So you ordered a copy of your credit report to check for inaccuracies and get the most from your credit score. Now how do you read it? Your credit report is read and used by any number of people you deal with on a daily basis, from your landlord to your employer to a potential lender. Fortunately, it has gotten easier to order a copy of your report, but it’s not so easy to understand what all those abbreviations and numbers mean once you’ve got it.

If you haven’t ordered your credit report yet, you will soon be entitled to a free copy from each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Some states can already take advantage of this new policy, but people living in eastern states will have to wait until September of 2005. Order your free yearly copies from all three agencies and check for the availability of the annual reporting program in your area at the same website: www.annualcreditreport.com . Each report will contain different information because retailers and creditors only report to the agency in their area or with whom they have an agreement.

Once you have your credit report in your hands, you will see that it is divided into four main sections:

• Consumer information

• Account histories

• Public records

• Inquiries

Double check the accuracy of your identifying information. This will include your name, address, phone number, previous addresses, date of birth, and Social Security number (SSN).

Next, for each account history, or trade line, you will see the following information:

• Date you opened the account

• Type of credit account (either installment, such as a car loan or mortgage, or revolving, such as a credit card)

• Name(s) on the account

• Total loan amount, credit limit, or highest card balance

• Amount you currently owe

• Amount of your monthly payment

• Account status (either open, closed, inactive, paid, or other)

• How promptly you have paid on the account

Credit agencies vary as to how they word various sections of the report and should provide you with a guide to reading their versions. One agency might report in the last column of an account history that you paid “on time” or “30 days late.” Another agency might use a numeric code to rate how well you paid off a debt. R1 is the code used for an excellent repayment history on a revolving charge account. I1 is the code used for an excellent repayment history on an installment account. Obviously, the higher the number next to either the R or I, the lower your repayment history is rated. So an R4 would indicate a history of late payments.

The public records section will include any tax liens, bankruptcies, judgments, or other financial-related legal matters. Depending on the type of action taken, these damaging records may stay on your credit report for up to 7 to 10 years.

The last section lists the inquiries made on your credit. Hard inquiries are those requests to pull your credit when you apply for such things as loans or lines of credit for services. Soft inquiries result when companies sending out promotional items to pre-qualified individuals check your history or when your current creditors check your payment status. The soft inquiries only show up on the report that you order, not on reports pulled by lenders.

While too many inquiries in a short period of time can signal a red flag to a lender, most credit scoring models are least affected by this portion of your report.

Check your report for any errors and report them immediately in writing. If you need more information about how to reach the three main credit bureaus, please go to www.apscreen.com.

Don’t forget that the credit agency providing your report is also a great source of information on not only reading your credit report, but raising your credit score.

Cathy Taylor is a marketing consultant with over 25 years experience.
She specializes in internet marketing, strategy and plan development,
as well as management of communications and public relations programs
for small business sectors. She can be reached at Creative Communications:
creative-com@cox.net or by visiting http://www.apscreen.com

Bankruptcy is a lawful course of action which allows individuals who are unable to reimburse their debt a new beginning. A choice to file for bankruptcy is a decisive step. Debtors should consider all their financial alternatives before they file in for bankruptcy. It is not a small step and it has very strong and lasting consequences. One of the major drawbacks is that it remains in the debtor’s credit file for ten years, creating a negative impact for the many years, even after the debt has been dealt with.

It is wise to consider debt consultants. There are many non-profit credit counseling agencies out there and they can work out a debt repayment program depending upon the debt amount and the debtor’s income level.

People who do not choose to file for a bankruptcy should hire a good lawyer who is knowledgeable about the new changes brought in by the new federal law signed by President Bush, which makes it more difficult to file for bankruptcy.

Basically, there are two types of bankruptcy accessible to the majority of people. Chapter 13 permits the debtors to still own their property that could otherwise be taken away as a form of payment from the debtor. This type of bankruptcy is called a reorganization that allows the debtors to pay off or deal with a non-payment over a time, usually three to five years, rather than give up their property.

The second type of bankruptcy is the Chapter 7, which can be filed every six years. It may be preferred to straight bankruptcy that necessitates liquidation of every possession that is not exempt in the debtor’s state. Items such as work-related tools and basic household furnishings usually fall under the exempt property, but some property may be sold by a court-appointed official or turned over to creditors.

Filing Bankruptcy provides detailed information about filing bankruptcy, filing bankruptcy online, filing chapter 11 bankruptcy, and more. Filing Bankruptcy is affiliated with Free FICO Score.

Buried beneath bills? Overwhelmed by debt? If you’ve been making late payments lately–or missing them entirely–chances are you need some financial relief. Debt consolidation can help you get back on track by compiling all your debts into one monthly payment. Debt consolidation choices include paying bills with a Home Equity loan (or other loan), transferring all your balances to a single low-interest credit card, or signing up with a Debt Consolidation Company. But can it really help? Here are some of the advantages:

Lower interest rates:

Choose the right type of debt consolidation and chances are your overall interest rates will be lower. Home Equity Loans, for example, have significantly lower rates than most credit cards. If you transfer your debt to one single credit card, you can get a super low rate by taking advantage of “teaser” offers, such as zero percent interest for the first six months. Even Debt Consolidation Companies can help lower your rate by negotiating on your behalf with your creditors.

Less paperwork:

If you have 6 or 8 accounts right now, and you consolidate them all into one account, you’ll only have one debt payment to make each month! For folks that have a hard time organizing paperwork or keeping track of payment due dates, this can help ease the financial burden. Fewer bills coming to your mailbox means less stress and fewer headaches.

Fewer fees:

Some credit cards charge fees for everything–late payments, regular annual fees, over-the-limit fees. Who wants to pay all those extra charges? By consolidating your debt into one account, you won’t be nickel-and-dimed with fees by all those other accounts. Since you only have one debt to worry about, you’ll have fewer “additional” charges of which you should be cautious.

Debt consolidation offers anyone the chance to relieve their financial burden in terms of cost, stress and time. In most cases you’ll save money, have fewer headaches and gain extra hours in your month since you no longer have to waste time organizing multiple bills.

Go to http://www.debtsanity.com for more information on obtaining financial relief through Debt Consolidation.

People who are heavily in debts and are in no position to pay them back opt for filing bankruptcy as the last alternative. This gives them the freedom and opportunity to start afresh. Such cases are dealt with by the bankruptcy lawyers, and it is advised to file through them instead of directly since they will be able to guide debtors in the right direction. Federal courts deal with such financial bankruptcy cases.

The individual must give all the debt related information to the attorney so as to enable the lawyer to look for best possible options and advice. Filing for bankruptcy provides a fresh start in the credit area as most of the debts would be forgiven and the creditors will not be in a position to collection actions concerning the said debt.

Bankruptcy can be filed under three laws, Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. Chapter 7 deals with straight bankruptcy, which involves the borrowers property being sold to clear the maximum debts. The entire process will be taken care of by a court-appointed trustee.

Corporations and businesses mostly use chapter 11 to file bankruptcy. Individual debtors do not use this law for filing bankruptcy, since this process involves a lot of expense and the rules and regulations involve a lot of complexity.

Chapter 13 is a wage earner’s bankruptcy, which involves the debtor paying off a portion of the debt each month from the monthly earnings. This usually is a long process and involves the debt being paid in small installments.

Individuals mostly prefer either the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 while filing for a bankruptcy. Large companies prefer Chapter 11 or Chapter 13.

The bankruptcy case ends once the debtor has been able to pay off the debts either in full or by part as per the regulations in these three laws. The creditors can no longer hound the debtor once the case proceedings end.

Bankruptcy is always chosen when there are absolutely no other options. This is because the bankruptcy filing is recorded in the credit rating for 10 years or less, depending on the amount for which the case was filed.

Bankruptcy provides detailed information about bankruptcy, bankruptcy attorneys, bankruptcy faqs, and more. Bankruptcy is affiliated with New Bankruptcy Laws.

Advertisements for free debt consolidation are popping up everywhere, but they bring up the vital question, “Are they really free?” How can a service afford to offer free debt consolidation? If they aren’t making money, how can they stay in business? To learn the answers to these questions, you need to understand how a debt consolidation service works.

Debt consolidation companies negotiate with your creditors.

When you work with a consolidation service, they talk to your creditors and negotiate to lower your debt. After they have negotiated to lower the amount you owe, with each of your creditors, you will notice that the amount of money you have to pay out each month is significantly lower than it was.

Debt consolidation companies don’t give you a loan.

When you work with a debt consolidation company, they don’t give you a loan that you then repay to them. Rather you make one monthly payment to the company and the company then distributes that money out to your creditors according to the terms that they negotiated. The single monthly payment you make will be lower than the total of payments you were making to all of your creditors and by following the payment schedule, you will pay off your debts sooner.

Debt consolidation companies do charge a fee.

When you send your monthly payment to the debt consolidation service they do take a fee from the amount you send to cover their services. Over the life of their services, the fee that they take should add up to less than the amount of money that they saved you by negotiating to lower your debts. Because you end up saving money by working with a debt consolidation service, the money that they do take did not come out of your pocket, but rather out of the money that they saved you, so that is why debt consolidation services can claim that the help they provide is free.

Go to http://www.debtsanity.com for more information on Free Debt Consolidation Services.