Archive for credit
Long-Term Real Estate Investments
Posted by: | CommentsAn investment in real estate will most likely benefit the buyer from long-term inflation. If you have a home you may have profited simply by holding onto it and keeping it in good condition over the years. You must continue to protect that profit, however. Should you intend to unload the property – the old homestead one of these days, don\’t let it fall into disrepair and run down condition for a real estate broker to market.
What your neighbors think of your lawn is what your prospective buyer will think of it. When selling a house you must think like a buyer – think like a retailer where everything is neat, tidy and in good working order. Let your house deteriorate a five thousand dollars worth and you\’ll find yourself lowering your sale price by 2 to 3 times that much. (If on the other hand you keep the house right up to snuff with all the latest improvements and decorations, you can get much more than even the appraiser will give for it!)
One often overlooked factor, in spite of the limitations above on insurance buying, is the need for ENOUGH INSURANCE to cover the newly inflated value of your property. Don\’t think for a moment that your home cannot be destroyed by an accident or natural disaster – I went through Hurricane Andrew! It certainly can. Multiplicity of high-voltage electric appliances in the modern home increases the danger of high-temperature fire. Increasing use of natural gas as heating fuel provides further hazard. Combination\’s of perils occur without realization.
Other new hazards: constant presence of military and commercial planes overhead, nearby military installations, high-voltage TV sets, lighting strikes, new hurricane patterns, new flood areas, tornadoes and a variety of other unexpected events.
Yes, it is entirely possible for you to lose your home and all its furnishings – and insurance to the extent of its total market value is certainly a wise precaution.Remember insurance transfers the financial risk to another party. If you have kept a constant amount of insurance through the years it is likely to be far below the indicated amount today. If the value of the house itself has increased it is also likely that other increases have occurred.
For example, have you done some remodeling through the years? Added a room? You say you added that to the insurance when you did the building? In what amount? Did you add what the room cost you at the time? But it might cost twice as much to replace today! Have you replaced the furnishings in the house? Added to their total value? At today\’s prices? (Try a little shopping for the fun of it. Go out and try to buy that living room couch. Will you be surprised!) If you have done nothing about your home insurance in ten years or more, you are really dreadfully under-insured and should do something about it right away.
Review the insurance coverage on your home today, look for ways to improve the coverage and reduce your monthly cost. Always took to have the full replacement cost of the property insured, so when the value goes up – you will be covered.
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Advanta Credit Card Scam
Posted by: | CommentsI sit at my desk completely frustrated with Advanta. I opened up a business credit card with them 3 years ago and made a purchase of $6500 to help build my business credit for Rapid Recovery Solution, my Collection Agency. I have paid more then the minimum every month, on time. November 2008 I noticed that my interest rate seemed a little high. No where on my statement did it say the actual interest rate so I called the company. After 10 min or so I get a live rep on the line and they tell me it is 36.1%. Are they kidding, this must be a mistake. I have over a 750 score and never missed a payment. They said they sent me a notice in Aug that they are doing this due to a change in there lending methods. It turns out this is the second time this year they did this. I went from 8.99% in Jan 08 to 18.99 in Feb 08 to 36.1% in Aug 08.
Now, being in the industry for over 10 years I know that I need to watch my credit. I look for charges I didn\’t make and it is tough to scam me. I have seen it all but this takes the cake. They told me I am now at a high risk for default so that is why they raised my interest rate? That doesn\’t make any sense. They should lower my rate if they think I will default on my credit card. How will an increase in what you are charging me keep me from defaulting. Luckily, I have the ability to pay off this card today but I want everyone to realize that these companies have you by the short-n-curly\’s. Watch your statements and lookout for this scam.
FYI, In NY, the maximum interest rate is 30%. They are charging me more then the maximum allowed in my state. I will send a letter to the BBB, the NY Attorney General, the UT Attorney General and the Department of Consumer Affairs.
As a nation we are in deep trouble. If a credit card company can just raise my rate because they feel like it I am positive that 99% of their customers are also paying 36.1%. How many other credit card companies are doing this to innocent people? We need to fight back. I am going to tell as many people as I can.
Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do except payoff the card. I was told I am a high credit risk. I paid the bill in full after I realized the rate was so high and the next month I received another bill for more finance charges for about $255. I paid that bill in full. I just received another bill in the mail for $5.65 and my rate was changed to 37.99%. Another point higher.
Just for cookies and giggles I called again to see why the rate went up again and they said \”Sir, you have been classified as a very high credit risk and as a company we can\’t risk you not paying your bill with us.\” I said \”I just paid my bill in full with your company, I have never had a late payment with your company in three years, I have one mortgage on my house for $290K, 25 years left at a fixed rate of 5.375% and it is worth over $500k and almost zero credit card debt personally. I am in the fastest growing industry right now, CNBC expects the debt collection industry to grow at 25% a year for the next decade. What else would I have to do to receive a better rate?\” The extremely rude lady said \”Sir, you would need to send a letter to Santa Clause and maybe he can help you out.\”
The Government should put a maximum rate in place for the next year or so on all credit card debt. If the credit card companies are truly worried about consumers defaulting on their obligations, wouldn\’t it make more sense to lower the rate so we can continue to make the payments? By raising the rate, it only makes it harder to pay and more likely that a consumer will default. The credit card companies are preying on the weak right now hoping you don\’t pay so they can pound you with the highest interest rate. When you do default, they now have a higher balance to sell to a collection agency. In my eyes, this is a crime.
The Government doesn\’t care either. Instead of giving the banks 350 billion dollars, They could have sent $1151.98 to each US citizen to pay towards credit card debt. The banks still get the money but we the people get a little break on our bill. The average family of four would receive $4607.92 to pay off a credit card. They reason that the banks need the money so they can lend money again to us? Are they crazy? All the banks did was raise the interest rates on our cards and pocket the money without ever having to say what the money went towards. No accountability!
Now the geniuses in Washington are considering giving billions to the auto industry so they can produce more shit cars that we can\’t afford. How about giving the money to everybody with a current auto loan so we can pay for the car we already have. The money would still flow to the banks and auto makers via we the people.
Good luck America, your gonna need a miracle.
I feel better now. I was very upset prior to writing this blog. I hope everybody reading this realizes that if it can happen to me it can happen to anybody.
John Monderine Rapid Recovery Solution, Inc.
John Monderine is the President of Rapid Recovery Solution, Inc. a Debt Collection Agency. When you need help getting your Accounts Receivable collected visit his Collection Agency website for a free quote. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.
Please take a moment and buy us lunch or a java!When do I Call In a Credit Collection Agency?
Posted by: | CommentsYou should call in a credit collection agency sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to begin the collection process on overdue accounts, the less of a chance you\’ll have at recovering your money.
The day after an account becomes overdue, you should place a polite phone call to the customer who owes you money. If that doesn\’t work, you may want to send a few reminder letters yourself, or you may want to go directly to a credit collection agency. Base your decision on how much money is owed to you and the history of your relationship with the customer. If it\’s the first time you are doing business with them, you\’ll want to call in a credit collection agency sooner than you would with a 10-year old customer with a solid credit history.
Most companies call in a credit collection agency once a debt is 60 days to 90 days past due. If you wait much longer than 90 days to begin collecting past-due receivables, your chance of collecting drops dramatically.
If you discover that your customer has gone out of business, find out what type of business it was – a corporation, a partnership, or a proprietorship. If it was a corporation, don\’t bother calling for the help of a collection agency. It is doubtful that you, or any one else, will be able to squeeze the last few nickels out of that client. If the company is a partnership or a proprietorship, you may be able to get the individual owners of the company to pay you out of their own pockets.
If you try to recover a debt and cannot, consider that bad debt a tax-deductible item (Tax Code IRC 166, Reg. 1.166). You will be able to deduct the cost of the goods sold (but not paid for) as an ordinary business expense. You can\’t deduct any lost profits from the sale, nor can you deduct the money owed for services rendered.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. Also she does articlesabout finance and business, consumer spending and collection agencies. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
Please take a moment and buy us lunch or a java!It starts with a letter. Then another, more aggressive letter. Then come the phone calls, and even threats of an unsavory report to credit bureaus. There could even be a potential lawsuit.
To retrieve debt creditors hire collection agencies. These third party companys generally work on commission which fuels their vigorous attempts to retrieve money.
Collection agencies can actually report your debt to credit bureaus. Unfortunately settling the debt will not result in it being removed from your credit reports, it will only be checked off as \”paid.\” They also can ask for a debtors credit report to size up the person\’s financial situation, or to get an updated phone number and address. And, although collection agencies do not like to send many accounts back, sometimes they will refer their account back to the creditor in order to recommend filing a law suit.
There are rules and regulations by which collection agencies must abide. Letters should come in ambiguous envelops that do not reveal that any type of debt is owed. In terms of phone calls, a collector may not disclose the reason for the call. For example, if a collector reaches an answering machine, they cannot divulge why they are calling, all they can do is leave their name and a number where they can be reached.
Although collection agencies are permitted to contact a debtor\’s place of employment, they absolutely cannot get a debtor fired from their job. They are not able to make any kind of information concerning the debt public, although they can communicate openly with credit bureaus. Despite the fact that many people believe that a collection agency could legally seize a debtor\’s bank account, paycheck and assets, the company cannot unless their has been a successful law suit ordering them to do so. Under no circumstances can a collection agency threaten a debtor with violence.
Although some collections agencies may attempt to practice illegal tactics to get money, there are also a large number of reputable ones. With financial issues like debt, it is always important to know your rights.
Mallory McGuinness-Hickey works for debt collection agency Rapid Recovery Solution and does free lance writing on the side.
Please take a moment and buy us lunch or a java!Is It a Good Idea To Consolidate Credit Card Debt?
Posted by: | CommentsAre your credit card bills getting tough to keep up with? If so, you might consider consolidating your credit card debt into one payment.
The idea behind consolidating your credit card debt is to obtain a personal loan or another form of financial product to pay off one or more credit cards. In other words, a consumer would apply for a personal loan, for instance, and use that personal loan to pay off credit card debt.
There are many reasons to consolidate credit card debt, however, the most popular reason is to lower payments. If you decide to do this, more disposable income should be available to you at the end of each month.
To put this in perspective, if you have three credit cards with monthly payments of $30, $50, and $70, you would attempt to obtain a personal loan which would be used to eliminate the three credit card balances. Once this is done, your three credit cards will be paid off and you will have only one monthly payment, instead of three. To make things even better, the chances are good that the monthly payment for the personal loan will be lower than paying all three of the credit card bills ($150) each month.
Lower interest rates and special promotions are two more reasons it might be a good idea to consolidate your credit card debt. If you have credit cards with relatively high interest rates (15% or above), consider the savings over time if you were to obtain a personal loan at 6.9% to pay off these high interest credit cards.
Simplicity is another reason people decide to consolidate credit card debt. It makes people’s lives simpler if they only have to worry about a single payment each month as opposed to several credit cards, department store cards, and small loans. This is also conducive to budgeting because the personal loan will most likely be a fixed amount each month and due around the same date each month.
If you would prefer not to use a personal loan to consolidate your credit card debt, you can consider applying for a high credit limit credit card and transfer to this card the balances of all your other credit cards. Make sure that you shop around and obtain the best annual percentage rate available if you decide to do this.
In conclusion, if you want to reduce your monthly payments, consider credit card consolidation. Consolidation can assist consumers in controlling their finances, organizing their debt, and saving money over time.
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