Credit Score Information
July 7th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
The thread on scanning photos got me thinking…
I have a substantial amount of old financial documents, on the
original paper. Bank statements, tax returns, etc, going back
about fifteen years.
So I am wondering about the best ways to archive this onto CDs,
and throw away the paper.
Is there a FAQ, or some established procedures and standards for
this? I am interested in things like appropriate resolution, and
how many documents I could get onto each CD?
This is different from preserving photos, or anything of
sentimental value. I need to keep the information, and,
importantly, I am concerned about the legal weight of the scanned
archives. Like if the taxman says, “We lost your tax return from
1993, and we think you owe us money.” Would a scanned version of
the cancelled cheque be good enough to fend them off? There are
similar scenarios, like old credit cards and parking or traffic
tickets.
Does anyone have experience with using a CD archived printout to
settle such a glitch? I recall someone on this newsgroup
mentioning an incident where her student loan payments had been
lost, and she was billed years later. She prevailed by having
paper documentation.
That is the paranoia that has lead to me hauling around plastic
bins full of these paper files.
I don’t currently own a scanner, so I would be selecting one for
this project. Plus, I will hopefully be able to buy a newer
computer by that time.
Any advice or experience?
Answer:
I doubt a credit report is adequate proof of anything (even that
you exist), especially if the loan company claims they made a mistake
when they reported it paid. It doesn’t say how much you paid
(including interest) or when you paid it. And even good items on
your credit report age off your credit report eventually. A statement
from the loan company and cancelled checks should do it.
The IRS is sometimes unwilling to take even the BEST evidence you
can get for some deductions (e.g. losing bet tickets at a race
track, since you can probably find several million dollars of them
on the ground at any given time).
By admin
July 6th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
Well, I didn’t think not pursuing into Calculus would hurt my
home budget skills. Was I wrong…? 
Please forgive if the
x-post to sci.math seems inappropriate.
Here’s the deal. My wife and I, between us, have a few debts.
Nothing we can’t handle - a couple student loans and a car
loan. The problem is, I want to figure out the “optimum” way
to disperse our “loan-paying-back” budget category across
our loans. This way, we get the most “bang” for the bucks
we can afford to spend. (i.e., when the loans are all paid,
we’ve spent - in total - the minimum possible for some given
outlay per-month.)
This SHOULD be easy.
Perhaps I’m just being silly, but it doesn’t seem very easy to
find the general rules to follow. I’ve beat Excel nearly
senseless trying to elicit them, though. (I have been using
a somewhat brute-force method of trying to “discover” the
relationships, whereas it’s clear that a “more mathematical”
approach would be to do the symbolic math out. Unfortunately,
I don’t seem up for this at all, at all.)
For any given two (let’s keep it simple) loans, I’ve proven
(to myself, not to a mathematician 
) that IF they have the
same interest rate, the optimal division of the $ to spend
on them is in the same proportion as the amounts on the loans
themselves. Interestingly, this also makes it so that they
will be paid off at the same time (within a month, keeping
in mind that any extra at all after the payments goes into the
next month.).
Ok, so I tried to find the next rule for the “other” simple
case. If I’ve got two loans with DIFFERING interest rates,
but the same principle. This I’m finding remarkably
difficult to do. I’ve used Excel to generate several test
cases. For instance: for a loan of 4% and another loan of
8%, it seems that 60% of the available funds should go
to the 8% loan, the rest to the other. (actually 60% -
61%, it’s not quite clear due to some choppiness in my
calculations, since they are fairly accurate in modeling
the “monthly payment” scenario)
My approach was to try to find out the above “general principle”,
then go about trying to join the “interest-rate-different”
and “principle-different” cases into one easy-to-use
model that I can apply to any two loans.
So far, I’m stuck on finding this equation. I can make
big, ugly spreadsheets that basically try out a bunch of
cases, look for a trend (using a graph), and narrow down
to find the best case for any given scenario, but this
really really takes longer than it should.
Can anyone help? Given the commonplace nature of having
more than one debt, this must have been done before countless
times before, right?
Answer:
I have not done any proof or run any number, but in general I would pay the
minimum on all of the loans. Then put any “extra money” in to the loan with
the highest rate. You will eliminate the most costly loans first. Also the
book keeping gets easier as they drop off. The effect is cumulative.
for example:
If you pay off your short term but high rate personal loan early you can then
take the savings in interest AND the minimum payment for that loan and apply
them to your mortgage.
This, of course, indicates that all credit cards should be payed of quickly
since most of them have ridiculous rates above 13%.
By admin
July 5th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
The rightists love having corporations sent jobs overseas, or don’t
mind companies hiring illegals and H1B workers. They don’t seem to
like unions, and when companies pay their workers shit, the workers
who demand better wages get shouted with slogans like “it’s a free
market”, “if you don’t like it, start your own company”, and a
favorite, “If you were better educated (with student loan payments
going into the hundreds of thousands
of dollars), you would be where you are”. Oh, and let prices for food,
housing, water, etc
Answer:
It is the liberals who want illegals to become citizens (and
Democrats). We would have health care now if Clinton was not stupid
enough to let his wife handle the job. The Democrats control Congress.
Why haven’t they done anything? It was a right-wing Congress that blocked health care, not Hilary,
and it is a right-wing Congress now that blocks everything a tiny
bare majority of Democrats attempt now, by buying off a few of them
at every turn. Big insurance has enormous wealth, they own the banks,
for Gawd sake! National Health would make that right-wing powerbase
VANISH! It is on the issue of health care that the right-wing is
fighting for its very life!
By admin
July 4th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
I have had a five year car loan going for about three years now. I
just checked the current payoff amount, and as I calculate my remaining
payments/term it seems that all the interest was payed down first. If I
pay the balance now, I’m not saving myself anything (remaining payments
X remaining term = current payoff….no interest). I know this is always
true with home mortgages, that about 90% of you payments go to interest
(not principal) in the early years, but I never thought about this on
car loans. Is it standard?
Had a credit card company do a similar method. Did a balance transfer
to a low intro rate card (5.9 for balance transfer only). I also kept
using the card for normal charges. So then when I made payments, they
applied all the payment to the low rate balance, and none to the higher
rate new charges I was making. So even before the low rate term expired,
that balance is all payed, and you don’t notice that your balance is ALL
at the high rate already. Guess it’s legal. Take care.
Answer:
Pretty much on any simple interest loan where the payment is constant
you are going to be paying mostly interest in the first half then get
around to mostly principal in the latter half.
That said, there are some car loans where they precompute the interest
and set up the loan in such a way that you pay all the interest whether
or not you pay the loan off early. They call it the Rule of 78ths.
Any legitimate car dealer (i.e., not crazy Al’s used cars) should never
offer you such a loan.
Since this is all spelled out in your card agreement, of course it’s
legal (it never ceases to amaze me how people can put hundreds if not
thousands of dollars into a loan without even reading the terms of the
loan).
By admin
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
I’d appreciate any practical solutions/comments on the following
situation… I’m planning on hiring (lawyer/creditco/etc/someone who
can
get results) to try and fix this for me. If anyone has any
suggestions
about a reputable firm, or another course of action I’d love to hear
from
you!
Here’s the situation:
After college graduation, promisory note to school became due (not a
state/federal student loan, a loan from the college). For various
reasons, I didn’t make payments for a long time (moved, didn’t have
the
cash).
About a year ago I worked out what I thought was an amicable agreement
with the college - I would make double payments monthly - half to the
current due, half to the past due amount. Continued this plan for the
past year until I ordered a copy of my credit report…
Even though I’d adhered to this agreement, I found that the college
had
reported me to the agency every month for those 12 months as 180 days
past
due - I can see where this is _technically_ the case, but was very
suprised that they did this in light of the agreement we had - and
with no
notification to me.
So, I promptly paid the past due amount in full and am continuing
making
my current payments. I contacted the college to see if I could have
the
past years lates removed - they will not remove them.
I’m planning on purchasing a house soon and thought that any bad marks
on
my report from this college would be over a year old and somewhat
explainable, but now that I have a 180 day late every month for the
past
twelve months, my chances at a mortgage are looking somewhat slim.
I need to get these marks removed and am willing to pay the debt in
full
if I need to (already offered the college this) in order to get it
done.
Any comments on what my chances are, or recommendations on someone who
may
be able to help me?
Answer:
OK, you asked for comments, so…
The facts are, were you delinquent or not during the months in
question. Of course you were. Therefore the credit report is
factually correct and cannot be “disputed” as per the Fair Credit
acts. Just because you decided to get back on track does not magically
erase the prior delinquency.
My opinion is, you got what you deserved. It peeves me that
educational loans (federally guaranteed or not) are at near extortion
rates because of the thousands of deadbeats who don’t pay them off.
I’ll give you some credit for deciding to pay back your loan at all.
In the same breath I’ll take it back because of your expecting the
college to forgive you of all prior sins because you decided to stop
being a deadbeat and actually pay back the money they gave you.
I would advise you to not waste your money hiring someone to try to
“fix” this, since IMO you really don’t have a case. You did not pay
the debt and freely admit it, and you did not mention any extenuating
circumstances, therefore the debtor has every right to report this to
reporting agencies. You did not say that you negotiated with them to
have them take off the black marks, so why would you think they would
do so? That’s pretty open-and-shut to me.
By admin
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
Is this even legal? How can the insurance industry _honestly_ say that
something who’s FICO score has dropped due to new car/house/cc or whatever
is more of a risk of accident? I mean WTF!!!! State laws says you must have
insurance… insurance companies now say they are raising rates because your
credit rating has gone done… it is less likely you can pay your insurance
premiums so we are going to charge you MORE?
Answer:
Legality depends on the state the insurer operates in. In Pennsylvania, this
is
legal, although I heard that legislation is in the offing that would ban
this
practice. Using credit card scores to influence auto insurance premiums is
a terrible idea because credit card scores are frequently inaccurate and
often
do not reflect the credit worthiness of the policy holder even if accurate. A person is allowed one report per year, (or 2 in GA). Can someone
get a report (for example) In January from one of the 3 agencies,
another report in April from another agency, and another August from
the 3rd agency? -OR- Do you have to get all of them at once from all
the agencies? It seems to me that if you can get one every 3 or 4
months from a different agency you’d be covered, since they all seem
to be pretty much alike.
I got my free report in December from 2 of the agencies, but I never
got the 3rd one because I had to go to an appointment. I planned to
get the 3rd when I got home, but my computer froze up, and I didnt
feel like starting over, and I already printed the other 2. Sp, am I
still entitled to the free report from the agency I did not use?
By admin
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
I live in the USA. I’m in the middle of a year end cleanup and was hoping
to get some opinions and advice on what to keep and what to
discard/shred.
Answer:
That could take some work, but it is probably the best for the
long run. I’d keep several copies of the disks in case one
gets damaged.
I have been keeping my paper copies forever. It only takes a
box for a decade of paperwork. I have found, however, that a
lot of the newer receipts are fading out, just like old fax
paper. The optical solution would prevent that from being an
issue.
It isn’t likely that you will need to keep stuff more than a
few years, but there are rare cases that make it worthwhile
For example, my student loan processor lost track of my loan
balance after a series of computer crashes. They then sold
my loan. The new company insisted that I pay the amount that
they had guessed unless I could prove something different. I
was able to gather up 7 years worth of cancelled checks and
statements and prove that owed $2800 less than what they were
asking. I recommend (for divorce situations) only writing checks to your ex (for
child support and a separate one for alimony, if you have to pay that, with
what the check is specifically for in the ‘memo’ field). Then, get images
from the bank and print them out and keep them until one of you has died. If
at anytime in the future she says, “Hey, you didn’t pay!,” you can then go
back and pull out this huge stack of paper and show the judge, “Look - her
signature appears on each one!”
I’ve got a friend who’s been paying via direct deposit to his ex and she
just pulled that crap with him. Now because he’s done it electronically (and
always on time) he’s got to go back and prove each transaction which means
he has to go through the bank and print out all sorts of records from way
back when. If he just had print-outs of endorsed checks he’d be set. Instead
he’s got a huge hassle in front of him because he was trying to make it
hassle free for both of them. So, at this point the judge has ruled that he
has to pay the state and the state will pay her. So, for all of her trouble
of saying, “He hasn’t paid!,” she’s rewarded with waiting for the state to
pay her which, at best, will be 30 days later than she’s used to and, at
worst, something like 6-months later.
By admin
June 28th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
Ok so i am a college student with really bad credit. I filed
bankruptcy last year, (will be 1 yr on July 13th), and i have one
credit card that is open, in goodstanding, and current.
My problem is this. I got an offer to go down to a fair to meet a rep
for a job interview. It has been my dream to work with this company
but i dont have the money to make it down to the interview. I live in
NY and the interview is in NC.
I really need to take out a loan so that i can get down there and get
this job. If i do, the company will sponsor my internship for my
degree. The only problem is, i guess i am considered a High Risk
candidate for loans, since i declared bankruptcy only 1 yr ago. I am
looking to take out a $700 loan (price for airfare, hotel, business
clothes, and emergency money), which is not bad for me (as i work in a
call center and can work overtime galore). But the problem is i need
it now! (by the 25th of July to be exact).
My question is, does anyone here know of any banks that will lend to
high risk candidates??? Everywhere i turn, i get denied because of my
horrible credit, and i hate the fact that i am going to loose a job
offer because i couldnt afford the interview. Normally, i would have
this money saved up, but i had a death in the family last month, and
spent alot of my savings dealing with the funeral procedures.
Any Info is greatly appreciated
Answer:
So why do you need to go in such luxury? Cannot you borrow a
car from your mom, then drive to North Carolina? Isn’t it
just down I-95 about 12 hours? You can park overnight at a
Wal-Mart or a truck stop, take a shower at a truck stop, and
sleep in the car. Eat at Ronnie Mac’s up north, and switch
over to Krystal when you hit the Mason-Dixon line. Shouldn’t
cost more than $150. And you can rent the clothes. No need
to buy it incase you bomb out. How much could a one or two night trip to North Carolina from New York
cost? Grayhound or Peter Pan might have cheap bus routes there or just
rent a car. One or two nights in an inexpensive hotel won’t set you back
too much. You can probably do all of this on your credit card.
By the way, keep all your receipts for this trip. If its job related,
and you get the job, you might be able to deduct some of the cost of the
trip from your federal taxes. Good luck.
By admin
June 27th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
Are you one of the many people who suffer from a bad credit rating?
Well, you don’t have to be a victim of bad credit anymore… We offer
several programs that will have you back on the road to good credit
and the good life in no time! You’ll be able to get signature loans
by mail, major bankcards, and even free cash grants that you never
have to repay! You can even find out how to legally start a new,
clean credit file separate from your existing one! For free
information describing all of our programs and services just e-mail
to CRED…@AOL.COM and leave your name and mailing address. Your
free info pack should arrive within 10 days.
Answer:
I can tell you for free what CRED…@AOL.COM is likely going to charge you
for. It is not necessarily legal. It is dishonest and under the right
circumstances could subject you to charges of credit fraud.
The deal is this: you apply for an Employer ID number, which is pretty much
indistinguishable from a SSN. You use this number to establish a new
credit acount. So long as you never default on your bills, you might just
get away with it. BUT, there are some HUGE caveats to this:
- If you have declared bankruptcy and apply for a loan (or life insurance)
greater than $50K, you must disclose this on the application. If you
lie and are found out, your loan could be called or your insurance
cancelled.
- If you default and they find out you had bad credit under another SSN,
they might very well decide to prosecute you for felony fraud.
Although this is technically legal, it is so close to fraud that a single
slip on your part might well land you in jail.
This, like all other schemes to ‘clear’ your credit record are completely
dishonest. If you pay your bills, you’ll never have this problem. If
you have a bad credit record, get your bills paid up and keep them that
way. It’ll clear up over time.
I realize that some people end up in bankruptcy for reasons beyond their
control, and I have sympethy for them. There are ways to recover your
credit if the bankruptcy was for medical bills, or the like. It takes a
couple of years, but you’ll generally be able to recover much faster than
if you simply ran your debt up to much.
By admin
June 27th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Credit Score Information
Question:
I am trying to improve my credit score so I can qualify for a loan with
low interest rate. In February/March of this year, I got my credit
reports. There were some collection items on the reports (mainly
medical) that happened while I was layed off and going through a
divorce. I paid off all the items. Today I went and checked the
report, some of them have improved. The Equifax credit score did not
change. Why is that?
Also, some of the negative items that I paid off, did not show as “paid
off” in the TransUnion report. Why is that? How long do the credit
agencies take to update such items?
What do I need to do to improve my credit score? I get conflicting
advice as for the use of credit cards to improve credit score. I have a
few credit cards. I use only one them so that it is easier to track.
Do I need to use all the cards and maintain low balances on all of them?
Thank you in advance for any advice or help.
Answer:
Credit reports are the factual record about what happened in the past. Credit
scores are predictions of what might happen in the future, based on what
happened in the past. Just because you took care of some past obligations does
ot mean it won’t happen again in the future. Depending on what scoring formula
was used, you may or may not see a change.
BTW - The only score that means anything is the FICO score. As each of the three
major credit reports can vary, your FICO score can vary depending on what report
was used. Its too late now, but if you or any other readers are going to pay off
an overdue account, You tell the creditor that you will pay it IF and
ONLY IF they will agree IN WRITING that the negative info will be
removed from your credit report. And you get that agreement in writing
before they get penny one. Not sure about how it works in the states, but I had some credit
problems (due mainly to someone taking out a contract mobile phone in
my name and not paying the bill), and there is a way of adding a notice
of correction to your credit report. In alot of cases, it does bugger
all good, but some companies do actually read the report (assuming that
their sales staff have the basic level of human intelligence to do so
:p) and it will make a difference. The worst thing you can do is apply
for loads of different things, cos then it looks like you’re chasing
credit and they’ll put the hate on you. hard.
By admin
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