How to Avoid Being a Debt Consolidation Scam Victim

By Harold Throope

Debt consolidation is one of the largest growing industries in the nation. The economy is difficult. People are losing their jobs and their homes. The cost of living is increasing. And this means that some people are finding themselves in the difficult position of not being able to pay their bills. Debt consolidation can often be the answer for many people. But you still need to be wary. As the debt consolidation industry has grown, so have the number of scams.

If you find yourself in the position of having too much debt and debt consolidation sounds like it might be right for you, there are several steps you need to take to avoid being caught in a debt scam.

Generally, the first thing you will do as you are beginning to investigate your options is get quotes from a few companies. It is very important to keep your personal information private at this point. A debt consolidator only needs a list of your creditors, your outstanding balances with these creditors, and the current interest rates you are being charged. At this stage, they do not need your social security number, or any account numbers or other private information. If they ask for this, move on to the next company on your list. By providing this information at this point, you are potentially setting yourself up for identity theft, an even worse nightmare than the credit problems you are experiencing. You will need to provide your private information when you are signing up with a company in order for them to be able to contact your creditors. But for the purposes of a quote, it is not necessary. Another thing to remember about quotes, they should be free. Move on to another company if the one you are talking to is looking to charge you for a quote.

If one company is offering a significantly lower monthly payment, it is more than likely that they are charging you significantly higher interest. Higher interest rates generally wind up costing more over the long term. You need to remember to also keep all fees in mind when calculating the costs of one program over another. Is there an upfront fee or a fee built in to your monthly payment? Read the contract to look for hidden fees that might be incurred over time. It is important that you understand the terms of your contract. Are there cancellation fees? If you do cancel over time, how are fees refunded? What about settlement guarantees? Your contract should specify what percentage of the settlement is guaranteed. If it doesnt, dont sign.

Many debt consolidation companies pay their employees commissions, or offer incentives for new accounts signed. Dont let yourself be pushed into signing up with a debt consolidator upon your first contact with them. It is very important to calmly evaluate your options, something that is difficult to do when you are being offered the hard sell. No matter how pressing your credit situation, take your time and make sure to make the right decision.

Finally, before settling on a debt consolidation service, you need to do a little research on the companies you are considering. Find out if they are legitimate. Check with the Federal Trade commission and Better Business Bureau to see what kinds of complaints have been filed against the company and how many. If you see complaints mounting into the high double digits, youll do better off elsewhere. Call your State Attorney Generals Office, they can provide you with useful information about the company as well. Chances are, if the company is not reputable, youll know that from these three sources. You will also want to do a google or yahoo search on the specific debt consolidators you are considering to see what others have experienced. If theres a problem, youll find out quickly.

Remember, if you are pressured into signing up with a company because of a hard sell, you may find yourself with an even bigger problem than you had going into this. Take the time to evaluate the companies you are considering and what they are offering. Read everything carefully. If you dont understand something get clarification. Know what you are agreeing to before you sign. And if you find that you are unable to make heads or tails of the situation, dont be afraid to seek the advice of an independent financial expert.

About the Author:

Harold Throope, who has been writing about personal financial matters for more than three decades, has written a easy to understand debt consolidation program. You can obtain this free guide, along with other valuable information about the best debt consolidation organizations, on his site.

How to Budget - Keep control of your money

By Taylor F. Coron

With the financial situation being as volatile as it is today, keeping a tight control over your finances is really important, so in this article we are going to give you some helpful tips on how to budget.

A budget is the ideal way of tracking your expenditure and forward planning, or forecasting, over a period of time to see whether or not you have sufficient funds to see you through. So, the first thing that you must do is to capture all of your planned expenditure, and also your unplanned expenditure, in one document. Your planned expenditure is easy enough and can be verified historically from your bank statements. Things like standing orders, hire purchase agreement etc, anything that is paid out regularly through your bank including things like your mortgage, gas, electricity etc. The aim is to make certain that you capture everything.

In order for your budget to be useful, make certain that the figures it contains are accurate. Do not include any wrong figures and do not underestimate future costs. It always better to overestimate.

As far as any unplanned expenditure is concerned, you simply make some contingencies and allocate a cost to them. For example you might allocate $200 for an auto repair. The more comprehensive you can make your budget, the better it will be. When it comes to estimating for various provisions, always try to be on the generous side with you figures. Don't forget to include your weekly grocery bills.

All of these costs comprise your total cost of living and are your budgeted outgoings. If you now add the total earnings or incomings, you can then measure earnings against costs of living.

You can always go one step further and add dates to each item of expenditure or earnings. This then actually creates a cash flow forecast which will predict when any high or low spots will occur. Used properly, an accurate budget is an extremely useful tool, and can be of enormous value if helping you to plot a route through a difficult financial period. Good times or bad, I thoroughly recommend you use a budget plan anyway. It's good practice.

About the Author:

Are you looking for more information about how to budget daily or how to make a useful budget check out our site for more info on budgeting.

What You Have To Know About Illinois Homeowners Insurance

By J. Lee

Do you know if you have sufficient coverage for damages occurred on and around your house? Many Illinois homeowners insurance holders are sometime unaware of what is covered on your insurance policy. Do you have enough coverage needed or do you think you have too much coverage? These are some essential question that need to be answered.

Illinois homeowners insurance is designed to protect you, the homeowner, in case of disaster or accidents (minor and or major). For instance, a leak, perhaps in the bathroom, could result in drywall damage, tile, and/or carpet and it is necessary for them to be replaced. This would be paid for by your homeowners insurance. Other damage such as to your roof and a myriad of other causes are covered by your Illinois homeowners insurance.

Today, people sue each other for just about anything. We are living in a law suit society. Hence, the homeowners insurance is even more critical as personal injury can occur on your property. The liability coverage will protect you from a law suits of thousands and thousands of dollars. You and your family do not have to worry about the law suits as the insurance companies will take care of them.

Standard homeowners insurance covers just about everything that is imaginable. But few exceptions like earthquake and flood exist. For these, you will need additional coverage, the premiums for these are hefty. But in Illinois, you do not have to worry about earthquakes like the west coast. Additionally, wear and tear on the property will not be covered as well.

Comparing insurance companies is a good idea since the coverage varies from companies to companies as well as from policy to policy. Make sure you make educated decisions when faced with purchasing a homeowners insurance. Nowadays, all the research can be done over online. This website is perfect place to start.

You will need to contact several different Illinois homeowners insurance companies and get a free quote and the type of coverage offered to homeowners. Once you have done all the research you can then make an educated decision as to which insurance company you will want to go with.

About the Author:

Knowing your Illinois Homeowners Insurance Policy is essential, please review Chicago Home Insurance Guide, and Illinois Homeowners Insurance

Don't Fall For These Loan Modification Swindles

By Dave Peterman

When the banking companies started to collapse, many homeowners needed to look for an alternative to foreclosure. This option is loan modification. When you try for loan modification, you request your lender to change the terms of your mortgage. The change of terms oftentimes means lowering interest rates. Because of interest lowering, the length of the mortgage is often increased.

Because of the increased demand for mortgage loan modification, a lot of scams are turning up right now. People will try to get an upfront payment from you, assuring you that they can help you out. You will have to learn to watch out for these scams.

Most homeowners are looking for security when going for loan modification. If you get a guarantee, you can be almost one hundred percent sure it's a scam. Don't buy it, because the results are always subject to the lender's approval.

It takes a month to two months for a lender to take your loan modification request into consideration. The deceptive loan modification companies will promise anything, because they know they will never have to make good on their promises. Because they just want the upfront payments, they will agree to whatever you want.

Don't be lackadaisical in finding out facts about the company you want to deal with when doing mortgage loan modification. Don't go for the first money hungry individual you find. These days, scammers are around everywhere and it takes some time to find the right person to help you out with this.

About the Author:

David writes about the loan market and financial matters. He also writes articles about online geld lenen and lening in Dutch.

Guaranteed Bad Credit Personal Loans

By Rick Hall

Imagine this situation: you have a brother that's two years younger than you and he has a consistent pattern of overdrawing his personal bank account; the fees the bank charges are really starting to stack up on him. As you can tell this kid is almost always short of cash, and now his car is in disrepair and his wife can't get to her job. His only answer might be guaranteed bad credit personal loans.

Why is this kind of loan a good fit for your brother? First of all, guaranteed bad credit loans are much better than the alternative. The fact that they're guaranteed means they're going to be much safer and wiser for both the borrower and the lender.

Do you have any idea what a guaranteed bad credit personal loan is - do you know what is meant by "guaranteed?" What it means is that a person with a terrible credit standing isn't going to walk into a bank and walk back out with borrowed money - not unless the bankers feel they have some kind of insurance policy on the money they're about to lend. That insurance policy can take the form of a club or fraternity that the prospetive borrower belongs to - maybe the local builders' group - who will step in and pay the loan if the individual bails out.

If the prospective borrower's organization will take on the responsibility of guaranteeing the person's debt, then the lender is going to be much more likely to extend credit to the person in spite of the fact that at some point in their life they've neglected to keep other loan payments current. The best person to talk with might be the grup's president; let him or her know how serious your situation is and promise to repay the money promptly.

But what happens if your organization's president turns you down when you ask her to help you through your tough situation; what if she won't secure the loan for you? In that case you're going to have to try to qualify for the loan on your own. It is possible to do this - there are certain types of loans for people with bad credit available to you, especially if you can give the bank some other form of security on their money.

If you want the bank to give you that kind of loan you're going to have to give them a few things to let them know you're not a serious risk of non-repayment. The first thing will some fairly valuable possession of yours - it could be your car or a nice watch - for collateral. Other than that they will want you to show them some proof of income like your previous year's w2 or check stubs, and it would go a long way if you had some personal recommendations from credible people to vouch for your willingness and ability to repay your debts.

About the Author:

Rick knows there's no such thing as free bad credit personal loans, but he can show you how to get great personal loans uk if you have a decent credit history.

Get Your Loan Modification Approved With These Pointers

By Guy Winsley

Now, let's have a look at ways to improve the chances of getting your loan modification approved. By knowing these little known facts you dramatically improve your chances of success. Let's get into the loan modification insider tips.

If you want to get your mortgage loan modification approved, you need to prove financial hardship. The first thing you should do is write a financial hardship letter to your lender. In this letter, you explain your financial circumstances. Also, make sure you tell your bank what steps you will take to improve your state of affairs. Finally, write that you are committed to remaining a home owner.

Set up a new home budget, so you free up money to make monthly payments. To define an affordable monthly payment, you have to know your disposable income. Reassure the banking company that you're able to pay that monthly amount now and will be able to keep it up in the near future.

Inform your lender about your financial state of affairs by completing the essential financial statements. Be meticulous and don't even consider leaving off information. Make it easy for the lender by submitting your financial statement and a financial statement offer for the future.

It's essential to do your research and plan ahead when applying for mortgage loan modification. As soon as you're aware of the approval criteria, you dramatically step-up your chances of success. When applying for mortgage loan modification, know that you need to hurry. Saving your home starts with doing the necessary planning.

About the Author:

Guy writes about financial subjects and mortgages. He also writes in Dutch about goedkoop hypotheek oversluiten and goedkope hypotheek.

Why prepaid credit card?

By Max Gothe

Secured credit cards are another very popular breed of credit cards. Secured credit cards, as their name suggests, are secured. Well, they are secured for the credit card supplier, really. Secured credit cards require you to open an account with the credit card supplier and maintain some cash balance in that account. This cash balance acts as a security for the supplier of secured credit card. Your credit limit is dependent on the amount you hold in the account that you have started with the supplier of secured credit card. This is generally between 50 to 100% of your account balance. So in that sense, secured credit cards are not really credit cards (since they dont offer you any credit really). For this reason, the secured credit cards are sometimes also referred as debit cards.

How does it work?

As we know, credit card debt is a raging problem which is caused by improper usage of credit cards. Such people end up spoiling their credit rating to an extent where they cannot get another unsecured credit card (that is what we call the commonly used credit cards). Even after they have paid off their dues and cleared their debt, their credit rating still haunts them. For such people, secured credit cards are a boon. Secured credit cards present them with an opportunity to not only get a credit card in the first place but also to improve their credit rating by using the secured credit card in a disciplined way (paying their dues in time, controlled spending, utilizing a maximum of 70% credit limit etc etc). As they continue with these good habits, their credit rating gradually improves over a period of time. Hence secured credit cards provide them with the means of rectifying their mistakes (credit rating).

Because there's no borrowing involved, using a prepaid card does not demonstrate your ability to manage debt. You benefit from all the advantages of a credit card without the worry of getting into debt. Prepaid credit cards allow you the features, security and flexibility of credit cards without the worries of debt or overspending.

So many people are deciding to choose prepaid credit cards. Even people with a bad rating or no credit rating can use them since the funds need to be applied to the card upfront before it can be issued and used.

If you are looking to rebuild your credit, a prepaid credit card is a better option. This is especially true for those unable to obtain traditional, credit cards because of their poor credit history.

When credit problems have stopped you in the past for getting cards you will find the prepaid credit cards are easier to get.

About the Author:

You can see a list of secured credit cards that are easy to acquire for all US customers on our homepage.