Do you have several loans with varying interest rates and due dates? You might benefit from a debt consolidation loan. Let’s take a look.
What Is a Debt Consolidation Loan?
A debt consolidation loan takes all your debts and payments and rolls them into one loan. Why would you want to do this? You may have loans and credit card debts with high interest rates. A consolidation loan allows you to pay off all those different debts and just have one monthly payment. It most likely will also have a lower interest rate than all the other debts had.
Making one lower payment instead of multiple monthly payments frees up more cash for your monthly budget, or you can put that extra cash toward paying off your debt consolidation loan even faster.
Debt consolidation should not be confused with debt settlement. Debt settlement is when you work with companies to take away some of what you owe. Debt consolidation helps you pay off what you owe.
There Are Two Types of Debt Consolidation Loans
Secured Loans
Secured loans are loans you take out for which you put something up for collateral. You might use property, a car, or your home. Secured loans have lower interest rates than unsecured loans.
Unsecured Loans
Unsecured loans do not have collateral, so they are more of a risk for the lender. As such, they usually have higher interest rates than secured loans, but the rate may still be lower than the rates on the debts you are trying to pay off.
Is Debt Consolidation a Good Option for You?
Not everyone benefits from debt consolidation. Here are some indications that it is a good choice for your specific needs:
Your credit score is good.
If by consolidating your loans and debts, you will become debt-free faster.
You have enough cash to cover your monthly payments.
Consolidation may not be right for you if you are already close to paying off all your debts. If you are only going to save a marginal amount, it might be best for you to continue paying off your debts on your own.
How Do You Build Credit by Paying a Loan?
If you have had trouble paying off your debts and you need to rebuild your credit score, you might want to look into a credit-builder loan.
Unlike a traditional loan where you borrow money from a lender and then pay it back, a credit-builder loan has you pay for the loan – and then get the money. It is almost like putting money into a savings account that you can’t touch until it is paid in full.
If you make your payments in full and on time every month, your bank reports this to the credit bureaus, and your credit score increases. But, make sure you are able to make those payments. If you default or make late payments, you could end up hurting your credit score rather than helping it.
What Are Some Other Ways to Build Credit?
The best way to improve your credit score is to make all your payments in full and on time. If you have any past-due debts, pay them off as quickly as possible.
Don’t apply for any new credit cards. Applying for credit brings your score down. It causes an inquiry into your credit standing and lowers your credit accounts’ average age.
Make sure you keep your credit card balances low. The less debt you carry keeps your credit utilization ratio low. And finally, make sure to check your credit report every year. If you find any mistakes, make sure to have them resolved.
Conclusion
If you have multiple debts or loans with varying interest rates, consolidating those debts may be in your best interest. This will bring all of them into one lower payment with one lower interest rate.
A secured debt consolidation loan has a lower interest rate and payment than an unsecured loan because you are putting up collateral. So, make sure you are getting the right kind of loan for your needs.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States. It is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
Credit repair is very important. If you have bad credit and cannot get approved for any kind of loan, you need to get your credit in order. The good news is that you can repair it yourself.
Your report has all your credit information, and you can get a copy from the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Check your reports from all three bureaus because some creditors may not report to all of them. You can also get a free copy at AnnualCreditReport.com.
It is good to check your report monthly to see if there is a new entry you did not authorize. Or if there is an account that is time-barred.
2. Dispute Any Inaccurate Information
If you find a new account in your credit report that you aren’t aware of, report it to your creditor. Call each of the three major bureaus and ask them to correct any inaccurate information in your report that may affect your score, ability to get loans, or other forms of financing.
Your credit report also shows if an account is past its statute of limitations (time-barred), so you can dispute and have it removed.
3. Prioritize Paying Your Credit Card Bills on Time
Paying your credit card bills on time helps you improve your credit score and helps you qualify for low-interest rates. You also save money from late payment fees that can be as high as $35.
Pay your cable and utility bills using your credit card to build a good payment history that helps improve your credit score.
4. Minimize Hard Inquiries
Minimizing hard inquiries is an essential step in repairing your score. When you apply for new credit, it shows up on your report as a hard inquiry. A hard inquiry causes a drop in your score.
5. Opt for a Debt Consolidation Plan
If you have multiple loans or credit card bills, it is easy to forget to make some payments. Debt consolidation is an easy way to combine payments into one new loan at a lower interest rate. Consolidating your debts helps improve your credit score if you make timely payments.
6. Set Payment Reminders
Given that you may be busy, it is easy for payment to skip your mind. Setting up reminders helps you make on-time payments that are crucial in improving your credit score and avoiding late fees. If you do not set payment reminders, you may end up paying late fees.
If you are behind on payments, call in advance so they can give you an extension before charging late fees or increasing interest rates on loans.
How Long Will It Take for Credit Repair?
Credit repair may take three to six months, depending on the severity of your delinquencies and bad habits, such as late payments or accounts in collections or bankruptcy records that affect your credit score.
It may take up to 18 months to get your credit score from poor to fair.
Can I Make My Credit Perfect?
So, can you make your credit perfect? Yes! You can do it on your own or work with a fast credit repair company like the Ascent Network to get the help you need. Here are some tips for repairing your credit:
Pay off any high-interest debt as soon as possible
Check your reports regularly
Remove errors from your credit report
Make on-time payments
Can I Pay Someone for Credit Repair?
Yes, using a credit repair company is an easy way to repair your credit. They have experts and know how to handle all the problems that may arise while repairing your bad credit ratings.
These companies provide credit repair services to help set up payment plans with creditors so that you can pay off any debts on your report. They also negotiate and make arrangements for how you will be making payments on overdue debts.
Credit repair companies are experts in credit laws such as The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), and The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA). They use their understanding of the law to help leverage them in your favor. Look at credit repair reviews from service providers to make sure they are legit and deliver as promised.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States. It is available locally in Huntington Beach, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms, CA.
If you’ve ever missed a payment on a credit card, loan, or mortgage, you know what it’s like to have the late payment appear on your credit profile report. It makes it harder to get approved for new credit cards and loans.
But the good news is that there are options for removing late payments from your credit profile (report). You need to know how to remove bad credit from your report and use other methods to improve your score.
When you miss a payment by more than 30 days, the lender reports a late payment to one or more of the three major consumer reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. These agencies then add the late payment information to your file, which affects your credit score.
To prevent a late payment from hurting your score, ensure you pay before the 30-day mark. Although, this may mean paying a late payment fee. You may also get a higher Annual percentage Rate (APR), although your credit won’t suffer.
If you have a track record of paying late, lenders may think twice before approving you for a loan or credit card. It can also limit your ability to qualify for other types of financing. If you have multiple accounts that are late, then it really hurts your credit score.
Removing Late Payments From Your Credit Profile (Report)
Is it possible to remove late payments from your credit profile? Yes! Here are some steps that you should follow to remove a late payment from your credit profile (report):
1. Get copies of your credit report.
To do this, you can go online and request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, by going to annualcreditreport.com.
2. Check for Errors in Your Credit Report.
If you find an error in your credit report, contact the reporting agency and ask for the removal of inaccurate information. The bureau then has 30 days to investigate the matter and make any necessary corrections or deletions from your credit profile.
3. Dispute the Late Payment
Contact the company that reported your account as late and tell them that you would like to dispute the late payment. You need to provide documentation proving that you paid on time or never received the bill. Keep copies of everything you send them as they may come in handy someday.
4. Write a Goodwill Letter
A goodwill letter is an informal letter that explains why you were late with a payment. Include details about any circumstances that contributed to your being late, such as medical emergencies or natural disasters that interrupted your ability to pay on time.
It’s best to send this letter along with proof of what happened, such as copies of receipts from medical bills or pictures that help you prove your case. Address the letter directly to the creditor who reported the late payment and include your name, address, and telephone number.
Keep copies of all correspondence related to this issue in case you need them later on when disputing a negative item on your credit profile report.
5. Request to Opt-In for Automatic Payments.
Negotiate to have your late report account removed by letting your creditor know that you would like to sign up for automatic payments. This makes it easy for the creditors to automatically deduct the amount every month. The automatic payment option helps improve your credit score, and you won’t worry about late payments.
6. Let It Go Away Automatically
When the late payment on your credit report is accurate, the negative mark stays on your report for seven years from when it first appeared. The good news is that the severity of the late payment diminishes with time.
If you continue making on-time payments, you will see that your credit score improves. With time, creditors will not use that late payment as a basis for giving or denying you a loan.
7. Let a Professional Help You
A credit repair agency like the Ascent Network helps you dispute information on your credit profile report that isn’t accurate. They negotiate with the creditors on your behalf so that they can remove the late payments and other negative items from your report. Remember, a credit repair agency won’t do anything you wouldn’t do, and any agency that guarantees the removal of all late payments is a scam.
Our Bottom Line
Late payments are damaging information that appears on your credit profile report. If you have late payments on your credit report, it’s time to fix the problem so you can bring your credit score up!
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States. It is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms
If you have collections on your credit report, there’s no doubt you just want them to go away. This is because they may be weighing down your credit score and preventing you from getting loans or qualifying for better interest rates. While we have some tips to help you remove collections from your credit report, you should know that it’s going to take time and effort on your part.
What are Collections?
To understand the need to remove collections from your credit score, it is important to understand how collections come about. What are collections? When a debt isn’t paid, the creditor will turn it over to a collection agency or a debt collector in hopes of recouping the money. That action is then reported to the credit bureaus— Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.
Collection agencies will continue to report your collection account for seven years from the date you first fell behind with the original creditor. However, if it’s been seven years, the collection agency might still sue you to collect. But they can’t report it to the credit bureaus.
If your collection account has already dropped off your report, there’s no way to get it back on. However, if you pay off a collection and then re-default, that account could come back onto your credit reports (even if the original delinquency was outside the seven-year reporting period because the new late payment would create a new delinquency date.
If your collection account has over $2500, it can affect your credit report by at least 20-25 points.
Can Collections Be Removed?
The short answer is, Yes! According to Aaron Huebner, the executive director of Ascent Network, there are two keywords that you need to keep in mind as you try to remove collections from your credit report— Verify and Validate.
The federal government requires credit bureaus to provide correct information on each item on your credit report. They also have to make sure that the debt has not expired. Here is a case:
If the amount a collector is trying to collect from you is below $1000 and isn’t from a financial institution, you may have some success asking for proof of the debt. Why? Because the law requires collectors to provide proof of the debt if you ask for it within 30 days, and since the debt might have gone through so many collection agencies, they may not have the original documents, which will prompt them to remove the collection from your credit report.
Remove Collections from Your Credit Report( How to Do It)
Remove Collections from Your Credit Report( How to Do It)
For you to be successful, you have to do these three things:
? Check your credit report
? Check for errors in your credit report
? Choose an action plan
Check Credit Report
You have to check your credit account from AnnualCreditReport.com and review your credit reports to see if the information is correct. The report should show if the collection is paid or not, the remaining balance, the date you defaulted, and the original creditor.
Compare the information in the credit report against your records. You can check your payment records when you log in to the account listed if you don’t have the records. And know the statute of limitations for collecting debts in your state.
Dispute Any Inaccuracies
In case of an error on the part of the debt collector, ask them to validate the debt. You should dispute the collection within 30 days from the date the collector contacted you. If the collector can’t validate, the collection should be removed from your report. However, you must follow up to ensure they remove the collection from your credit report.
You should also dispute the collection if the debt is too old to be reported. The federal law in many states requires that any delinquent account should be removed after seven years. If you can still find a delinquency report showing up after seven years, you should file a dispute with the credit bureau that still shows it to have it removed.
Request for a Goodwill Deletion/ Pay for Delete
Have you been making regular on-time payments? If yes, the first step is to mail the collection agency and ask for a “goodwill deletion.” If you have been making regular on-time payments, mail the collection agency a “goodwill letter” and explains your situation. This goodwill letter should explain to the collection bureau that you are trying to buy a house and see if they can honor your request.
There is no guarantee that they will accept your request and if they do, be sure to follow up to ensure they have removed collection from your credit report.
Pay for delete often works if you’ve had only one collection on your credit history. The collector should comply if you pay in full and make a written request that they remove it from your credit reports.
When negotiating pay for delete, it is best to visit the credit collection agency and have the agreement in writing. You can negotiate to pay 30% of the money owed in exchange for deletion and then continue to pay the debt as per the agreement. Remember, a late payment on the debt will be reported as a new entry in your credit report.
How Can Credit Repair Help?
Professionals have years of experience repairing credits and know the exact procedure to remove the collection from your report. A credit repair agency like The Ascent Network has for many years helped many improve their credit score, remove collections from their credit reports, and are thus best-suited to help you, should you feel the procedure involved is confusing.
The Bottom Line
It is possible to have collections reports removed from your credit report if you are keen enough. You have to ensure that the collection agency validates and verifies the collection report they have on you. Failure to which they will have to remove the collection from your credit report. We hope that the above information will help you improve your credit score, remove collection from your credit score, and ease your mind.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
There are many reasons why people stop paying their debts. Some borrowers use credit cards irresponsibly and end up with huge outstanding balances they can’t afford to repay. Others suffer temporary financial setbacks, such as job loss or divorce, and fall behind on their bills. And some people have no intention of repaying their debts and simply stop making payments after receiving goods or services from creditors.
Despite your circumstances, it is important to learn about the statute of limitations. Determining the debt collection statute of limitations in your state is important if you have any outstanding debt that a creditor has not received payment on.
What is the Statute of Limitations?
The statute of limitations is the amount of time each state allows creditors and collectors to sue consumers for payment on delinquent debts. Generally speaking, it begins when consumers fail to make their last payment.
Knowing this time limit is important because a collector cannot file a lawsuit against you to collect the debt after that time has passed. However, if you are sued for the debt and do not respond, the creditor may get a default judgment against you. It is up to you to prove that the debt is past the statute of limitations.
Once the statute of limitations expires, lenders can no longer sue you for unpaid debts in court. And once a debt has “expired,” it is considered “time-barred” and is no longer legally collectible. Even so, you may continue to receive collection calls after that date.
A statute of limitations varies depending on where you live and what type of debt you have, so it’s important to understand what these laws are in your state.
Categories of Legal Debt Agreements
There are legal debt agreements, and each agreement has its own statute of limitations. The four types of legal agreements are:
• Written contract
• Oral contract
• Promissory agreement
• Open-ended agreement
1. Written Contract
A written contract is a signed agreement in writing which specifies you and the collection agency on loan terms. You can refer to this document in case of illegalities.
2. Oral Contract
An oral contract is a verbal contract between the agency and the client. It is challenging to prove oral contracts in the courts as it will be your word against theirs.
3. Promissory Agreement
A promissory agreement is an assurance you make to your creditor through a written promissory note to the creditor agreeing to pay back a debt. It includes the interest rate and period in which to handle the debt.
4. Open-Ended Agreement
An open-ended agreement works where there is a revolving balance. A good example is in-store credits and credit cards, which you can borrow over and over. An account that only allows you to borrow once is not an open-ended account.
Factors Affecting the Length of the Statute of Limitations
The length of the statute depends on a few factors. Some of these factors are:
State Laws
Most states have statutes of limitation ranging from three to six years, but some states have statutes that extend beyond six years.
Type of Debt Owed
Credit card debt and medical bills typically have shorter statutes than mortgage loans and car loans.
When Does the Clock Start Ticking?
The statute begins on the date of your last payment (the last activity date). If you make even a small partial payment toward your debt, you can reset your statute-of-limitations period because your last activity date will be later than it was before.
How Does the Statute of Limitations Affect Your Credit Report
You are probably wondering how the statute of limitations affects your credit score. The good news is that it does not lengthen or shorten its time on your credit report.
You will get a negative report on your credit history after defaulting on your payment. The negative remark stays on your report for seven years or ten years, depending on the debt you took.
As time goes by, the negative report on your credit report will have less impact on your credit score. What this means is — you may have a good score despite having four-year-old delinquency on your credit report.
What Should You Do When a Debt Collector Contacts You?
A statute of limitations only bars debtors from suing you but not from contacting you. Since you have a debt, you are required by law to pay the debt, and the debt collectors will continue contacting you to convince you to pay.
If your debt collector contacts you about a time-barred debt. Be extra careful about what you say to a collector. Anything you say or sign may revive the time-barred debt as they may take it as an acknowledgment that you owe them.
If you also agree to pay an old debt with a debt collector, you will have also revived, extended, or waived the debt.
The Bottom Line
Knowing how the law protects consumers helps you ease the pressure you may have whenever you have to deal with debt collectors. What you say or do in case of delinquency will be “used against you in the court of law.” Ascent Network is dedicated to helping debtors understand their rights while improving their credit scores.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
Do you have several loans with varying interest rates and due dates? You might benefit from a debt consolidation loan. Let’s take a look. What Is a Debt Consolidation Loan? A debt consolidation loan takes all your debts and payments and rolls them into one loan. Why would you want to do this? You may … Continued
Credit repair is very important. If you have bad credit and cannot get approved for any kind of loan, you need to get your credit in order. The good news is that you can repair it yourself. Can I Fix My Credit Myself? Yes, with the right information and guidance, you can improve your credit … Continued
If you’ve ever missed a payment on a credit card, loan, or mortgage, you know what it’s like to have the late payment appear on your credit profile report. It makes it harder to get approved for new credit cards and loans. But the good news is that there are options for removing late payments … Continued
If you have collections on your credit report, there’s no doubt you just want them to go away. This is because they may be weighing down your credit score and preventing you from getting loans or qualifying for better interest rates. While we have some tips to help you remove collections from your credit report, … Continued
There are many reasons why people stop paying their debts. Some borrowers use credit cards irresponsibly and end up with huge outstanding balances they can’t afford to repay. Others suffer temporary financial setbacks, such as job loss or divorce, and fall behind on their bills. And some people have no intention of repaying their debts … Continued