Should I Do Debt Negotiation Myself?

Credit card companies are all different. While they each have entire departments set up to deal with late payment accounts, credit card negotiation, and collections, they each have different standards and procedures that dictate how they deal with “troubled” credit card accounts.

Detailed debt negotiation” how to” information is hard to come by. Yes, you can legally try to do credit card negotiation on your own, however, expect a long road with a lot of detailed (and probably frustrating) work. Remember, you are one small account to them and they deal with millions of accounts daily. It will take a lot of time and effort to get your case in front of the people who decide how to handle delinquent accounts.

The primary advantage of using a professional debt negotiation company is that they know the ins and outs of all the creditor’s negotiation procedures.They know what to say and when to say it to your creditors. On top of that they also often know the people within the credit card companies whom they need to speak with about your account (the decision makers) which can make for a much smoother process.

Those decision makers will be much more likely to speak with a reputable debt negotiation company because that company typically represents hundreds or thousands of clients whose collective debt can total many millions of dollars. Therefore the creditors are much more likely to take their phone calls and negotiate with them than they are with you.

Surely that does not mean you cannot try to do credit card negotiation yourself but be prepared for the time and effort involved.

Contact us for a Debt Settlement Specialist 800-896-2261

What Are the Rules of a Successful Settlement for Debt?

When you hire a debt company to conduct a settlement for debt that you cannot repay, remember one key point - that you are HIRING them to do the work for you. You use their services because they are the professionals and will know the best way for you to use settlement to successfully get out of debt as soon as possible.

You Need to LISTEN to them for successful debt settlements
Just like you listen to your tax preparer or your doctor, listen to your debt Specialist. What will they tell you to do? Stick with their plan. Most likely, they will provide you with 2 rules for a successful debt settlement:

1. Do not talk to your creditorsyou hired the debt settlement company to do your talking for you so let them do it? Remember, the settlement is a legal procedure and so your silence is the best way to avoid saying something that could make the process much more complicated (and sticky). They know what to say and when to say it to your creditors. Furthermore, a good settlement company has the established relationships with all the major creditors making the process as smooth as possible.

2. Be prepared to cut back expenses in order to save as much money as possibleThe faster you can save, the quicker your company can get you out of debt and initiate the settlement for your debt with your creditors, it’s as simple as that. While they can eliminate up to 50-60% of your debt, they cannot wipe it out without the money you save under their program. Your short term savings will relieve your long term debt problem.

Contact us for a Debt Settlement Specialist 800-896-2261

The Credit Card Industry Could Face Changes

There has been a recent move to force credit card companies to review and rewrite some of their more controversial practices. Right now, consumers are complaining that they are at the mercy of the industry’s whims. Interest rates change frequently and, sometimes, without any good reason. The companies argue that their own circumstances – with rates of default and delinquency the highest they’ve been in years – make such practices necessary. But customers and their advocates aren’t buying it. The credit card industry takes in billions of dollars each year, critics say, and can afford to treat their customers better.
Some of the practices under review include: universal default, too-short customer notice of changes to terms and conditions, and the retroactive application of new interest rates to a customer’s entire existing balance.
Universal default occurs when a customer’s credit score is lowered and their credit card company raises their interest rate as a result. There are many problems with this practice. For one, it’s too easy to implement. If a customer makes a late car payment, their credit card interest rate could suffer as a result. And higher interest rates make credit card payments higher, increasing the likelihood that the customer will default with many lenders instead of just the original one.
Credit card companies are also being asked to give more notice to customers when their rates are about to change. Right now, companies are only required to give a fourteen day notice by mail. Customers argue that, by the time they receive the mailed notices – if they receive them at all – they only have a few days to decide how to deal with the changes. If the new bill is passed, that notice period will be increased to nearly a month. Companies will also be required to send out bills 25 days in advance of their due dates, compared to the two-week cycle now in place.
The new bill could also change the way card companies handle punitive interest rates. Some companies will take the higher rate and retroactively apply it to the full amount of the customer’s balance. Customers feel that this is unfair; if they have been paying in a timely manner for years, why should they have high interest applied even to the debt that has been meticulously paid month after month? Companies are being asked to apply such rates only to the portion of the balance that caused the increase.
Credit card companies aren’t happy with the proposed changes. They are facing difficult times, they say, and rules and regulations forcing them to change their practices will only hurt their ability to offer credit to a large number of customers. They maintain that the credit card industry is competitive already, and that customers have no need of legislation to protect them from creditors.
Whichever stance you take, it’s possible that the credit card industry will be making a major overhaul in their business practices. In addition to the bill proposed last month by the House Financial Services Committee, the House Judiciary Committee wants merchants to be able to negotiate the amount they have to pay for credit card transaction fees. Despite card companies’ protests, change is on the horizon.

Understanding Frozen Credit

Credit freezes are often confused with fraud alerts, but they are really nothing similar. A fraud alert is when new creditors are alerted that you may have been the victim of fraud, and the creditor is required to take additional verification steps that prove they should be accessing your credit and opening an account for you before they can issue the credit. Fraud alerts also remove you from receiving prescreened offers for insurance and credit. A credit freeze is something a consumer can place on his or her own credit report – depending on where in the country you live. Some states allow anyone to put a freeze on their credit; while others only allow the victims of identity theft to freeze their credit. Here are other tips that will help you understand the basics of a credit freeze:

Even if your credit is frozen, your report can be updated by your existing creditors. Don't think that by placing a freeze on your credit report you can slide by with a few late payments that won't get reported!

A frozen credit will only prevent new creditors from accessing the information in your report. If you’re existing creditors want to check your credit report to see how you are paying your other creditors, they can.

A freeze of your credit is made with individual credit bureaus. If you freeze your credit with Experian it won't be automatically frozen through TransUnion or Equifax. You have to freeze each manually if you want all access to be frozen.
“Thawing” a credit freeze; in other words, removing the hold you have on your credit report, takes several days to take effect (unless you live in Utah where they're able to unthaw in 15 minutes!) If you plan to apply for new credit or apply to rent an apartment or apply for a new job; you will want to thaw your credit a few days before you'll need it to be sure that these authorized people will have access to the report.
Freezing your credit does not prevent you from using your credit cards. It's not like “freezing” the credit card or “freezing” a bank account. It literally only effects the ability of a new lender to look at your credit report.

While the intent of a credit freeze is usually to prevent identity theft and fraud- there are still numerous ways around it that could result in you becoming the victim of identity theft or fraud, despite having a freeze on your credit. For example, in the event a lender doesn't try to check your credit before issuing a new account, new credit could be opened in your name if the criminal had the right details to do so.

Hopefully, this list has given you some useful insight into what a credit freeze is, and what it is not. Using a credit freeze may help reduce your potential for being the victim of identity theft, but if you are hoping to end the prescreened credit card offers or have creditors alerted to possible fraud activity when they begin to open a new account for you; chances are you are looking for a fraud alert service and not a credit freeze.

Business Credit vs. Personal Credit

You may already know about personal credit and how you score is generated. But when it comes to business credit, the rules are very different.

There are no laws giving you a right to know about them.
Nobody tells you about the hidden compliance "checks"
Damage to your business credit profile is almost impossible to reverse.

Many business owners make a mistake by personal guaranteeing loans and credit lines for their businesses. When they do this, they put their personal credit at risk...which can be disastrous if something unexpected should happen to their business. That's why its critically important that when you build your business, you do it separate from your personal credit. Business credit can be yours to use to build or expand your business.

The problem though, is that lenders don't want you to know this. They would rather that you risk your personal credit with these business credit lines. You see, it's to their advantage to get you personally at risk for these lines. They like having more leverage over you and can even wreak more havoc on your personal finances, if they have access to your personal credit. That's just another reason why you NEED to know about how to keep your personal credit completely separate from your business credit.

Get Business Credit

Seems that big banks like Citi and Chase starting to close old personal accounts. There are even multiple reports of people with balances on their Citi cards receiving a letter saying that the account is closed and all they can do is pay it off or pay interest on any remaining balance.

Imagine if this happens to you? What will you do if you no longer have access to a credit card, or even worse, you have no credit left?The easy answer is, you will have business credit. Once you establish your business credit file you can start to open large credit accounts with Visa and Mastercard. All without the need to worry about what is going on with your personal finances. From homes that have lost 20% in value, to increasing costs for everything from food to necessities, this latest assault on personal credit lines might just be the last straw that sends you into bankruptcy. I can show you how to create business lines of credit if your a business owner.

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In Too Deep? How to Protect Yourself from Unethical Debt Collectors

It seems like every sector is having problems these days, from the factory workers to the CEOs and even the national government. Business is plummeting while unemployment soars. But there’s one industry that’s weathering the recession just fine: debt collection. If you’ve gotten behind on your credit card payments and started screening your phone calls, there’s hope for you yet.
First, realize that you’re not alone. Debt collection is booming precisely because so many people have gotten behind on their payments. We’re not a culture who likes to talk about our financial difficulties with others, but chances are good that you’re not the only person at the party who cringes every time the phone rings.
While some collectors are helpful, others participate in unethical or illegal practices. The BBB and FTC received 10,000 complaints about bill collectors last year, and this figure is expected to rise as firm hurry to employ new collectors to keep up with demand. So what can you do to protect yourself from these pesky, frequently abrasive, and sometimes downright criminal collection agents? Your best bet is to know your rights, know the law, and know where you can go to report abusive debt collectors.
Did the bill collector contact you to verify that the debt is actually owed by you? Under law, they have five days to do so when they first receive your account. During this time, they must show you documents that prove the debt is yours. You can stop their collection efforts cold by requesting this verification. Until proof is provided, the collector can’t legally continue to call you. (And if they ever call you at work, or outside the hours of 8AM to 9PM, you’ve got grounds for a complaint.)
While your work phone is off limits, your company’s isn’t. Debt collectors can use the Internet and other records to find out where you work. Then they can call to verify your employment, although they can’t ask for phone numbers or names of your supervisors.
Collectors can also look up phone numbers and addresses for your family members, friends, and neighbors. Then they can contact these people to try and get a current number or address for you. What they cannot do is supply details about the debt collection effort, unless you’ve given them written permission to do so.
If you’re being harassed by a debt collector who isn’t playing by the rules, contact the Better Business Bureau and the FTC to lodge a complaint. Keep visiting www.GetWiseCC.com or http://getwisecredit.blogspot.com/ to learn more tips for managing and reducing your credit card debt.