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Credit Cards and the Law – Senate OKs Consumer Friendly Bill

By on May 22, 2009 in Credit, credit card, credit repair, interest rate, loan, new credit, Payment, Payment Plan, secured credit, secured credit card, Sub-prime

Like any change to an existing business practice, this will have big implications for both the credit industry and the consumers of credit. I will be analyzing the impact of this bill over the next several days.

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Can Going Over My Credit Limit Affect My Credit Score?

By on April 2, 2009 in Credit, credit card, credit score

When you have a credit card, there are times you may slip up and charge a bit too much. You think ‘Well, it is just a couple of bucks. I’ll make a payment and everything will be fine’. But is it fine? Really?
No, no, no! Going over your limit is a serious ding on your credit scores!

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The $38.00 cup of coffee

By on March 30, 2009 in Bank fees, Credit, credit card

Banks are increasingly covering overdrafts, and charging a large fee for the ‘privilege’ of not having a bounce on your account.

Now, personally, I would rather not be able to pay for something than have to eat a $34.00 fee from my bank. But the banks don’t always give you that option.

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What Is Junk Debt And Why Do I Care About It?

By on February 3, 2009 in Chargeoff, Collection Agencies, Collections, Credit, credit card, credit score, Establish Credit, Forgiveness of Debt, Improve Credit, interest rate, junk debt, Payment, Payment Plan

You may have heard of ‘junk’ categories before.
You can find junk bonds, junk dealers, and junker cars. The term means the same thing: an item of low or poor value.
Well, now we have junk debt. Junk debt is debt that is either uncollectible through ‘normal’ means, or debt of very low value.

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Can I Ask a Credit Card Company to Reconsider When They Deny Me Credit?

By on February 2, 2009 in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Charge-off, Chargeoff, Collection Agencies, Collections, Credit, credit card, Credit Crisis, credit score, denied credit, denied credit letter, Establish Credit, foreclosure, new credit, Payment, Payment Plan, reconsider for credit, secured credit, secured credit card, Settlement

I hate those letters. I used to get them a lot. They tell me that I have been denied, yet again, for the credit card that I wanted.
It was my fault. My credit scores were terrible. I couldn’t really blame the companies that I applied with. I had a bankruptcy, and late payments, and car repossession, and a foreclosure, and over limits, and things like that. But I am a really nice guy, and I have a job!
They don’t care.

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Minimum payments on credit cards are rising

By on January 27, 2009 in Credit, credit card, interest rate, Minimum Payment

This is an article from bankrate.com showing that the average consumer is now making the minimum payments on their credit cards.

I will be adding a post after this one discussing the impact of making the minimum payments.

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FrontLine’s “The Secret History of The Credit Card”

By on January 25, 2009 in Collections, Credit, credit card, Credit Crisis, Credit Report, credit score, Equifax, Establish Credit, Experian, finance, Free Credit Report, Improve Credit, new credit, Sub-prime, Transunion

I found this news story put together by FrontLine and The New York Times.
It talks about some of the history of credit cards, but also many of the dirty little secrets of the credit industry. If you are looking for some background, this is a good place to start.

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Why Did My Credit Card Company Reduce My Credit Limit?

By on January 21, 2009 in Charge-off, Chargeoff, Collections, Credit, credit card, Credit Crisis, credit limit, Credit Report, credit score, Default, Equifax, Establish Credit, Experian, finance, Improve Credit, Payment, Payment Plan, Transunion

Becky has a JC Penney card, issued by GE Money Bank. She has never been late (she showed me her payment history online), and is well below her credit limit of $400.00. A few days ago, right after she made a large payment and paid the card off, she got a letter telling her that her credit limit would be reduced to $100.00 or her current credit limit, whichever was greater…

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What Does It Mean To Reaffirm A Debt After Bankruptcy?

By on September 7, 2008 in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Charge-off, Chargeoff, Credit, credit card, Credit Report, credit score, Default, Establish Credit, foreclosure, Forgiveness of Debt, loan, Payment, re-affirmation, reaffirm, Reaffirmation, secured credit, secured credit card

When you file for bankruptcy, you may choose to keep some of your debts. For most debts, like credit cards, you just keep making payments and they will probably never say a thing unless you have included that creditor in you list of creditors that you provide to the court. In other words, if you don’t mention that creditor to the courts, the creditor may never know you filed for bankruptcy.

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