The most rewarding thing for the employees at Improve My Credit
USA is when a customer gets the house or car they helped the
customer get through credit repair.
The Humble-based company first opened in a small shopping center
in May 2010 but has grown tremendously to cover most of the Houston
area, and it even has clients from around the country.
The US Supreme Court has handed credit counseling agencies a
major victory. By an 8-1 vote, on January 10, 2012, the Court ruled
that lawsuits brought under the federal Credit Repair Organizations
Act (CROA) can be subject to mandatory arbitration.
This is a profoundly significant decision with far-reaching
positive implications for counseling agencies and others in the
consumer financial services sector that in recent years have been
the target of aggressive plaintiffs lawyers. Providers of
consumer financial services can use this pro-arbitration ruling to
help mitigate the threat of consumer class action lawsuits by using
carefully drafted contract language….
Gilbert, AZ — (SBWIRE) — 01/28/2012 — With the national unemployment rate hovering at about 8.5 percent and the cost of living on the rise, the number of people who have racked up credit card debt is at an all-time high. There is almost one trillion dollars in revolving US consumer debt and $95 billion in credit card debt.
For most Americans, having bad credit not only hurts their pride but can also leave a negative mark for up to 10 years per item depending on the nature of the debt.
The good news is, with help from a reputable credit repair company, no bad credit score is beyond repair.
But selecting the right credit repair company is essential.
With 500,000 retained clients and more than one million negative items removed in 2010 alone, Lexington Law Firm has established itself as the leader in consumer credit repair both in scale and in results. Highly recommended by CreditRepairCompanies.com, a niche directory for credit repair company listings, Lexington Law has been in business for almost two decades and offers clients a number of benefits.
According to the Lexington Law credit repair reviews by CreditRepairCompanies.com, the company gets an A plus on its overall scorecard for services and value of services rendered.
“Lexington Law is one of the premier choices when it comes to credit repair companies. With over 19 years of experience and hundreds of thousands of clients served, they have a unique, proactive approach to credit repair,” states CreditRepairCompanies.com. “There are three levels of service available, and you are in control of which items on your credit report to dispute. Getting started is simple, and there is a free online consultation available via the company’s website.”
The Lexington Law reviews also reveal the various benefits offered by the credit repair company. The company’s case facilitators paralegals work with all three credit agencies to repair a person’s credit and case supervisors lawyers are ready to assist with any complex issues that may arise. The company also allows customers to pay for service month-to-month in order to protect and repair their credit on an ongoing basis. Concord and Concord Premier level customers receive an array of added benefits.
In addition to their glowing reviews for Lexington Law, CreditRepairCompanies.com provides site visitors with a variety of reviews for other credit repair companies and a wide range of insightful information about how to improve credit ratings.
For more information, visit http://www.CreditRepairCompanies.com
About CreditRepairCompanies.com
CreditRepairCompanies.com is a niche directory for credit repair company listings. Customers can find both national brands and local credit repair shops by searching the in-depth listings that include services provided, pricing and consumer reviews. CreditRepairCompanies.com seeks to raise the awareness and reputation of the industry.
PHOENIX, AZ, Dec 07, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Perhaps you are among those whose credit has taken a nosedive in
recent years, for which you are suffering this holiday season. If so,
CreditInfoCenter.com has a holiday gift for you.
CreditInfoCenter.com’s online free credit repair guide goes into
great detail about the theory and logistics behind the credit repair
process. Here are the basic steps:
1. Request copies of your credit reports. It is essential you take
advantage of the annual free credit report you are entitled to from
each credit reporting agency.
2. Analyze your report. Go through your credit report with a
fine-tooth comb, making sure you know every item listed, good and
bad.
3. Make a list of all items you consider to be questionable or
negative. Note, it is important that you dispute all negative items,
whether you agree with them or not. It is your legal right to dispute
anything on your credit report.
4. Write letters of dispute to the credit bureaus.
CreditInfoCenter.com’s free credit repair guide provides sample
dispute letters for your reference.
5. Mail letters to the credit bureaus. Send them certified mail so
you have proof when the credit bureaus receive them. Bureaus have 30
days to process disputes — if they can’t do it within this time,
they must remove the listing.
6. Document your efforts. Record when you sent your letters, and the
results.
7. Wait for the bureaus to investigate your claims. Did the credit
bureau respond in time? If not, they must remove the listing.
8. Analyze the results. After the credit bureaus have responded to
your request, go through your (hopefully) adjusted credit report to
note changes, or the lack thereof.
9. Repeat. Dispute your negative listings once again, but this time
noting different grounds for dispute than the previous time. Any
number of things could prove impossible for the credit bureaus to
verify.
About CreditInfoCenter.com:
CreditInfocenter.com was founded in 1997 as one-stop destination for
consumers looking for free advice on repairing bad credit and
rebuilding good credit. It advocates the self-help approach to credit
and debt management. CreditInfoCenter Editor and Founder Kristy Welsh
is the author of several books on personal finance, including Good
Credit Is Sexy, a tongue-in-cheek guide to managing your credit.
For More Information on CreditInfoCenter.com:
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/
Good Credit Is Sexy:
http://www.goodcreditissexy.com
For Press and Media:
Kathleen Richards
CreditInfoCenter.com
480-990-3938
SOURCE: CreditInfoCenter.com
Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.
PHOENIX, AZ, Dec 21, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
If you have done much research on credit repair, you know the
information online is pretty extensive. Unfortunately, it’s important
to have a healthy skepticism about most of it. While many people mean
well in advice shared on credit repair websites, blogs and forums,
there is a great deal of misinformation out there. And if you’re not
careful, you could make a move that not only prolongs the credit
repair process, but actually serves to make your credit worse.
For those tough questions you need answered in a timely manner, the
credit repair forum at CreditInfoCenter.com is a great place to
start. Since 1997, founder and editor Kristy Welsh has immersed
herself in credit repair education.
“The forum has grown into one of the most trusted resources on the
internet for getting answers to specific questions that can be hard
to find weeding through general credit repair websites and blogs,”
says Kristy. Not only does she answer questions personally, but so do
a number of other credit repair veterans who have “been there, and
done that.”
Just within recent days, readers have received multiple informed
replies to the following posts:
— New collections on my credit report, no letter from them?
— Improving my credit score
— How to handle lawsuits if you are sued for a debt.
— $29 mystery “student loan” from 5 years ago showing up on credit
report
— Settling charge-off/repo
— Debt collector keeps adding to debt
As for more general credit repair information, CreditInfoCenter.com is
right on target with that too. From Myths About Fixing Your Credit to
The 5 Biggest Mistakes People Make In Credit Repair, you are bound to
find just about everything you care (and need) to know about the
credit repair process.
About CreditInfoCenter.com:
Kristy Welsh founded CreditInfoCenter.com in 1997. Since then, it has
served as a one-stop destination for consumers looking for free
advice on repairing bad credit and dealing with debt, advocating the
self-help approach to credit and debt management. Kristy Welsh is the
Editor and Founder of CreditinfoCenter, as well as the author of
several books on personal finance, including Good Credit Is Sexy.
For More Information on CreditInfoCenter.com:
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/
Good Credit Is Sexy:
http://www.goodcreditissexy.com
For Press and Media:
Kathleen Richards
CreditInfoCenter.com
480-990-3938
SOURCE: CreditInfoCenter.com
Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.
ReallyBadCreditOffers.com, industry leading provider of comprehensive reviews to help consumers find personal loans for bad credit, featuring offer comparisons, lender rankings and more to help hard to finance people borrow money is reporting increased loan activity to meet emergency bills, not gifts this holiday season.
Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) December 18, 2011
The online consumer financial resource ReallyBadCreditOffers.com is reporting an uptick in emergency money borrowing this Christmas season, with people borrowing money with less intent for holiday spending as years past. Featuring bad credit loan offer comparisons, the online financial site is reporting a rise in desperation borrowing.
Connecting borrowers with easy to approve loan offers and credit repair services, the financial website has serviced 10s of thousands of visitors since its founding in 2008 and has been tracking consumer behavior trends.
Ariel Pryor, financing expert at ReallyBadCreditOffers.com said, The rise in popularity of consumers seeking hard to get loans paints a bleak picture of the overall financial health of this Christmas season.
The instant loans for bad credit that we review and compare offer hassle free, easy access to money for borrowers that otherwise have few traditional options available because of their credit history, said Pryor. The Christmas holiday shopping season, considered to run from late November to early January, in the past has experienced a high volume of borrowing, typically to finance gift buying, but the site is reporting a change of intent this year as customers are faced with emergency, immediate bills.
The US financing industry has been extremely volatile lately, due to the many legislative initiatives that federal and state governments are promoting in order to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. These new laws are constantly changing areas of the industry that affect interest rates, maximum loan amount caps, the procedures involving the borrowers income verification, loan repayment terms, and the number of outstanding loans that are allowed per borrower.
About ReallyBadCreditOffers.com
ReallyBadCreditOffers.com has been the leading industry source connecting consumers with bad credit loan services. The site has been helped hundreds of thousands find financing since its creation in 2008. The staff reviews the bad credit marketplace to reveal to its visitors the latest information on lenders, credit cards, credit repair, loan and bankruptcy resources for the hard to finance.
Contact:
Ariel Pryor, Financial Expert
www.reallybadcreditoffers.com
(520) 344-2001
# # #
For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/12/prweb9049426.htm
The US Census Bureaus release of 2010 data on income, poverty and health insurance in the United States paints a bleak picture of Americas economic realities. According to the data, the poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, its highest level since 1993. That translates to 42.6 million people living below the poverty line. The ranks of the underemployed also have grown, with those employed part-time for economic reasons rising from 8.4 million to 8.8 million.
To better understand why the job market hasnt improved, policymakers and economists are increasingly looking to the field of behavioral economics to determine the social, cognitive and emotional factors that lead to unemployment.
Their findings suggest that many hard-to-place workers experience barriers to employment that limit their access to jobs, even during times when jobs are plentiful.
Imagine, for instance, something as simple as the importance of owning a vehicle. Without a car, getting to and from work, grocery shopping or accessing day care for children can be an insurmountable challenge. A study from the Brookings Institution found that even in metropolitan regions, only one-quarter of jobs in low- and middle-skill industries are accessible via public transit, as compared to one-third of jobs in high-skill industries. For many rural families, public transit is non-existent.
Other barriers include poor credit, lack of a bank account and other financial building blocks to obtaining and maintaining jobs. These findings led to the development of a unique community development program that provides small, low-interest loans and credit repair guidance to working poor families. Known as Ways to Work, the organization has helped more than 27,000 families improve their financial situation through more than $50 million in loan funds used for a variety of work-related purposes, including purchasing a vehicle.
More than 90 percent of program participants report that their car loan helped them maintain or improve their employment situation, with 75 percent reporting an increase in earnings, 67 percent opening a bank account and 80 percent moving their children to more appropriate childcare providers.
In Florida, Ways to Work is part of a statewide collaboration known as The Florida Prosperity Partnership (FPP). It is made up of more than 140 organizations providing a range of services, including low-cost car loans, financial literacy programs, money management training, free income tax preparation — all offered to promote financial stability and job retention for low-to-moderate income Floridians.
Malekia McKinney, a Ways to Work participant from St. Petersburg, explains the impact the program had on her: I found myself in a situation where I was single, taking care of four kids (who I recently adopted), and caring for my mother, who was terminally ill. I was under pressure because I had limited income and no car to get around to take care of all the necessities. Ways to Work not only provided me with strategies for rebuilding my credit and managing my budget, but they also helped me to finance a vehicle that my family could fit in safely and get everywhere we needed to go. Having transportation has opened doors that led me to more income so that I can better provide for my family and me.
A public-private partnership, Ways to Work typically receives more than three-quarters of its funding from the private sector and offers a strong return on investment in helping families move off public assistance and into higher paying tax brackets, as well as stimulating local economies through automobile and other purchases to address family needs.
Ways to Work currently operates programs in St. Petersburg, Jacksonville and Miami-Dade. The St. Petersburg program is in the process of expanding to serve Tampa residents, and new Ways to Work programs are under development in Orlando, Tallahassee and Broward County.
A two-year partnership and $2 million national grant investment by The Walmart Foundation is helping Ways to Work to expand its programs across the state and nationwide. This is particularly vital for Florida since it is one of the states hardest hit by the mortgage foreclosure crisis and unemployment. Additional state or federal funding would serve as a multiplier, helping grow Ways to Work to additional regions, particularly in more rural areas where the need is greatest.
Improving the American economy over the long term will require not only creating new jobs, but also identifying and employing strategies to help those who are underemployed maintain and improve their job status. Ways to Work is an example of a community-based program that offers a hand up, not a hand out. It is the kind of support Floridas families need to have greater access to economic opportunity and prosperity and the kind of low-cost program that lawmakers can embrace to help grow the work force without increasing the deficit.
Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) December 15, 2011
The credit market has constricted dramatically since early 2009 and more and more Americans are having to deal with a bad credit history that prevents standard loan qualification approvals. The webs leading resource for bad credit, has revised its comparison of the major personal loan companies that offer credit to those with bad credit.
ReallyBadCreditOffers.com, a bad credit lending consumer watchdog site, which has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visits since its inception in 2008, is now listing the best personal loan offers for those with bad credit ratings.
The site provides easy access to quick comparisons of the best competitive lending offers for people with bad credit and offers convenient links to each offers online application. Their stated goal is to make borrowing quick and hassle free for people.
ReallyBadCreditOffers.com spokesman Ariel Pryor said, When people need money in an emergency, it is still important to get the best rate that is available. The entire world of credit was changed with the events of late 2008 and early 2009. There are now millions of Americans that have had their credit affected by a negative credit scores and now they searching for the right way to prove their creditworthiness.” Mr. Pryor added, “They should not be excessively punished for events that were beyond their control.”
Interest rates can vary depending on the applicants credit history and borrowers are connected with the lenders most suited to their needs.
The site also features comparisons for home loans, credit cards, debt consolidation and credit repair services for people with bad credit.
We make it our priority to be the best one-stop consumer resource for all solutions to bad credit. Ariel Pryor said. The American consumer has been under pressure for far too long, and we want those that want a second chance at access to hassle free financial support to have the best opportunity possible.”
About ReallyBadCreditOffers.com
ReallyBadCreditOffers.com has been the leading industry source of accurate information for consumers with bad credit. The site has informed millions of visitors since it was originated in 2005. The staff scours the financial marketplace and brings the latest information on bad credit, credit cards, loans, and resources of financing for those with a negative credit history.
Contact:
Ariel Pryor, Financial Expert
http://www.reallybadcreditoffers.com
(520) 344-2001
###
The Credit Repair Services, free evaluation, includes a review of credit reports and credit scores maintained at the three main credit reporting agencies. The company provides a personal consultation including development of a credit repair plan using proprietary tactics, methods, strategies and expertise in maintaining and improving a credit report and credit score There is no obligation.
The company has experience in dealing with creditors, collectors and credit reporting agencies. The Clean Credit Repair Program was developed based on thousands of hours of credit management experience and relying on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair and Accuarate Credit Transaction Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other consumer protection legislation.
Consumer Credit Capital is a registered, bonded Texas Credit Services Organization. The companys website has a wealth of credit related tips, and resources, including relevant consumer protection legislation and details of their Clean Credit Repair Program. Visit the website to learn more.
Q: I am a 22-year-old single parent who is seriously in debt and
needs help.
In March, I did a consolidation loan because I could not afford
paying my creditors while I was on maternity leave. I used the
credit I had because I was broke. I couldnt provide for my baby,
and I couldnt watch my baby suffer. I have stopped paying the
consolidation loan now because I cannot afford it. I have other
responsibilities, as well. I dont know what to do. I have even
stopped answering my phone because I am scared. The anxiety has
started taking its toll on my health. What can I do?
A: Its time to stop making excuses and begin taking charge of
your life and of your babys. If being a single parent isnt the
road you willingly chose, it is still the road you have to travel.
This means you have fewer options, incur more expenses and must do
everything you can to avoid setbacks, as it will be especially hard
for you to recover. But dont despair. You can do it, and I can
help.
It is hard to solve a debt problem with more debt. Your
situation is a great example of why consolidating debt sometimes
only exacerbates the problem. For debt consolidation to be
successful, you must stop charging and begin saving enough to pay
off the new loan. In other words, change the behavior or
circumstance that led to accumulating the debt in the first place.
Since you didnt, you now owe more on top of the debt that was
already consolidated.
Ignoring your creditors and not answering your phone will not
help. I recommend you contact a nonprofit credit-counseling agency.
You can find a reputable agency through the Association of
Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies or the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling. Your certified credit counselor
will review your income and expenses and help you build a workable
spending plan. This will tell you how much income you will need to
live, build an emergency fund and repay your debt.
Then you have to find the income. It may be that your current
job will be enough if you trim expenses. However, you may need a
second job or a new one that pays more. It wont be easy, but you
have no choice if you want to do right by your child.
At 22, you shouldnt consider bankruptcy unless you consider
yourself hopeless and helpless. A bankruptcy will stay on your
credit report for 10 years (until you are 32 and your child is 10).
It will make renting a decent apartment more difficult and buying a
car or insurance more expensive. Thats something you dont
need.
Once you have a spending plan, the best way to avoid unwanted
debt is to save as much of your income as possible while keeping
your expenses below your income. That may mean making some drastic
changes. For example, you may need to share your housing expenses
with a roommate or family member. Any sacrifices you make now will
be well worth it once you have your finances back in order and are
no longer scared to answer your phone because of problem debt.
Steve Bucci is a personal finance coach and author of Credit
Repair Kit for Dummies. Email him at debtadviser@bankrate.com.