dental articles from 2 Dental.com

Submitted by urlreader

Identity theft prevention becomes more and more complex as the technology involved changes and evolves. You can now buy Radio Frequency Readers (also know as Remote Frequency Readers) online for less than $100. This is great news for thieves, as these electronic devices can scan and steal the personal information from your driver’s license, your credit card, university and corporate IDs, speed passes and passports, all of which contain RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags.
A Miami ABC station, WPLG, aired an eye opening report on this new phenomena. An investigative reporter from WPLG was able to purchase on of these readily available devices with no difficulty on the web. She then set out to determine just how it easy it really was to steal information from her unsuspecting targets- her co-workers. For investigative purposes, she activated her reader with an alarm to allow her viewers (and her targets) to hear an audible signal every time the reader successful skimmed data from one of her co-workers.
With the device in her purse, the reporter then walked casually by an unsuspecting co-workers desk. A sudden beeping noise emanated from her purse. She then set her purse down on another employee’s desk, which also was followed by beeping. She continued on down the office hall past more of her co-workers, the alarm beeping with each target she passed.
All of her co-workers believed their personal effects and information to be safely hidden away, yet that was clearly not the case. An actual thief would clearly not be using an audible alarm on their reader, meaning that most people never realize anything has happened until the damage has already been done. Thieves often work in teams- on person skilling information with the reader while the other captures the target’s image via a cell phone, effectively collecting everything they need to steal your identity completely.
It is difficult to imagine just how much classified information could be skimmed from airports, universities, shopping malls and sporting events without anyone being the wiser. Likewise, the amount of damage (or doors opened) that can be done with that information. Confidential information that is stored on personal badges and key cards, if stolen, could certainly provide a thief access to protected facilities, computers and information.
Identity theft protection has become much more based on technology as we try to avoid hackers, ID theft, data breaches, and fraud. The days of worrying simply after our physical possessions and what’s in our wallets are long over. As more and more of our identity gets put into RFID tags (new passports and quick-pay credit cards now contain this information) skimming is becoming more and more popular among criminals looking to perpetrate identity theft and other more dangerous crimes.

About the Author
Denise Richardson is an author, freelance writer and advocate who educates the public on identity theft protection, identity theft prevention and id theft. She is a Board member of American Consumer Credit Education Support Services, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on credit matters. She is founder of http://www.givemebackmycredit.com .

Submitted by sverdlow

Coming into collision with our financial opportunities and needs is an everyday occurrence.
Having realized there’s something wrong with your family budget you should take several reasonable steps towards forming the budget and cutting your debts.
Here are the most common notes on this subject:

1. Write it down.
Make the list of your purchases, including even negligible ones (for example, a bottle of beer, or a chewing gum). At the end of the month you will be able to see how much money was spent in vain, and I’m sure you will be shocked. This will help you to stick to your plan and keep from wasting spare money on the trifles you can safely live without.

2. Think twice.
Colorful and promising advertisements confuse and encourage. Keep from momentary wishes, they can surprise you in a very unpleasant way.

3. Categorize.
Use the home budget software that can help you to categorize your expenditures and monitor your budget in general – it’s a useful decision if you need control and access to everything you pay for. In order to do this, create a file with such categories: food, transport, entertainment, clothes etc. Determine approximate norm and track how much you can spend.

4. Make a deposit.
Bank balance is the money which can help you when making a purchase or in your hard times. The sum can be different, it is meant to be a small part from your wages or unspent money. You won’t have a temptation to waste your wages if you bank it immediately.

5. Do not borrow.
Try not to borrow round sums, since it is a well-known thing that getting in debts up to ears is much easier that getting clear of them!

Financial issues are based on the wrong use of means. Facing some problems most people begin to think of how to spend less money, but not of spending it rationally. And it’s one of the most wide-spread errors! This rigid economy can bring to ruin. The optimum alternative is that you plan your expenditures, emphasize your priorities and decide how much it will cost you. It doesn’t require any special knowledge and skills; you just have to be a little bit scrupulous.

About the Author
In order to take control of your finances, we recommend you to use the personal budget software, which will be able to make the process easier and more successful.

Submitted by michelle.mbarkley

Everyone wants to file his or her tax on time; therefore, he or she keeps on preparing his or her income statements throughout the financial year. In fact, timely payment of tax is a task that everyone wants to complete before due date, as proper tax filing gives a person great relief from unnecessary financial penalties that emerge due to the delay in tax filing process. Be it an individual or any business organization, every entity that earns capital is liable to pay tax; therefore, in real sense, paying tax before due date is our communal obligation. However, this obligation is not made to pester people but tax filing causes various problems for people, who do not have enough time to evaluate their income and payable tax amount. Since various tax filing firms are offering tax return outsourcing services, this process can be made simpler. In fact, these firms can help an individual or a business organization in making proper arrangements for timely tax filing. These firms not only evaluate total annual income of their clients but also help them in getting rebate by using various tax reduction methods. These tax reduction procedures effectively reduce tax burden of an individual, as these procedures evaluate taxable income by using latest tax provisions for the current financial year.

Tax return outsourcing is a service that helps a tax payee in evaluating his or her taxable income; this service is the perfect help for people, who cannot make lengthy calculations of tax filing. Since tax filing professionals of such firms posses specialization in making tax arrangements, they can better handle various sub-procedures right from tax assessment to tax filing. Tax return outsourcing services are really beneficial in making complex tax documentations much simpler, as professionals who handle this entire task never let the person worry about any arrangement.

These firms understand that CPA faces a variety of problems during tax filing session; therefore, they try to make a simple and lucid document to reduce the complexity. Basically, steps that these firms use to make final tax statement are simple to apply, secure, efficient and accurate in tracking each stage of the return. For filing your tax return, these tax return outsourcing firms organize source documents to asses your exact income for current financial year. Moreover, they go through your tax statement for the previous year, so that variations in your income can also be calculated.

In order to file your tax return, professionals of such firms prepare review notes and send them to CPA firms for clearing up; moreover, these firms also send a request to the concern CPA firm for processing that review note further. Once your review of income statement is processed and open items are cleared, tax specialists complete the return and submit it to the concern taxation body of your state or country. Since professionals of tax return outsourcing firms monitor every step of your tax filing procedure, with them you can be relaxed and can continue with your routine professional life.

About the Author
Michelle Barkley is a CPA who advises people on tax preparation and tax calculation.She specializes in Tax return preparation,Tax Return Outsourcing and Outsourced Accounting.To know more about Accounting outsourcing services and accounting outsourcing in India and to use the services visit www.ifrworld.com

Submitted by Leaftech

When it comes to mortgages and credit cards, as long as you pay by the end of the grace period, you aren’t charged late fees, and your interest rate isn’t adversely affected, though you are often considered a “slow pay” customer. When it comes to insurance, however, there is no grace period, and paying your premium even one day late can cause your policy to be canceled, and reinstatement may not be automatic. In addition, if you have to start a new policy, you may end up paying more - if you can find new insurance at all!

While the laws governing when insurance companies are allowed to drop your policy vary from state to state, they are usually able to cancel your policy in the middle of the term rather than waiting for the renewal date, and not renewing your policy. More specifically:

The due date is the date by which your premium must be received by the company. Having it postmarked by that date isn’t enough.

While most auto insurers will let you slide if you’re only a few days late, if you habitually pay late they will likely cancel your policy.

If you are paying monthly, and are late, your insurance company may require that you pay the total premium in order to keep or reinstate your coverage.

If you are canceled, don’t complain to your state insurance regulator, as they will be unlikely to help you once it is discovered that you were not making payments on time.

After a cancellation, shopping for new coverage can be trying. You must disclose if you have had your insurance canceled, and this may make you an undesirable client even if your driving record is pristine. You may not be allowed to have monthly payments, and you may have to pay higher premiums, designed for people who are greater risks. As well, some insurance companies report late payments to credit reporting bureaus, so your credit score may be adversely affected.

At the very worst, you may have to go to a high-risk carrier, or buy “pool” insurance, which is mandated by your state, and available to those who are extremely risky clients.

If all this sounds scary - and it should - be aware that there is some good news. If you call your agent before your payment is late, they may be able to work with you to keep your policy in force, either by allowing smaller payments more frequently, putting you on an automatic payment plan, or changing the due date of your premium.

There is no grace period for auto insurance premiums, but there are gracious people in the industry who will try to help you.

About the Author
Getting car insurance quotes doesn’t have to be time consuming. Use our website for fast, free quotes.

 by: Amanda Hash

When you are looking for finance for a business project, resorting to secured loans is definitely the smartest way to go. And though you can always resort to regular secured loans based on real estate and equity, there are other alternative methods of securing a loan that are perfect for running businesses especially when the purpose is to solve a temporary lack of cash problem that may recur.

There are alternative secured loans for businesses that the financial industry has created keeping in mind the needs of the small business niche. These loans instead of using real estate to secure a business loan (which usually small businesses do not have as they often rent their offices), just use certain assets that are within the reach of almost all small businesses.

Alternative Form Of Security

It is possible for businesses that work with credit cards to reach an agreement with certain payment processing institutions that are also financial institutions. These agreements consist on a loan that can be awarded to the businesses for which the institution acts as payment intermediary which is secured with the company’s future credit card sells.

Basically, the lender knows exactly what the company’s income flow is (at least the credit card part of it) and thus can easily provide financing knowing the business payment capacity. Moreover, the amount of the loan’s monthly installments is directly debited from the business’ account since the lender processes the company’s client payments too.

Advantages Of Using This Method Of Financing

This method of financing provides the necessary funds for any business expansion or growing plans without the hassles of applying for other forms of financing that require more bureaucratic paperwork and presenting backing up documentation in order to prove an acceptable income to afford the monthly payments.

These loans instead, are easy to qualify for because the lender already knows the account movements of the borrower and can be sure to be repaid because he just needs to retain a fraction of the funds that arrive with each client payment made using a credit card. Since the lender grants the money but at the same time processes the company client’s payments, it has nothing to worry about and thus can provide very advantageous terms on the loan.

Also, not using equity when you have this other alternative is a smart choice as it remains as an option whenever an emergency situation arises and you do not have other sources of financing that can provide high loan amounts and affordable payments too. It is a way for the borrower to be assured that if anything unexpected happens he will still be able to obtain further financing.

This collateral alternative is becoming increasingly popular as it provides fair amounts of money and competitive interest rates without much paperwork or long credit verification processes. Thus, whenever you need funds for your business and if your business has payments made by clients with the use of credit cards, you can check with the financial institution that provides the payment processor services whether they provide this kind of loans.

About The Author

Amanda Hash is an expert financial consultant who specializes in helping people to recover their credit and get approved for home loans, car loans, personal unsecured loans, unsecured credit cards, refinance home loans, consolidation loans, student loans and other financial products. If you want to learn more on how to get approved for Business Finance and Bad Credit Loans. Just visit http://www.yourloanservices.com/ and you’ll find all the information you need.

Author: Scott Stadler

Building a rock solid credit history and staying out of debt go perfectly hand in hand. Many times the perception is that debt is not only a reality, but also a necessity in order to build credit. Technically there is some truth to this, but building an excellent credit history is more than just pumping up a numerical score without regard for any other well-rounded financial practices. Here’s how to build credit history and stay out of debt at the same time.

Start With Credit in College

Building a credit history is much easier when starting off on the right foot early. The college years are the perfect time to not only sign up for checking and savings accounts, but also to apply for a first credit card. Student credit cards are usually much easier to qualify for than those intended for other demographic groups and building credit does require using credit. It’s a natural fit, but only if used responsibly and not just to rack up a big balance without having an income to pay it off.

Pay Every Bill Early

Paying every bill early will not only prevent late fees and negative marks on the credit report for tardy payments, but also encourage a spirit of financial peace. Waiting until the last minute to pay bills often has an adverse effect on one’s sanity. Paying early helps to reduce any chance of slow mail or other miscellaneous issues that can arise from that last minute mentality. And this does count for every single bill, not just credit cards - utility bills, phone bills, car loan payments, rent, house payments, and many other major expenditures all report on time payments to credit agencies.

Keep Balances Low

If getting out of debt all at once is an impossibility, it is still a good thing to do everything possible to keep any balances on credit cards or loans at less than a third of their maximum credit limit. Using too much of this percentage can have quite a negative effect towards building really excellent credit history. On the other hand, when there is no debt at all, making charges and then paying them off every month in full can also build credit history.

Watch Your Credit Reports

You could be doing everything just right, but erroneous or fraudulent details might still be showing up on your credit report, making all the effort a waste. As an important part of overall financial responsibility, checking credit reports on a regular basis is a must - especially with the increase of identity theft these days. Perfect credit can be literally destroyed overnight by fraudsters, but the good news is it can often be prevented or reversed by keeping a keen eye on the reports.

About the Author:

Find the best student credit card at CollegeStudentCreditCards.net Also earn free flights with an airline miles reward credit card or get free gas with a gas credit card application.

by: Melissa Kellett

You always hear that in order to get a good deal on a personal loan, you have to search around and request loan quotes from many lenders before deciding which offer is best for you. However, what should you look at when comparing loan quotes? Is the APR the only variable to consider? Within this article you will find the answers to these questions.

Personal Loans

Everyone knows personal loans issued by banks and traditional financial institutions. Even though the financial industry has evolved over the years and everyday there are more and more financial products, banks and traditional financial institutions offer only a limited range of options on personal loans.

Collateral

There are secured and unsecured personal loans. The security (or collateral) is also an important factor to be taken into account when shopping for a lender. If you can provide collateral you may get a much better interest rate than with an unsecured loan. Nevertheless, you should also compare APR as if the difference is not that significant it is not worth the risk of loosing your property.

Interest Rate Type

The interest rate charged for the loans can be fixed or variable. If fixed, it will remain the same over the whole life of the loan. And the monthly payments will not vary over the months if there are market variations. Variable interest rates tend to be lower but can be modified if market conditions change thus risking a significant increase in your monthly installments.

APR

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate, it is the annual cost of the loan and includes interest, service charges, loan fees, insurance, and other items. Since it includes almost every aspect of the loan it’s an excellent way to compare loan quotes. However, as stated, it includes only almost every aspect. There are some factors that cannot be measured, are too difficult to measure or have a different value for each person according to their financial and credit situation. Thus, these extra variables cannot be included into this percentage.

Other Things To Take Into Account

The Personal Loan flexibility should be taken into consideration too. Being able to repay the loan early if you run into extra cash or get grace periods if you happen to suffer a momentary reduction on your income are two worthy features. However, the actual value of these features cannot be calculated in advance and thus are not included in the APR.

There are also some fees that due to their nature are not included in the APR, some of them are: Arrangement fees, closing costs, set up fees, Administrative fees, etc. Since the APR is calculated with a procedure established by the federal government, these fees and costs (not present on all kind of loans), where not contemplated and thus are not included in the APR formula.

Be aware that some low APRs, are only available for a promotional introductory period. After the period has ended, the APR may skyrocket, so make sure you read the fine print and do your comparison with the real APR. Finally, you should be especially careful with penalty fees that are charged when you miss payments or pay late which can turn out to be too onerous too and are not included in the APR.

About The Author

Melissa Kellett is an expert loan consultant who has worked for twenty years in the financial industry and helps people to repair their credit and get approved for home loans, unsecured personal loans, student loans, consolidation loans, car loans and many other types of loans and financial products. If you want to learn more about Personal Loans for Bad Credit People and Unsecured Loans you can visit her site http://www.speedybadcreditloans.com

By : Peter Kenny

Most consumers realize that there is a relationship between their debt and their credit reports. The truth is there are several relationships between a consumer’s debt and his or her credit reports and ultimately the credit score that is calculated using the credit reports. Knowing more about how these issues relate to each other can be an important part in keeping credit scores high.

First, it should be understood that not all debt has to be recorded on credit reports. If, for instance, you borrowed money from a family member or friend and made a private agreement to pay it back, that debt is more than likely not on your report. The same may be true if you pay a merchant on what is commonly known as a tab. Many consumers simply assume that the credit reporting agencies know everything and that is not exactly true.

Consumers should understand, however, that the credit reporting agencies do know a lot about your current and past credit. Some might argue that they know too much. A legitimate argument could be made on that front.

In general, a credit report will contain information on the debt that you currently owe. This will include your credit card debt, home mortgage debt, personal debts that were taken out through banks and credit unions, and auto loans. It will also include a summary of how much you earn. The amount of debt that you currently have when compared to the amount of income that you currently have is used to determine your debt-to-income ratio. This is a number that lenders often use when they are deciding whether or not to extend you credit.

Each lender will determine what the cut off number is for debt-to-income which makes it impossible for a consumer to know exactly what the upper level is for any particular loan. You can ask a particular lender what their cut off is but do not be surprised if they refuse to tell you. For some reason, lenders like to keep this number a secret.

Another reason you may find it difficult getting this number is that this debt-to-income number is just one of many factors that lenders use when determining creditworthiness of a consumer. That leads to this.

Credit reports will also contain information on how well and timely you have paid your bills. As important to some lenders, and more important to other lenders, is how well you pay your bills. Your credit reports will have this information, including information on late payments and any actions that lenders had to take in order to get their money. It almost goes without saying that the later a bill was paid the more negative it looks to future lenders. This is also used when computing overall credit scores. A couple of late payments in the past may not have much effect on your score, but several late payments will certain raise eyebrows.

On a more positive note, debt that you have paid off in the past will also be a part of the credit report. One of the best ways to know exactly what is on your reports is to order a copy from each of the major reporting agencies. You can do this online.

By: Mary Wise

Student consolidation loans are meant to reduce the number of monthly payments, to cut the amount of interests paid for finance and to reduce the amount of money destined to pay off student debt so you can use the surplus for other purposes.

Though these loans are great for getting hold of the benefits portrayed above, there are many things that must be taken into account when undertaking student debt consolidation that may reduce or boost these benefits. Since knowledge does not take up space, read on and make sure to remember these tips and tricks so you can make the most out of your debt consolidation loan:

Keep your Government Loans and your Private Loans Apart

Federal student loans usually come with many benefits you surely want to keep. This includes a significantly lower interest rate that you will not be able to beat with any private consolidation loan. So if you need to consolidate your federal student loans, you will need to resort to government consolidation programs. Use private consolidation loans only with private student loans.

Focus on getting rid of variable rate loans

Though sometimes lower, variable rates tend to be a problem since you cannot predict market variations and thus your budgeting may be useless. If possible, consolidate all your variable rate loans into a single fixed interest student consolidation loan and leave fixed interest rate loans aside unless you can get a significantly lower interest rate with the consolidation loan.

Watch for prepaying penalties

Some lenders penalize those who pay off their debt sooner by adding extraordinary fees to the overall debt claiming additional administrative costs. If this is the case, you should leave low balance loans aside. If the fees are not covered by the amount of money you will be saving by consolidating the loan you will want to continue paying the loan on its original terms.

Keep your credit report clean

Try not to incur in delinquencies as this will be recorded into your credit history and prevent you from getting a good interest rate when applying for a consolidation loan. Before applying, always request your credit report and make sure everything is in order. If you happen to find any inconsistencies, contact the credit agency immediately and demand that they correct the inaccuracies. Many have been denied loans just because a credit agency employee had made a mistake.

Avoid Trading Loan Length in exchange of Lower monthly payments

Unless you really cannot afford the loan installments, refrain from extending the length of the loan. It is best to get lower monthly payments by agreeing to a lower interest rate than to get them by adding to the number of outstanding monthly payments. Extending the loan length may solve your current cash flow problems by reducing your installments, but will increase the overall cost of the student consolidation loan turning it into a bad deal. It is best to cut on your expenses for a little while till your income increases than to consent on many years more of annoying debt.

Mary Wise, a professional consultant at Badcreditloanservices.com with twenty years in the financial field, prevents consumers from falling into the hands of fraudulent lenders about student loan debts.

Submitted by articlenic@gmail.com

I want to explore the one of the most important action you can take to increase your credit scores: removing inaccurate negative information from your three credit reports.

Be warned: should you decide to tackle this process yourself, it can be time consuming and frustrating.

What the Credit Reporting Agencies are Legally Required to do on Your Behalf when You Ask

The credit reporting agencies are required by federal law to remove inaccurate information from your credit reports free of charge. However, nowhere in the law does it say they have to make it easy for you.

Because the credit reporting agencies can’t charge you to remove inaccurate information from your credit reports, they make you jump through hoops…climb over walls…and inconvenience you in any way possible to accomplish this.

And just try calling them and getting through their phone menus. Sheesh!

How to Increase Your Credit Scores by Removing Inaccurate Information from Your Credit Reports

The concept is quite simple…you want to make sure there is no inaccurate, outdated, misleading, incomplete, or unverifiable information on your credit reports…especially if it’s negative.

Any negative inaccurate information that appears on your credit reports can have a dramatic impact on your credit scores.

And by dramatic, I mean bad.

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I had a recent experience that once again proved how difficult it is to try to work with the credit reporting agencies.

I took time to review my credit reports a few months ago. With yellow highlighter in hand, I highlighted numerous inaccuracies on each of my three credit reports.

I hadn’t tried to speak with the credit reporting agencies directly over the telephone for years. But I was feeling adventurous…I thought I’d give them the benefit of the doubt, so I performed a little experiment to see if their customer service had changed in the last 13 years.

I mean, how bad could it be?

It should go something like this: you call each credit reporting agency…they promptly answer the phone…you talk to a real person…your issues get resolved quickly…you hang up in a few minutes…and everyone moves onto something else.

Right?

Wrong!

Not today.

Maybe on The Brady Bunch…but in the real world of mandated free credit reports…it’s just the opposite.

What I found was the entire experience was even more frustrating and stressful than I remembered. I almost needed to ask my doctor about anxiety pills.

It’s Obvious that the Credit Reporting Agencies do not want to Talk with You Over the Telephone

One credit reporting agency even forces you to go online. Talking to a person is not an option!

What about all the people who don’t have internet access or aren’t computer savvy? I guess the protection of the Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn’t apply to them.

You see, each credit reporting agency buries their telephone numbers deep into their websites. So deep it took me forever to uncover their contact information (and I consider myself to be pretty internet savvy).

And if that wasn’t enough, one credit reporting agency forced me to purchase my credit reports directly through them if I wanted their telephone number to dispute inaccurate information.

Here I am calling the credit reporting agency to dispute items on my credit report, and I can’t talk to anyone unless I know the secret code.

I already had my free credit reports.

I already purchased my credit reports-just not from them.

I even had my credit reports from my mortgage lender from a recent mortgage closing.

But the three sets of credit reports I already had weren’t enough!

In order to talk to someone at one particular credit reporting agency, I needed a certain ID code from my reports. None of the codes on any of the credit reports I already had worked.

So I bit the bullet and purchased my credit reports AGAIN…this time directly from the credit reporting agency.

And the ID still didn’t work!

I was about to call my doctor for the anxiety pills. I’m not kidding!

How they get away with this is beyond me. No wonder they frequently get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for not abiding by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

It just became too frustrating and time consuming for me to fight with the credit reporting agencies to do something that is supposed to be my right under the FCRA.

I had enough.

I did exactly what they wanted me to do…I gave up…surrendered…waived the white flag…cried, “Uncle.”

Hey, I have books to write; seminars to conduct; planes to catch; employees to manage; etc. Life is too short to waste my free time jumping through hoops to appease the credit reporting agencies.

So I hired a lawyer.

But I didn’t hire just any lawyer.

Why a law firm is the best solution to helping you remove inaccurate negative information from your credit reports

I chose a law firm that specialized in this specific area of law.

After all, if you needed an eye operation-would you go to a foot doctor? Or when you filed bankruptcy-did you hire a divorce attorney? I hope not. Lawyers have specialties.

Don’t use your bankruptcy attorney to help you with errors on your credit reports. Lots of people assume that since the bankruptcy attorney helped with the bankruptcy, the attorney would know all about the credit reporting agencies. This is rarely the case.

Bankruptcy attorneys are good at helping you file bankruptcy, but pretty much useless in helping you remove inaccurate negative information from your credit reports.

So I did lots of research on how to find the best law firm to help me.

Here were my expectations for a law firm:

1. They had to live and breathe the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA basically tells us our rights regarding our credit reports. If you have a few hours to spare, you can go here to read it.

2. I wanted former employees of the credit reporting agencies on their board of directors, within their company rank and file, or at least as consultants. Having an insider’s perspective on how the credit reporting agencies work was essential for success and is what separates the real thing from the scumbag credit repair clinics that advertise on telephone poles.

3. They had to abide by the legal guidelines Congress created for this type of service. These guidelines are known as the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA).

4. I wanted to make sure they had many years in business with a clean record with the Federal Trade Commission.

A pretty tall order-I know.

But considering the FTC makes a regular sweep of credit repair clinics and shuts down the crappy ones…finding the right law firm was easier than I thought it would be.

Is the term “credit repair” naughty or nice?

Law firms that specialize in helping you remove inaccuracies from your credit reports are often grouped in with other credit repair services that are not law firms. But there are major differences between the two.

You see, the companies that give this service a bad name are the credit repair clinics with no real experience in the credit reporting industry. Maybe the people who started these clinics got lucky getting inaccurate information removed from their own credit reports and decided to make a business out of it?

So I began researching.

I read boring stuff like court opinions, court settlements, case law, depositions…you name it-I read it.

It became very clear who I should steer away from…anyone advertising they were in the “credit repair” business and didn’t follow the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA).

Incidentally, I also became an expert in understanding CROA. Mainly because the way CROA is written-any person giving credit advice (like yours truly) could easily fall under CROA if they aren’t careful.

And if you violate CROA, very bad things can happen. So I try to be very careful with everything I write. After all, I don’t want to wind up with a new roommate named Bubba.

In early 2003, I was given a sneak-peek of a new credit-related product co-created by a very large company (that shall remain nameless because I still like them very much) and was co-branded with a semi-famous, yet irritating “know it all” blonde from CNBC.

I smelled trouble.

So I kept my mouth shut and didn’t bring it up…because, as you know, I don’t like pointing fingers and upsetting the apple cart.

Yeah right! Are you kidding?!

I told them exactly what I thought…

“This product, although very nice, will violate CROA and will land you in a class-action lawsuit.”

They ignored my advice.

I’m not kidding. I looked their vice president in the eyes and flat out told him what would happen as if I had a crystal ball in my hand.

Just recently, that company began wrestling with a class-action lawsuit concerning the very same product. (The vice president and most of his management team are now gone.) As a matter of fact, right now all three national credit reporting agencies are fighting similar class-action lawsuits. The plaintiff’s consider each of them credit repair organizations, which in-and-of itself isn’t illegal…it’s just illegal if you violate CROA.

One of the biggest myths surrounding credit repair is that people think
it’s illegal. Nope, it’s not illegal. If done properly…and if they
follow the federal guidelines…then it’s as legal as voting at 18 or
driving a car at 16.

You just have to follow the rules. And the rules are clearly spelled out in CROA. Many companies will try to sell you credit repair services-but few are on the up-and-up.

I’ve found only a couple law firms that consistently play by the rules

After years of research I have been able to find only a couple law firms that consistently play by the rules. I know this because they aren’t being investigated by the FTC and don’t have attorney generals lining up to sue them.

Surprised that credit repair is 100% legal?

I bet you are.

The credit reporting agencies work very hard to convince you that ALL of these companies are scams and they can’t do anything more than you can do on your own.

That’s so untrue. There are legitimate companies that provide this service.

It’s no different than hiring a tax pro to prepare your taxes for you…or a lawyer to represent you in court if you are sued…or anything else that you can afford to pay someone else to do for you so you can keep yourself focused on your unique ability.

Sure, you can do those things yourself for free. But is it really free if you get audited or lose the lawsuit?

Bottom line: As long as the company follows the rules set forth in CROA…the credit restoration service they provide to you is ethical, legal, responsible, valuable, and time saving.

So again, credit restoration is not illegal. It’s only illegal if the company that is offering the service is not following the guidelines that Congress has set up.

Of course, the credit reporting agencies will try to make you think differently. They do a good job convincing the public, lenders, their business partners, and many others that all credit repair organizations are illegal. It’s almost as if they’re trying to brainwash you.

Law firms vs. Credit Repair Clinics

While the credit repair clinics are all about scamming you with no regard to what’s right or wrong…a legitimate law firm abides by CROA.

So what I’m basically saying is that you can fiddle around and try to remove inaccurate information from your credit reports yourself…or you can hire someone to do this for you so you can do more enjoyable things with your free time.

Personally, I decided to hire a law firm out of the pure frustration of trying to do it myself-and I know this stuff like the back of my hand!

If you really want to get right down to it…the credit reporting agencies forced me to hire a law firm.

The only reason the legitimate companies exist is because most of the credit reporting agencies make it impossible to easily talk to someone over the telephone to dispute incorrect information on your credit
reports.

If the credit reporting agencies made it easy to correct errors on your reports, then law firms wouldn’t have to deal with representing people who have been run through the credit reporting agency ringer.

In summary, the credit reporting agencies consider you guilty until you can prove yourself innocent . Be sure you do everything in your power to remove any inaccurate negative information from your credit reports. It will serve you well and help you increase your credit scores.

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Stephen Snyder is the founder of the After Bankruptcy Foundation a non-profit organization that helps people recover after bankruptcy. He has helped thousands of people obtain a credit card after bankruptcy with a fair interest rate.