Though you may not receive any feedback from the FTC they will listen. It is their job to ensure that debt collectors comply with the FDCPA. In fact every year they are required to report to Congress on the steps they have taken to curtail illegal debt collection practices and on the types of complaints they receive. Here is a summary of the 66,627 complaints received by the FTC in 2005 that are considered violations of third-party collectors. Many consumers never complain, while others complain about activities that do not violate any law.
by Valary Miller on 04/18/2006
Credit.com’s financial and legal experts have teamed up to produce a comprehensive Identity Theft Victim’s Bill of Rights for consumers. This article details your rights to fraud alerts, free credit reports, credit report file freezes, identity theft records and credit report disputes.
by Emily Peters on 04/18/2006
Years ago they made the business decision to NOT report their customer’s actual credit card credit limits to any of the credit reporting agencies. So if you have a Capital One credit card with a $5,000 credit limit, that amount isn’t being reported to the credit bureaus. Instead, they will report your “highest balance ever” as an alternative. So, if you charged $1,500 on your Capital One card one month and that was the highest balance you’ve ever had…that would be reported to the three credit reporting agencies as your “High Balance.” The field that is supposed to have the credit limit would be empty.
by John Ulzheimer on 04/17/2006
Congratulations to Andrew from Satisficed.com and Elana from ClampCampus.com! Both Andrew and Elana were winners in our Bizzaro Blog contest for last week’s Funny Money Friday. Your free copies of the book “Credit Scores, Credit Cards” will arrive in the mail shortly!
by Emily Peters on 04/17/2006
# You can request copies of your credit reports from each of the credit bureaus. The cost is controlled by law and you cannot be charged more than $16 for a copy of your credit reports directly from the big three.
# Once you get the copies you can review each of them with representatives from the credit bureaus to determine what is accurate and what is incorrect.
# If you feel that any of the information is incorrect you can submit your dispute in writing or via the Internet.
by Credit.com on 04/17/2006
Two articles have come out today that talk about the tax perks of celebrities and politicians. The first article from ABC News addresses the strange perks and deductions available to celebrities. According to one tax expert, Paris Hilton may be able to deduct Chihuahua related costs, Nelly could deduct his gold “grillz” and George Clooney could write off his personal trainer.
by Emily Peters on 04/14/2006
There’s only a couple of days left to file your taxes. Do you still need to do your taxes? If so, you’re not exactly alone. According to the IRS, about 25% of taxpayers wait until the last two weeks to file their taxes. That’s a lot of people who may still be e-filing on Easter.
by Emily Peters on 04/14/2006
The key with credit scores is to understand what makes them tick. If you can become familiar with what counts…and how much, then you’ll be in a better position to score very well. And, it’s important to score well because your lenders, insurance companies and even employers can look at your scores.
Here are the 5 factors that influence the points in your FICO scores. They are…
1. Payment history – this is how well (or how poor) you pay your bills
2. Inquiries – this is a record of how often you apply for credit
3. Debt load – this is a record of how much debt you are currently carrying
4. Credit mix – this is a record of your account diversity
5. Age of credit history – this is how old you are
by Credit.com on 04/14/2006
A CreditBloggers.com reader posted this common question about the impact of marriage on credit reports and scores online today:
I have a question about melding excellent credit and terrible credit scores when two people get married. Can creditors come after a new spouse for their partner’s debt? Will the bad credit history of one spouse ruin the good credit of the other?
Nothing automatically happens to your credit reports and credit scores when you tie the knot. Your credit reports and credit scores will remain independent. One person’s bad credit scores will not ruin the other person’s good credit scores.
by Emily Peters on 04/12/2006
Think about all the hours you have put in at work so far this year, and remember this: so far, it has all been for Uncle Sam (and his relatives in the individual states). According to the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day® will fall on April 26 in 2006 – three days later than last year and ten days later than 2003 and 2004. Tax Freedom Day calculates total tax collections in comparison to total income to come up with the percentage of income that we pay for taxes. This year, taxes eat up 31.6 percent of our income. Converted into the percentage into days worked, it means that if you started working on January 1, it would take until April 26 to pay taxes. Ouch!
by Gerri Detweiler on 04/12/2006
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