Protect Credit Card Automatic Payments

Have you heard this story? A woman at the register, swipes her credit/debit card to purchase groceries and the card was declined. She knows she has money in the account and is now thoroughly embarrassed. She races to her car to call the card issuer, only to be informed that her credit/debit card was compromised at a major retailer and she will be issued a new card. Read more

FREE Credit Report

Keeping tabs on your credit report is extremely important. Creditors use the report in making lending decisions so it is imperative to review it at least once a year for accuracy. Mistakes happen. Sometimes a creditor places a debt on the wrong person’s credit report. Take advantage of the opportunity to request a free credit report once a year from www.annualcreditreport.com. Read more

Bad Credit Can Empty Your Wallet

It is common knowledge that banks and credit card companies are hesitant to finance individuals with Ugly Credit but did you know that IF they do extend credit, the out-of-pocket expense to you can be costly. Read more

Federal Trade Commission

provides a great article on the topic of Managing someone else’s money. It covers information about the fiduciary responsibility that goes along with this. Read more

Internet Privacy

Helpful tips for keeping your information private.

Seems like all we hear about on the news is that someone’s identity was stolen or credit cards were hacked at a store or a credit card processing service. While we have little control over their systems, we can make efforts to protect our internet privacy.

  1. Internet Passwords – many people use their spouse’s name, children’s name, address, etc. as their password for internet shopping or use the same password for multiple sites. If this is you, change your passwords right now. Thieves can learn about each of us on-line and those are the first words they will use to steal your identity. Instead use a magic word and change a few letters to numbers. Let’s use “flower” as an example. Spell it like this, “fl0w3r”. Then assign a number to each on-line account and add the number to the end of fl0w3r. Electric bill is #1 (fl0w3r1), cable bill is #2 (fl0w3r2) and keep going. Not only will you be able to remember your password, you will be more secure on the internet highway.
  2. Monitor credit scores – many people have no idea their identity has been stolen until they either go for a big purchase or check their credit reports. The Fair Credit Report Act states that credit bureaus are required to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit report every 12 months. Review your credit report every 12 months and dispute any discrepancy you find. You will have to provide proof of the discrepancy to the Credit Bureaus so make sure you have accurate financial records.
  3. Keep social security numbers private – how many times have you been asked to provide a social security number on medical forms? Either keep the line blank or write only the last 4 digits. Think about all the people that have access to your medical records in a doctors’ office.

Keep your credit healthy by following these easy steps.

Internet privacy and protecting yourself online is very important. Contact us for more information on reputable identity protection services.

The following is an excerpt:


THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
As a public service, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has prepared the following complete text of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. Although staff generally followed the format of the U.S. Code as published by the Government Printing Office, the format of this text does differ in minor ways from the Code (and from West’s U.S. Code Annotated). For example, this version uses FCRA section numbers (§§ 601-625) in the headings. (The relevant U.S. Code citation is included with each section heading and each reference to the FCRA in the text.) Although the staff has made every effort to transcribe the statutory material accurately, this compendium is intended only as a convenience for the public and not a subtitute for the text in the U. S. Code. This document was posted on July 30, 2004. Read more

You have seen the ads on TV and on the internet from companies claiming they can fix your “bad” credit, but can they really?

We all would like to believe that if we pay a company hundreds or thousands of dollars they will actually fix our credit so that our credit score will increase. I can tell you that there is some truth in this, but you must understand the facts first. Read more

Today’s newsletter is simply going to address some of the facts surrounding the Credit Bureaus and the control they have over the general public. The more you are informed…..the less you can be taken advantage of. Stand up and fight!

Over 80 million people in the country now work from home according to the US Bureau of Statistics! Entrepreneurs are classified as high credit risks! Read more

Keep in mind that nothing in the world of consumer credit happens at a “lightning rate,” but I have personally seen the following strategies implemented – and have seen Fico scores
pop up 40+ points in under 2 weeks. Read more