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The Credit System (Part 1)
Cut Costs And Increase Profits1. Buy frequently used products in bulk. 2. Whenever possible, fax it before you discuss 3. Purchase a fax switch and remove the ..... ...... from consumer's credit report.
Contact the Attorney General's office in your state as well, see if there have been any complaints and find out if they are under any kind of investigation. The Better Business Bureau is also another good organization to check. My company wasn't just LISTED with the BBB, we where actually members of the organization as well.
If the firm tells you that you can not take a day to think about it or that it is a 24 hour offer tell them to take a hike! They where trying to scam you! Tell them that you want a copy of the contract you will be signing and any disclosures so that your attorney can take a look at it. If they balk, again, good for you, you just flushed out another con-artist. Call the Attorney General to have them investigated so no one else will fall into their trap! To have unlimited contracts reviewed by an attorney, and tons of other legal services, please visit our Legal Services Page.
For five years I owned and operated a company here in Omaha that not only assisted individuals and families re-establish their credit reports and obtain new forms of credit; but we also helped establish a budgets, and save money. The last two items were more important than the first two! If nothing else, TIME will repair a damaged credit report. But without the proper savings and budgeting, the smallest disruption in an individual's cash flow will destroy the BEST credit report. In fact, the "better" the credit, the more potential for damage there is!
I will encourage you to go to your local book store and obtain a book on budgeting. Talk to a family member, friend, or clergyman to get help on setting up and sticking to a budget. One of the reasons people run into the credit situations they do is because when the emergencies hit, there is nothing to fall back on. Don't let it happen again! Protect your good credit and your good name!
Ten Greatest Myths About Your Credit
Credit Bureaus are empowered with some kind of governmental authority.
Credit bureaus have no legal authority at all, they are simply private companies who are in the business of selling credit information.
The credit bureaus are required by law to keep derogatory items on your credit report for 7 to 10 years.
There is no law that the credit bureaus report anything on you at all. Just the opposite is true! Credit bureaus are required by law to automatically remove all derogatory items older than 7 years or in the case of a bankruptcy, 10 years.
It is impossible to get a bankruptcy off.
Bankruptcies come off just like any other derogatory that is incorrectly reported, obsolete, erroneous, misleading, incomplete, or that cannot be verified. Remember, the nature of the item has nothing to do with its removal under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The information on your credit report cannot be changed.
The opposite is true under the Fair Credit Reporting Act; both the federal and various state laws REQUIRE that items be removed if they are not 100% accurate ore cannot be verified in a timely manner.
It is illegal or immoral to have the information on your credit report altered or removed.
Not only is it not illegal or immoral, but it is what the Fair Credit Reporting Act is all about. It was enacted by congress for the very purpose of protecting consumers from the intrusion of the credit bureaus into our lives.
Paying a past due debt removes it from your credit report.
Just because you pay an old debt does not change or erase the fact that at one time you were not paying on it as you agreed. Can this record be changed? Absolutely!
Inquiries are not derogatory and will not affect your credit standing.
Anything that erodes your financial credibility is damaging to your credit standing. In the case of inquiries, one or two is not too bad, but any more than that and they begin to tell a story of their own. Any prospective credit grantor will look at your credit report and think that you are desperate for credit.
If you get a derogatory item removed, it will just come back.
Not if it is removed legally. When it is removed with cause under the Fair Credit reporting Act it cannot legally be placed back on your credit report. The same law that required its removal prohibits it from being placed back on.
The past equals the future.
This is the biggest myth of all. The concept that once bad, always bad, or at least for 7 years is totally false. Anybody can run into hard times or an emergency situation now and then, but that doesn't automatically mean that they are a poor credit risk for a magical 7 years. The simple truth is, no credit report can predict the future.
I can't repair my credit report myself.
Yes, you can! And you will find all of the information you need to do it right here! The simple truth is you don't have to live with bad credit or pay thousands of dollars to have it corrected.
The History Of Consumer Credit
Before you establish your new credit identity, it is important to understand how the credit reporting system works, how it operates and how it affects you.
The roots of consumer credit goes as far back as man can remember. It starts with someone or some business having a product or service to sell. Either the price of the product is beyond the reach of the average person or payment for the product is not convenient at the time of sale and that's what gives birth to a consumer credit program.
Take, for example a moderately priced automobile at $13,500. The manufacturer, in order to make a profit, needs to sell many vehicles at this price. But how many of us can plop down $13,500 in one lump sum?
If the manufacturer only sold automobiles to people who could afford to pay in one lump sum, he would sell very few cars. Consequently, the price would skyrocket from $13,500 to let's say $113,500, due to the manufacturer's need to make an equitable profit. On the other hand, the manufacturer couldn't make any money if he sold the same automobile for $400.
So the manufacturer needs to sell the automobile at a price consistent with perceived value and quality, but still make it available to people who don't have the entire $13,500. That's why the automobile loan business is so big.
Let's take a look at another example. Actually, this next example is rooted deep in our history. When the payment for products or services is inconvenient at the time of sale, a merchant (or creditor) typically offers payment terms, usually within 30 days.
This type of consumer credit can be traced back to the General Store days when a patron would typically pick up a few things, charge them to an open account and agree to pay the entire account by the end of the month.
Those days are pretty much long gone, replaced by major credit cards and department store cards. But the principle is still the same. The only difference today is that theoretically you never have to completely pay off a charge account. As long as you pay the interest on the account or the minimum payment, you can continue to charge to this account, up to the credit limit, without ever paying off the original debt. This is how a lot of people get into serious trouble and consequently damage their credit files almost irreparably.
As an evolution of this process, it was natural that some kind of credit reporting system would emerge.
Creditors became concerned that they were doing business with a consumer who would repay their account in a timely fashion, and had proven timely repayment with other creditors as well.
Consumer RightsThe FCRA grants you a number of important rights, including: The right to know what ..... So the credit bureaus were born and began to track credit information on individuals and businesses, selling that information to subscribers (creditors) and receiving information as well.
You should understand that the relationship between the credit bureau and the subscriber can (with your permission only) receive information about your current credit status. But, in exchange, the subscriber must provide payment history and account information to the credit bureau. This, however, transpires without your permission.
In other words, only you can authorize access to your credit file but once you have, your creditor has carte blanch to report any credit information on your file he chooses, even if the information is incorrect!
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