Monday, May 28, 2007

3 Major Disadvantages Of Owning A Bad Credit Credit Card

Bad credit usually attracts high APR on credit cards. The APR's can be lowered if a good collateral or bank account is linked to the credit card to make it 'secure'. Poor credit with an inability to provide sufficient collateral makes the credit card an 'unsecured' one and this results in high APRs and low credit limits.

Huge Annual Fees

It is rare to find a bad credit credit card with 0 Annual fees. The bad credit credit cards, are quite risky investments for credit card companies. On the contrary people with bad credit are pretty much desperate to find a credit card, which can help them improve their credit history. Call it taking advantage of this situation or whatever, credit card companies slap heavy annual fees to provide a bad credit credit card. This fees can start from 70$ and can climb into hundreds of dollars per annum, depending on how worse the credit situation is of an applicant.

Unreasonable Advance Fees

Yes, there are few credit card companies who want to exploit a bad credit people to the maximum. They want fees just to look at your application, and it has to be paid in advance. Some, don't guarantee a bad credit credit card even if you pay them this unreasonable amount. Whether you have to pay in advance, or the credit card company charges it after issuing the credit card a bad credit has to shell out this money either ways.

There is a very little choice for those with poor credit, when it comes to getting a credit card. These fees and high interest rates are an inevitable reality, and must be endured. However, a good comparison of all the bad credit offers out there and shopping around, contacting various credit card agents can really help a bad credit person from being slaughtered.10

No Fee Balance Transfer Credit Cards - What Made Them Extinct?

What happened to those wonderful balance transfer offers with no fees and why can't you find a single such offer despite scouring the database of every single online credit card website? The answer isn't difficult to find. Such offers have been exploited by people to defer their repayments and shelve themselves from high interest rates. In fact, this practice became so widespread that credit card companies were forced to rethink on the issue.

Earlier, it was very easy to find credit cards which allowed to transfer balances without any fee what so ever. These credit cards came with 0% intro APR for a specified period like 6, 12, or 15 months. This was used as a goldmine by those with large outstanding balances. They would simply transfer their balances to such credit card and get rid of existing high APR's. The 0% intro offer would then be exploited by them. Just by paying the minimum balances they would stay in the good books of credit card companies, and when the 'golden period' of0% intro APR was nearing its end, voila they shifted their huge balances to another credit card with similar offer.

So, this resulted in loss of revenue for credit card companies in terms of interest rates, but a more disastrous consequence of this process was that the credit card holder was increasingly getting into huge debts.

A major issuer of such no fee balance transfer credit cards, Morgan Stanley with their range of Discover credit cards, took strong exception and withdrew all such offers. Now they decided to take a certain percentage on balance transfers. To counteract such measure the credit card companies now have a different APR for balance transfer, this includes credit card with 0% intro APR.

Game the system and the system will game you. Nothing applies more truly to this particular practice. The credit card companies have retaliated with their new terms and rates to stop the trend of transferring balance and avoiding high APR's. Days of such unhealthy credit card practices are now over, unless some new credit card company comes into the game and decides to capture the market with such 'lucrative' offers.

The One Place You Can Get A Free Credit Report

Most people feel totally helpless when they finally discover or admit they are in financial trouble, or that something is wrong with their credit score.

You may have no idea that you can legally repair your credit and if you are like most, you don’t know the procedures required to obtain, maintain & and re-establish your credit score.

You should check your credit report every year. In an effort to get rid of the mistakes that are popping up on credit reports, the law states you can pull your credit every of the three major credit bureaus. You will want to do this as soon as possible as it the first step to credit repair. You will eventually be looking for inaccurate and/or faulty information as well as potential identity theft that is being reported on your report.

If you are currently having trouble paying your bills, you DO NOT need credit repair, you need to get out of debt.

While you should always try to keep your credit score as high as possible, if you can’t make at least minimum payments, you are going to be accruing late marks faster than you can get them removed. Credit repair while you are getting late payments is pointless.

If you have accounts that are past due, have balances, and/or are in collections, it may be possible to get the accounts removed. However; the accounts will more than likely show back up on your credit report and continue to hurt your score if you do not satisfy the debt in some way, If you have past due accounts with balances, you should consider hiring a settlement company to negotiate the debts, or paying off the accounts in full.

CREDIT REPAIR- Why it works

If you don’t have past due accounts then it’s time to get started. Credit repair works, but you need to be patient and thorough. The reason credit repair works, is because the law states that when an account is disputed, the burden of proof lies on the creditor!

Once a credit bureau receives your dispute letter, they must verify the information you have presented. At that point it’s up to the credit bureau to contact the creditor and ask for proof of the item disputed. When done correctly, in about thirty days after your dispute, you will see the negative items begin to disappear from your credit report. This will happen for several reasons:

Sometimes “they”’ are too busy
If the credit bureau is too busy to verify the information, or if the creditor who is contacted doesn't respond in a certain time frame, the negative items will be removed from your record.

Sometimes “they” are just lazy.
Many creditors will not respond to a credit bureau inquiry simply because it is a bother. Also, if any problems have been corrected in the past, a creditor will show less interest in keeping a negative item on your credit record, and will normally not bother to respond to a written inquiry.

Sometimes “they” can’t find the proof.
Generally, creditors will only maintain credit-account information for two years. Industry experts know that if you challenge an account that is more than two years old, chances are the records won't be available for verification.

When a change is made to your credit report you will receive a new updated credit report in the mail. Check to see what all was removed and you will see that many, if not all, of the negative items you disputed have been removed.

If a negative item doesn’t come off, you will once again repeat the process by challenging the credit bureau's information with denials. This process is usually repeated until all negative items are removed. Sometimes when a creditor receives a second or third inquiry in a short time span, they may think it is a follow-up of an earlier dispute. That, however, is not the case, and if he doesn't respond to each dispute individually, your report has one more item removed. These techniques can place you years ahead in re-establishing your credit.

GETTING A COPY OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT

You can always get a copy of your credit report due to the Fair Credit Report Act. This doesn’t mean you always have to pay for a copy of your credit report. As stated earlier, once a year you are allowed to get a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. To get a free copy of your credit report you must got to www.annualcreditreport.com , or call the credit bureaus and request your free annual copy.

You will not get a credit score with your free credit report, unless you pay to receive the score.

The only exception to getting a free annual credit report is if you have been denied credit in the past 30 days. If you have been denied credit within the past 30 days, you are entitled to a free report from the bureau that provided the information to the company with which you were applying for credit. Any other time and will more than likely pay for it unless the creditor pulls it for you.

When you got to www.annualcreditreport.com , you will be asked a series of security questions for EACH report you request. You must request each report INDIVIDUALLT.

Historically for my clients, Transunion is the hardest report to pull, as their security questions are more in depth, and in my situation the answers Transunion has for me must be incorrect. If you can’t access your free report online, pick up the phone, call the bureau, and they will mail you a copy of your report.

When you ask for specific information over the telephone, they will ask for your social security number, date of birth, last two addresses, and other information that will ensure that they will not be releasing information to someone other than you.

Faxless Cash Advance - No Paperwork Required

When you are in a bind and have an urgent cash requirement, you wouldn’t think about going through a lot of paperwork to get a loan. A faxless cash advance cuts short the need to fax any document when you apply for a payday loan. This is made possible with the help of Internet technology that allows you to apply online directly from your computer and fill-in an application form with all details required.

Getting a loan from a faxless cash advance company or lender saves time and hassle as you do not need to go to a local loan shop. Gone are the days when people would have to make a trip and stand in a waiting line of a loan shop. Another advantage of online cash advances is that you can apply any time anywhere so long as you have an Internet connection. With cash advance lenders in over 36 states in the United State today it is becoming easier to resolve your financial emergencies without involving your friends or relatives.

How Much Can You Borrow?

Depending on the lenders, the amounts for cash advances are varied between $100 and $1000 or even up to $1500. The amounts should be sufficient to cover up your temporary expenses such as a car repair, an overdue medical bill, a school fee, etc. In fact, the loans are designed to help people overcome their short-term financial needs which, for some reasons, could not be tackled by your regular income.

About the Repayment

When you fill-in the application form you specify what date you will receive your next pay. The date is then used as the basis for the repayment date to ensure that you have sufficient funds to pay back the loan. Repayment may be organized in one lump sum or partial payment. With online cash advance you normally have to authorize the lender to deduct the money directly out of your bank account.

Find A Good Lender For Refinancing Bad Credit Loans

You’re not a bad person because your credit may be a bit challenged. Everyone runs into some sort of problems once in a while. My intent in this article is to give you some pointers on finding a lender that will help refinance a bad credit loan.

If you have bad credit finding a lender to help you refinance your home could be a tricky thing to do. There are plenty of lenders out there who will prey on your misfortune and when the time is right they will pounce. Most will be happy to help you out but you are looking at very high interest rates and fees. So you want to take your time in finding a good lender so you have to know what reasonable terms are and you have to be able to compare lending companies.

Credit Records Must Be Looked At

A credit report is not necessarily your perfect guide but before you apply for a loan you should definitely have a look at your credit record to make sure it is accurate. If you believe there are inaccuracies on it then you should first resolve them with your credit reporting agency.

Another thing that is important is knowing your credit score. You will have to pay higher rates for lower scores. However by knowing this at least you will have a good idea at how your lender will react. People with bad credit history often have to pay at least three points higher than people with good credit.

Time To Look At Lenders

You need to shop around because different lenders offer different rates and terms for different types of loans. The best way to shop around and compare is on the internet. What you have to do is enter your info on line and then let the lenders compete for your business. They do this by offering better rates. With the internet you can also shop outside of your area where you might just find a better deal.

You will receive offers. Once you do it’s important to have a look at rates and fees. Often the fees are where the lender gets you. So what you have to do is add up interest and fees so you can see exactly what the loan is worth.

Keep Your Eyes Open For A Good Deal

Many lenders make their money by selling you on loans with high interest rates. Many lenders will push this type of loan on you. Most times they won’t care if this is the right loan for you. They are just smooth talking to get their money. Before you sign any paperwork make sure you read all the details and fine print.

If you are shopping for a mortgage on line you do eliminate many risks because mortgage lenders are required to state their terms on line. Internet quotes are often more competitive because the lenders know that you are more than likely shopping around. Make sure you print out all offers so you have a record of the terms for your records.

Eliminate Debt And Breathe Easy With A Credit Card Debt Consolidation Program

One can incur large debt due to various mishaps or emergencies. But the one that burns a hole in the pocket is the credit card debt. Now you have a way to get out of it through credit card debt consolidation program.

How Do We Accumulate Credit Card Debt?

Most of us keep more than one credit card now days. Credit cards are offered free by different credit card companies. In the euphoria of shopping convenience, we overlook the hefty interest rate they charge and apply for one credit card after another. As we pay a minimum amount due every month to our credit card, the debt seems endless. Moreover, if we miss a monthly payment, we are penalized heavily. If we default regularly, our credit score becomes low and we face a reduced chance of availing their loan facility.

How Does Credit Card debt Consolidation Program Help?

In case of credit card debt, most of the time, it is convenient to look for free debt consolidation help available online. When you approach a debt consolidation company for their credit card debt consolidation program, they will evaluate your case and send you a free online debt consolidation quote. If their terms and conditions and charges suit you, you can sit down with a representative of the company and discuss your financial condition, your debts and assets with him. If you have other debts besides a credit card debt, which you can handle, take only a debt consolidation for your credit card debts. Many companies as a part of their credit card debt consolidation program make it mandatory that you go through credit counseling before they help you. The counseling is very helpful as it teaches you to avoid accruing debts in future.

The debt consolidation company may ask you to stop using your credit card if the situation so demands. It helps you in two ways: It will either negotiate to bring down your debt amount down and then handle your monthly payments. That is you pay the company and it will disperse the amount among your creditors. With this, you don’t have to remember the due dates for different bills and your credit score increases as you are make payments regularly. Moreover the credit card companies will not call you anymore to remind you about your dues. You will be only charged a monthly fee in the first case and not in the second. This program will suit you if you have good credit score and your debt amount is not very high.

In the second case you take another loan from the debt consolidation company that covers all your previous debt. Then you pay the debt consolidation company a monthly sum toward this loan. This is helpful because the interest rates of debt consolidation companies are lower than those of credit card companies. Even if you have bad credit score, don’t fret. Most debt consolidation companies will offer you bad credit debt consolidation in which case the interest rates are only a bit higher.

But, do look around and get quotes from different companies before choosing. In this way you can have an optimized credit card debt consolidation.

Students, Reduce Interest Burden and Save More with These Popular 0 intro APR Credit Cards

Many things warrant our attention in student life. Worrying about the credit card interest rate is the last thing on a student's agenda. 0% intro APR credit cards can help a studen avoid any such thing to bother his studies and life. A 0% intro APR credit card has a particular advantage that it doesn't charge any interest rate on credit card outstanding balances for the 0 APR period. This period can vary between 3, 6, 12, or 15 months, depending on individual credit card offer. Students should not miss such offers as they provide a lot in savings and reducing the repayment burden. We look at 3 particulary interesting 0% Intro APR credit cards offer in this article.

1. Discover® Student Clear Card

Coming straight from the major credit card issuer Discover, the Discover® Student Clear Card, comes with no annual fee, 0$ fraud liablility guarantee with the 0% Intro APR* on purchases for 6 months. The Discover® Student Clear Card offers easiest online account management options which save a student lot of time in managing their credit card account details.

2. Universal Entertainment Student MasterCard®

This credit card issued by Chase comes with a 0% Introductory APR for up to 6 months. This credit card has a good reward program which offers 1 point for every dollar spent and comes with No annual fees. Keeping in mind the entertainment needs of students the Universal Entertainment Student MasterCard® offers two movie tickets after the first purchase and double points on select Universal Studios Theme Park purchases. It also gives the students option to recieve opening Weekend Tickets to Universal Movies and Discounts on Universal Studios Theme Park tickets and merchandise.

3. Chase Student Flexible Rewards Card

This credit cards has a 0% Introductory APR on all purchases and balance transfers for up to 6 months. The reward progams that comes with Chase Student Flexible Rewards Card gives 1 point per eligible dollar, and students can redeem their points for merchandise. This credit card has no annual fees.

0% Intro APR credit cards should be used wisely. First thing to take care before enrolling for a 0% intro APR credit card is to check out for what the 0% intro rate applies, whether it is for purchases, balance transfers or cash advances. The most important thing about 0% intro APR credit card is to never miss on a single repayment. Because most of the credit cards with such offer withdraw the 0% intro APR option on first default and immediately impose a regular high APR rates.

These three 0% intro APR credit cards offer lot of savings to the students. The terms and conditions of these credit cards can change anytime without notice. The issuers of these credit cards keep on adding attractive benefits for students. So, it is advised to check with the credit card issuer for the latest on the credit card. And not to forget, reading the fine prints carefully can avoid unpleasant surprises later. Go ahead, and enjoy your student life with these 0% intro APR credit cards.