by Dan Moskel
The All Access Visa is a great choice for a prepaid credit card. This card will give you free direct deposit, free account alerts, free bill pay and many more.
They guarantee everyone’s approval. There is no credit check and you will still be approved even if you are in chex systems.
One of the best benefits the All Access Prepaid Visa offers is a free savings account for card holders. This savings account will earn a 5% APR and it is FDIC insured.
Also you can have 3 additional cards issued to you for family members or friends. This can be a helpful tool to help teach your children financial responsibility.
You are able to transfer money from one all access account to another free of charge. This can be used to send money to a child away at college or a spouse that you are away from.
This is an ideal situation for students away at college. Should you need cash your card can be used at ATM’s to withdraw funds.
You also can sign up to get free account alerts, via text msg. and e-mail. There is zero liability for unauthorized purchases.
If you take advantage of the free direct deposit you will save hundreds of dollars a year by not paying for check cashing fees. In addition with bill pay you will no longer have to purchase money orders.
Your card can be used to book hotel reservations and to rent a car. It is accepted online and over the phone.
You can deposit funds at any western union locations, additional retail locations (including many gas stations), direct deposit and even using pay pal.
In sum, we give the NetSpend All Access Visa thumbs up. There are also no interest charges, over the limit fees or overdraft fees.
by Dan Moskel
If you have been placed into chexsystems you are in a difficult spot. This will prevent you from opening a checking account and really hurt your credit score.
However you do have an alternative to a checking account. You can get a prepaid credit card that will give you free direct deposit.
This will save you money on check cashing fees. Also your card can be used to pay bills.
There is a feature called bill pay that will write real physical checks from your account to a business or individual. This will save you money because you will no longer need to purchase money orders.
This card works just like a checking account. Your card is accepted over the phone and online.
Your card will also provide you with an opportunity to build a positive payment history. The prepaid account now visa gives you a free service called credit builder. This service will record the bills you pay with bill pay and report that information to a credit reporting agency. This can be used to show future lenders you are credit worthy.
What is ChexSystems?
It is a group of financial institutions that share information. They do this to screen out potential problem customers. You can be placed in it for having an account closed for reason.
Reasons are:
- Fraud
- Overdrawing your account and the bank is unable to recover payment
- Using false information to open an account
Once you have this mark on your credit you will not be able to open a checking account. Also your credit will be damaged.
This mark stays on your credit for 5 years. Be aware that you may be able to open a new checking account but it will be closed once the bank runs your information and learns you are in chexsystems.
In sum using a prepaid credit card is a great alternative to a bank account. It will do everything a bank account would and more.
by Michael Geoffrey
Foreclosure has, unfortunately, become a sad reality of life for many individuals and families who own homes. This is especially true in certain parts of the United States. Any person who might be interested of purchasing a home at an exceptionally low price as a result of a foreclosure can get helpful information from court filings and newspaper advertisements.
Lenders who make the decision to foreclose on homes are required to file a claim with a local court in most states. This court claim provides reasons as to why the lender needed to foreclose such as evidence of allowing the loan to go to default.
Following the judge’s official review of the foreclosure information, they will make a judgment regarding the claim. The individual being foreclosed on is then given a certain amount of time, often thirty days, by which they must pay back their entire loan. The home can be auctioned by the court after the designated period of time is up.
There are still some options available to the homeowner even when the court has agreed to foreclose. They can pay back the money before the house is auctioned. Since all court proceedings regarding home foreclosure is made available to the public, an individual interested in purchasing a home could find information about the homeowner and contact them to buy their house before it ever goes up for auction.
Check The Facts Before Making Offer
While the foreclosure information provided to the court is likely to be accurate, potential buyers should look at several issues that may affect the purchase of the property, especially if it is being purchased as an investment. If the home loan is relatively new and has not time to build up a lot of equity, the amount needed to purchase the home may be higher than the home’s value, once associated costs are calculated into the price.
For buyers, looking for information on the homeowners of foreclosed homes in newspapers can help you to get in contact with them and thus begin negotiations without having to go through a lender or other individual.
Lenders earn quite a bit of money as a result of civil action and auctions so they want the home to be sold by means of foreclosure. Even though it is uncommon, a person could try to get their lender to take a sum lower than the total mortgage.
About the Author:
Know how credit card reduction services can impact your
credit score? There are some things you need to know before using these services. Find out what you need to know on the
Debt Smackdown website
by Chris Clare
At this present time to say that the mortgage market is in a certain state of turmoil would be the understatement of the year. The situation has gone from one where whoever wanted a mortgage could get one to a situation where it is only the people who can afford not to need one will be considered.
Because of the credit crunch, lenders are being very choosy about the sort of customers they want to lend to, and in particular of the sort of customers they want for the future. The act of self certification is well and truly a thing of the past, and the highest loan to value rate at the moment is considered to be around 80%. The days of lending 100% and more against the value of property are becoming the stuff of legend. As such, the main area to suffer in the business, and it is suffering badly, is that of the “buy to lets”.
Buy to let, it has to be said, has fueled a large proportion of the housing growth over the last 5 years. It has been this market that has kept the property market running. That said it has not come without a great cost to both the economy and ordinary people. I say ordinary people because it has been ordinary people buying buy to let and maybe that has been the fundamental problem.
I remember back in the very early 80s car auctions were the main preserve of the motor trade. Ordinary people did not go to car auctions and when they did they looked like ducks out of water. However during this time it became fashionable for a lot of ordinary folk to go and try and pick up a bit of a bargain and polish it and sell it on for a small profit. So we had milkmen, firemen, postmen and just about anyone getting in on the game.
But experience (or inexperience) started to show and the so called bargains were sometimes nothing more than the proverbial pig in a poke. And the outcome was that these guys would get fleeced. It is an uncannily familiar situation to the one that people had found themselves in with regards to the buy to let market. Okay, the amounts of money that were changing hands were different but the point is that people were participating in a market in which they had no prior knowledge, and were buying houses that were way overpriced, in some cases without even seeing what they were buying.
Now I have had ten years professional experience with regards to purchasing property and obviously I don’t mean the house that I live in. I have been involved in the buy to let market and in all that time I have never, nor would I consider, buying a property that I had not viewed. And I would say that this would be applicable to any landlord. So what baffles me is why someone without any previous experience would deem it a sensible thing to do.
The effect of this careless disregard for common sense is that the market is now in the state that it is. And because these people borrowed money from institutions who would end up having to acknowledge the fact that they had taken on risky borrowers, the institutions in turn put severe lending restrictions in place. Even over the last few months loan to value mortgages have tumbled from 85% to 75%. And things may still get worse before they get better as house prices continue to drop.
All this leaves an industry in great turmoil with very little prospect of recovery. What I suggest is, I would like to see forward thinking lenders come out with a professional buy to let product for landlords that have over ten properties. These landlords have already demonstrated they can fund purchases up to now and it would mean that they could get into a market that is quite beneficial for buyers in general. In addition this type of lending would have the result of producing some buyers in the market place which would at least keep the housing market moving at a trickle which is more than it is moving at the moment.
by John Brennan
Debt consolidation business is tricky and who can be trusted? Due to the prevailing deteriorating economic conditions all through the world, there are a number of people looking for debt consolidation and thus secure their finances. Debt solution firms a dime a dozen, however, there are perhaps an equal number who are there just to cheat you and pocket your money and therefore finding a trustworthy firm is a difficult process. There is a way of course; by becoming an informed customer you should be able to find a trustworthy firm to help you through your financial position.
At the outset, you need to understand what is involved in debt consolidation. Combining a number of monthly debt payments into one single payment each month is usually known as debt consolidation. The debt consolidation firm will also act the middlemen between the borrower and the lenders to renegotiate and lower the interest rate or even lower the debt amount owed.
Second, you must be willing to research these businesses on the internet before making a decision. There are many honest companies online, but there are even more dishonest ones who are only trying to take your money. Who can I trust when it comes to debt consolidation? Letas examine what factors you need to pay close attention to during your research.
A majority of these companies advertise as being non-profit companies. This definitely gives them an air of legitimacy. However, please read the fine print as many of these businesses have found a way around the tax laws and are able to claim as a non-profit organization. This does not necessarily mean they are trustworthy.
Another option to research the companyas legitimacy is to check with the numerous trade organizations online. These background details are always available freely on the internet and should provide you a fair idea about the firm you are researching. The one item that you should be concentrating on is to check if there are too many customer complaints against them and how many of them are still unresolved.
Also, find out what fees are involved if you choose the company to act as your debt guide through the consolidation process. Legitimate companies may charge a small processing fee, but are usually paid by the credit card companies and not by the consumer. Those companies who are less trustworthy may charge large fees that may be hidden and tacked onto your monthly payment.
Before you decide to go with a debt consolidation company, try calling your credit card companies yourself to try to come to an agreement without the help of an outside source. In many cases, they will work with you to find a lower interest rate as well as lower monthly payments.
Who can I trust when it comes to debt consolidation? By becoming an informed consumer, you will be able to weed through the scams and find a debt consolidation service that is trustworthy and able to meet your need for financial security.
by John Cooper
The maximum amount of time a foreclosure can be on your credit report is seven years. There are false reports that say a minimum of seven years.
These reports are false, did you know that credit reporting is entirely voluntary. A lender does not have to report a negative mark on your credit file and can remove one at any time.
I would first recommend that you dispute the listing directly with the credit bureaus. This is done by mailing a dispute letter to each credit bureau.
In this dispute letter you are challenging the validity or accuracy of the foreclosure. Common reasons for a challenge include; account paid, not my account, information is wrong, item out of date, etc.
It is common for credit bureaus to deem an initial dispute letter invalid. They will respond and ask you for more information about the dispute. This is a common stall tactic for the bureaus. They use this because it only costs them money to conduct an investigation.
Therefore you will have to send your dispute letter again, with some persistence you can get a dispute submitted that is valid. Then the bureaus will hold an investigation into the listing.
Since many lending institutions have gone under because of the housing crisis and the ones that did not are financially strapped there is a good chance your foreclosure will be unverifiable. If this is the case the mark must be removed from your credit report.
If you are having trouble submitting a valid dispute or the foreclosure is verified then I recommend a credit repair service. They often have credit lawyers on their staffs that have an expert understanding of credit laws. These lawyers can use advanced dispute tactics or if necessary even take your case to court.
We do expect to see some new laws or case precedents emerge from this housing crisis. It is probably in your best interest to hire a service especially if the foreclosure is not your only negative listing on your credit report.
You do however have one more option. You can negotiate a settlement agreement with the lender. In exchange for your payment get the lender to agree to remove the foreclosure from your credit report.
In sum, you do not have to just live with bad credit. You can have inaccurate or invalid negative marks removed from your credit report.
by Walter Fox
Times are tough economically, but what if you could use the current market to achieve financial freedom? Using one of the best option trading tips, The Iron Condor Spread, in addition to handling your personal expenses with care will put your money back to work for you. You may need patience, but in time the rewards will be worth it.
The Iron Condor Spread is more advanced than other systems for trading options online. However it achieves higher profits and provides for a much lower potential loss. The Iron Spread consists of bear-call and bull-put options, spread over the same underlying security. By building off the Condor Spread, the Iron Condor Spread provides for a net credit through doubling the credit on a single spread position
How is profit made with this option trading tip? Since two spreads are involved in this system, there are two break-even points: the upper break-even and the lower break-even. When the stock stays above the lower break-even point or beneath the upper break-even point, profit is made.
Before using this option trading tip,ensure that you have a large enough cash balance in your account. Many of the option trading brokers that are online will not let you enter this type of spread without the ability to meet margin requirements with the proper funds.
What are the advantages of an Iron Condor Spread? 1)Enjoy an uncovered position by not owning any stock. 2) This option trading tip is for a completely neutral strategy. 3) There is an increase on potential returns thanks to the call and put options. * Controlled risk and lower potential risk due to double credit
The Iron Condor Spread is ideally used when the underlying asset is not expected to change, or to only change minimally over the course of the life of the option. When the middle strike equals the price of the underlying asset, the profit is maximized at expiration. In addition the range of customisation allowed with this system of option trading is admirable. This is calculation of profit:
Maximum Profit = Net Credit Profit % = (Credit gained from short legs/greatest difference in strike) x 100 Max Loss = Greatest difference in the consecutive strike a” net credit . When using this formula the maximum profit is limited to the net gained credit. The maximum loss is limited to the level of the maximum calculated loss
Using the Iron Condor Spread provides a large number of advantages, although be forewarned of this: making a profit using the Iron Condor Spread requires time and active monitoring. As a result a proper analysis prior to entry will be necessary. It is also important to remember that the Iron Condor Spread will require high levels of trading to be successful. Traders with lower levels of trading will be unsuccessful in using the Iron Condor Spread.
by William Blake
There are sometimes things that we cannot control and we have to get the things that we need now even if we do not have the money to pay for it. These times are when having a credit card is nice. However when the bill for the card comes in, it can be an unpleasant experience. There are some people who cannot help using their credit cards and need some advice on how to better maintain their financial situations.
Get Help
There are places that you can turn to for help with your credit cards. You can try a number of things to get your interest rates and payments lowered. Most credit cards have customer services numbers that you can call. When you call these numbers ask if you can get a lower interest rate for your card. They can tell you within minutes if you are eligible for this service or not. This is an easy way to help with your high interest and the climbing balances.
Get Help Online
Other help is available and can be found on line. There are thousands of financial experts out there who can help you with your credit card debt and they can easily be located on line. Sometimes it can be arranged for you to have a live chat with credit counselors that can help you get back on track and better manage your finances. There are also web sites that sell reading material with instructions on how to get out from under debt.
Counselors That Can Help
Credit counseling is also available on the internet or face to face. Credit counselors can evaluate your situation and explain to you where you have gotten off track. Also some are willing to negotiate with your creditors in your behalf to reduce your interest and give you a more manageable payment. Seeking help from credit counselors will help you drastically improve your credit scores.
Credit Counseling for Free
Most of the time credit card counseling is free. There are places that offer this help to the public at little or no cost. You will need to have all of your information ready for them as well as a list of all your creditors and debt amounts. They will find a way that best suits you and help you decrease your debt one step at a time.
About the Author:
Are you tired of barely keeping up with your credit card debt? Get some simple ways to
pay off credit card bill on the Debtopedia website. Visit http://www.debtopedia.com for a free copy of my “Secrets Of Credit Card Debt” report.
by Caden Flynn
Should you find yourself in debt, in order to pay any creditors it is advisable to sell some of your possessions. Think long term regarding this - losing a few ‘precious” things now will get you out of debt and once you are back on track you can replace them. If things are a little more serious and it is a car loan or mortgage or indeed both that you cannot repay, think seriously about selling. You may find yourself in the fortunate position of not only having enough funds to pay off your debt, but there may even be some money remaining. If you don’t have anything worth selling it is advisable for you to investigate the possibilities available to help you repair your credit and then start over building your credit rating.
Another obvious choice is to reduce your spending to save money, putting these savings into reducing your debt. Most people buy things they really don’t need and there are plenty of others who are willing to buy these same things, so a garage sale can be a fantastic way to raise a few extra dollars towards the bills. EBay is also an excellent place to sell items you no longer need.
Another possibility is to negotiate with your credit providers. Many creditors are willing to reduce monthly payments for a period of time to help you get back on track as they view any payment, no matter how small, as preferable to receiving nothing. Nothing is really impossible. What can you do to reduce your expenses and start getting your life back?
How much are you spending on groceries each week? Do coupons help you to save? Do you choose items that are on sale or do you insist on paying for higher priced brands? Have you considered buying your groceries in bulk?
We know that to build credit requires money. Using coupons or buying sale items will help - the money you don’t use on these will go towards your credit bills. Gas is another expensive item. Do you really need to travel so much by car? Perhaps the car is using more gas because it needs a service. Have you thought about carpooling? Could you share the gas bill with one or two other people at work? Every little bit helps.
What can you do to reduce the bills at home? Are you careful with electricity, gas and other utilities? Can you sacrifice your cable or satellite TV for a few months to enable you to catch up on your bills? Think about borrowing books from the library rather than buying them - libraries also often have magazines as well, so you can save by cutting down on your subscriptions.
Do you buy your lunch for work or do you take it from home? There are many more savings options. Second hand clothing, going to sales to purchase necessary items, reducing your spending on vacations and gifts: all these little savings add up. How much more if you opt for balance transfer options for your numerous credit cards? Each little bit and every big portions will help you get your life back to normal.
Whether or not these suggestions are of any help to you, you may still consider purchasing a Credit Repair Kit. The $30.00 it may cost you is a small price to pay for repairing your credit. Take one step at a time and you will rid yourself of debt.
by Matt Douglas
To remove a negative mark on your credit from Midland Credit Management you should dispute the listing. You can dispute a listing by creating a dispute letter or hiring a credit repair firm.
If you have minor damage to your credit report then I suggest you repair your credit yourself. However if you have multiple negative marks on your credit report I suggest a service.
When the bureaus receive your dispute letter and deem it valid they will investigate the disputed listing. They will contact Midland Credit and verify the account is yours, the dates on the account, and the amount of the debt.
If the mark can not be verified then it must be removed. There is a good chance that Midland Credit will not spend the resources verifying an old non collectible debt.
However some accounts will be verified and this is when a credit repair company can be handy. They can use advanced dispute techniques such as; escalated dispute information requests, creditor direct intervention and debt validation.
Also a company can go to court on your behalf should it be required. It has been found that many negative marks are removed upon an investigation, regardless of the marks accuracy.
Who is Midland Credit Management?
They are a collection agency. They buy accounts from other collection agencies and directly from lenders.
They are a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group. Their offices are in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Minnesota.
There are rumors that Midland Credit actively pursues judgments. This means they will sue you in civil court to repay the debt.
If this happens it will ruin your credit score, in addition your wages can be garnished. Thus you should act immediately if you get a mark from Midland Credit.
In addition if you just pay them, it will not remove the mark they reported on your credit. It will only change the status of the mark, and this mark will still damage your credit score.
In sum respond to a mark on your credit from Midland Credit before it really becomes a problem. You can have bad credit marks erased from your credit report.
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