Most of us have heard warnings about how social media can affect our lives in unexpected ways (e.g. robberies that occur when people post their out-of-town status on Facebook), but the effect of social media on bankruptcy filings is less well known.
Here’s a look at how your online presence might affect your bankruptcy case (and why it’s so important to avoid bankruptcy fraud).
The bankruptcy petition all filers must complete and submit to the bankruptcy court requires a lot of information about the state of the filer’s personal finances. Putting incomplete or incorrect information on a bankruptcy petition could result in charges of bankruptcy fraud (which can come with jail time and fines of up to $500,000) or the dismissal of a bankruptcy case.
When you’re filing out your bankruptcy paperwork, keep in mind that social media can affect all of the following.
- Asset list: You may not think of Facebook as a place where you catalog your possessions, but pictures from birthdays and holidays (and even shots around the house) often include our stuff. If you
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US Representative Heath Shuler had earlier this month introduced the Medical Debt Responsibility Act of 2011. As per the requirements of the bill, credit bureaus such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion had to remove settled or paid medical collection item up to $2,500 for every collection, out of the credit reports.
When unpaid medical bills are turned over to collection agencies, then they may seem like a medical collection item, while being reported to credit reporting agencies. This may be reflected in the credit report for the next seven years and this may in turn impact the customer’s credit score negatively. The impact on credit scores might vary as it would depend on the medical collection information that is reported. It would also depend on the composition of the customer’s whole credit profile.
Consumers have to make certain tough decisions regarding payment of healthcare-related expenses. So,
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Banks and other businesses use a person’s credit score to decide on personally significant information such as credit amounts, and interest rates on loans; therefore, your score, between 300-850 is very important. Your FICO (Fair Isaac Company) credit score is the one utilized by 90% of financial institutions, and is considered to be the most important credit score. The closer your FICO credit score is to 850 the better.
The first, and most significant aspect formulating your credit score is whether or not you pay your bills in a timely fashion. This single thing determines 35% of your entire score; so, people who are worried with their credit score should always pay at least the minimum balance owed each month for every account they have. Individuals should purposely watch for: the number of accounts paid in full, a bankruptcy in your history, and the quantity of overdue bills.
The second most noteworthy part of your credit score is the disparity between your balance owed on accounts and your total credit limit. Read more…
Regardless of how bad the situation got in 2008; it is important to learn how to make 2009 debt free. Therefore I wanted to provide 5 tips for getting out of debt today.
1. Budgeting: Even though people hate this word; it is necessary to set up a realistic budget that you can follow easily. People who begin setting one up; they either make it too difficult to follow or they do not make it strict enough.
2. What Do You Owe: Sit down and find out which types of bills that you have. Separate your bills and find out which one’s have the highest interest rates so that you can concentrate on those one’s first.
3. Use Cash: Avoid carrying around all your credit cards which can make it easy to use them. When you go shopping you should try to pay in cash. This way you avoid picking up items that you can not afford to get or that are not on your list.
4. Mak
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Banks use credit scores and reports to help them make a decision about you. They will look at your credit score itself, and at your credit report. They want to see how much debt you have, how many credit cards you have open, how many loans you have, and how well you repay your debts. In short, they want to know how much risk they would take on by lending you money. The following steps will help improve your credit and in the lenders eye reduce the risk associated with lending you money to buy a condo or loft.
Make sure you pay your bills on time. Generally, payments made 30 days after the due date start affecting your credit score. If you let them go longer, they will hurt your score even more. So make sure to make your payments on time, even if it is just the minimum payment on your credit card. If you have fallen behind on a payment, do what you can to bring the account current, including calling the creditor. You might be surprised how willing they are to work with you. Read more…
Regardless of how bad the situation got in 2008; it is important to learn how to make 2009 debt free. Therefore I wanted to provide 5 tips for getting out of debt today.
1. Budgeting: Even though people hate this word; it is necessary to set up a realistic budget that you can follow easily. People who begin setting one up; they either make it too difficult to follow or they do not make it strict enough.
2. What Do You Owe: Sit down and find out which types of bills that you have. Separate your bills and find out which one’s have the highest interest rates so that you can concentrate on those one’s first.
3. Use Cash: Avoid carrying around all your credit cards which can make it easy to use them. When you go shopping you should try to pay in cash. This way you avoid picking up items that you can not afford to get or that are not on your list.
4. Mak
Read more…