Category: CREDIT BLOG

This guy is stuck …

Posted on October 29, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Here is his problem..

  • He has over $41,000 in credit card debt.
  • He has other unsecured loans totaling $12,000.
  • Although he hasn’t been late on his bills yet, he can’t seem to get caught up and doesn’t think he will ever dig himself out of this debt.
  • When he puts his debt into a debt reduction calculator, it says that it will take him 21.6 years to pay everything off at his current pace.

(Can you say …. STUCK?)
He emailed me and asked for my advice… I explained to him his three options:
Option #1 – Continue to pay the bills for 21.6 years.
Option #2 – File for Bankruptcy
Option #3 – Negotiate his debt with his creditors.
Let’s review…:
Option #1 – Continue to pay, which needs no explanation. This client did call the credit card company and got his interest rates lowered, however, by following their payment plan; he will be paying for 21.6 years.
That is like being held hostage by your credit card company for 21.6 years. I say “held hostage” because I believe that.
Yes, he took out the debt, but to pay on $41,000 in credit card debt for 21.6 years… is a crazy thought and in my opinion, other options need to be looked at.
Option #2 –Bankruptcy. If he qualifies for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, he will have no more debt, however, the bankruptcy will be on his credit report for 10 years.
He can easily repair his credit (to 720+) after the bankruptcy, which can be done in 1 ½ to 2 years.
There are two downsides to this option;

  1. The bankruptcy on his credit report. That will impact his ability to borrow for the next 2-3 years.
  2. Does he qualify for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? Believe it or not, many people cannot qualify for a bankruptcy because their income is too high.

If this is the case, he will have to file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. That means he will have to repay all his debt plus have a bankruptcy on his credit report.
Let’s move on to Option #3.
Option #3 – Renegotiate his credit card debt with the credit card company.
Here is what I know for sure:

  1. Your credit card company will not negotiate with you unless you stop paying your bills. They may tell you differently, but this is what I know to be true.
  2. Your credit card company will lie to you so you continue to pay. I’m sure this is not their “policy,” but when you combine eager employees looking to get their bonus with vulnerable debtor – this happens.
  3. Once delinquent, they will put your phone number into an auto dialing systems. This means you will get up to 8 calls per day trying to collect payment. … Ouch!
  4. If you understand how to negotiate with your credit card company (and I don’t), I hear from numerous clients that they will offer you a settlement somewhere between 15-40%. Meaning, if this gentleman did it right, he would pay off his credit card debt for between $7,950 – $21,200. You read that correctly, he would pay off $53,000 in debt for between $7,950 and $21,200.
  5. After you pay off your debt, our clients are getting back to a 720+ credit score in approximately 18-24 months.

The biggest problem with Option #3, is having the stomach to handle the negotiations… because it is very stressful and daunting. And, if you don’t know the proper way to negotiate, you will pay more than you should.
If this sounds like your situation, listen up.
I’m going to put together free information designed for those that have more than $20,000 in debt and would like to know and understand all their options.
If you want to be informed about this information, give me your name and email below!
Once I do the interviews or webinars, I’ll email them to you.
I know this is a long email… thanks for reading!
If you have debt over $20,000 and this post seems to be written for you, submit your name and email below. I’ll provide you additional free information that I hope will help you choose the right option for yourself.

Free Government Grants, Diet Pills and Credit, Oh My!

Posted on October 25, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Looking for free government grants endorsed by President Obama and Vice President Biden? Dietary supplements supported by scientific research and endorsed by Oprah? How about exclusive credit offers? Keep looking.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has halted an operation called, the “Grant Connect” program, that allegedly deceived and mislead consumers about bogus products and services with unsubstantiated claims.
The complaint lists Juliette Kimoto and Johnnie Smith, amongst others, behind the “Grant Connect” program. As part of an agreement with the FTC several defendants have agreed not to market products and serviced similar to those they sold and pitched to consumers previously. Settlements also impose an almost $30 million judgments against them.
Allegedly “Grant Connect” programs used pictures of political figures and celebrities to make it appear that they endorsed their products they were selling. They used pictures of President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the American flag to bolster claims that their bogus government grants service was affiliated with the U.S. government. They promoted their dietary supplement by falsely claiming that it was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and supported by scientific research, and failed to adequately disclose that their credit offers were merely memberships to a costly shopping club.
The FTC claims that the defendants failed to disclose to consumers that purchased their products that they would be enrolled in continuity plans and charged high monthly fees for mostly unrelated products along with using fake testimonials to promote products.
The first settlement order announced October 17, bans defendant Johnnie Smith from marketing or selling grant-related products or services, credit-related products, work-at-home business opportunities, weight-loss related dietary supplements, and other products or services using a negative-option or continuity program in which consumers are billed automatically until they decide to cancel.
Smith also is banned from assisting anyone else selling these programs or products and from taking customer payments using pre-approved electronic fund transfers. Finally, Smith is banned from using testimonials to sell products or services, and is subject to the monetary judgment, under which he will pay $45,000.
The second settlement order bans Juliette Kimoto and four companies she owned from: selling grant-related products or services, credit-related products, or work-at-home business opportunities; selling products or services with a continuity or negative-option program; taking consumer payments by pre-authorized electronic funds transfer; assisting others engaged in these activities; and using testimonials.
The second settlement order also bans the four companies from marketing dietary supplements claimed to assist in weight loss or other specified outcomes, and prohibits Juliette Kimoto from making misleading health claims related to dietary supplements. The order also requires Juliette Kimoto to pay more than $90,000 and to turn over various personal assets, including jewelry, a piano, and a 1967 Chevy Camaro, along with all the cash and other assets held by the entities she owned. The total value of the cash and assets turned over by Juliette Kimoto and the companies she owned exceeds $220,000
Author: This article was contributed by GetOutOfDebt.org, a site that helps people find good debt relief solutions to deal with tough money troubles.
Source: Free Government Grants, Diet Pills and Credit, Oh My!

Divorce and Credit … Read this NOW!

Posted on October 10, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

The other week, I got an email that made me cringe.
The email was from a man had just been through a divorce. He explained that he lost 94 percent of everything when he and his wife divorced.
“She got the properties, and I got the mortgages.”
Per the terms of their divorce decree, his monthly spousal support check was to include the cost of the mortgages.
When I read that, I just knew what he was going to say next, and that’s when I cringed…
His ex-wife was cashing the checks, but she wasn’t paying the mortgages on time… the very same mortgages in his name.

This Happens All the Time
This situation is common, so if you ever go through a divorce, make sure you protect your credit.
In short, here’s my advice:
1. Refinance the mortgage in your ex’s name only. In the case of the man who emailed me, he should keep paying spousal support. If his ex fails to pay the mortgage, she will be the only one who suffers. He cannot do anything about the past, but in the future, refinancing in her name will protect his credit.
2. If she cannot qualify for a refinance, he should renegotiate the terms of his spousal support so that he pays the mortgage directly, sending his ex a spousal support check for the remainder.
Click here to read a longer article about divorce and credit.

Credit Score = Your Financial Reputation, How Much Are You Losing?

Posted on October 6, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Whenever I was in basic training, each recruit, each private was assigned their own roster number. That roster number was our identifier. We had to put it on all our gear. I had to have it strapped across a tape on my Kevlar, which is our helmet. It dictated as far as when we would eat chow and what order we would fall in. It also would designate when we would draw our weapon from the arms room when we had to go to the different ranges. Our roster number was our second name. First name was Private, and the second name was our roster number. Every time you heard your roster number yelled by a drill sergeant or a captain, you always knew either you were called to do something, or you got caught doing something you shouldn’t have been doing.

Your Identity Theft Stories….

Posted on October 4, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Please post them here… so we can all learn from each other!
Include as much information as possible:
1) What happened?
2) How did you find out you were a victim?
3) What did you do?
4) How did it all work out?
5) Was your credit impacted?
Thank you.
– Philip Tirone

Debt Settlement Scams- 10 Stupid and Simple Ways to Get Burned

Posted on September 26, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Over the past few years I have heard non-stop stories from consumers who were taken for costly rides by debt settlement scams. While it is true that there are a few good and well intentioned programs available that provide real debt solutions, my experience shows that a vast majority of these outfits are simply money grubbing nightmares for cash strapped consumers.
The debt relief world can be a very confusing place, especially when people are in a seemingly desperate financial situation. With that in mind I would like to shed a little light on this industry and present:

Royalty Resource Network Named in Advanced Fee Loan Deception

Posted on September 26, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Consumers in West Virginia are being warned, by their Attorney General Darrell McGraw, about a scam that offers the promise of fast and easy loans. These promises are coming from advertisements produced by the “Royalty Resource Network” (RRN), a Canadian based scam operation, that is appearing in local West Virginia publications.
Attorney General McGraw stated: “Consumers should use extra caution when responding to any sort of advertisement regarding lending and finance. Thieves will use newspapers, websites, e-mails, telephone calls, any medium at their disposal to help you part with your hard-earned money. No legitimate company or organization will require you to wire money in advance using a wire transfer service in order to qualify for a loan, grant or any other financial aid.”
RNN’s advertisements claim you can obtain a loan ranging from $2,500.00 up to $1 million, with no consulting, application or processing fees. Too good to be true? What actually happens is, the consumer sends an advance portion of the money they intend to borrow through a reputable wire service where a fake RNN loan offers collects the money and disappears.
Many scans of this type surface frequently on the internet. It appears that this particular instance the company in question is using smaller newspapers and publications to reach consumers. In this instance a large ad was ordered and placed in The Ad Bulletin. Not only were consumers scammed, The Ad Bulletin was too. RRN’s scammers used a stolen credit card to pay for the advertisement.
Scammers are able to quickly open and close a scam in a matter of days, by using disposable cell phones, free e-mail accounts and remotely routed toll-free numbers. In this case if you call the toll-free number given by RRN it rings as a fast busy signal. Other companies related to this scam are the Vintage Consumer Network and Forum Family Services. The names were possibly choose for their friendly connotations.
Attorney General McGraw’s Consumer Protection Division has referred the complaints against these three companies as well as other across-the-border advance-fee loan scams, to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. The Centre is a joint task force of the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Competition Bureau Canada.
These advance fee loan scams unfortunately attract a number of people who are desperate to get loans and sadly pay money, never to see it again.
This guest post is by Steve Rhode. Steve is a consumer debt expert that helps people for free to learn and avoid scams. Feel free to report a scam if you know of one.

Grandparent Scam Strikes Again

Posted on September 23, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Put yourself in the shoes of a caring Grandmother. Let’s say one day you receive a call from your grandson telling you they’ve been in an accident and are being held in jail in the Dominican Republic. They want you to keep their little debacle a secret but they need you to wire money to them ASAP to get them out of jail.
What would you do?
Claudia Beach of Jacksonville, Florida recently faced this exact scenario recently and in a worried, emotional state, sent the money straight away to her needy grandson. Her grandson first called asking for $3,400 for bail out of the Dominican Republic jail he was stuck in.
My emotions went wild. I couldn’t think. All I could think was he was in jail in a foreign country.
She rushed to her nearest Publix and wired the money immediately via Western Union.
Keeping her grandson’s secret she apparently didn’t discus this matter with the boy’s parents. The very next day she received another call from him. This time he said they were making him pay his medical expenses of $2,400.
To Western Union!
Later that very afternoon the phone rang again. This time sonny-boy was asking for $1,800 to pay for the medical expenses of the lady he hit.
She says that the employees at Western Union questioned her each time if she was sure if this was her grandson. When he called the first time he told her that he didn’t sound like himself since he had been in the accident and had stitches in his lips. In a concerned state, she bought this story.
The money was wired each time to a lawyer by the name of Angel Rosario. Money that Claudia Beach will never see again. A total of $8,300. She has since filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the local police. Beach has come forward with this story to bring awareness to others that might be at risk for this scam.
To protect yourself:

  • Do not disclose any information before you have confirmed it really is your grandchild.
  • If you’re not sure ask the caller for their middle name or the elementary school he or she attended.
  • Do not respond with a name but instead let the caller explain who he or she is.

What breaks my heart about this scam is that it preys on love. If you are a caring Grandparent be wary if you receive a call like this that tugs on your heart strings. If you receive a distress call from a family member in another country I would recommend first, verifying that they are in fact in another country. Using the bullet pointed suggestions above or maybe calling their cell phone? Or their parents to ask how they are doing and what they are up to? I understand there will be different cases for different family dynamics but before you pay up you need to verify an identity!

Video about Grandparent Scam Strikes Again by @GetOutOfDebtGuy from GetOutOfDebt.org

This guest post was submitted by Steve Rhode who is a consumer debt expert and helps learn about getting out of debt and avoid scams.

Married or Engaged? Here's the 411.

Posted on September 22, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

One of my readers recently sent me a great question:
“If I marry someone who has declared bankruptcy this year, will it lower my credit score?”
She went on to say that her credit is currently golden. So when she marries her fiancé, what is going to happen to that great credit?
It’s a common worry, but the good news is that you and your spouse will retain separate credit files. Marrying someone with bad credit won’t hurt your credit in and of itself. And if you are already married to someone who experiences credit issues, your score will not be affected, so long as you protect yourself.
It works like this: If Joe has a credit card in his name only, his credit score will suffer if he makes a late payment, but his wife Jane’s credit score won’t be affected at all. But if Jane and Joe have a joint credit card, and Joe makes a late payment, both of their scores will suffer.
This is one of the reasons I always tell married people to keep separate credit files. This way, if one person in the marriage defaults, the other spouse still has strong credit, which the couple can then leverage. But if you have joint credit cards, mortgages, and car loans, what one person does on those accounts WILL affect the other person.
So no need to worry about your fiancé’s past mistakes. There’s no way it will hurt your credit score. But to protect yourself from any future credit problems, I strongly suggest that you don’t open joint accounts with your soon-to-be spouse. Instead, have him apply for secure credit cards and start the process of repairing credit after bankruptcy.
– Philip Tirone

Google+, Better Social Media

Posted on July 22, 2011 by - CREDIT BLOG

Did you hear that Facebook’s rival is in town? As I’m sure some of you know, Google released a new social media site called Google+.
If you haven’t received an invitation to join Google+, please let me know! The site is invite- only… and it’s amazing! Where Facebook lacks,
Google+ takes off.
For instance …
1) Google+ is fertile ground for you to build your business (or promote your job skills). It’s really easy to stand out because, unlike Facebook,
there aren’t bunches of people competing in the
same space.
2) The folks at Google+ are ultra-sensitive about privacy issues, so they don’t capture the same personal information that Facebook does.
3) It’s really, really easy to separate friends, family, and co-workers, which means you can share photos and personal information with friends and family
members, but not the guy who sits in the cubicle down the hall!
Like I said, if you want an invitation, let me know. I look forward to connecting!
Px
P.S. You’ll need a gmail account, which you can get at www.gmail.com. (It doesn’t cost anything.) Once you’ve established the gmail account, send me an email at Philip (at) 720CreditScore (dot) com and let me know that you want to be invited!