Queen Of Credit Restoration

Improving Credit Score is Americans’ Top 2012 Financial Resolution

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:34:33 +0000

8:16 AM ET | By: BusinessNewsDaily Staff

Steve Woods | Dreamstime.com
CREDIT:

Despite a tightening of their economic belts over the last couple of years, Americans aren’t about to give up using their credit cards. In fact, according to a December poll of Americans’ financial New Year’s resolutions, decreasing dependency on credit cards is one of the least popular resolutions. Instead, many hope to improve their credit scores while still using their credit cards.

According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) December online poll, consumers remain very connected to their credit cards. When asked to rank their 2012 financial resolutions, only six percent of more than 2,300 respondents indicated that decreasing dependence on credit cards was their number one goal.

“At first glance, that statistic could appear to be a warning sign of future trouble. However, credit is not the problem. Instead, it is the misuse of credit that leads people into financial distress,” said Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the NFCC.

The NFCC survey revealed that Americans are taking their financial situations more seriously with more respondents saying they want to increase their credit score in 2012 than did in 2011

The top five financial resolutions for 2012 were:

· Decrease debt: 62 percent

· Increase savings: 8 percent

· Improve my credit score: 24 percent

· Decrease my dependence on credit cards: 6 percent

“The poll suggests that consumers have recognized the importance of achieving financial stability, and intend to take action. Nonetheless, even though paying down debt and improving the credit score are positive steps, the low priority placed on savings is disturbing,” said Cunningham.

“Protecting One Family At A Time”

Linda Martinez

562.754.3961

Should You Get Life Insurance for Your Child?

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:54:47 +0000

One of the big questions that you have to ask yourself as a parent is whether or not you should get life insurance for your child. Programs like the Gerber Grow-Up Plan let you buy life insurance for your children for a small price. Then, when your child is older, he or she can keep the life insurance policy, ensuring that he or she is insured, or the policy can be cashed in to help pay for college.

Another consideration is that it is possible to purchase “regular” life insurance for your child. Some people choose to purchase whole life policies for their children. And, of course, many parents have riders attached to their own policies. These small insurance amounts are meant to help cover burial costs. Here are some things to consider as you determine whether or not to buy life insurance for your children:

Future Health Problems

Some health problems can prevent an adult from getting the life insurance coverage he or she needs at an affordable rate. The purchase of a whole life policy while your child is long can mean that he or she is already set for life insurance, and doesn’t need to worry about future health problem derailing efforts to receive affordable life insurance.

However, if you don’t have a family history of health issues like diabetes and more, it might not be worth it to insure your child young. Chances are that he or she will be able to obtain the life insurance he or she needs.

College Funding Needs

It used to be that getting life insurance for children was one way to “save” money for college. However, this is not the case so much anymore, since there are 529 Plans and Coverdell ESAs to help parents save up for eventual college costs. Besides, the cash value in many of these insurance policies designed as college savings vehicles is usually so insignificant that it doesn’t make that much of a difference. You have to buy a large amount of coverage if you want to be able to effectively cash in the policy.

Instead, it might be a better idea to just find other college savings opportunities, rather than relying on an insurance policy to help pay for your child’s college.

Does Your Child Make Money?

For the most part, life insurance is actually supposed to protect families in the even that a wage earner passes on. In most families, children don’t qualify as wage earners. However, there are situations where the child does earn a living. This might be done through modeling, performing, or by some other means. In that case, life insurance for your child is a must. If your child is bringing in money, he or she should be insured so that your family is protected from a loss of income.

Riders on Your Insurance

Many parents simply find it easiest, and most cost-efficient, to add a rider to their own coverage. These riders, usually with between $1,000 and $5,000 worth of coverage, are designed to pay out if a child dies. This is money that can cover funeral expenses. That way, if your child unexpectedly passes on, you have the money available to cover some of the costs.

Whether or not you decide to insure your child is up to you. However, don’t be swayed by insurance salesmen that tell you that you will get life insurance for your child because you love them. Life insurance isn’t for the person covered, it’s for the people left behind. So, if you love your child, and care for his or her future, you’ll make sure YOUR own coverage is adequate for the future.

“Protecting One Family At A Time”

Linda

4 Risky Places To Swipe Your Debit Card

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:52:33 +0000

Debit Cards Are Different

Would you give a thief direct access to your checking account?

No? Unfortunately, you may be doing just that by regularly using your debit card. Debit cards may look identical to credit cards, but there’s one key difference. With credit cards, users who spot fraudulent charges on their bill can simply decline the charges and not pay the bill. On the other hand, debit cards draw money directly from your checking account, rather than from an intermediary such as a credit card company.

Because of that, even clear-cut cases of fraud where victims are protected from liability by consumer protection laws can cause significant hardship, says Frank Abagnale, a secure-document consultant in Washington, D.C.

He cites the example of the The TJX Companies Inc.’s T.J. Maxx data breach that exposed the payment information of thousands of customers in 2007. The incident resulted in $150 million in fraud losses, and much of it was pulled directly from customers’ bank accounts. While credit card users got their accounts straightened out and new cards in the mail within a few days, the case created major problems for debit card holders who waited an average of two to three months to get reimbursed, Abagnale says.

While debit card fraud is always a possibility, being careful where you use it can help keep your checking account balance out of the hands of criminals.

Skimming ATM’S

The idea that outdoor ATMs are among the most dangerous places to use a debit card seems a little bit absurd. But some ATMs present a perfect opportunity for thieves to skim users’ debit cards, says Chris McGoey, a security consultant based in Los Angeles.

Skimming is the practice of capturing a bank customer’s card information by running it through a machine that reads the card’s magnetic strip. Those machines are often placed over the real card slots at ATMs and other card terminals.

“Any transaction you do outdoors at an open ATM is going to be higher risk exposure,” McGoey says. “If the public has access to it, then someone has the ability to add skimming devices to it, position cameras on it and position themselves in a way where they could surveil it.”

He says you’re better off using an ATM inside a retail outlet or other high-trafficked, well-lit place.

Julie McNelley, senior analyst for Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based financial services research firm, says even the card terminals that card users must swipe to get into ATM vestibules are being used as a skimming site by criminals. You can spot ATM skimmers by checking for ATM components that look beat-up or askew, she says.

Stealing PINS at Gas Stations

Gas stations are another danger zone for debit card use.

“You go to a gas station and you stick your debit card in there, and you swipe it through a machine,” Abagnale says. “I’m sitting across the street with a laptop and an antenna. I put a skimmer in there, and I’m picking up all the information. Before you even get home, I’ve debited your account.”

Gas station payment terminals have many of the characteristics card fraudsters love, McNelley says.

“In a gas station where you do have a whole bunch of pay-at-the-pump kinds of things and minimal supervision, it’s pretty easy for a bad guy to put a skimming device on and put a little pinpoint camera there and compromise debit cards that way,” McNelley says. Thieves often use small cameras to capture footage of debit card users entering their PINs so they can have free access to their money.

She says even if the thief doesn’t manage to get your debit card personal identification number, or PIN, from such a device, he still may be able to duplicate the card’s magnetic strip and use it for “sign and swipe” Visa or MasterCard transactions.

With the high potential for fraud in pay-at-the-pump debit transactions, it might make sense to use an alternative such as cash or credit cards the next time you fill up.

The Web is a Risky place!

Debit cards are a convenient way to buy products online, especially for those who don’t like to use credit cards. Unfortunately, the Web is one of the most dangerous places to make purchases, McNelley says.

“Online is the No. 1 place where consumers should not use their debit cards,” she says. “It’s susceptible at so many points. The consumer could have malware on their computer, so it could be at their endpoint that the data get compromised. It could be a man-in-the-middle attack where somebody is eavesdropping on their communications via the wireless network. And then at the other end, that data goes into a database at the merchant. As we’ve seen with some of the higher-profile breach events over the last year or so, that data is going to be vulnerable if (they’re) not properly cared for.”

Aside from the potential for hacking at many different points in a transaction, Abagnale says a fundamental problem with using debit cards online is it’s impossible to know who is handling your information.

“Buying stuff online, you have to be careful because you have to know who you’re doing business with. When you buy things online, what always kills me about that is people say, ‘This is a safe site,’” Abagnale says. “Who works there?”

Restaurants keep Data on file..

“Would you care for a side of debit card fraud with that?”

Restaurant servers don’t ask that question, but they might as well with the standard practice of taking customers’ debit cards to run them behind closed doors.

“Any place where the card is out of hand” can increase the chances of fraud, says McGoey. “The guy comes to your table, takes your card and disappears for a while, so he or she has privacy,” giving the person the opportunity to copy your card information.

Even restaurants without sit-down service can present a threat. McNelley says using debit cards to order delivery can be risky because cashiers tend to keep customer payment information on file. That may make future orders more convenient, but small businesses rarely take the steps necessary to safeguard payment information, she says.

Overall, she says, regardless of whether you use your debit card at a small restaurant or a big-box store, the possibility of fraud is always there. She cites the example of Michaels Stores Inc., which saw its customers’ debit card information stolen in May by debit card terminals doctored by thieves.

“Even if you do exercise caution … there are still the Michaels-type incidents that will happen,” McNelley says.

10 Basic Tips for dealing with Debt Collectors

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:37:58 +0000

It’s something most consumers dread — a debt collector calling to ask about an unpaid credit card debt, past due student loan or medical debt. Consumer credit counselors, debt collectors and state regulators all agree that ignoring debt collectors’ letters and phone calls is a bad idea. Deal with it, they say, otherwise matters can only get worse. Experts offer the following 10 tips for dealing with debt collection:

1. Avoid debt collection altogether.

Try to negotiate with the original creditor and work out a reasonable payment arrangement before the account is sold to a third-party debt collector.

2. Educate yourself about your rights.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has several publications designed to educate consumers about their rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Harassing and nuisance phone calls, threats and abusive language are illegal and should be reported to the FTC and your state attorney general’s office. Find your state attorney general through the National Association of Attorneys General.

3. Take your head out of the sand.

Don’t ignore letters or phone calls about debts or court notices about debt lawsuits. The law allows consumers to send written requests for verification of debt within 30 days of being contacted by a debt collector. Don’t dawdle if the debt isn’t yours: Debt collectors can place negative information on your credit report that can remain there for seven years, which can affect your ability to get a mortgage or other loans, cheaper car insurance rates or even jobs.

4. Find a consumer lawyer.

If you are served with a notice of a lawsuit, find an attorney who specializes in consumer law to represent you in court. Consumers who lose court judgments may have their wages garnished. Some suits are filed by debt collectors who have little or no proof of the original debt owed. Depending on the state, the statute of limitations may have expired on the debt. “Without a party appearing in court to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, the creditor wins — often based on scanty information,” she says. Chances of having the lawsuit dismissed in court may be greater if you show up in court and have representation.

5. Keep copies and records.

There is no consensus on how long documents should be kept. Some experts say keep them as long as you would keep tax documents; some believe they should be kept for as long as the statute of limitations for the state where the original purchase was made or your home state, whichever is longer. Still, others say keep documents — especially proof of settlement or resolution of debts — forever. If a question ever arises about the debt, you will have documentation.”I still have proof where I paid off my student loans,” says Kurt Johnson, president of the North American Collection Agency Regulatory Association, a group of collection industry regulators from 20 states. “I’ve seen cases where they came after someone after 18 years for a student loan.”

6. Safeguard bank accounts.

Debt collectors can file suit against consumers for nonpayment of debts. Freezing savings or checking accounts is one of the court-ordered options for collecting debts. This can be extremely problematic for family budgets and cash flow, and experts advise having separate bank accounts for funds such as Social Security or disability checks, which are exempt and cannot be used as a source of court-ordered debt payments. “I would urge people not to co-mingle other funds into the bank account to which the Social Security and disability payments are going. That would help a lot of people,” says Rozanne Andersen, executive vice president of ACA International, the largest credit and debt collection industry trade group. “It would be a lot easier for the consumer to clarify to the debt collector that the only funds in this account are my Social Security payments.” Andersen also advises consumers to tell debt collectors if they have filed for bankruptcy, which triggers an immediate end to debt collection efforts.

7. Don’t make it too easy.

Some experts say consumers should avoid giving debt collectors their bank account and routing numbers. Make payments with money orders or some other third-party payment service so that you have proof of payment but avoid paying with a personal check. They also advise against allowing collectors to make direct electronic withdrawals from bank accounts.

8. Record conversations

If abusive language or threats are used, recording the conversation will document it. In a dozen states, you need the other party’s permission to record the conversation. “I just feel that that’s a prudent thing to do if you’re really in a pickle and you’re getting lots of collection calls,” says Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “I doubt that anyone would cross any of those lines if they know the call is being taped.”

9. Get it in writing.

Any agreements for making debt collection payments should be confirmed in writing and signed by a representative of the debt collector before sending in any payments. This avoids misunderstandings about the amounts to be paid or time period to make payments.

10. Certify that mail.

Letters can be lost in the mail. Most experts advise sending all correspondence with debt collectors via certified mail; some suggest getting a return receipt as proof that your letter was received.

To file a complaint about a debt collector or creditor’s in-house collection agency, call the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s toll-free hotline at (877) FTC-HELP or the FTC Web site.
It’s also a good idea to file a complaint with your state consumer protection agency. State laws governing debt collection vary. Find your state attorney general through the National Association of Attorneys General.
Find an accredited counseling agency to help you sort through the bills and draft a payment plan that works for your family budget. The two major accrediting agencies for credit counselors are the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Each has an online referral service to certified local counselors. .
The National Consumer Law Center has resource materials to help consumers navigate the debt collection process.

Bank of America to Add New Bank Fees

admin — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:12:41 +0000

by Jim Wang on September 29, 2011

Many news outlets have been reporting that Bank of America will be instituting new fees to those with low account balances and it comes as no surprise. They are just the latest to announce tests in which account holders in certain states would be seeing these new fees. Wells Fargo has done this, Chase has done this, and many more will follow. While I support legislation to clean up aspects of our finances, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act, some laws have unintended consequences. This aspect of the Dodd-Frank bill will simply shift overdraft fee and transaction fee revenue into account maintenance fees.

Quote of the Washington Post story:

“We’re in a new economic reality. We’ve seen our customers’ behaviors change, their financial needs change,” said Susan Faulkner, Bank of America’s deposits and card product executive.

We should read that as – “We’re in a new economic reality. We aren’t banking billions in fee revenue anymore and so we need to make a change.” While I appreciate the new reality, and banks deserve to make money just like any other business, I do find the corporate-speak to be entertaining.

In the end, it’s almost as if we’re just playing a game of whack a mole. Banks charged too much in interchange fees and overdrafts, so the government stepped in. Banks will now just charge annual fees instead. There’s no law that says a bank is required to offer a free checking account and there likely will never be one. Banks are beholden to their shareholders and shareholders love earnings. When laws reduce those earnings, they have to find new sources of revenue and these new fees are it.

I have a Bank of America account and I don’t intend to ever keep $50,000 in deposits there so if they institute a fee, I’ll simply use my Ally Banking Online Checking account as my primary account. No fees, they reimburse ATM fees, and I can mail in my checks (until they offer scanning). That’s all I want from a checking account.

Five Tips to Save Money on Your Laundry

admin — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:04:58 +0000

My husband and I don’t usually embrace ultra-frugality for the sake of saving a buck or two. But we will change our habits if the changes are easy or we can save a significant amount of money over time. When we realized we were doing more than 5 loads of laundry a week for two people, we decided to try out a few things (homemade laundry detergent did not make the cut). Some suggestions worked very well but others were complete flops. Here are a few tips we have come up with to save some money and time on laundry.

Laundry Tip #1 – Use Cold Water

I didn’t think that using cold water instead of hot water would change anything at all, but I was surprised. We have an all-electric house, which means our water heater is electric too. When we switched from doing all of our laundry with hot water to doing 90% of it with cold water instead, we saw our bills drop $5 – $10 a month. It apparently does take more energy than I would have expected to heat all of that water up. And a big bonus is that my shirts and towels don’t seem to be fading as quickly either!

Laundry Tip #2 – Do Full Loads

Most washers and dryers use about the same amount of energy running a small load of laundry as they do running the larger ones. Given that, it stands to reason that you can save money on energy by consistently combining small loads into one larger load or waiting until you have a large load to run. I’ve done this for as long as I can remember out of sheer laziness, so I am glad it helps save us money too.

Laundry Tip #3 – Re-wear Certain Clothes

No, please do not re-wear your stinky undergarments, but why wash a pair of pants that you only wore for a few hours while sitting around? Unless I am doing something other than sitting in my cubicle or computer all day, I wear my outer layers of clothing several times before bothering to wash them. This goes completely unnoticed by myself and others (I hang out with guys that would love to tell me if I was stinky). It easily saves me the time and money of doing an extra load of laundry every week.

Laundry Tip #4 – Reuse a Towel

I was astounded to hear that a few of my friends use a new towel every, single day. I thought that only hotels did stuff like that. I was raised to use the same towel multiple times or you would get yelled at for causing more work! Unless you get a ton of personal satisfaction from that new towel “feel”, I would highly suggest using the same one for at least 3-5 days before moving on. That would lead to way less laundry and you will get that fresh towel scent the entire time.

Laundry Tip #5 – Avoid Dry-Clean-Only

It seems like common sense, but I was not in the habit of checking my clothing labels before buying something until I started doing my own laundry as a teenager. Now, I stick with solely machine-washable daily wear that is wrinkle free out of the dryer as well. Not only do I save a ton of fees from dry cleaners, but I also have never used an iron for anything other than making grilled cheese sandwiches in college.

These laundry tips may not make you a millionaire, but they are easy to do and save you time to boot. Saving a few bucks every month is just a big bonus in my opinion.

How To Get A FREE FICO Credit Score

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:57:25 +0000

by Jim Wang

Your FICO credit score is increasingly becoming one of the most important numbers in your life. I’ve written about what’s in your FICO credit score as well as how to get FICO credit score estimates, but never how to get the actual three-digit FICO score calculated by one of the bureaus.

While the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) did wonders to shed light on the credit reporting industry and the data they are collecting on all of us, the light wasn’t bright enough. There is no way for you to get a free FICO credit score unless you sign up for a trial with one of the bureaus or with Fair Isaac Corporation directly.

Free FICO Credit Scores

There’s no true way to get a free FICO credit score, the bureaus aren’t in the business of giving that information away, but they will give you your score if you sign up for one of their credit related services. Fortunately, they offer trials so you can sign up for a program, see your score, then cancel the trial. If you just want your credit report, see the instructions below.

Checking your score will not lower your score! When you check your own score, it is considered a “soft inquiry” and your score will not be affected. Your score is only affected when a lender makes a “hard inquiry,” which they use to make lending decisions. If you request your report or your score, it will not hurt it.

FreeCreditScore.com

FreeCreditScore.com-- They offer a 7 day trial of their service and you can get a credit report from Experian as well as an Experian credit score. You are signing up to their Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring program which monitors for changes in your Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion credit report. If you don’t cancel within the 7 day trial, you will be charged $14.95 a month. FreeCreditScore.com is owned by Experian.

MyFICO ScoreWatch-- MyFICO ScoreWatch has a thirty day (30) trial period where you can get a free Equifax credit report and Equifax credit score. If you don’t cancel within the first thirty days, you will be billed $89.95 annually and you get access to a credit monitoring program that’s fairly robust. You can read my MyFICO ScoreWatch review if you’re interested in learning more. MyFICO is owned by Fair Isaac Corporation, the creator of the FICO credit score system.
Equifax Credit Watch Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring — The list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include a service offered by Equifax. You sign up for a thirty day (30) trial and you get a free FICO credit score from Equifax as well as a 3-in-1 consolidated credit report from all three bureaus. If you don’t cancel within the 30 day period, the monthly fee is $14.95.

Free Credit Report

If you just want your credit report, you can get a copy from each of the bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com, the website setup by the government. FACTA, passed signed into law in 2003, required that bureaus provide you a copy of your credit report each year upon request. FACTA wasn’t perfect but it did make improvements on FCRA.

It’s more important for you to check your credit report regularly than it is to check your score. Your score will be determined based on each bureau’s proprietary equation but the data they use, your report, is the critical piece of the puzzle. Reviewing your report regularly is the best way to ensure that whatever score you have is accurate. Millions of reports have errors and chances are good that you have one if you haven’t checked your report lately.

Reviewing your report is also important because you can spot identity theft fairly easily because you’ll see accounts or addresses that you don’t recognize. I reviewed my report a few years ago and discovered an address I didn’t recognize (along with a phone account). It took a few weeks but I had the matter cleared up. It didn’t affect my score but it’s important to keep your report as accurate as possible.

You will not be able to get your actual FICO credit score through the government website, you will need to use one of the options above.

There are over 100,000,000 Americans in need of Credit Restoration. If your score is NOT a 740 and above give me a call.

Foreclosures for Rent

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 09:46:22 +0000

By Judy Martel · Bankrate.com

Monday, August 1, 2011

Posted: 3 pm ET

The sluggish housing recovery is prompting President Barack Obama to consider ways to take foreclosed properties off the market and rent them until prices stabilize. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, home prices nationally were 7.4 percent lower in May than they were a year earlier, but when distressed and foreclosed properties are taken out of the equation, the percentage drops to just over 0.4 percent. Foreclosed and distressed properties account for nearly a third of homes sold each month. When homes are unloaded at “fire sale” prices, property values drop by as much as 20 percent, worsening the crisis by potentially pushing more homeowners into foreclosure.

The logic behind the idea to rent the foreclosed homes is that taking them off the market will allow falling home prices to stabilize somewhat, while the income from rent will cover expenses on the home until the housing market recovers. Rents have increased nationwide as home prices have dropped and the pool of renters looking for homes rather than apartments has increased.

One sticking point to the proposal is that the government would turn into a landlord — a role it is ill-equipped to play. So there’s some discussion about selling thousands of foreclosures to private investors who would agree to act as landlords.

Meanwhile, infighting among banks is further stalling any resolution to the foreclosure crisis. Wells Fargo and Citigroup have said they should pay less than Bank of America and JP Morgan & Chase for violations on how they handled home foreclosures because they claim they had fewer delinquent mortgages and are not as culpable in the housing crisis.

Last fall, talks began among those banks, plus Ally Financial, the 50 state attorneys general, the Treasury Department, Justice Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development to address violations in how the banks acted in foreclosure proceedings.

Chase has dropped more than 1,000 credit card debt-collection lawsuits in several states!

admin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 04:45:01 +0000

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has dropped more than 1,000 credit card debt-collection lawsuits in several states, including Florida, California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. As of March 31, 2011, the WSJ estimates, JPMorgan was owed $45.9 billion in outstanding credit card debt in those states alone.

The bank did not give any reason for withdrawing the lawsuits, and the bank may plan on refiling them in the future. JPMorgan obtained dismissals without prejudice from the state courts in which they were filed, meaning they can re-file the suits in the future should they wish to.

The Wall Street Journal speculates that JPMorgan’s reason for abandoning these credit card debt-collection lawsuits may be due to irregularities in the documentation used to file them, just as we saw in the foreclosure crisis. The bank has been accused of “robo-signing” foreclosure documentation, which led to many of the documents being submitted to foreclosure courts being inaccurate or even fraudulent.

If the same issue has arisen in their credit card collections, JPMorgan could be exposed to a serious threat from lawsuits by state and federal regulators, consumer groups, and credit card holders. The number of credit card accounts held by banks far outnumbers mortgage accounts.

If you receive notice that a JPMorgan credit card debt lawsuit against you has been dropped, contact your attorney. If you don’t have an attorney, consider consulting one. Even if JPMorgan does not refile the lawsuit, there could be tax consequences: You could owe tax on any canceled debt.

Know your rights when collectors contact you about credit card debt

If you owe substantial credit card debt, you need to know your rights. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors are required to explain certain rights and give you certain information the first time they contact you. They must tell you:

The amount of debt owed
The name of the creditor
That you have 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt
That the debt will be considered valid unless you dispute it within that period
That you have the right to ask for verification of the debt

Threats of physical violence or other harm to debtors or their family members, abusive language, continuous phone calls and certain other forms of contact is illegal under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If you are experiencing creditor harassment, you should contact a lawyer.

Got Hang Ups? It’s A Girl Thing!

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 22:22:12 +0000

If you’ve got hang ups, odds are you’re female.

That’s what a credit card debt collector explained recently to The New Yorker Magazine.

Seems like an inside trick of the collection trade is to hang up when a woman answers a collection call.

Discrimination? Sure. But it’s calculated, strategic and highly effective. How so ?

Here’s what debt collectors know that you don’t: with caller ID, a woman will call back.

And when she does, the entire dynamic changes. The collector is no longer intruding on her privacy. Now, she’s the one hunting for answers. She will listen longer and is much less likely to hang up in the collector’s face. That would be soooo rude, and….you know…. would lower her to his level.

Where’s the dignity in that ?

So. Is there a moral to this story?

Of course, and here it is : Recognize your hang ups for what they are, and let them go.

If the call is important, they’ll get with you eventually.