Credit score estimator gives clues how bankers determine your creditworthiness

Checking your FICO scores and finding out what is in your credit report will help you look behind the scenes to see the way lenders view your creditworthiness. Check out the credit score estimator at myFICO.com to estimate your own credit score. It's free at: www.myfico.com

P.S. -- Cleaning up your credit report is easy when you follow these free credit repair tips at FindHow.com.

Amazon.com also has this DVD available to help you on your quest to restore good credit:


The Secrets Credit Professionals Dont Want You To Know!

Govenment help to stop foreclosures comes with cost, as credit scores get hammered

CNNMoney has been inundated with emails from its readers. They complain about how trial loan modifications are causing their credit reports to take an unexpected hit. Most of these homeowners who are facing bleak economic prospects, view federal government's pledge of foreclosure rescue their best way back to solvency. Yet many are seeing their credit score take a whack as they wait for their lender to modify their home mortgage.

The whole story is at: http://money.cnn.com/

To read more on loan modifications check these books:


Loan Modification For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

The Loan Modification Handbook

The Complete Loan Modification Guide (Home Edition Kit-Handbook, DVD, CD & Bonus Materials)

Saving Your Home through Loan Modification!

Revisit to my 'How to fix credit, reduce debt' guide online

I wrote this several years ago in a guide that's been viewed over 800 times at Amazon.com. Not many, but hopefully people have been helped to take control of their credit history and grab the tools to fix their own credit rating.

I wrote then:

New changes to U.S. bankruptcy laws now means that unsecured credit card debt is much, much harder to flush away with a simple Chapter 13 wage-earners personal bankruptcy.

But this looming danger hasn't stopped the majority of Americans from applying for those "free" credit card offers that flood the mailbox. The problem, it seems to me, is that all too many people have either never learned or have forgotten how to manage credit card debt properly, and they are digging themselves a difficult hole to climb out of financially.

But it's never an IMPOSSIBLE climb! You CAN start taking control of your finances by learning how to track your monthly expenses, cut unneccessary ones, and start your own debt consolidation program.

Since the time I wrote it, the economy has only gotten worse. For the full free guide at Amazon.com, read:
"How To Get Better Credit" by Steve Johnson.


Other helpful books available at Amazon.com include:


Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom (Includes "How to Improve Your Credit and Manage Credit Cards Well" Audio CD)

The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work for You?

How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Credit After Bankruptcy: The easy-to-follow guide to a quick and lasting recovery from personal bankruptcy

New bankruptcy laws fail to stem new surge of bankruptcy filings

The Wall Street Journal reports that the effectiveness of bankruptcy laws which were reformed about 4 years ago are at best dubious, as a growing number of middle-class Americans have filed for bankruptcy protection. The surge is blamed on rising joblessness and the depressed housing market. Says the newspaper:

"Overall, personal bankruptcy filings hit 1.41 million last year, up 32% from 2008, according to the National Bankruptcy Research Center, which compiles and analyzes bankruptcy data. It is the highest level of consumer-bankruptcy fillings since 2005. Consumers rushed to file in 2005 before the new bankruptcy laws took effect in October of that year.
"Chapter 7 filings were up more than 42% as of November 2009, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the research center."

The whole story is at www.wsj.com

Related reading:


Personal Bankruptcy Laws For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, Short Sales & Rebuilding your Credit - FINANCIAL RECOVERY

The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work for You?

When You Have to File for Bankruptcy: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future

Consumer Affiars: Banks Eye New Fees, Revenue In 2010

New rules intended to protect consumers might reduce bank profits, so credit card companies are making up the slack with new fees.
According to an article written by Mark Huffman at ConsumerAffairs.com:

• Banks Eye New Fees, Revenue In 2010
• Despite Rules Changes, Banks Still Depend On Overdraft Fees
• Overdraft Fees Exploding, Study Finds
• Free Checking Isn't Always Free
• Do You Really Need A Bank?
• Fees For Unauthorized Overdraft Loans Keep Going Up
• Lawmakers Target Bank Overdraft Fees
• Consumers Want Opt-In Choice on Overdraft Coverage
• Checking Account Fees Set Records in 2008
• Bank Fees Rise, Disclosure Sinks
• Bank of America Takes Bigger Bite with $3 ATM Fee
• Bank, ATM Fees Continue To Rise
• Penalty Fees, Interest Rate Hikes, and Misleading Contracts Await Credit Card Shoppers
• We're Paying More Than Ever at the ATM

Huffman points out that even as the "Credit Card Act of 2009" goes into effect next month to protect the financial rights of debt-strapped consumers, lenders have spent the better part of 2009 jacking up interest rates and closing thousands of accounts.

Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com



Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt!: Phone Calls to Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 in Interest Charges and Fees

How to Instantly Eliminate Credit Card Debt (Without Bankruptcy or Credit Counseling)

Insurance companies charge more to those with low credit scores

Is bad credit making your insurance premiums go up?


Insurance companies routinely charge you more for home, auto and truck insurance if your credit score is low. They've been doing it for a long time. They maintain that people with poor credit make lots of insurance claims. Of course, with the current Great Recession driving millions into poverty, homelessness and despair, maybe it's time to reexamine the link between a low credit score and a tendency to file an insurance claim.

Think of it this way: the insurance companies are alleging that when a person lose a job, and their reduced living standards causes them to miss credit card payments and their credit rating suffers, this credit score now brands them as a derelict.

It's sad that the insurance industry operates like a Ponzi scheme, practically unregulated by the states where these companies operate. There ought to be investigations into the political contributions these insurance companies make to state and national politicians, and correlate this information with the voting records of those elected representatives.

Howver, since right now your credit history could be making your auto insurance and home insurance premiums higher than they should be, it's vital that you ensure that your credit reports from the Big 3 Bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion -- are free of inaccurate data. It's time to clean them up. You deserve to pay a fair price on your auto and home insurance. Whether or not you believe that its right to charge more for a product or service due to a person's credit score, even though the resulting score might not be that person's fault, you still need to take steps to fix errors in your credit so you can save money.


Here is more information on dealing with auto insurance companies in books you'll find at Amazon.com:



Insurance Settlement Secrets: A Step by Step Guide to Get Thousands of Dollars More for Your Auto Accident Injury Without a Lawyer! (Volume 1)

This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at how insurance companies process automobile accident injury claims. Knowing how insurance companies process these claims can make the difference of receiving thousands of dollars more for your Insurance settlement! Written in plain English, the book gives readers all the tips they need to ensure they receive the settlement they deserve. Written by an insurance company insider who has worked in the industry for years and negotiated hundreds of injury settlements. Readers will learn: Steps to take if they are injured in a motor vehicle accident. How to deal with insurance companies when they call. How to take the advantage against the insurance company. What medical information is crucial to your claim. How to push the same buttons an experienced lawyer would push. When and how to negotiate for a fair settlement. "Insurance Settlement Secrets" shows readers how they can do all of this themselves without hiring an expensive lawyer.


Here is another book to help you when you are confronted by shenanigans by auto insurance companies:


Surviving the Auto Insurance Game: The Book Every Driver Must Read (Volume 1)