5/24/06

How to improve your credit rating

Tips For Improving Your Credit Rating

Don't do damage to your credit rating. Be careful in these areas:

Take the time to turn your contract over, read the fine print, and ask questions about what you are getting into. Easier to do this before you borrow money than afterwards.

Your debt-to-income ratio is key to getting a good FICO credit score.

Rearrange your monthly bills to allow yourself to pay down more than your monthly minimums on your credit card payments.

Don't fall victim to aggressive loan offers and fabulous credit card offers you receive in the mail.

The annual percentage rate on a loan -- not the introductory rate or payment -- determines how much you will pay for that loan.

Prepayment penalties can cost you money. Negotiate them out of your contract, as you might be able to save money by refinancing or paying off your loan early.

Furniture wears out. Cars too. Financing your purchases longer than the items last is a bad idea.

Student Loan Forgiveness Available To Some Teachers

There are times when student loans can be cancelled. The following information is found on the Federal Student Aid website,http://www.fsahelp.ed.gov/cancellation.html.

It gives specifics of how a student loan can be cancelled or, as it's more commonly referred to, "forgiven," if the college degree leads to or complements a job in the teaching profession. There are specific guidelines to be aware of...

"Teacher Loan Forgiveness/Teacher Loan Cancellation"

Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)/Federal Direct Loan Teacher Loan Forgiveness
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue in the teaching profession. Eligible applicants can receive loan forgiveness for up to a combined total of $5,000 of subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) or Federal Direct Loans.

The TLF Program is only available if you:


  • did not have an outstanding balance on an FFEL or Direct Loan on October 1, 1998, or on the date you obtained an FFEL or Direct Loan after October 1, 1998;
  • teach full-time at least five consecutive, complete school years as a full-time teacher in an elementary or secondary school designated as a low-income school;
  • are not in default on the loan for which you are requesting forgiveness;
    have not received a benefit for the same teaching service through the AmeriCorps Program;
  • completed one of your five years of qualifying teaching service after the 1997-1998 academic year; and
  • took the loan for which you are requesting forgiveness before the end of your fifth year of qualifying teaching.


The best part if you have been in teaching for some time, is this: Highly qualified teachers, as defined by the "No Child Left Behind Act," can qualify for an increased level of $17,500 in TLF if they have been a full-time teacher for five years. This would allow teachers to pursue advanced teaching degrees.

For more detailed information about the eligibility requirements for teacher loan forgiveness, please visit the following website: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/cancelstaff.jsp?tab=repaying.

Click here for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application.

Federal Perkins Loan Teacher Loan Cancellation

In order to be eligible for Federal Perkins Loan teaching cancellation, you must be teaching full-time at a low-income school, as determined by your State's education agency. The low-income designation is based on statistics gathered about the population of each elementary and secondary school in your State.

The Armed Forces also offers loan forgiveness in some instances to people enlisting in the military. Do a Google search for more information about their current offers.

5/23/06

Credit Repair Scams To Avoid

When you suffer from a bad credit history, you become a victim to heartless scammers who will offer credit repair services. They might say that they will clean up credit files for a fee, but they are breaking the law. Scams like these hurt people who need the help most. They only want your money and they don't care who they hurt in the process.

That's why we compile free information like this on our website FindHow2.com, to help others pull themselves up out of the cycle of painful debt and poor credit. It can be done! It takes time, effort, and followup. But by falling victim to illegal credit repair scams, you might make your financial situation even worse!

Credit repair scams can usually be uncovered by the following false promises:



(1) you are advised to invent a “new” credit identity so as to obtain a new credit report for future borrowing purposes, by getting a business employer identification number (EIN) that will hide your own bad credit attached to your social security number.


(2) you are not informed as to your legal rights or the things that you can do by yourself at no cost at all.


(3) those companies that ask to be paid for credit repair services before any service is done at all.


(4) you are advised not to contact a credit reporting company directly.



You're tempting the Furies by following any such advice. Actually, you might even be prosecuted for mail or wire fraud if you use the mail or the telephone following such a scam, to apply for credit and provide false information. It’s a federal crime to lie on a loan or credit application, to misrepresent your Social Security number, and to obtain an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service under false pretenses.

And as to asking for payment for credit repair services BEFORE the services are completed, now that's a violation of the Credit Repair Organizations Act, and you need to stay clear of lawbreakers, in my opinion.

Don't let anyone mislead you: accurate negative information will stay on your credit report, so if harmful information on your report is keeping you from a loan, you'll need to work hard to overcome this. You can't simply try to eliminate the truth from your report.

As we've written all through our web sites and blogs, there is plenty of legal options available. You have the right to ask for an investigation of the information appearing in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete. You will not be charged for this if you follow simple, easy to complete steps. There is no need for you to pay a dime to a credit repair clinic to fix your credit report. You can do everything they can do, and since you'll have a vested interest in getting the work done right as soon as possible, I'd bet you'll do a better job than a complete stranger.

Veterans Files Stolen, Credit At Risk, Potential ID Thefts Loom

In a developing story, the Veteran's Administration confirms that 26,500,000 Social Security numbers belonging to military veterans were stolen. Their credit and privacy is put at risk.

Now, news is released that 2.2 million current members of active duty forces -- not just veterans discharged from the service over the past 31 years -- could be affected. According to the VA, names, social security numbers, and dates of birth of vets wound up missing; they assure that no electronic medical information was compromised.

This information is gleaned from a Pentagon briefing paper to Congress.

A measly $50,000 reward has been ponied up for return of the stolen computer device containing the information.

Is it too much to ask that the government that ordered these citizens to defend us and protect us, at the very least, protect the private personal data of these same men and women?

People are calling it a disgrace. I call it "don't give a crap" bureaucracy. I'm amazed at how frequently the military and the government agencies that permeate our lives demand that we provide this sensitive ID number that could so affect our credit reports and all of our financial dealings, and then be so careless with the paperwork and electronic files afterward.

I've witnessed multiple times at military centers how compiled rosters of active duty and reserve personnel get laid aside instead of getting dumped right into the nearest shredder. It happens everywhere.

That's why it is so important to guard that SSN whenever you can, and now, veterans who protected American for the past three decades will be tasked with protecting their own credit reports.

There is a phone number and a website offering initial, probably limited, information to veterans suspecting identity theft: http://www.firstgov.gov or check with the VA website (www.va.gov), or call 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636).

This glaring disregard for the safety of veteran's personal privacy eclipses the damage done from previous identity theft raids on corporate credit company files, as this could be the largest theft of the actual Social Security numbers to date.

Having the SSN is key to stealing and destroying someone's financial identity. We've assembled a report at FindHow2.com to help you if you've been the victim of identity theft.

Additionally, Debt Advisor Steve Bucci offers these suggestions...

Reportedly, an analyst with the VA is the one responsible for taking home the 26.5 million names (what was his motivation?), and apparently, the data was stolen from his home. Apparently, it had been going on for a couple years, taking an agency laptop home to work on the files which were stored on an external computer hardrive. Media estimates put the number of files affected at 26.5 million veterans, fewer than 100 spouses were included, and between 19 and 20 million Social Security numbers were included.

My question: What project was that analyst working on since 2003 that involved such a huge database of veterans?

Ironically, the identity of the idiot who reportedly lost these files is being protected. When the investigation is complete, that employee probably needs to be reassigned: to the Iraqi front, full battle gear, 12 month deployment away from home in the desert.

The VA has posted this comment about the incident at its website on May 23, 2006:

"The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently learned that an employee, a data analyst, took home electronic data from the VA, which he was not authorized to do. This behavior was in violation of VA policies. This data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. Importantly, the affected data did not include any of VA's electronic health records nor any financial information. The employee's home was burglarized and this data was stolen. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation." Go to their website http://www.firstgov.gov/veteransinfo.shtml, to read the rest of their apology.

The head of the VA, Jim Nicholson, has told Congress that it will cost the American taxpayers at least $10 million to inform the affected veterans of the incident, and tens of millions more to compensate veterans and help repair the damage done.

A federal class-action lawsuit is brewing in Washington amongst veterans groups who charge that the VA has violated veterans' privacy rights.

5/22/06

Online credit scores sometimes flattering, but meaningless

When rebuilding your credit score, it's important to know the difference between the industry standard FICO score, and various other scores consumers are given at online credit websites.

Here is a recent article by Kenneth R. Harney, Washington Post Writers Group that appears in the LATimes.com, addressing the confusion in the marketplace over this:

"Many online credit figures are flattering but meaningless"

As can be surmised, it pays to learn more about credit and debt management issues. We've compiled a variety of articles covering these topics at http:/www.FindHow2.com. We've updated the site recently with a quick index of our most popular articles.