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Having a damaging credit record can hurt you in many ways. It may prohibit you from making an important purchase such as a home, car, computer or vacation. Without a healthy credit report you are severely limiting yourself from possible lenders. If you do find a lender you will undoubtedly be charge exorbitant interest rates far exceeding what recipients would receive if their credit history is in good standing. So how can you fix your credit score if you?ve been less than diligent with repayments to creditors? Well contrary to what many advertising scams will tell you, you can?t fix your credit overnight. In most instances it takes 7 years for a payment infraction to be deleted from your credit report. If you were to file bankruptcy it would take 10 years. Obviously fixing the problem before taking such drastic measures is desired. Bankruptcy must be used only as a last case scenario and the implications must be fully understood before proceeding with such severe measure. Besides bankruptcy staying on your credit history for 10 years and posing large problems if you decide to seek out a financial lender, it can also impact other areas of your life. For instance you may be rejected from certain jobs, prohibited from taking on certain responsibilities and positions within your own company if you are a business owner and you will still be in the bad books of the people who you may require to lend you money.

There is no way to fix your credit overnight no matter what the advertisements claim. The bottom line is that if you are faced with difficult financial situation you must first look to fix the problem yourself through using basic budgeting guidelines. If you are not good at this, you may be able to hire a professional personal money manager to do this for you. Next you must figure out what your rights are and try to amend problems before they arise. In most cases, creditors would be wiling to work with you and come up with some repayment alternatives rather than sending your delinquent account to a collection agency. If it has gotten so bad that you have creditors calling your house all the time, you must research what your rights are. Collection agencies are heavily restricted by laws but that doesn?t stop some agencies from taking advantage of some less informed individuals. For instance, collection agencies are only allowed to call during certain times of the day and in most cases must cease all calls if you request them to do so in writing.

If you are experiencing financial problems the best thing to do is get informed. Learn the laws and research your options.

Written by Credit Renovator
http://www.zizzoo.com/guides/badcredit

Credit Renovator offers credit repair information to individuals who are in a financial bind. Unlike many companies, Credit Renovator is a firm believer in fixing the root of the problem rather than rushing into bankruptcy or debt consolidation. To learn more about our services please visit the following site. http://www.zizzoo.com/guides/badcredit

As you probably know, interest rates are at all time low right now and if you aren't getting the best deal from your credit card company then they owe it to you to either lower your rate, or you owe it to yourself to find a better deal. You see, credit card companies need your business in order to succeed and if you refuse to pay a penny more than you have to then you'll be doing yourself and others a big favour indeed. By doing this, you'll avoid paying more than you should and the companies will stop treating its clients inappropriately.

Now that this is clear, we will talk about the essentials of balance transfers, how they work and how you can ensure that you get the absolute best possible deal.

1. First and foremost, understand what a balance transfer is. A balance transfer is when you transfer the balance from one card to another in order to get a better interest rate than the one that you are currently getting.

2. Second, to find the absolute best deals, look to transfer balances on cards where the initial interest rate is 0% and the amount after that is lower than the one you have now. For instance, if you're a cardholder that has an interest rate of 27.4% on a ?1000 balance and you only pay ?150 a month for 6 months, you will not pay off the balance in 6 months. Instead you will pay ?247 worth of interest and your balance after 6 months will be ?346. In contrast, if you had a 0% card and make the same monthly payment then your balance will be reduced to ?100 at the end of the 6 month period, a tremendous saving!

3. Third, don't throw those offers that you receive in the mail away. If you have great credit then you'll likely have credit card companies vying for your attention. Just use this power to your advantage and find the very best 0% deal for you.

4. If no good deals seem apparent, then you have to find your own deals. You can do this by conducting a thorough search on the internet to see if you can find a 0% card offer.

5. Once you've done this, request information and then review it carefully. Pay close attention to the rate after the initial introductory period is over. For instance, if you have two choices of cards with 0% interest rates for 6 months and one charges an interest rate of 15.00% after the initial period and one that charges 11.00% after the initial period then by all means choose the second one because it is by far the better deal overall.

6. Read and then re-read the credit cardholder agreement a couple of times. Make sure that you understand all of the jargon and if you don't, find someone that does before you sign it. Review it closely to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible. For instance, when evaluating deals, you should ask yourself these questions:

a. How long does the introductory rate last?

b. What will be the rate after the teaser expires?

c. What are the cards annual fees? Can they be waived?

d. Are there any transfer fees that you should be aware of?

e. Are there any perks that are offered? (Ex. frequent flier miles, free gifts, etc).

7. Once you've decided on an offer, fill out your application fully and get it in the mail as soon as you can.

8. Once you get the offer, make sure that it is a 0% teaser rate and if it isn't, then contact the company right away. If they aren't open to doing so then tell them that you're cancelling the card and look for another company that delivers what they promise. Your primary goal is avoid the old "bait and switch" while simultaneously saving money on interest.

9. While waiting for your new card, make sure that you continue to pay on your old card to avoid glitches in your credit report and once you receive notification that the transfer has been made, make sure you contact the old company and make sure that they received the payoff amount.

10. After the teaser rate is up, don't be afraid to jump from one credit card to another after the teaser expires. You see, there is absolutely nothing wrong with surfing cards and taking advantage of 0% offers whenever you possibly can. Just keep finding and researching great deals.

That's it my friend. Credit card transfers don't have to be so confusing and daunting. If you follow the above mentioned steps then you can and will win the balance transfer rate and stop throwing your hard earned money down the drain.

Claire Bowes is a successful freelance writer and owner of http://www.the-credit-card-centre.co.uk where you will find further advice and money-saving tips on the best credit cards, 0% balance transfers and cash back credit cards.

What is a balance transfer ?

A balance transfer can be explained simply as a balance transfer! When a balance is transferred usually from a credit card, but possible from a bank account or loan to a credit card with a offer interest rate (usually 0%) for a set period. It does not have to be the entire amount. The card receiving the balance will an interest rate for a set term, normally 6 months, but can be 9 months or even a year. Take a look at the current balance transfer deals currently available. This will give you a flavour of the typical kind of deal available.

Should I apply for a balance transfer ?

It is important to remember that a balance transfer does not mean that the debt has gone away. It just means you are not paying interest on it. You will still have to maintain payments.

This may seem obvious but many people do not get this straight in their mind.

The basic criteria for getting a balance transfer is when you regularly have an outstanding balance after making your monthly payments. This is the amount you should look to transfer to another card. This will mean that for the period of the offer you will pay no interest on the balance (provided you make the minimum payments).

You should be very wary of taking up a balance transfer, if your overall debt is increasing. A balance transfer is not a green light to spend more money. The money you save should be used to decrease your debt.

What should I look for in a balance transfer ?

You need to be aware of the following when looking for a balance transfer card

Good things

• Length of offer period.




 

 

• Offer Interest Rate.




 

 

• The zero or low interest rate charged on the balance.




 

 

• Possible transfers from loans and overdrafts.




 

 

• On some cards you can transfer from existing loans and overdrafts and still get the offer.

• Cut-off period for the balance transfer offer.



• Hidden Charges on transfers.



• Some banks will charge a handling fee on the balance transfer.

There is usually a cut off point from the account opening when the offer is no longer valid. Be very aware of this otherwise you could end up transferring a balance to a higher rate !!

What about new purchases ?

Unless there is also a 0% interest rate on new purchases then you should avoid making new purchases on a balance transfer card. This is because the banks will look to reduce the balance transfer debt quicker than the new debt. Provided your credit history is reasonable, there is nothing stopping you having several cards for different purposes. A good way is to have a card, which specialises in 0% on new purchases and another card for balance transfers.

What happens when the balance transfer period finishes ?

When the balance transfer offer period finishes the debt will revert to the typical variable APR. The lenders hope at this point that the cardholder will retain the card and some of the debt, so they can then start charging interest and making some money! So take into consideration the low interest rate credit cards. However, there is nothing stopping the disciplined credit card holder from switching to another balance transfer deal and closing the account. The cycle then starts again. Always allow 6 weeks to 8 weeks before the end of the offer period to apply for a new card. This means you can get the balance transferred to the new card before the lender can start charging the higher rate. You have to be organised to do this, but if you are it does work. People who regularly switch balances are know as card tarts.

The Golden Rules

There are three things to look out for with a balance transfer card

• As mentioned previously, the unsuspecting can get caught out when spending on a balance transfer card.



• Maintaining regular payments. If you miss a payment you incur some penalty, so be aware. To be safe set up a direct debit.



• The interest rate applied when the offer period finishes.

Neil Brown is a freelance writer and regular contributor to the credit card sites Choose A Credit Card and Search4 Credit Cards.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has set up a new website (www.AnnualCreditReport.com) where US residents can obtain free copies of their credit reports from the three major credit report bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian). The FTC site was set up as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act enacted last December. The site was set up in an effort to help fight the increasing threat of identity theft. The credit reports must be ordered from the FTC site to get them for free. If you order your credit report directly from one of the credit report agencies' sites, you'll be charged a fee for the report.

While a number of websites on the Internet currently offer free credit reports, these free reports require a credit card be put on file as a free trial membership of their credit report monitoring service. The reports have been free if you remember to cancel the trial membership, but can end up being quite costly if you accidentally forget. The new FTC site is marketing free and no credit card is required.

To request your credit reports, you'll need to provide your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. In addition, the credit bureaus may ask you for other information to confirm your identity such as your current monthly mortgage payment. Consumers can also order their free credit reports by calling 877-322-8228 (toll-free) or by mail by writing to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

The free credit reports aren't currently available to all US residents. They're being phased in over the next year by region to prevent the system from being overwhelmed. Currently residents living in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming can obtain the free credit reports. Residents in the Midwest can get their free credit reports beginning in March, residents in the South beginning in June and residents in the East beginning in September.

Instead of ordering credit reports from all three credit report agencies at once, you might want to consider staggering the three reports so that you receive one credit report every 4 months. This allows you to see how your credit report is changing over time and whether any mistakes you find have been corrected. It will also increases the chances that you will catch any attempts at identity theft more quickly. If, however, you're considering a large purchase such as a home or car where your credit score will be used to determine your eligibility, you'll want to get all three right away. This will allow you to take care of any potential problems as soon as possible.

Once you've received your reports, review each one carefully. The three credit reporting agencies handle millions of pieces of information each year and some estimates have errors in as many as half of the credit reports with a major error in ever one in four. By making sure that all the information contained in the reports is accurate, you will ensure that you receive the best rates from credit agencies in the future.

Now that credit reports are free of charge, there is no reason not to request them each and every year. Keeping tabs on your credit report is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself against identity theft and make sure that all the information that your creditors are accessing is accurate.

Jeffrey Strain is owner of http://www.savingadvice.com -- a website dedicated to saving you money through quality tips and articles.