Credit Help Center

Dont let your credit stand in the way of your own personal self growth. Your life can and will seriously improve when you get your credit troubles in order. There is no reason to wait on this. Dont procrastinate!

I want to give you a little pep talk here!  I hope you dont mind! You might need it if you are suffering with credit issues. Getting turned down for a loan or a mortgage is not the end of the world. In fact it can be a great time for self improvement and growing up. Or a great time for self awareness. Dont let it be a moment of despair. It doesnt need to be because there are solutions available to you. You need to focus. Write down your problems and the solutions to those problems. Make a check list and start crossing off the items on the list as you accomplish them. That is how I get things done. I have a lot of little lists and I love the feeling when I strike through something on that list because I finished the task.

Credit repair is on that list for you if you are reading this.

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Discovering youve been the victim of fraud can leave you frightened, confused and unsure of what to do to resolve the effects of the crime. Cleaning up the mess someone else has made of your finances will take time and effort.

Fraud can take many forms, from unauthorized use of a stolen credit card to identity theft that uses your personal information to open new lines of credit. Whatever form it takes, if youre a victim of fraud, you should immediately follow these five fraud resolution tips:

1. Notify everyone.

If your bank account has been misused, of course your first call will be to the bank to close the affected account. But make sure you also notify other service providers that may be affected. Instances of fraud rarely occur as singletons; successful criminals will want to get as much out of their crime as possible so one instance of fraud is a good indication that there may be more you havent yet discovered.

2.

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A group of 25 bipartisan United States representatives have asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to revisit rulings which prevent stay at home spouses from being able to open their own credit card accounts.

The so called ability to pay rule prevents credit card issuers from considering household income when looking at an applicants credit worthiness. Only an individuals own income can be taken into account. The representatives, along with many consumer advocates, are saying that this ruling is an unintentional by product of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009.

The ability to pay rule was drawn up by the Federal Reserve and took effect on October 1, 2011. In a letter to acting head of the CFPB, Raj Date, the group wrote,

We understand from some issuers that there may have already been a negative impact on the ability of stay-at-home spouses to secure a line of credit.

The letter was signed by 12 Republicans and 13 Democrats most of whom are members of the House Financial Services Committee.

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Owning real estate or securities in a multi-member LLC has asset protection benefits by virtue of limited creditor remedies to attack your membership interest. What about owning personal automobiles, furniture, artwork, and other personal property in an LLC? Clients often suggest to me that they titled their household effects and cars in an LLC to keep the assets away from potential creditors.

 I usually do not recommend ownership of personal property in an LLC because I do not think it will be effective protection. The issue is a “reverse piercing” of the LLC. LLCs, corporations, and other legal entities used for personal consumption and personal needs can be considered an extension, or alter-ego, of the individual owner. Furniture, cars, and other property used personally on a daily basis should be considered as personal assets and not the property of a separate entity.

If a debtor uses an LLC for personal uses a court likely will consider the LLC assets the debtor’s personal assets and make the assets subject to execution; the creditor should not be restricted to a charging lien against LLC interests on an alter-ego LLC.

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Tim Iacono reviews data compiled on EconomPicData that reveals American consumers are ratcheting down their use of credit cards, dropping toward 15% of personal income. Consumer debt has been rising for decades, but now it is being replaced by student loan debt, which has increased dramatically in the last 10 years to approach 5% of personal income. Iacono believes this will likely cause problems in the long term as getting an education begins to look less appealing and eventually impacts U.S. competitiveness in the global market. For more on this continue reading the following article from Tim Iacono.

From this item at Jakes EconomPicData blog the other day comes the graphic below depicting dramatic changes in consumer credit trends over the years. Racking up revolving credit (e.g., credit cards) is not nearly as popular as it was for decades, what Ive long called the real Reagan Revolution as individuals dramatically increased their use of credit cards to fuel consumption (i.e., buying things you dont need with money you dont have).

Taking up the slack for falling credit card balances are higher student loan balances that, already, are further separating the nation into have and have-nots (a.k.a.

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