Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Six Powerful Ways to Remove a Judgment From Your Credit Report and Watch Your Credit Score Increase

First, write down the court information listed under the judgment in your credit report, then contact the court and ask them to send you a copy of the judgment. Once you have a copy of the judgment, try any of the following techniques to remove it from your report.

Try the basic dispute method to see whether the judgment will simply fall off. If you have no success with challenging negative items, you can settle them for 20-50 cents on the dollar and try for a deletion. If the creditor won't accept a complete deletion, request that your creditor list your account as "paid as agreed." From there you can begin the basic dispute process. Make sure you get a judgment satisfaction letter to send to the court advising them that the debt was paid.
You can make an agreement with the creditor's counsel to stand still for full payment of the debt. You can then file a motion (i.e. make a request) to have the judgment vacated based on a mistake such as a clerical error. Most likely, the attorney will not respond to your motion. As a result, the judgment will be vacated. Make sure you send the order to the credit bureaus for complete deletion.

You can file a motion to have the judgment vacated (dismissed) based on a technicality, errors in the complaint, or the judgment has moved to another state, or the collection agency did not validate the debt. A technicality can be. You were not properly served or the statute of limitation has run out to collect the debt. You can find errors in the complaint like. The amount of the judgment was wrong. Your name is misspelled, or the date is incorrect.

You can file a motion to have the judgment vacated based on discrepancies in the notice or any difficulties in obtaining it. For example, if you did not initially receive the notice, if the server left the notice on your doorstep or at an incorrect address, or if your spouse was served instead of you, you may be able to have the judgment vacated. Also, if the notice has the wrong district indicated, your name incorrectly listed, or if you are ill on the day of court, you may also be able to file a motion.

If the judgment follows you to another state, you can dispute the interest by arguing that the collection agency did not validate your debt according to the FDCPA. By doing this, it can result to the judgment being vacated.

Mark Clayborne is a Certified Credit Consultant with ten years of experience assisting consumer with credit issues. If you liked this article, then I invite you to sign up to read the first chapter of my book Hidden Credit Repair Secrets and get a Free Restore your credit E-class at http://www.hiddencreditrepairsecrets.com "This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any Ezine, newsletter, blog, or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction."


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wage Garnishment - How to Stop Them and Keep My PayCheck Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5437919

Having a wage garnishment attached to your weekly or monthly income can be devastating to most consumers. But with a little education and know how, there are ways to avoid a wage garnishment. Wage garnishments can be initiated after the creditor gets a judgment against you for the debt you owe. The creditor will contact a sheriff who will send the garnishment paperwork to your employer. This allows money to be taken from your paycheck until the judgment is satisfied.

How long can my check be garnished? 
It depends on your state law. Some states allow the creditor to pull money once, and other states allow the creditor to garnish your wages until the debt is satisfied. Check your state law for further information on this matter.
What kinds of wages are exempt from garnishment?
Welfare
Unemployment
Veteran benefits
Social security
Workers compensation
Child support
Pension
Sick and vacation days

How much can be taken out of my check? 
Again, check with your state on the amount that can be taken out. Most states allow up to 25% on regular debt. For child support or alimony, 50% can be taken out. If you support a second child or spouse, up to 60% could be taken from your paycheck. See wage garnishment laws in the appendix.

How do I stop a wage garnishment? 
You can stop this by filing a wage garnishment exemption with the court or with the levy officer within 10 days from the start of the garnishment. You want to claim that you cannot afford to have money taken because it will create a hardship for your family. In addition, it will prevent you from buying the basic needs like food. Only present this argument if you will indeed experience a hardship. If you file a claim for exemption and the creditor fails to challenge it within a certain amount of time allowed by the court, the judge may set the garnishment to the side.

You, or a lawyer, may file a motion to set aside, suppress, or void a writ of garnishment due to a lack of jurisdiction or unlawful bases. You can challenge the writ by stating that you never owed the debt to begin with, or that the statute of limitation to collect it has expired. You can also argue for inaccuracy, or that an improper person is identified as the debtor.
When settling, make sure you get a release to prevent the creditor from trying to collect the difference. Moreover, get a satisfaction of judgment letter. This document tells the court that the debt has been paid in full.

If the debt is too big and your negotiations fail, you can file bankruptcy. After initiating a bankruptcy, you must let your employer, the creditor's attorney, and the levy officers know by sending them a copy of the voluntary petition. This will stop the wage garnishment. For more information on wage garnishment, check Title 111 of the Consumer Credit Practice Act.

Mark Clayborne is a Certified Credit Consultant with ten years of experience assisting consumers with credit issues. If you liked this article, then please sign up to read the first chapter of Hidden Credit Repair Secrets and get a Free Restore your Credit E-class at http://www.hiddencreditrepairsecrets.com This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any Ezine, newsletter, blog, or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.


Monday, March 21, 2011

How Long Does Negative Information Stay on Your Credit Report

What is a credit report and why is it important?
Your report is a snapshot of your payment history. It details when you applied for credit, how many positive and negative accounts you have, who viewed your report, and all of your personal information. Reviewing your report every four to six months gives you a chance to check for identity theft, inaccurate accounts, and incorrect information. It allows you to manage your financial situation before applying for a credit card, auto loan, bank loan, mortgage loan, employment, or insurance. For example, if you check your credit and notice that there were a few negative items on your report, you will have a chance to fix those items before applying for credit. By doing this, you avoid embarrassment and several inquiries, which lower your credit score.

How Long Does Negative Information Stay on Your credit file?
Every month, the creditors and collection agencies that you have accounts with?will report positive and negative information to the credit bureaus through a computer tape monitoring system that is updated regularly. The credit bureaus then turn around and update the information. A third-party company normally passes public record information onto the credit bureaus.

When does negative information come off my credit file?
Each negative item has a federal statute of limitation on when it must drop off your credit report. Once the statute of limitation has expired, the item must be deleted from your credit report according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Federal Statute of Limitations
Late payments:
Once you become more than 30 days late on any of your bills, the financial institution that you hold the loan with will disclose your late status to the credit bureau. You can be reported as either 30, 60, or 90 days late, and by law, the late marks will remain on your credit report for seven years.

Inquiries:
Whenever you apply for a credit card or a loan, your report is checked, which results in a hard inquiry. These inquiries could damage your credit score if you have more than six in two months. They can also stay on your credit report for up to two years.

Charge offs:
These are debts that the creditor felt that they could not collect on anymore after 180 days, so they charged them off as a bad debt. However, the creditor can still sell the account to a third-party collector for collection purposes.

Judgments:
If a creditor takes you to court and sues for a judgment, this destructive item will be placed on your report. The courts issue judgments that can stay on your report for up to seven years, but it can be renewed until it is paid or until it reaches the 20-year mark. See appendix for your state statute of limitation on judgments.

Child support:
If you stop making child support payments, it becomes part of your public record and will therefore show up on your credit report. This negative mark can stay on your report for up to seven years.

Foreclosure/Repossession:
Foreclosures take place when you default on your home mortgage and the bank takes the house back. Repossession is when you can no longer pay your car note, and the lender confiscates?the vehicle without your permission. Both create negative marks that will remain on your credit report for seven years.

Tax liens:
Tax liens are public records that will find their way into your credit report if you default on your tax liability with the IRS. Paid tax liens will stay on your credit report for seven years, but while owed, they can remain on your record forever.

Collection:
If you see an old account on your credit report under the collection trade line, this is a bill that was sold or assigned to a collection agency. It was passed onto the collector from your original creditor because you refused to pay. These debts can legally stay on your credit report for up to seven years, but you cannot be sued for it after the state statute of limitation has expired. See appendix for the state statute of limitation on revolving accounts.

Bankruptcies:
Your credit report will list the date you filed for bankruptcy and the time it was discharged. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for ten years, and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for seven years.

To answer your question on how long does negative information stay on your credit report various by the type of negative information on your report.

Mark Clayborne is a Certified Credit Consultant with ten years of experience assisting consumers with credit issues. If you liked this article, then please sign up to read the first free chapter of Hidden Credit Repair Secrets and learn more on when negative accounts falls off and get a Free Restore your Credit E-class at http://www.hiddencreditrepairsecrets.com This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any Ezine, newsletter, blog, or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Charge Off Account - Killer Tips on Dealing With a Charge Off Account

You might disagree, but hear me out on this one. There are many things you need to know about a charge off account. Most consumers when they have an account in that stage, they just give up because they feel that they don't have a chance to make things right. But, with these killer tips you will have a better understanding on the concept of a charge off account.
Killer tip one - Can you tell me how to avoid them?
When the bank can no longer collect on a debt, it writes of the account as a bad debt, which is called a charge off. Allowing your account to fall so far behind that it turns into a charge off account will not only damage your credit score further, but also it will also cause you other financial problems.
  • Ask the bank to suspend the late payments until you catch up.
  • Ask the bank about hardship programs.
  • Ask the bank to freeze your account until you can catch up with your payment.
  • If you have the money, try to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.
Killer tip two - What happens if I'm approaching the 180-day deadline?
If you don't resolve your delinquent account before 180 days, the account will take one of the following courses:
  • Write the account off and the lender will take a tax write off. If the debt is more than $600, then the lender is required to send you a 1099-c with the amount charged off account amount and report the debt to the IRS. The IRS considers the charged off account as a gain to you, therefore you must pay income taxes on it.
  • Sell or assign your debt to a collection agency
  • Assign the debt to their prepaid legal department for a possible lawsuit.
Killer tip three - How do I deal with it if it's on my account?
Dispute the information inside of the negative account listing, for example, the date the account was open, the high balance, or the amount owed. If any of the information is incorrect, you have a good chance of getting it deleted by contacting the creditor and negotiating to have the adverse information removed. If you were not able to get the item removed, take the paid as agreed indication. After paying the debt, start your basic dispute method. During your dispute process, the negative item you just settled will be easy to come off because the creditor is already paid.
Killer tip four - Even though the account is charged off, can the creditor still collect money owed?
Yes, just because the account is charged off does not mean the creditor can't come after you. They can still employ a third - party collection agency to collect the debt from you.
Ok, now you understand the various ways you can stop this negative account, and how it could damage your credit report if you do nothing. Take this information and apply it to your situation when it comes to a charge off account.

Mark Clayborne is a Certified Credit Consultant with ten years of experience assisting consumers with credit issues. If you liked this article, then please sign up to read the first chapter of The Credit Repair Book/HCRS and get a Free Restore your Credit E-class at http://www.hiddencreditrepairsecrets.com This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any Ezine, newsletter, blog, or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Suing Credit Bureaus - Discover the 7 Violations Credit Bureaus and Creditors Could Be Sued For

Collection agencies, creditors, and credit bureaus know that most consumers will not sue them in court because of the time and expense required. As a result, agencies often take advantage of the average person by violating the consumer laws put in place to protect you. However, with a little knowledge on how the law and the small claims court system work, you can turn the big agencies bad ways against them and make them follow the law. If the credit bureau violates any of the four laws, talk with a lawyer about a possible lawsuit.

Suing the credit bureau - First cause of action
If the bureau refused to correct information on your credit report after being provided with proof, you can sue them for defamation and willful injury. (FCRA Section 623). Recovery-extent of damages incurred by the wronged party, as deemed by the courts.

Suing the credit bureau - Second cause of action
If the bureaus re-insert a removed item from your credit report without notifying you in writing within five business days, you can sue them for violating FCRA Part (A)(5)(B) which carries a fine of $1000.00.

Suing the credit bureau - Third cause of action
If the bureaus fail to respond to your written disputes within 30 days, a 15-day extension may be granted if they receive information from the creditor within the first 30 days, you can sue them for violating FCRA Section 611 Part (A)(1) which carries a fine of $1000 per violation.

Suing the credit bureau - Fourth cause of action
If a creditor or bureau tries to re-age your account by updating the date of last activity on your credit report in the hopes of keeping negative information on your account longer, you can sue them for violating FCRA Section 605, which carries a fine of $1000.00 per violation.
As a bonus I'm proving you with the following laws if the creditor violates any of the following laws, they could be sued in court.

Suing the creditor
You are well within your rights to sue the creditor if they violate any of the following laws under the FCRP/FDCPA:

First cause of action
If a creditor reports your credit history inaccurately, you can sue them for defamation, and financial injury. See US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, No. 00-15946, Nelson vs. Chase Manhattan for precedent. This violation carries a fine of $1,000.00 per violation.

Second cause of action
If you dispute a debt with the creditor, and they fail to report the dispute to the credit bureaus, they will be in violation of Section 623, which carries a fine of $1,000 per violation.

Third cause of action
If the creditor pulls your credit report without your permission, you can sue for injury to your credit report and credit score, which carries a fine of $1,000.00. (FRA Section 604 (A)(3).
Concluding, education, and action is the key to getting the credit bureaus to stop violating your rights and follow the law. Every day the credit reporting agencies are breaking the law because they know that most consumers with bad credit are unaware of these four laws. But, now that you know how to fight back with your new weapons, hold the bureaus accountable if they violate the law.

Mark Clayborne is a Certified Credit Consultant with ten years of experience assisting consumers with credit issues. For more powerful secrets on credit repair, debt settlement, stopping collectors, rebuilding your credit, and raising your score, please read the first chapter of The Credit Repair Book and get a Free Restore your Credit E-class at http://www.hiddencreditrepairsecrets.com

Monday, March 14, 2011

How to Raise Your Credit Score In 5 Easy Steps

Ever wonder how a particular person raised their credit score to 750. Well, I used to ask myself that same question until I started applying the five sure killer steps to my situation. Once I started using these techniques, my three digit number started increasing overtime.

How to increase my credit score step 1- Ask for a credit increase
Ask your creditor to raise your limit that way it will reduce your balance and give you a slight bump up in your score.

How to increase my credit score step 2 - Apply for credit sparingly
Don't apply for many accounts in a short period of time because the credit bureau will send a Trans Alert to the creditors informing them that you have applied for multiple accounts.

How to increase my credit score step 3- Re-aging
Ask your creditor to re-age your account to improve your credit score. This method is the process by which your creditor agrees to forgive your late payment history and reclassify your account as up to date. You must qualify for re-aging according to (FFIEC) Federal Financial Examination Council and must establish and follow a policy that requires you to demonstrate a renewed willingness and ability to repay the debt. The account must be at least nine months old, and you must make three consecutive minimum monthly payments.

How to increase my credit score step 4 - Rapid re-score
In this method, the lender will review your credit report and tell you which item needs to be paid off or fixed. You will then pay off the negative items and get proof from the creditor. You then give the proof to the lender who will give it to the third - party vender who passes the information to the credit bureau. The bureau will then update your credit report reflecting your new credit score. This strategy is used primarily when you are trying to get a home. This feature is offered by a third - party vender, and the company is contracted by the credit bureau, not to offer the service to the public, but only to mortgage brokers.

How to increase my credit score step 5 - Have the credit bureaus add new accounts
Ask the credit bureau to add any account with a payment history that is not reflecting on your credit report.

Concluding, raising your credit score is not an easy task because it takes education, time, money and patience. Remember the saying that Rome was not built over night. This concept also applies to your three digit number. Now that you are empowered with additional education, gout there and take action.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Interpreting a Credit Score - What Do These Numbers Mean?


Do you know that most financial and lending institutions nowadays rely on your credit rating before they would allow to lend you a large amount? This is also true if you want to buy something on credit that involves a huge amount that should be payable at a later date. This is what a score in your credit report is all about. As furnished by authorized credit bureaus, a credit score helps, among others, creditors, financial and lending institutions in identifying whether or not you have a good credit rating that should eventually speak of your reputation as a buyer or customer in terms of your ability to pay back what you owe them.

If you are confused on how credit bureaus compute your credit score, it is a good idea to ask financial experts and seek their opinion about what these numbers in your credit report really mean. Generally, if you have earned a high rating, it means that you can be trusted with a higher amount of credit in your name. A high credit rating would usually mean that creditors will not have second thought of lending you huge amount you need for whatever purpose you would need it for. On the other hand, if you have been rated poorly, you can't expect to be treated in the same manner as their highly rated clients.

Even without the numbers provided by credit bureaus, you would already be able to determine whether or not you have a good credit rating or score.

Below are just some of the good habits a person usually would have that will guarantee him or her a good credit score:

1. His payments are never delinquent. Even if he has to pay only the minimum amount required of him at the moment that it is already due and then pay the remaining payables later, he will do so.

2. He usually never applies for any credit that is beyond his capacity or means to pay.

3. He has a long credit history from various institutions and his credit history shows that he makes his payments on time.

4. He probably has more than one credit card for different purposes, but he still manages to pay all his obligations well.

5. He has not filed bankruptcy for himself or his business.

Indeed, it is a good idea to know just what it takes to improve your credit score. Having a good credit standing is important especially when you think an immediate purchase is necessary, but you don't have the means to pay for it at the present time, but you are sure to be able to pay for it within a specified period.

By achieving a high credit score, you can negotiate for a discount on your purchases even when they are made on credit especially if it involves a considerable amount of payables. Moreover, creditors have the power to waive or lower any interest rates based on your credit rating and this should be a great advantage on your part.


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Resource box:

If you currently don't have good credit rating, don't be dismayed. Visit http://______________ for more information on how to improve your credit score.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Interpreting a Credit Score - What Do These Numbers Mean


Do you know that most financial and lending institutions nowadays rely on your credit rating before they would allow to lend you a large amount? This is also true if you want to buy something on credit that involves a huge amount that should be payable at a later date. This is what a score in your credit report is all about. As furnished by authorized credit bureaus, credit score helps, among others, creditors, financial and lending institutions in identifying whether or not you have a good credit rating that should eventually speak of your reputation as a buyer or customer in terms of your ability to pay back what you owe them.

If you are confused on how credit bureaus compute your credit scores, it is a good idea to ask financial experts and seek for their opinion about what these numbers in your credit report really mean. Generally, if you have earned a high rating, it means that you can be trusted with a higher amount of credit in your name. A high credit rating would usually mean that creditors will not have second thoughts of lending you huge amount you need for whatever purpose you would need it for. On the other hand, if you have been rated poorly, you can't expect to be treated in the same manner as their highly rated clients.

Even without the numbers provided by credit bureaus, you would already be able to determine whether or not you have a good credit rating or score.

Below are just some of the good habits a person usually that will guarantee him of a good credit score:

1. His payments are never delinquent. Even if he has to pay only the minimum amount required of him at the moment that it is already due and then pay the remaining payables later, he will do so.

2. He usually never makes any credit that is beyond his capacity or means to pay.

3. He has a long credit history from various institutions and his credit history shows that he makes his payments on time.

4. He probably has more than one credit card for different purposes but he still manages to pay all his obligations well.

5. He has not filed bankruptcy for himself or his business.

Indeed, it is a good idea to know just what it takes to improve your credit score. Having a good credit standing is important especially when you think an immediate purchase is necessary but you don't have the means to pay for it at the present time but you are sure to be able to pay for it within a specified period.

By achieving a high credit score, you can negotiate for a discount on your purchases even when they are made on credit especially if it involves a considerable amount of payables. Moreover, creditors have the power to waive or lower any interest rates based on your credit rating and this should be a great advantage on your part.