and transportation to work. (Notice I didn’t say, “luxury transportation to work”.) After that, you can list the items that are “discretionary”, meaning you can choose not to buy them in any given month. Once you know what you must spend money on, as opposed to what you want to spend on, you are on your way.

This will also tell you if you have obligations, beyond the necessities, such as credit card or loan payments, which take you above and beyond your monthly income. If you have credit payments that you can’t afford, then you REALLY need a budget! And you also need to check out the section of this blog that talks more about how to negotiate debt with your creditors.

These credit repair help ideas will get you started on your way. Have patience, promise yourself that you will make this financial change in your life, and it will impact your wealth for a lifetime.


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Getting Bad Credit Help Today

January 4th, 2010

More Americans are in need of bad credit help than ever before. With high balances on credit cards, many card holders are watching helplessly as the credit card companies hike interest rates and cut available credit. Making the minimum payment is harder than ever for some families, Plus, the impact of lower limits on credit scores means fewer Americans qualify for credit.

Even if you’re not delinquent with your bills, or facing bankruptcy or foreclosure, you still may want to get some credit help to figure out how to reduce the burden of high balances and high payments. Credit help can come from many sources, including do it yourself.

Since so many people are having trouble, the ads on television have blossomed with offers to help you with your debt burden. Many of these credit companies simply negotiate with your credit card issuer to reduce your balance or lower your monthly payments. Some horror stories are out there too, as some of these companies can be scammers. For example, one debtor had a company tell her she just had to sit and wait for seven months, not making payments, and ten the credit card companies would work with her to reduce balances. This bad advice was after she’d paid them a hefty fee! To follow this type of advice would destroy your credit score even more than it already might be.

There are some legitimate credit repair companies though. Many of these are not for profit companies, and don’t charge you high fees. They work with credit card companies to reduce your monthly payments to make them easier to afford, but generally your balances will remain the same. It’s important to note that some of these nonprofits are funded by the credit card companies! And the fact that you are working with them will appear on your credit report – a fact that some lenders will consider as bad as filing for personal bankruptcy. So, be sure to ask if that’s the case with any company you work with.

Another point is that these companies will focus on your credit card debt, which is unsecured, and would be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. They are not as focused on working with your secured lenders, your landlord or mortgage company, and so on. They want to see if you have the money to keep paying your credit card bills.

It’s not altogether necessary for you to work with a credit agency though. Many lenders know that many Americans are having financial trouble, and they take the approach that the sooner they get an agreement in place with you, the better, before you decide to stop paying them altogether. Not all companies will work with you though to extend credit help. For some reason, there are banks out there who insist still on playing hard ball and threatening you to keep paying as agreed.

How would you go about doing a credit repair program on your own then? You can do just what the credit counseling agencies will do. First, you should have a budget. You should know how much money is coming in each month or week, and what your necessary living expenses are. Make sure that you are meeting the costs of living first – your food, rent, and utilities – before you start negotiating with your credit card companies. You probably want to work with your secured lenders too, to see if they will renegotiate your loan terms, or give you a couple months off so you can get back on your financial feet. Remember thought that secured lenders can simply repossess your car, or house, or whatever goods are securing your loan.

After you have a good picture of what money you have each month to pay unsecured bills, talk to your lenders. Let them know you can’t make payments based on their new terms, and that you want to work out a plan. If any of them refuse to work with you, then work with the ones who will. Make the others sit and wait for a payment.

Ideally you’ll want to keep your payments current, otherwise your credit score will suffer. So some of the tips here are for those of you who can’t make the minimum payments each month. If you are able to pay your minimum monthly payments, that’s great, but then you want to take steps to start chipping away at your overall debt to be able to have an emergency fund, or retirement fund, or save your money to build wealth, not just keep paying creditors.

Whether you are able to make your minimum payments or not, you should take action to earn some extra income to pay your debts off faster. Once you have all your debts current, you can start finding ways to put more than the minimum payment toward your bills. And if you’re having trouble making monthly payments, then you definitely need to find a way to make some extra cash to pay your bills.

Try selling household items you don’t need any more, using eBay or Craigslist. You might also consider selling items that are really too expensive for your lifestyle – the expensive tee vee, the expensive car, the expensive jewelry. These are items that you have traded your financial security for – and they are not worth losing everything. Selling things to raise cash is quite popular these days, and be sure to put all the extra cash you earn toward your monthly payments.

Another route is to get a second job. This economy is tough, as many people are losing their full time jobs, and part time jobs are competitive. But it’s not going to get better in the short run, so even if you have to deliver pizzas or bag groceries, you should try to earn some extra money each month.

Finding ways to make money on the internet is also an alternative. This method can be inexpensive, but does take time to build an online business. There are many websites that should you how to do this, but don’t spend a lot of money on anything until you have a chance to check it out thoroughly. There are scammers, there are “courses” which charge thousands of dollars – and none of these will help you as much as the more modest sites that really want to teach you how to build an online business. (We recommend The Keyword Academy, which has information about how to make money online with a one month trial for just $1. Worth checking out at that price!)

The bottom line is that if you are going to seek credit help, be sure to educate yourself about all the options available to you. don’t sign up with the first credit counseling agency you come across, or don’t believe what you see on television. You can find great resources on the Web for low or no cost, and can get started on your own, for free.


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