Getting a secured debit card after a bankruptcy can help to rebuild your credit score.  It can sometimes be tough to get credit reestablished after being discharged from a bankruptcy.  A secured debit card is an easy way to get plastic back into your wallet.  You will need to fund the debit with cash upfront however before you can use it.  As long as the pre paid debit card has the visa or master card logo on it, you can use it at most stores and retailers.  Usually after a period of time, you can convert your secured credit card to an unsecured credit card.  This can take some time so be patient.  These secured credit cards over time will help you rebuild your credit score so you can go out and get credit at decent interest rates.

A Bankruptcy Is Not The End Of The World Continue Reading »

If you are considering transferring your credit card balance to a new low rate 0% APR card you may want to reconsider.  Transferring your balances often can hurt your credit score.  You may only want to do it maybe once a year.

Should I Leave My Old Credit Card Open If I Do A Balance Transfer? Continue Reading »

You have legal rights to tell a collection agency to not contact you.  All you need to do is write the collection agency and tell them to cease all communication with you.  Just use the form that is below and copy and paste it into a word document.  By law the collection agency must cease contact with you except to tell you that efforts to try and collect from you have been stopped or the collection agency will start a legal action against you like suing you.  A creditor may not threaten to sue you unless it really intends to do so.  If they are threatening you to sue but have no intention, this could be a violation fo the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  They could be subject to a fine.

How To Do A Debt Validation Continue Reading »

When paying off collections accounts you need to be careful when sending in less money than what you owe to satisfy a debt. A creditor may come back later and want to get more money out of you. You need to get a release for the deficiency of the debt owed. You do not want a creditor coming back later to try and collect more money from you.

If You Settle A Debt For Less Than What You Owe Get A Release Continue Reading »

You have probably seen the commercials of LifeLock founder Todd Davis touting his credit card number to the public because he is so confident that nobody can get his number. The reality is that Todd Davis has been a victim of identity theft multiple times. There has been a reported 20 instances of people applying for a drivers license using his social security number. The Associated Press has reported that Davis said that his promotion has led to at least 85 instances of people trying to steal his financial information. The only successful person was able to make away with $500 from a pay day loan center.

What Does Life Lock Do? Continue Reading »

Does paying off collections help my fico score? Having open collection accounts can do major damage to your credit score. Just one collection account can drop your credit score over 100 points. This can be the difference between buying a home or not buying a home. Having bad credit will limit the types of credit that you can get as well as the interest rates that you will get. As you can image, having unpaid collections on your credit report can put you in a higher credit risk category. This would most likely cause you to get higher interest rates when you apply for credit. Continue Reading »