Credit Secrets & Tips Blog

You have the right to place a security alert on your credit file, which will warn anyone
who receives your credit file that your identity have been used without your consent and being advised to verify your identify before issuing any credit.

This security alert may prevent credit, loans, mortgage and financial service from being approved in your name without your consent.

However, it may delay or interfere with with timely approval of any application you make that involves access to your credit file such as a new loan, credit mortgage insurance, rental, empolyment, utilities, cellular phone,and other financial services.

This security alert will remain on your credit report for not less than 45 days after the date the security alert is place on the your file.  You have the right to obtain a free copy of credit report every 45 days while the security alert is in effect.

You may call credit bureaus requsting a security alert on your credit file.  Experian 1-888-397-3742, TransUnio 1-800-680-7289 and Equifax 1-800-525-628

Serious delinquencies are the number one cause of low credit scores.  This category is worth more score points than anything else.  Specifically, the items in the “serious delinquency” category are tax liens, collections, judgments, charged off accounts, an account that shows record of being 90 days late, foreclosures or repossessions.

Your credit score will always be stronger if you don’t have these items on your credit
reports. If they do show up, your score will drop immediately and will stay low for
seven to ten years.

Low level delinquencies are accounts that have a record of having been 30 or 60 days past due some time in the past. These types of modest late payments wouldn’t lower your score as much as you think but it’s still nice not to have any. Your score will be benefit by there not being any of these low level delinquencies on your report or, if there are any, they are old.

If you are low and moderate-income taxpayers, then you should take advantage of IRS programs and bank services that can help you save more money for future goals, including buying a home or funding a child’s education, tax preparation, qualify for tax credits, etc.

IRS-coordinated Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that provides free tax-preparation services for qualifying individuals.

Also, IRS has the ability to direct deposit tax refunds in up to three different checking and savings accounts at up to three different U.S. financial institutions.  It encourages you put part of your refunds into both savings and checking accounts.

If you are interested in obtaining free tax return preparation, you should call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 or go to www.irs.gov/individuals to locate a VITA site.

Federal law provides specific rules that the card issuer must follow for promptly correcting billing errors. The card issuer will give you a statement describing these rules when you open the credit card account and, after than, at least once a year.

In fact, many card issuers print a summary of your rights on each bill they send you.

You must notify the card issuer in writing at the address specified for billing errors when you find an error, and you must do so within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was mailed to you.

For this reason, keep your credit card receipts and promptly compare them when your bills arrive.

In your notification letter, include your name, your account number, the amount of the suspected error, and the reason why you believe that the bill contains an error.

The card issuer must look into the problem and either correct the error or explain to you why the bill is correct. This must occur within two billing cycles and not later than 90 days after the issuer receives your billing error notice.

During the period that the card issuer is investigating the error, you do not have to pay the amount in question.

If you’re turned down for a credit card, the very first thing you need to do is to ask why. It may be that you haven’t been at your current address or job long enough. Or that your income doesn’t meet the issuer’s criteria or any other reason that you may not know.

Different credit card companies have different standards. But if you are turned down by several companies, it may indicate that you are not ready for a credit card and need to do something about it.

If you’ve been denied credit because of information supplied by a credit bureau, federal law requires the creditor to give you the name, address and telephone number of the bureau that supplied the information.

If you contact that credit bureau within 60 days of receiving the denial, you are entitled to a free copy of your report. If your file contains accurate negative information, only time and good credit habits will restore your credit-worthiness.

If you find an error in your report, you are entitled to have it investigated by the credit bureau and corrected at no charge.  You should dispute any inaccuracy in your report with the credit bureau and also with the company that furnished the information
to the credit bureau.