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Sue Jackson, regional director for Manpower in Santa Rosa until she retired in September, was alarmed when Wells Fargo & Co. notified her last month of suspicious activity in her bank account. Worried that someone may have access to her financial information, she tried to contact the three national credit bureaus to check her credit history, which anyone who is a victim of identity theft is supposed to be able to get for free. It wasn't easy. ``The menu on the phone was very convoluted,'' Jackson said, adding that she could never figure out how to get to a live person. ``I've been in business a long time, and I know how to get around things. This just was not a real simple process.'' Ultimately, she paid $15 for one report and is still waiting for another. Meanwhile, she's been reassured by Wells Fargo that her account was not accessed by outsiders. The next time Jackson checks her credit history, she said she'll take advantage of a popular new program she just learned about -- one set up by the Federal Trade Commission to make the process much easier. ``We've filled millions of consumer requests for credit reports'' since the program began Dec. 1, said Clifton O'Neal, a spokesman for credit bureau TransUnion in Chicago. Credit reports tell such things as where you live, what bills you owe, whether you pay them on time and whether you've filed bankruptcy. The three major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Trans-Union and Experian -- sell this information to lenders, insurance companies, employers and others who use it to evaluate your creditworthiness when you apply to borrow money, buy insurance, rent an apartment or get a job. It used to be that people checked their credit reports just to be sure the information was correct. Now many, like Jackson, are motivated by fear of identity theft. They want to see if any unauthorized charges or someone else's troubled past is showing up on their report. Combating identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other personal information to go shopping, withdraw money from your bank account, take out a mortgage using your good credit or a multitude of other frauds. More than 10 million U.S. adults were victims of identity theft in 2003, according to a recent Federal Trade Commission report. Recently, hundreds of thousands of people had their personal information stolen from ChoicePoint Inc. and LexisNexis, two of the nation's leading brokers of personal data. While revamping the federal fair credit laws in late 2003, Congress included a provision that entitles all Americans to one free credit report a year from each of the three major credit bureaus. To handle all of the requests, the Federal Trade Commission set up the Annual Credit Report Request Service in Atlanta. Consumers can contact the service by telephone, Internet or mail. Eligibility is being phased in, starting in the West. Beginning Dec. 1, free reports have been available to people in 13 Western states, including California. Midwestern states started March 1, Southern states begin June 1 and Eastern states begin Sept. 1. If you use the online service, your credit report will pop up within minutes on your screen. If you order a report by telephone, it's mailed within 15 days. Getting credit reports To get the report, you give your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. Sometimes you'll be asked questions only you should be able to answer, like who your mortgage lender is. If you apply online, the credit bureaus will hit you with lots of optional offers that cost money -- for example, credit monitoring services, debt analysis and various ways you can get and track your credit score. When you get your free credit report, you will not get your credit score, a three-digit number that determines whether you qualify for credit and how much interest you'll have to pay to get it. The higher your credit score, the better credit risk lenders think you are. Depending on the credit bureau, you'll have to pay $5 to $15 to get your credit score, which is based mainly on your payment history but also considers such things as the amount of money you owe and whether you've been bankrupt. Different scores likely Don't be surprised if you find out you have different scores at different credit bureaus. That's the bureaus calculate scores differently. And don't be surprised if your score changes from day to day. That happens when something triggers a change. For example, if several businesses ask for information about you, that can reduce your score on the theory that you must be trying to expand your borrowing, credit bureau spokespeople said. The rumor that your own request for your credit history will reduce your credit score is completely untrue, they said. Requests by employers also do not affect your score. Caution: Don't answer any e-mails that claim to be from one of the three credit bureaus or the Annual Credit Report Request Service. Those companies will not e-mail you for personal information -- but some identity thieves might. When you get your report, study it carefully. It will list the details of the loans and other credit that you have. If you see any mistakes, write the credit bureau. It's supposed to investigate within 45 days and give you a written report of its findings. It also has to tell you who supplied the incorrect information. Other valuable tips: * Some counselors recommend you stagger your requests, contacting a different credit bureau every four months, to keep a rolling watch on your record. * Negative information can stay on your report only seven years, except for bankruptcies, which stay 10 years. * Employers and prospective employers can see your credit history only if you agree. * Wrong information must be removed or corrected. To protect your credit history, you can put a security alert or security freeze on your credit report by calling a credit bureau directly. An alert warns any business seeking information about you that someone may be using your identity illegally. A freeze prohibits the credit bureau from releasing any information to anyone without your permission.
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Books:
by Dave Ramsey
Amazon Price: $15.74
Customer Review: Excellent book and worth the read. Much needed by many in the matter of self-discipline of personal finances
by Bill Bartmann, Jonathan Rozek
Amazon Price: $9.99
Customer Review: As with any person or organization (church church or business) that has achieved any measure of success you will be able to find plenty of negative if you google or yahoo it enough. As a person, I don't care if Bill Bartmann wears a halo or if he rips babies from the womb and eats them whole. I bought the book (through a Brian Tracy joint promotion) in order to use it as a blueprint to wealth and that blueprint hasn't worked.
I like Bartmann's straight forward writing style and his occasional use of humor. I was nearly in the floor laughing at times.
As for the substance, I would call this book a "how did" rather than a "how to". The world has out grown the method.
Bartmann is correct when discouraging the reader from approaching branches of large banks. I actually manage a branch of one of the nation's top 10 banks and Bill is right - you would spend horrid amounts of time getting to someone "in charge" and when you did finally break through you probably wouldn't get anything out of it.
I have found, through actually utilizing the information in the book, that the system Bartmann used 15-20 years ago is now an anachronism. For example, one of the local banks in my town garnishes the wages of charge off DDA and delinquent consumer loan customers. They don't send the delinquent accounts to collection agencies, they keep hammering away until they find a payroll check to garnish. No room for me in that scenario. Another local bank sells the accounts to a collection agency and afterwards the accounts are never seen again - the accounts never return to the bank once the primary collector get hold of them.
At present, I have approached 5 banks - 3 in northeast Oklahoma (Bartmann's homeland) and 2 in northwest Arkansas - using Bartmann's system. So far, I am 0-for-5. I will try a few more however, in this day and age it's pretty easy to quickly run out of local, home town banks to visit. Granted, 5 isn't an incredible sampling, but it's probably 5 more than many of the reviewers here have attempted. Besides, who's going to adopt a new system they read about in a book and visit 53 banks until they find one that will bite?
Final summary: reading how Bartmann amassed his fortune makes for an intriguing read and as a banker I found his explanation of bank operations refreshing and some times hilarious. However it is my experience, vast or minimal that may be, that the system that worked fo...
by Charles Dickens
Amazon Price: $2.00
Customer Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this BBC film adaptation of Little Dorrit. There were a few plot changes that I felt were not needed to "update" this magnificent novel; however they were fewer than the previous film. While I applaud the creativity of the earlier Edzard production, as well as some of the acting, I feel it did not do justice to the novel; so many of the characters that Dickens created were missing from that earlier adaptation. Please be true to the novel. If Dickens felt the character should be in the book or that a particular chapter was necessary, don't omit it. I have read Dickens, and with no disrespect to Ms Edzard, she is certainly no Dickens. Don't try to improve on his mastery. The new BBC adaptation of this novel recently aired on PBS. It is delightful and is worth watching. In my opinion, Dickens would have preferred it over the Edzard production. Having said this, nothing (including the BBC film) is a substitute for reading the actual novel. Even this extraordinary production cannot surpass the excellence of Dickens own prose, and a film or television drama is not the same as reading a great novel. They are two different art forms. Little Dorrit was created as a novel, and in my opinion, that is the best way to experience it. A novel can provide you with a point of view that a film can only hint at. You cannot easily verbalize what the character is thinking or feeling as you can in writing. What the author describes in words can only be reproduced as the producer's own interpretation. The reader may have a very different vision of the author's words. Still, I would recommend this DVD. It is a fine film in its own right.
by Dave Ramsey
Amazon Price: $9.99
Customer Review: The Total Money Make Over uses conveyance, transfers power to consumers to
change their behavior about money. Ramsey points out the strategies the entire financial industry employs that abates your net worth. Moreover, he reminds the reader that credit card companies that vivisect you are not friends. Yet, the steps of the "Makeover"
flays your own issues that are inhibiting your financial freedom. Finally, if you are forlorn by the financial situation, the strategies in the book will inspire you to go ballistic in becoming debt free.
Author
The Kwanzaa Coloring Book
Nobody Told Me It Was Like This
by Sophie Kinsella
Amazon Price: $6.39
Customer Review: The book was fun, I loved the characters, especially Bex and Suze. It's fun reading about how Becky will get herself out of trouble!
by Terry Goodkind
Amazon Price: $4.99
Customer Review: Debt of Bones (Sword of Truth Prequel Novel)
If you're a true Fantasy fan, you'll love Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Debt of Bones is a must read.
by Kevin Trudeau
Amazon Price: $10.17
Customer Review: Wow what can I say except I have never read anything quite like Debt Cures before in my life! It was a total surprise. I can't believe this got published. Is this a 2nd grader writing a composition for a teacher who wanted information about clearing up credit card debt? Instead, out of protest he writes a book of twenty-four chapters of mostly repeat information. About sixty percent of the book is repeated over and over. What are usable lies in about thirty pages of this three hundred page book which can be found in other sources.
And where should we start? First let me tell you about my expectation based on the infomercial and the title so you can gain a perspective of where I am coming from. The title Debt Cures should suggest that Mr. Trudeau will suggest the causes of your debt, ways to reduce or eliminate your debt, give a practical resource on getting into a specific plan to eliminate your debt and create wealth (see his cover and infomercials). It is not hard to expect these from an author toting that you can eliminate your debt. Isn't it?
Well what can I say, chapter one starts out by slandering the credit card companies and their high runaway fees. Well this has been common knowledge since the 1980's. This is when the credit card companies realized that they could add fees on your amounts in addition to interest and most people did not know. I can understand his point that credit card companies use deceptive practice, so people can not understand how their balance triples within six month. His false statement through me in the first chapter because he states "you debt problems are not your fault, but the credit card company" makes me see stars. `Hey Mr. Credit Card Company thanks for twisting my arm. By the way, that means I do not have to pay.' Well debt is at least partly your fault (80%). The high fees and interest (10%) are not and the economic factors (10%) aren't, but eighty percent of it is still your fault. Shifting the blame does not solve the problem.
The reminder of the first chapter is a self advertisement and a statement that he doesn't want to make any money, just information. Do you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, it's cheap?
Well I am dumb founded over chapters two and three because they repeat the same central theme as the first chapter Banks bad, government bad, down with the fees consumer good. Hey aren't banks in business to ah... make money? Why do I ne...
by Ellen Hodgson Brown
Amazon Price: $22.50
Customer Review: At every page my eyes get bigger! I'm glad she created short chapters cause otherwise they'd pop right out of my head!! What can be done? What can an ordinary person do to protect themselves? Is Obama listening to you? has he read the book and is he doing anything you think will help? I hope the answers are here (I'm only halfway through).
This is a must read!! If you are of any intelligence you have to read this book and then we have to demand action!!
Without this knowledge, how will we ever become No More Prey!
by Martin J. Whitman, Fernando Diz, Daniel D'Aniello
Amazon Price: $39.69
Customer Review: Fernando Diz and Martin Whitman's Distress Investing is a practical tool to both beginner and experienced investors. Today's worldwide economic downturn has created attractive investments for distressed investors which makes this book a timely release. Distress Investing guides the reader step by step from defining distressed debt to valuation. Understanding creditor's rights and bankruptcy law allow distressed investors to capitalize on investments that are overlooked by individuals who are not knowledgeable of their securities' rights. In addition, it offers insight into many of Martin Whitman's strategies that he has employed during his long successful career of investment finance. Distress Investing is well written and provides excellent examples that make it an easy read. I would recommend this book to any individual looking to expand their knowledge base beyond equities.
Credit Card Related News Headlines from around the web.:
United credit card policy could foul corporate travel - Bizjournals.com
The Money Times
United credit card policy could foul corporate travel
Bizjournals.com
United Airlines' new credit card acceptance policy threatens to make life more difficult for corporate travelers and their travel agents. ...
United announces policy change in credit card processing expensesSmartBrief
Travel Agents Need Unified Front Against United ThreatTravel Agent
United passing credit card fees to some agentsHouston Chronicle
Digital Transactions
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Credit Card Cheques Bounced Into Touch - Sky News
Telegraph.co.uk
Credit Card Cheques Bounced Into Touch
Sky News
The banning of unsolicited credit card cheques, the strengthening of consumer rights and measures to promote more sensible lending are among the policies ...
Credit card industry to be reformedThe Press Association
Credit card companies face a ban on 'exploiting' debtorsTimes Online
Card providers warn crackdown will make credit more expensiveCitywire.co.uk
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RAM Energy amends credit facility terms - Reuters
RAM Energy amends credit facility terms
Reuters
O) said its creditors have agreed to amend certain terms of its senior credit facility, providing greater flexibility in certain financial covenant in ...
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Credit Suisse Japan Private Bank Wants 'Several Hundred' Hires - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Japan Private Bank Wants 'Several Hundred' Hires
Bloomberg
July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland's biggest bank by market value, may hire hundreds of ...
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UK sets out consumer credit industry crackdown plans - Reuters
UK sets out consumer credit industry crackdown plans
Reuters
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - The British government has set out its thinking on curbing the wilder excesses of the consumer credit industry, in a white paper ...
and more »
Credit Solutions Settles $29.5 Million In Consumer Debt During ... - MarketWatch
Credit Solutions Settles $29.5 Million In Consumer Debt During ...
MarketWatch
DALLAS, Jul 01, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Credit Solutions settled $29544297.81 in June 2009, saving $14291563.27 on 4885 client accounts - a 51% average ...
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Credit Suisse Picks Globe, Robinsons to Beat Philippines Index - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Picks Globe, Robinsons to Beat Philippines Index
Bloomberg
2 mobile phone company, may climb 41 percent over the next year while Robinsons is forecast to advance 42 percent, Credit Suisse's Philippines strategist ...
and more »
Europe, Asia Downgrades to Slow as Credit Improves - Bloomberg
Europe, Asia Downgrades to Slow as Credit Improves
Bloomberg
Credit-default swap benchmarks have declined as confidence recovers from the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which caused bond investors to price ...
and more »
Renner Climbs as UBS, Credit Suisse See Brazil Growth - Bloomberg
Renner Climbs as UBS, Credit Suisse See Brazil Growth
Bloomberg
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Lojas Renner SA, Brazil's biggest publicly traded clothing retailer, rose the most in almost a week after Credit ...
and more »
NYSE's Liffe Puts Credit-Default Clearing Project Under Review - Bloomberg
NYSE's Liffe Puts Credit-Default Clearing Project Under Review
Bloomberg
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- NYSE Euronext's Liffe derivatives market put its project to provide clearing for credit-default swaps traded ...
and more »
Blog Entries Related To Loans and Other Debt Instruments:
Workplace Prof Blog: Bar Rejection Because of Excessive Student Loans
by laborprof lpb
Student Loans The New York Times is reporting on someone rejected from the bar because of excessive student loans. The story is complicated--involving tragic injuries, accusations of excessive fees, and his failure to make any ...
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Accomplishments: Gov Palin Signs ...
by Ron Devito devitor1@gmail.com
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has signed legislation [on July 1, 2009] that will avert a disruption in new education loans originated by the Alaska Student Loan Corporation (ASLC). The corporation has financed its education loan program ...
Bad Credit Personal Loan Options for Alternative Loans Made Easy ...
by JR
Personal loans can be a blessing when you are in a bind and faced with large accumulating expenses. But bad credit history can be a serious problem for those who are seeking such loan. Fortunately, there are lenders that are willing to ...
African News Update - Uganda: Why Building Loans are Gaining ...
by Content Keyword RSS copy
Uganda: Why Building Loans are Gaining Popularity (AllAfrica.com) Kampala ? UGANDA currently has a housing deficit of more than 1.7 million units and the figure is rising annually in tandem with a high population growth rate.
PERSONAL LOANS | Comfort Living
by Yoga
The need for loans varies according to individual and their needs, some people require business loans whereas some require or need personal loans. The options to get business or personal loan seem to be never ending process in which the ...
Buyer Interest in Purchase Loans Surges | Mortgages Unzipped
by Mary Miller
Requests for purchase loan quotes were up 12% in June vs. May, and up 230% since the start of the year, signifying what could be good news in the number of.
AAA Auto Loans @ Auto Loans, Car Loan Rates, Financing for Used ...
by Monitorbankrates.com
AAA is offering some very competitive auto loan rates for AAA members. Rates for car loans will vary by State but we have seen rates in the four to five percent range for all States. AAA also offers auto loans with no down payment for ...
Refinance Home Loans Online | ?Avoid the Traps, Get Expert Advice?
by Robert
If you're thinking about refinancing your mortgage loan on the Internet here are several valuable tips to help you avoid paying too much.
Default Prevention: Understanding the Consequences of Defaulting ...
by unknown
In my previous articles, I discussed the options a student or graduate has when faced with large student loan payments and the inability to comply with standard repayment. I felt it best not to stop there but discuss the very real and ...
Options for Restaurant Loans and Financing : Top Articles Directory
by Bart Icles
In applying for a restaurant financing or loan, you will need to consider the size of your restaurant, your experience as a restaurateur, and the amount of funding you plan to accumulate. These days, the hassle in getting a restaurant ...
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