Florida woman wins suit against Equifax.

It's hard to credit, but someone finally was able to win a suit against credit tyrant Equifax.

read more | digg story

Battle of the A.P.R.'s

Which rate is better?

The chart looks at two Annual Percentage Rates [A.P.R.]. To the left, is the Promotional A.P.R. and to the right, the Standard A.P.R., for a credit card over an eight month period of time.Annual Percentage Rate [A.P.R.]

An A.P.R. is the amount interest slapped on a loan over a period of time.

There are Variable A.P.R.'s and Fixed A.P.R.s'.

Variable A.P.R. is movable and the movement is usually to a higher rate.

Fixed A.P.R.'s are not movable. They will not go up.

How the A.P.R. is calculated for any credit card is very confusing. I've studied credit card terms and conditions for many hours, but I have never been able to figure it out on my own.

Instead of trying to figure out how the A.P.R. is input and calculated, I advise my clients to look at the outcome.

For example if you have a credit card balance of $3,000 at 16.24%, and you are paying the minimum, you will pay over $5,000 in interest alone and over $8,000 total. That is a very bad outcome.

Short-term Promotional Annual Percentage Offer

A short-term promotional offer is a variable rate trick used by credit card companies to lure new customers and to keep existing customers. The credit card company will often off a low interest rate for a specified period of time (generally between 3 - 12 months).

If you charged $3,000 on your credit card at a rate of 2.99% you would only pay $371 in interest for a total payment of $3,371. A much better outcome.

If your monthly minimum payments are high, a short-term promotional rate can help you save money over the short-term. But if your minimum payments are low, there's not much benefit in having a short term promotional rate.

Standard A.P.R.

Standard A.P.R. the normal rate on your credit card. Once your promotional rate ends, your Standard A.P.R. will be slapped onto your account. A high (13% and up) standard A.P.R. will skyrocket your debt and minimum monthly payment.

You can lower your standard rate after the promotional rate expires, but it will be very difficult.

My opinion

If you credit card company is offering you only a short-term A.P.R. adjustment, then you should look to do a balance transfer to a lower rate card. Many cards will allow you to do a balance transfer to a their product.

As soon as you get a promotional rate offer, start shopping around like me on Christmas Eve. Check all of the offers that you get in the mail for a lower fixed rate. You'll be surprised at how many great credit card offers are waiting for you.

What do you think? Share your comment's regarding any post you see here. Or if you have specific debt related or media inquires contact jcarltonford@yahoo.com

A bad scam that looks honest

I hate scams

I never had an account with Wachovia Bank, but I received an important email notice from Wachovia just before Thanksgiving 2007.

I found it it funny that since I don't Bank with Wachovia, that I would get an email from them.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? "Yep, it's a scam".

I love to dissect the scams that target me, so I can show you what to look in a scam. So I numbered the things that scream scam in this email (click image above for a full view) . I'll explain each scam point one by one.

1. Importance

I've got to hand it to them for using the headline of "Important Notice". That statement caught my attention. The average person (like me) only gives an email five seconds attention. After that, they ignore the email until they delete it. Only the most important emails get peoples attention. Emails from loved ones, friends and important business matters.

This scam attempts to use a valid business reason to establish it's importance. If I was a Wachovia Customer, I might think this email could be legit.

2. Credibility

Next they use the Wachovia logo to establish credibility. I actually had to go to the Wachovia site and check and yep, it's the real thing. But here's the catch, anyone can copy a logo from the web. Nonetheless, it's a dirty trick to use the Wachovia logo to build credibility.

3. Valid business reason

Of course, a scam artist would say to themselves "What is a good reason for people to click on a link"? This is where the reason has to be a valid one. The scam artist claims that Wachovia is switching to "new transaction security standards".

4. They "kindly ask"

Awe, isn't that nice? They kindly ask if you will update your information. The scam artist thinks that by asking you nicely, you will give up your banking information so that they can bleed your account dry.

What do you do when you get an email like this?

When in doubt, always call the number on your bank statements that your bank mails you, to confirm any information that you are doubtful of. Or you can call the 800 number on the back of your ATM card.

Never share your personal information in an email.

Mark the email as spam. Marking an email as spam tells your email service to shut the scam down. You'll be helping yourself and others.

Debt collector's to pay consumers $92,903 for debt collection

The New Mexico U.S. District Court found that Marshall and Ziolkowski abused the plaintiffs by: * calling Stephanie McMichael and telling her that her “mom might have to go to jail”; * calling Bill McMichael derogatory names and using profanity to intimidate him; * threatening to have Kimberly McMichael arrested;

read more | digg story

Question 3 0f 5 to help you get out of debt

"When can you get out of debt?"

Taylor, a client of mine, is a nurse who works the late shift at a hospital.

Her Ex-husband, Neil, was fast and loose with their joint credit cards, stacking up debt while sleeping around with another woman. Taylor found out about Niel cheating and filed for divorce.

Taylor's divorce had did major damage to her credit score. When her husband, Neil left he never mentioned the outstanding credit card balance on the joint account, and he had the bills sent to him, so Taylor wouldn't find out how he used the credit card. Neil, never paid his bills on time.

Taylor was stuck with a credit card with super high late fee's for a bill that she knew nothing about for a long time.

My client's and I cover a lot of personal subject's when we are on hold before negotiations.

While waiting on hold, I did a credit check up on Taylor by asking some questions and I found the problem. Taylor's problem was time. Taylor didn't have any time left. It took so long for financing that the owners of the home were talking to other buyers. Plus The Realtor wasn't returning Taylor's calls and she was suffering from Universal Default .

I explained Universal Default to Taylor and she asked me, "so that means that since I missed a few payment's my credit looks sick to lenders. I see, to the banks it seems like I've got signs of a credit flu, and they don't want to come near me, because they [the banks] don't want to catch my credit flu? "

I laughed for about a minute and then replied "exactly". I loved her example!

So then keeping Taylor's credit flu example in mind, I said, "as you know a flu can get better or worse depending on what you do". Getting over a flu is a process that takes time. If we could all snap our fingers and be flu-free, there'd be no need for painful flu shots. But we both know that fighting a flu takes time.

So Taylor asked me,

• "So when should I expect to get out of debt" and
  
• "What can I do to cure my debt flu"?

I answered , "pretend that someone comes into your hospital with the flu and they say they want to be cured 'immediately'. What would you say"

Taylor said, "I would tell them to start by getting plenty of rest and fluids and give it a few days. And that's all I could suggest, because there wouldn't be much else I could tell them"

I responded, "when you have a credit flu, time is the only real cure". I also told her "you will start to get out of debt as soon as you make the commitment to learning the credit and debt process and take action.

But in the meantime, to get her credit score in better health and her interest rates lowered, I suggested that Taylor do the following:

1. Make all payments on time for at least six months
2. Don't apply for any credit for 6 months
3. Don't close any open accounts

I told her that if she took my advice she would be cured of her credit flu in about six months.

What do you think? Share your comment's regarding any post you see here. Or if you have specific debt related or media inquires contact jcarltonford@yahoo.com




Mixx!">

What I Like About Ron Paul

Have you Heard of Congressman Ron Paul?

If not, you should know that this is a man who understands Americas problem with debt, and he knows we as Americans can do something about it.

Ron Paul is a doctor who has delivered over 4,000 babies, but more importantly, Ron Paul walks it like he talks it.

Congressman Paul states on his website," Whether a tax cut reduces a single mother’s payroll taxes by $40 a month or allows a business owner to save thousands in capital gains taxes and hire more employees, that tax cut is a good thing. Lower taxes allow more spending, saving, and investing which helps the economy — that means all of us." I agree.

Ron Paul also has a problem with Fractional Reserve Banking, which I feel needs some serious reform, if America is going to continue to be a world leader financially.

More importantly, if we as American's continue to allow bankrupt bank policies to finance our economy, then we are going to go bankrupt as a country.

Ron Paul outlines clear opinions on some issues that have been dividing America. America's strength is unity.

I'm not going to ask you to vote for Ron Paul (or any other candidate), but I am going to ask you to watch the video below.

2 of 5 Questions To Help You Get Out Of Debt

What Is Your Debt Vs. Income Ratio?

After you helped me understand the reason's for your debt, I would then ask you "what is your debt vs. income ratio".

I would ask your debt vs. income ratio to plan your strategy for victory in your war on debt .

In Glenda's case, her total debt was only around $1,800. She owned her home and car, so that wasn't a problem financially. The problem was that the majority of Glenda's debt was from interest was being stacked up like sand bags on the shore.

Glenda's was making $1,980 per month so a $50 payment wasn't hurting her finances in the short term. But in the long term, her interest rate of 29.99% was defeating her dreams for early retirement.

I asked my self, "what can I do to help her get out of debt"? In Glenda's case, I recommended that she do a balance transfer to a card with a lower interest rate. The problem was Glenda was once bitten by a credit card and now twice shy, so she declined that offer.

Plus, honestly a lot of my client's are skeptical about everyone, because they trusted themselves or someone else before and ended up in debt.

I tried to convince Glenda that moving her money to a lower interest rate card would save her all of her interest - every single penny. I had some cards in mind that provide Glenda with world-class service and have great long term low interest rates.

Glenda didn't want another card. Period.

I said "OK, you're the client, let's move forward," and I gave her my final option. But this option was awesome.

I recommended that Glenda make a statement payment plus $30 every month, meaning that Glenda would pay $30 more than her minimum credit card payment each and every month, until the bill was paid.

Glenda said, "oh my" when I showed her how making a minimum payment plus $30 every month, would reduce her total payment's on that credit card from 1,242 payment's to only 55 payment's.

Glenda was shocked and amazed when I showed her that by making her minimum payment's plus $30 each month, would save her $29, 316 in interest.
(click the image for a larger view)

Glenda agreed that she could easily make an extra payment of $30 every month.

What I did was show Glenda, in living color what she could do to eliminate her debt in a fraction of the time, without defeating her dream of an early retirement. But what it was based on was her debt to income ratio.


What do you think? Share your comment's regarding any post you see here. Or if you have specific debt related or media inquires contact jcarltonford@yahoo.com




Mixx!">