Where to borrow money when the banks won’t loan

Fortunately banks are by no means the only institutions which lend money to people. If a bank will not let you borrow money, the chances are that you have a credit rating which is less than perfect. While this can be a problem for a lot of lenders, there are plenty of others who specialise in people with bad credit.

A poor credit rating does send a signal to lenders that you are going to be a higher risk than someone without your credit problems, so the terms of bad credit borrowing can often be adjusted to compensate for this. What that means is that if a lender thinks they are less likely to get all their money back by lending to people with a history of credit problems, they are probably going to charge a higher interest rate to make up for their increased losses.

However, there are other types of borrowing where a bad credit rating is far less of an issue anyway. The main one being secured loans, where the money you borrow is secured against something you own, usually your house, but sometimes a car. What this means is that the loan is legally tied into the ownership of your home, so if you were to default on the loan and not pay it back, the lender could have your house sold to get their money. Because they have this ultimate safety net to fall back on, they are much more willing to overlook bad credit ratings and lend much higher amounts of money.

The other type of lending which often does not rely on a credit report is for very short term loans for small amounts of cash. These are referred to as payday or cash advance loans. These are always for relatively small amounts and usually only for a period of weeks, or months at the most. The reason credit reports matter less is that the lender is unlikely to be lending you any more money than you will be getting in your next pay packet. So provided you prove that you have a job and will be getting paid at the end of the month, they do not usually worry about your credit rating.

You need to be careful if you are considering either of these types of borrowing. Secured loans put your home at risk, so for fairly obvious reasons you need to consider these carefully and be sure that you are going to be able to keep up with repayments. Knowing that they have your home to cover the debt, some less scrupulous companies may not be that careful about assessing your ability to repay the loan, and not very understanding if you do get into difficulties. You should therefore be very careful when you are selecting a company to use for such a serious undertaking.

Payday loans are for small amounts of money, but the interest charges are very high if you use the loans for longer periods than are intended. Like secured loans, this form of borrowing is a little open to abuse by less responsible lenders, who will be only to happy to slap outrageous penalty charges on you if you do not pay the loan back on time. Take care to seek recommendations on well established and reputable companies, and always get quotes from more than one.

Read recommendations for the most reputable direct payday lenders in the US and UK.

Why Is Budgeting Important - How Budgeting Can Turn Your Finances Around

A budget is an extremely useful tool which can help you control your financial situation. Many people who get into problems with debt or overspending do so at least partly through not fully understanding where their money is going. By using budgeting techniques you can get a clear picture of exactly what you spend your money on, and take action to adjust that balance if it is not what you want to be doing. In other words, it is not about stopping all expenditure, but rather choosing what you spend your money on and making sure you have money free for the things you really want.

Working to a budget really should not mean permanent thrift and misery; it is about understanding and control, and the end result should be that you have more money to spend. The difference an effective budget can make is enormous, and it really is largely about getting a clear understanding of where all your money goes to, so that you can make sure that matches up with the amount you have coming in.

If you buy a coffee once or twice a day, it costs very little each day, so you don’t even think about it. However, if you add that up and work out how much that is every month and every year, it becomes a substantial amount of money, which you may well decide you would rather do something else with. If you buy lunch every day at work, would you really rather do that than bring something from home and have an extra holiday each year? It really does make that much difference and most people are making these sort of choices on a daily basis without knowing it.

So understanding that a budget can be a useful thing is a bit of a no-brainer, but then comes the part where many people fall down - doing something about it. Understandably, a lot of people do not get started down the budgeting route simply through a lack of understanding of how to go about it. There are various options you can consider, but in essence what you need to find is a system you can follow that gives you an easy way to keep track of where your money is going. If you are reasonably comfortable with figures and spreadsheets, you can do this completely from scratch. You can download free budget sheets online to get you started.

The problem is that unless you are very determined, it does not take much to be put off following the whole process through and putting in the work that is required to prepare your own budget manually. The alternative is to use some sort of budgeting tool, of which there are many on the market. The reason these are so popular is that they take all the hard work out of budgeting and mean that you only need spend a small amount of time keeping track of your finances. Keeping the process as simple as possible is actually quite an important factor in determining whether people put the budget into action and stick to it or not.

Even with a budgeting tool, you will need to spend some time initially inputting all your financial information so that you can come up with your monthly budget. Once that work is done, however, the all important monitoring and updating is so much easier with a budgeting software tool. Some packages will even pull your online bank statements into the system so that all your financial information is integrated in one place. One of the most useful aspects of a good budget tool should be the reporting function. This is where you are able to really analyse your spending, to show you in a clear and simple way where exactly your money goes, where spending is out of control and which areas require your attention.

Read reviews and recommendations on home budgeting software.

Why Is Budgeting Important - How Budgeting Can Turn Your Finances Around

A budget is an extremely useful tool which can help you control your financial situation. Many people who get into problems with debt or overspending do so at least partly through not fully understanding where their money is going. By using budgeting techniques you can get a clear picture of exactly what you spend your money on, and take action to adjust that balance if it is not what you want to be doing. In other words, it is not about stopping all expenditure, but rather choosing what you spend your money on and making sure you have money free for the things you really want.

Working to a budget really should not mean permanent thrift and misery; it is about understanding and control, and the end result should be that you have more money to spend. The difference an effective budget can make is enormous, and it really is largely about getting a clear understanding of where all your money goes to, so that you can make sure that matches up with the amount you have coming in.

If you buy a coffee once or twice a day, it costs very little each day, so you don’t even think about it. However, if you add that up and work out how much that is every month and every year, it becomes a substantial amount of money, which you may well decide you would rather do something else with. If you buy lunch every day at work, would you really rather do that than bring something from home and have an extra holiday each year? It really does make that much difference and most people are making these sort of choices on a daily basis without knowing it.

So understanding that a budget can be a useful thing is a bit of a no-brainer, but then comes the part where many people fall down - doing something about it. Understandably, a lot of people do not get started down the budgeting route simply through a lack of understanding of how to go about it. There are various options you can consider, but in essence what you need to find is a system you can follow that gives you an easy way to keep track of where your money is going. If you are reasonably comfortable with figures and spreadsheets, you can do this completely from scratch. You can download free budget sheets online to get you started.

The problem is that unless you are very determined, it does not take much to be put off following the whole process through and putting in the work that is required to prepare your own budget manually. The alternative is to use some sort of budgeting tool, of which there are many on the market. The reason these are so popular is that they take all the hard work out of budgeting and mean that you only need spend a small amount of time keeping track of your finances. Keeping the process as simple as possible is actually quite an important factor in determining whether people put the budget into action and stick to it or not.

Even with a budgeting tool, you will need to spend some time initially inputting all your financial information so that you can come up with your monthly budget. Once that work is done, however, the all important monitoring and updating is so much easier with a budgeting software tool. Some packages will even pull your online bank statements into the system so that all your financial information is integrated in one place. One of the most useful aspects of a good budget tool should be the reporting function. This is where you are able to really analyse your spending, to show you in a clear and simple way where exactly your money goes, where spending is out of control and which areas require your attention.

Read reviews and recommendations on home budgeting software.

Small Loans With Bad Credit - Advice On How To Get Small Loans When Your Credit Is Bad

Having problems on your credit rating can wipe out access to borrowing money from a huge range of lenders. Most companies that lend larger amounts of money need to be sure that the people they lend it to are likely to pay it back, often over a considerable period of time. This is why your credit rating matters and your overall credit needs to be pretty good. However, if you only require a smaller amount of money, and you can pay it back relatively quickly, there are certainly loans that you can access, no matter how bad your credit is.

The main type of loan where your credit report is often of little interest is a payday loan. These are always for small amounts of money and always for a very short period of time. The loans are usually just until your next payday, hence the name. The reason that bad credit does not stop you getting one of these loans is that the loan is for a very short period of time, so the lender is only really interested in knowing that you will have enough money going into your bank account at the end of the loan period to cover what you have borrowed.

For this reason, the main criteria for being accepted for a payday loan are that you have a job and a bank account. While some companies still want to do a credit check, there are plenty who either will not check your rating, or who will be very flexible about any problems with your rating. Payday loan companies often used to require you to fax through various proofs of employment, etc, but with certain online companies you can now go through an extremely fast, entirely online application process, and have the money in your account the same day as you apply.

Payday loan companies will often require that you have a debit card or that you set up a direct debit with them to pay back the money borrowed. If you do take out one of these short term cash advance loans, it is very important to pay the full amount back exactly on time. The fees charged are reasonable when you look at them as a flat fee for a service, but when you compare them in terms of annual percentage rate with other types of borrowing, the interest rates are extremely high. So if you didn't pay the loan back on time and continued that debt for a longer period, the interest charges would soon mount up. Some people who have failed to repay a payday loan have ended up owing much more in interest than the amount they borrowed in the first place.

It is therefore important to understand what payday loans are and when you should use them. They are not designed to tackle ongoing debt problems, and if they are used in this way, it is almost inevitable that you will end up with bigger problems. They are for dealing with one-off, unforeseen bills or expenses, and tiding you over until your next payday. If you need to borrow money for longer, or require it to pay off other existing debts, then payday loans are not the answer.

The fact that such loans can lead to high interest charges if not used properly, does attract some lenders who are less than scrupulous and who add ridiculous penalty charges onto any late payments, making it very difficult to ever pay the loans off. For this reason you need to take great care when choosing a company to borrow from. Check that they are reputable and make sure you know what the terms and conditions are for any late payment interest. It is also worth getting quotes from more than one to compare rates.

Read recommendations for direct payday loan lenders.

Should I File Bankruptcy Or Not - How Else Do I Get Rid Of Debt

Serious debt problems can be very stressful and are often seen as insurmountable. When the amount owed becomes more than you could ever hope to repay, it is easy to think there is no way to begin to tackle the debt, which is when many people turn to bankruptcy as the only way out. In some cases bankruptcy is indeed the best long term solution, but it is a drastic step to take and should never be the only option considered.

In the UK the government introduced a scheme called Individual Voluntary Arrangements, or IVAs, which were originally designed as an alternative to bankruptcy for small businesses. They are now very widely used for problems of personal debt, as the consequences are less serious than with bankruptcy. They provide a full and final settlement of unsecured debts, without having the lasting legal restrictions or the stigma that filing for bankruptcy brings with it.

In the US, the most common and most effective alternative to bankruptcy is debt settlement negotiation. This has the same effect as an IVA, in that you end up with one affordable monthly payment, and a large portion of your debts are written off.

There are many similarities between the positive aspects of an IVA and those of declaring bankruptcy. With both courses of action your debts immediately stop mounting up and all the dealings with your creditors are taken over by someone else. This puts an end to the constant hounding by creditors that some people suffer. Unlike in bankruptcy, IVAs only cover unsecured debts, so things like mortgages cannot be included. This does mean that you are far less likely to lose your home with an IVA.

There are costs involved in either declaring bankruptcy or setting up an IVA. The companies who do this need to be paid, either in fees as with bankruptcy, or usually through your monthly payments with an IVA. However, the costs involved in setting up an Individual Voluntary Agreement should generally be less than those for filing bankruptcy.

Debt Management Plans are often put forward as alternatives to bankruptcy, and while these also result in a single monthly payment, they do not actually write off any of the debt you owe. They are generally for people whose situation is not quite as serious as someone who might need an IVA or debt settlement. Unlike IVAs, debt management plans are not legally binding agreements, so if any of your creditors do not want to play ball, they don’t work. With an IVA, you just need the creditors for 75% of your debt to agree to the arrangement and the rest are legally bound by it too.

To qualify for an IVA you normally need to have at least £10,000 worth of debt to more than one unsecured creditor. You will also need to be a UK resident with some regular income to pay towards your debts. Because IVA providers get fees from setting up these arrangements, some less scrupulous companies may recommend them even if they are not the best option. For this reason you need to ensure that you find reputable companies and check with more than one in order to compare offers.

Read recommendations for the most reputable IVA UK Companies.

Can You Be Sued For Credit Card Debts - What To Do If You Are Being Sued For Debt

Being sued for debt is a frightening thought, but is an increasingly likely scenario for many consumers struggling through the credit crunch. One of the most common forms of consumer debt is money owed to credit card companies. The reason for this is not least because it is often very easy to get credit in the first place and much harder to keep track of plastic spending compared to hard cash coming out of your bank account. When times get tough, it is often credit cards we turn to in order to pay the bills or buy the things we need.

If you do find yourself in a serious debt crisis where you are unable to meet your commitments to pay back what you have spent, you may well be threatened with legal action by the credit card companies. They are well within their rights to sue you for their money, but they are only likely to do this if they think that is the course of action which is most likely to get back what you owe them.

Ideally, you should not be letting things go as far as being taken to court, but if you are already at that stage, it may not be as bad as you think. You cannot be sent to prison for an unpaid credit card bill if you have not been to court before. If the court judgement goes against you, the judge will order you to pay back the money you owe at a rate which the court thinks you are able to pay. They will examine your finances in order to make this judgement about what you can afford each month.

The best option is of course not to let your debts mount up in the first place, but this is easier said than done. If you already have substantial credit card bills that you are unable to pay, your best option is to try to negotiate a settlement with the card companies. This too is easier said than done, particularly if you do not understand how card companies operate.

Many people in this situation turn to debt settlement agencies, but you will need to pay them for this service, so ultimately it ends up costing you a lot more than if you do it yourself. If you understand how credit card settlement works, and can time your negotiations properly, you should be able to come to an agreement that will result in a large proportion of your debt being written off.

It is important to know what to say to the card companies and you need to understand the procedures they go through in order to time your negotiations to achieve the best results. Getting this right can make the difference between not reaching any agreement to settle, and achieving a settlement that writes off a huge chunk of what you owe, getting you out of debt in one stroke.

With the right guidance and information, you can negotiate directly will all the credit card companies you owe money to, and achieve the best possible settlement deals without paying substantial fees to a debt settlement company for their services.

Find out how you can learn how to settle debt.

Can A Credit Card Company Sue You - Being Sued For Debt How To Avoid It

Credit card companies and collection agencies are quite within their rights to take legal action against you if you have failed to pay a debt that you legitimately owe. Taking out credit is a legal agreement, so if you fail to keep up with your end of the bargain by not paying the money back when it is due, you can be sued.

This does not mean that it is a foregone conclusion that you will be sued, as it can depend on many other factors. Taking someone to court will obviously cost the card company money, so they will want to weigh up the cost in legal fees and staff time, compared to what they are realistically likely to get back at the end of the process.

The fact that you are sued does not magically bring money out of the air for the card company, so if you genuinely cannot afford to pay back what you owe, being sued will not change that. If they successfully sue you, you will be ordered to pay back the money at a rate which the court decides you can afford, after looking at your finances.

You do not want a court judgement against you if you can help it, of course, so it is much better to deal with the problem before it gets to the stage of going to court. By far the best way to deal with credit card debt is to agree a settlement with the company. This may sound easier said than done, because it is, but it is perfectly possible to agree settlements for much less that you owe, if you understand how the card companies work.

My usual advice to anyone in debt would be to never ignore the issue and to talk to your creditors and try to establish a relationship. However, credit card debt is quite a distinct area of debt and requires some specialist advice. For instance, at certain times, it may actually help to ignore approaches from the card company, because timing, in settlement terms, is everything. Judging when to negotiate and when not to, can make the difference between not achieving a settlement and wiping out most of your debt.

The main choice you have to make if you are in serious debt to credit card companies is whether to try to reach settlements with your creditors by undertaking negotiations with them yourself, or whether to use a professional company to do this on your behalf. If you wish to do it yourself, it is difficult if you do not have any experience or understanding of how card companies operate, but is still perfectly possible if you get the right help and advice.

A debt settlement company will know what to do and the good ones are likely to get reductions on your debts of up to 60%, but you will need to pay them a proportion of what they save you as their fees. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you maximise the reductions you achieve by not having to pay a settlement company.

Read a detailed guide on how to negotiate debt.

IVA UK - Information and Advice On How To Find The Right IVA Company

An IVA is a debt solution which is only available in the UK. It stands for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement and is a formal agreement between you and your creditors, which is negotiated by an Insolvency Practitioner. The basis of the agreement is that you make payments of an agreed amount over a specified period of time (usually five years) after which your debts are considered to be fully settled. This usually involves writing off a significant portion of the debt.

From the date of the IVA, the amount of your debt is usually frozen and you should not be charged any further interest or penalty charges. It is often seen as a better option than bankruptcy for people who are faced with the need to get rid of debts which they can’t afford to repay. Even though an IVA lasts longer then bankruptcy, it does not have the stigma or some of the legal consequences that bankruptcy brings with it.

For example, you can carry on using your bank account without declaring that you have an IVA, and there are no jobs that you will be prohibited from working in, as there are for anyone who has been made bankrupt. Also, your house may be excluded from the IVA if the Insolvency Practitioner agrees, so the risk of losing your home is less with an IVA.

An important point about an IVA is that, unlike a Debt Management Plan, which is a completely informal arrangement, the IVA is legally binding. If at least 75% of your creditors agree to the IVA, then the remaining ones are bound to it whether they like it or not. The 75% agreement relates to the proportion of the debt in monetary terms, not the number or creditors. So if 75% of your total debt was owed to two companies, you would only need the agreement of those two companies for the IVA to also bind the other people who are owed money. So if you have already looked at a Debt Management Plan or other informal agreement, and some of your creditors will not agree to it, an IVA could be a better alternative.

IVAs do of course cost money, because the companies who negotiate and administer the schemes need to be paid for their work. Generally you do not need to find this money up front and it will be included as a proportion of the monthly repayment amount that you agree. The cost is still less than the cost for declaring bankruptcy, and provided a good proportion of your debt is written off, it can seem like money well spent.

Care should be taken when selecting an IVA company, however, as rates can vary enormously. You must also bear in mind that when discussing the options for dealing with your debts, these companies stand to gain financially from the decision you make. You should therefore take care to select a reputable company in the first place, who will properly consider your particular situation, offer you advice then allow you to choose the best option, rather than pressurise you to go for the scheme that will generate the biggest income for them.

Read more about IVAs, including recommendations for the top IVA UK Companies.

IVA Specialists - Advice And Information To Help You Select The Best IVA Company

An IVA or individual voluntary arrangement is an increasingly popular option for people in the UK who are faced with serious debt problems. It was originally an initiative of the UK government, intended to provide an alternative to bankruptcy for small businesses, but is now widely used for personal debt. In the US, the nearest equivalent is debt settlement, which is also a radical alternative to bankruptcy. An IVA has several advantages over bankruptcy, which is a more serious course of action, but it is still a legally binding agreement so should not be entered into without proper consideration.

All IVAs must be handled by properly licensed Insolvency Practitioners, but the initial arrangement is normally dealt with through one of the many IVA specialists now providing this service in the UK. As in any area of work, some are better than others, and given the serious and lasting implications for the person seeking an IVA, it is important to take care to select the right IVA company to deal with your situation. I think it is helpful before applying for an IVA to have a good understanding of what it involves, so I am going to summarise the main points first. Then we can look at what to consider when looking for a company to handle your IVA.

An IVA is designed for UK residents, usually with at least £15,000 of unsecured debt to at least 3 different creditors, though some companies will do it for less than this. Unsecured debt means debt which is not secured against your home, such as a mortgage or secured loan. Unlike a Debt Management Plan, which is an informal agreement with creditors, an IVA is a legally binding arrangement. Provided at least 75% of your creditors agree to it, then any creditor who objects is also bound by it. Therefore if you have tried to set up an informal agreement and it has failed because some creditors will not agree, an IVA can be a way around that situation.

The agreement is normally for five years, and involves a fixed monthly payment to your practitioner over that period. Professional fees for the Insolvency Practitioner are normally built into the monthly payments.

Once you set up an IVA, your creditors can't take any further action against you, and can’t hassle you for payment. Any contact has to be through your Insolvency Practitioner. As they cannot take action during the arrangement, you cannot be made bankrupt during the course of the IVA. However, if you default on payments and therefore break the agreement, you can still be made bankrupt.

There will be no newspaper adverts or other notices that can lead to the stigma sometimes associated with bankruptcy. Neither will you be prevented from working in certain jobs as you would be with bankruptcy.

When looking around for the best IVA specialist, the most important thing to say is that they vary a lot, so do not just go for the first one you come across. Follow reviews and recommendations, and bear in mind some of the following:

It is helpful if the application process is as simple as possible, but remember that one way or another they need to get quite a lot of detail from you, otherwise they cannot give you proper advice. They need to know the facts in order to offer the best alternatives for you. One of the most convenient ways to apply is to submit an online form with some basic details, then they can call you back to get any other information they require.

Apply to more than one and compare not just the repayments offered, but how you feel about the people you are dealing with. Do they treat you as an individual and cater for your particular needs, or are you being squeezed into a box that is more to do with their needs than yours? You will need to discuss all sorts of personal information with these people, so you need to feel comfortable with the individuals concerned.

Be very wary of ridiculous boasts of writing off 90% of your debts. This just does not happen and is misleading. Look for companies that are well established, not newly set up, and which specialise in IVAs and debt management, rather than ones who do a bit of it as an add-on to their other business.

Read recommendations for the most reputable UK IVA specialists.

Money To Borrow With Bad Credit - Advice On How To Get Cash When Your Credit Is Poor

A bad credit rating can prevent you getting credit with the vast majority of lending companies. Personal loans and credit cards are likely to be completely out of the question, which can be a real problem when you find that you need extra cash for something.

However, there are certain types of lending that either do not require a credit check at all, or which will still lend money even when there are problems with your credit. There are really two options open to you, depending what your requirements are. If you need a small amount of cash for a very short period, then a payday loan could be the answer. If you need a larger, longer term loan, then your only option is likely to be a secured loan.

Payday loans are never for large amounts of money and are usually just to cover a shortfall until your next salary or wage payment arrives. In other words they are not the solution if you need to borrow money for anything longer than a few weeks. This is important because if you were to go for a payday loan and then find that you could not repay it on the due date, you are likely to be penalised quite strongly by excess charges.

The reason you can get payday loans even with bad credit, are that the lender does not need to care what your credit record is like, as long as you have enough money coming in your next pay check to cover the loan. So the main thing a payday lender will look for in order for you to qualify for a loan is that you have a steady job. Payday loans are for unexpected emergencies and one-off expenses, and should never be seen as a way to tackle ongoing debt problems.

Secured loans, sometimes known as homeowner loans, are an entirely different ballgame. When you borrow money in this way, the loan is secured against a substantial asset that you own, usually your house. This means that your home is legally tied into the loan, so that if you were to default on payments, the lender could sell your house to get their money back.

Because the loan is secured against such a valuable asset, the lender is far more willing to take a chance on people with bad credit, because they know that ultimately they can always recover their loan through that last resort of selling your house. For the same reason, you are usually able to take out a much larger secured loan that you could an unsecured one. Needless to say, with the possible consequence of losing your home, secured loans are not something to be entered into without very careful thought.

If your bad credit report is stopping you borrowing money and you are not sure why your rating is not good, it would be well worth checking your credit report for yourself. You need to do this so that you can ensure there are no mistakes on it, such as records which are simply wrong, bad debts which have been settled, or things which should have been removed by now. US citizens can get one free credit report each year, and UK citizens can sign up for a free trial and see their report free of charge that way.

Find recommendations for direct payday lenders in the US and UK.

Online Payday Cash Advance Lenders - Advice And Information On Using Payday Loans

Payday loan companies, or cash advance lenders, are specialist lending organisations, who lend money to people who need relatively small amounts of cash very quickly and for short periods of time. The term payday loan comes from the fact that such loans are normally given on the condition that they are paid back immediately on the borrower's next payday.

These cash advance lenders specialise in helping people out when they find themselves unexpectedly short of cash, usually in unforeseen emergencies or when facing unexpected bills. The loan is literally just to tide them over until they next get paid. For this reason, the criteria for getting a payday loan are slightly different to most other longer term types of borrowing.

The most important thing the cash advance lender wants to know is that you have a job and a steady income. If you can prove that, then it usually does not matter if you have a bad credit record or even court judgements against you. Apart from this, most lenders will require you to be over 18 years of age and a citizen or resident of the country you are applying from. There are many online payday loan companies now, which have fast application processes that mean you do not need to fax through any documents or evidence.

Payday loans should not be seen as a solution to ongoing debt problems. The last thing you want is to get into a situation where you have to extend the lending term on a cash advance loan because you can’t pay it back. Because payday loans are designed to be very short term, the charges and interest rates that apply if they are taken out for longer can be very heavy indeed. If you take out a payday loan and default on it, you will quickly see the charges building up and could soon find that the interest due is more than you originally borrowed. You should not take out a loan unless you are really sure you can pay it back on time.

When looking for a payday loan you should always look for recommendations and compare the charges that will be applied. In the US the charges are often dictated by the state in which you reside, so will vary depending where you live. Some states prohibit payday loans and all states that do permit them issue licenses, so always check that a payday lender is properly licensed for your state. A surprising number of companies operate illegitimately without licenses.

As payday loans or cash advances are usually only for a few days, the cost of borrowing is normally a fixed fee. It does not look like much money because the amounts being borrowed are quite small, but if you look at it as an annual Interest rate, you will see that it is huge compared to other loans or credit cards. Late payment penalties can be even worse. Payday loans are extremely useful and serve a real purpose, but only if you use them for what they were designed for - one-off emergencies, and always, always pay them back on the due date.

If you do have debt problems, then do not be tempted to take out a cash advance. It will not solve your problem and may well make it worse. The only long term solution to dealing with debt is to negotiate settlements with your creditors. The purpose of this is to agree to wipe out as much of the debt as possible, and set new repayment terms for the remainder. You can find free advice online telling you exactly how to do this.

Read recommendations for reputable payday loan companies in the US and UK.

Negotiate Credit Card Settlement - Find Out How To Wipe Out Your Credit Card Debts

The fact that credit cards are so easily available to most of us when we need to spend a bit more than we actually have, is one of the reasons why so many people get into credit card debt. Such debts often mount up gradually and before we know it they have suddenly grown so large that it is beyond our ability to pay them off.

This is when people sometimes jump at the first solution they can think of, which in some cases can often make things worse. Debt consolidation loans, for example, are often used by people to pay off credit cards, but all that happens is that the problem is transferred to another lender, often leading to greater interest payments in the long run. Others consider bankruptcy, which is indeed a serious step and should not be entered into lightly. Bankruptcy will rarely be an appropriate response to credit card debt.

Negotiating a settlement with the card companies or collection agencies is always the best answer to credit card debt. The idea being, to get an agreement to write off as much of the debt as possible to begin with, leaving only a fraction of the debt to pay. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money to pay off a lump sum, there are ways around that. The main thing is to get your negotiation right and get rid of the vast majority of your debt in one go.

Of course, doing this is easier said than done. Card companies and collection agencies are not always the easiest people to negotiate with, and you will often be met with an unwillingness to co-operate. In this situation many people turn to lawyers and professional debt settlement companies to help, but these people all charge significant fees for their help. There are other sources of advice, and with the right guidance you can manage perfectly well the debt settlement professionals and save an awful lot of money.

What you need is a good understanding of the processes that the card companies go through, which will allow you to know exactly when it is best to approach them and what you need to say. By understanding how they treat bad debts and when they are likely to charge it off from their balance sheets, you can take maximum advantage and get the biggest possible discount on your debt. If you get this process right, you will typically be able to write off between half and 80% of your credit card debts. Without this understanding you are unlikely to ever achieve this level of saving.

You can get detailed help and guidance without paying expensive lawyers of debt settlement companies, and if you get the process right, you can even end up getting a better deal than most of the professionals would. Debt settlement fees tend to be about 20% of the debt, so by doing your own negotiation on a credit card debt of $20,000 will save you about $4,000 in fees.

Read advice on how to negotiate debt.

What Happens If You Don't Pay A Payday Loan - Consequences of Defaulting On A Payday Loan

Payday Loans are very short term loans intended to give you a quick cash injection in an emergency. They are literally a loan that you have to pay back on your next payday. For that reason, they are always for relatively small amounts of cash and for very short periods of time.

The cost of a payday loan is normally a fixed fee, which looks fairly reasonable on the face of it, but if you do not pay the loan back on time as agreed, additional charges can soon mount up and you can find yourself owing more in interest than you originally borrowed. Payday Loans are designed for very short term needs, and if there is any chance that may need the money for longer, you should consider alternative means of borrowing.

The charges may not be large amounts of money, but as a proportion of the amount being borrowed they are substantial. If you look at the charges in interest rate terms they are extremely high, often over 1,000%. In the US the charges are sometimes governed by local state laws, so cannot be above a certain amount.

Failure to pay back a payday loan on time can lead to hefty penalty charges, which for some people can mean getting into a cycle of increasing debt that is hard to break out of. What will typically happen is that if you take out a payday loan and then find that can’t pay it off on the due date, you must inform the loan company in advance and arrange new repayment terms. This is known as refinancing or extending the loan and will lead to a new repayment plan which will include additional fees.

Different payday loan companies will have different arrangements and charges for extending loans, so it is worth checking all this out before you take out a loan. Some companies have truly extortionate fees, so you do need to be clear about what all the charges are before agreeing to a loan. If you do find that you are not going to be able to keep to the agreed repayment date, the main thing is to be sure to let the loan company know at least a full day before your loan due date, and preferably longer.

If you fail to notify the loan company in advance that you are not going to be able to meet the payment, your loan will be in default, which means the loan is immediately due for repayment and the consequences and penalty charges can be much more serious.

Payday loans can be useful in the right circumstances, but the key is not to use them to deal with serious debt, and not to use them regularly. They should be for unexpected emergencies only, and even then only if you are sure you can pay them off in full when you get paid. If you do have serious debt problems, you should approach a debt management company in the first instance, to see whether a payment plan may work for you. Alternatively, you could try negotiating with your creditors to reduce your debts. Help with doing this and with finding reputable debt management companies is available online.

Find recommendations for the best value direct payday loan lenders now.

Can Collection Agency Sue For Debt - Advice About Being Sued For Debt

Being chased by a collection agency is at best annoying and at worst extremely upsetting. There is much confusion about the legal powers of debt collection agencies and in particular the question of whether they are able to sue you to get back the money which is owed. Assuming that the debt is genuine, whoever is owed the money has the right to take you to court to get an order for repayment. If you dispute the amount owed, or that you owe money at all, the most important thing is to communicate with the collection agency to explain your situation and, if possible, provide evidence to back your case.

Debt collection agencies are normally separate organisations acting on behalf of the company who is owed the money. In this case, it is unlikely that it will be the agency who will sue you, but they may instigate proceedings on behalf of their client. Most smaller businesses will not deal with debt collection directly, and will pay a collection agency to do it for them, often on a commission basis (hence the enthusiasm with which some agents operate!).

In some cases your debt will have been sold to the collection agency at a fraction of its value, in which case you now owe the money to the agency, not the original creditor. In these circumstances the debt belongs to the collection agency so the decision will be theirs whether to sue or not, and they are quite entitled to do so.

Collection agencies buy debts at knock down prices and make their income by collecting as much as they can of the original debt. It is always worth trying to negotiate a settlement with a collector rather than going to court. This will be their preferred option too, as they do not want to incur unnecessary costs. If the debt is substantial and they think you can afford to pay, it is more likely they will choose to sue you. If you are able to prove that you genuinely cannot pay what is owed, then show them the evidence and they are more likely to settle for a lower amount, if they believe that is the most they can get.

No-one wants to be sued, but it may help to have an understanding of what it actually involves, and what the possible outcomes may be if action is taken against you. It is easy to associate being sued with serious repercussions such as going to prison or being made bankrupt, but this is usually far more dramatic than the reality of the situation.

Procedures for the UK and the US are very similar. If you are sued successfully for a debt that you owe in the UK, the outcome will normally be a County Court Judgement being made against you, which will require you to pay back the debt. The important thing to bear in mind here is that the court will look at your financial situation and the terms of the repayment should be based on what you can actually afford. So you should not be ordered to pay back a lump sum that you simply do not have. If you are in this situation and have a judgement made against you, the most important thing to do is ensure you stick to the repayment plan set by the court. The reason for this is that if you fail to keep up with payments, the consequences of further legal action against you can be much more serious.

Clearly it is preferable to try to deal with any debts before they get to the stage of legal action, as the only real winners in court cases are lawyers. If you find yourself being pursued by a collection agency, you should first try to talk to them. See if you can establish a relationship and be up front about your situation. If they know you are being honest and taking a professional approach, they are more likely to be open to making a settlement.

No matter how large or complicated your debts are, your first approach should be to try to negotiate new terms for a settlement with your creditors. This is a tried and tested approach and help and advice is available free online. It is the only system that does not involve borrowing more money or paying a debt management company for their services.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Erase Bad Credit Reports - Is It Possible To Wipe Out A Poor Credit Record?

Would you like to erase your bad credit report? Yes of course you would - who wouldn’t. Unfortunately that does not mean that it is possible to do so. You can take steps to improve and help build up your credit rating, but there is nothing you can do to just erase a bad credit report. So why do you keep seeing things on the internet promising to do just that? Well you can be sure that the people responsible for such claims are making them in order to try to get money out of you one way or another; so do not be taken in.

In both the UK and the US there are three main credit reference agencies that hold your credit records, and no-one has the power to get anything on these reports changed unless there has been an error. It is true that sometimes mistakes are made which can result in your credit rating being worse than it should be, but if that is the case you can check it and have it put right yourself.

All American citizens can obtain one credit report each year without having to pay for it, and in the UK it is possible to check your credit report free of charge by signing up for a free trial of a service that is normally paid for. If you do find any errors on your report you need to write a letter to point out the mistake, explain the true situation and any other relevant facts and ask them to change it.

If you are experiencing problems with your credit report, check it yourself to begin with, in case there are problems which are causing it to be worse than it need be. Then consider a few things you can do to begin to work towards a better credit rating. First of all look at your current situation and see if you are doing anything that is likely to be contributing to your poor credit rating. Have you any debts that you are behind with, or unpaid bills? If so, you need to settle anything like this first, or your other efforts will be wasted.

If you have real debt problems then that obviously has to be your first focus of attention. Don't even think about consolidation loans or anything like that, it will only make things worse. By far the best way to deal with debt is to negotiate with your creditors for new repayment terms. Detailed help and advice with this process is available free online.

Debts in themselves are not bad things as far as credit reports go, they only become bad things when you do not keep to the agreement with regard to how and when you will pay the money back. So the main thing is to ensure that you do not have any debts that you are not keeping up with. Using a credit card can actually be beneficial in terms of building up a good credit record again. The trick is to use them responsibly. If you are being rejected for credit card applications you should stop applying, as each application hits your credit record. You may have to take a card that is at a high rate of interest because of your credit rating, but if you pay it off in full each month this will not matter. It is worth doing as just using a card responsibly will help restore your credit rating.

Check your credit score rating free of charge now.

Free Money To Pay Off Debt - The Truth About promises Of Government Money For Debt

Free money to pay off debt. It almost sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? And in fact it is. Think about it - if the government offered free money to get rid of debt problems, everyone would want it. There would be no incentive to control our finances at all and it would cost the government (and therefore us) immense amounts of money. It is a myth perpetuated by companies trying to make money from your debt problems.

Given that there is no free money to pay off our debts, there are a surprising amount of adverts around which seem to suggest that there are mountains of money there just waiting for us to ask for it. These adverts and websites tend to be ways of getting the attention of people with debt problems in order to sell them whatever it is that they offer - usually bankruptcy services, debt management plans or lists of available grants. There are lots of government grants available, particularly in the US, but you will not qualify for any of these just by being in debt.

Such grants tend to be for things like getting new businesses off the ground and kick-starting new initiatives that the government or state think are beneficial to the economy. The adverts that say you can get free money to pay off debt will probably be worded in an ambiguous way, and when you get into the detail you find that the free money is actually to start a new business which will make you money. If you make money from a new business, you can then pay off your debts, and that is the only connection between debt and these grants.

Free money will always be a tempting idea, but it does not exist. If you have serious debt problems, the bad news is that there are no magical ways of getting rid of them. But the good news is that there is almost no debt problem that cannot be solved without borrowing more money or paying someone to help you.

If you find yourself in debt and start looking around for ways to get out of the situation, the first things you will come across are the commercial solutions being advertised by companies keen to make money by helping you out. These include debt consolidation loans and debt management plans. What no-one is paying to advertise is the solution that no-one stands to gain by except you. The best solution to debt problems is to negotiate new repayment terms with your creditors. While there are debt settlement companies more than happy to take a slice of your money to do this for you, there is no reason why you can’t do it yourself.

This system involves communicating with your creditors and going through a process aimed at proving to them why you can't just pay back what you owe, then making a fair offer of new repayment terms. This will normally include writing off a part of the loan. If you can make a lump sum payment that can help to get you a better deal.

Read recommendations for reputable Debt Management companies in the UK and US.

Successful Credit Card Settlement - Negotiate Credit Card Debt Settlement

Credit Card debts are so very easy to accumulate, yet can seem impossible to get rid of. The first step towards dealing with this situation is to acknowledge it and face up to the fact that your debt problem will only get worse unless you tackle it. The best way to put credit card debt behind you is to reach a settlement agreement with the card company yourself. You certainly should not consider taking out loans, or bankruptcy or anything else until you have tried to negotiate a settlement.

You do not need to use a company to do this for you. If you do, you will be paying them generously for their trouble, whether they make this clear to you or not. You could generally expect a settlement company to take about 15% of what you owe as their fee. When you already owe more money than you have got, that is potentially a lot of money to spend on something you could do for yourself at no cost.

With a little advice, you can approach your creditors yourself and negotiate a settlement that will allow you to pay back a reduced amount in settlement of the full debt. The credit card company naturally want their money back, but if they know you are not able to pay it all, they will settle for the most they can get. They will not agree to being ripped off, so you will need to prove to them exactly how much money you have and what you are in a position to pay.

To do this you need to prepare a personal financial statement, which will show clearly, your income, expenditure and what you have available each month. Your offer to them must be based on a fair proportion of your disposable income, considering any other debts and commitments you have. If you can prove that what you are offering is reasonable, you are in a much stronger position.

The process of negotiating with creditors is a well tested method and it does work if you follow it. Free guidance is available online for how to write letters, what you should say, etc. The process includes an initial letter to the credit card company to explain your position and that you wish to make arrangements to settle the debt. Once you have all the information you need and have prepared your financial statement, you can work out a fair offer and write to them again with this. It is important in any settlement process to put everything in writing and keep copies of all letters you send and receive.

You should start by asking them to waive any penalty charges, late payment fees and extra interest charges. For an overdue debt this alone can amount to about 30-40% of the debt. If you are in a position to offer a lump sum payment you may be able to agree a better deal than if you need to pay it off over a period of time.

If your credit card debt is fairly modest and you are not yet falling behind with payments, you may wish to consider just using balance transfers to improve your situation. By transferring to a new card with a special 0% offer on balance transfers, you can immediately save on interest charges and buy yourself time in which to pay off as much of the debt as you can. One of the key things with credit card debt is never to settle for just the minimum payment amount, or your debt will just mount up and up. Aim to pay the most you possibly can each month. The best way to do this is to set up a direct debt for the most you can afford, which will help ensure you do not miss any payments.

Read a detailed guide to negotiating debt settlement.

Sample Household Budget Forms - How A Home Budgeting Form Can Help Your Finances

People experiencing problems with personal debt are not the only ones who could benefit from proper budgeting when it comes to household finances. Finding a long term solution to debt does involve learning to control spending, but budgeting is a process from which anyone can get real benefits. Budgeting is not so much about scrimping and saving and saying no to everything, as about a comprehensive reorganisation of your finances. Done properly, budgeting will help you actually do more with the money you have.

The easiest way to begin budgeting is to use a household budget form. This will allow you to find out exactly where all your money goes, and then use that information to plan how much you really want to spend on everything. It is a two stage process – finding out where you are now, and working out where you are going to go from here.

A good household budget form will list out all your possible sources of income and expenditure, to help ensure that you do not forget about anything or miscalculate. If you use one that automatically calculates totals for you, this will reduce the likelihood of errors. It is very important to complete household budget forms carefully, as a very small slip on a number can have a significant impact on your totals. Imagine the difference an extra 0 would make to your salary figure!

Once you have completed all your income and expenditure, the totals should show you clearly your ‘bottom line’. You will see instantly whether you are spending more than you earn or not. If your spending is within your income, then you have no big problem, but you could still use budgeting to re-balance your spending to where you want it to go. If you spend more than you earn, however, then you need to take action and a budget can help you.

Your next step has to be to start from your actual figures for monthly spending, and put new budget figures in for what you can afford to spend on each of these areas in future. Clearly some areas you will have no choice about, such as mortgages, etc, but others you will have a lot more leeway. You need to work out your new budget so that your total expenditure is less than your income.

The next, and possibly most difficult part, is sticking to the new budget that you have worked out from your household budget form. This involves careful monitoring of everything you spend, and being able to keep track of your spending in each of the different areas. It also involves the same thing for anyone else in your household who will be involved in the process with you. This is where you may find it useful to look at home budgeting software to help make this more manageable.

Whether you use a household budget form or a budgeting software package is of less importance than that you manage to stick to your budget. Use whatever system works best for you.

Read recommendations on home budgeting software now.

How Do I Consolidate My Debts - Advice and Information About Debt Consolidation

In many ways a better question might be 'should I consolidate my debts', rather than 'how do I consolidate by debts'. Debt consolidation is a relatively straightforward process in itself, made as simple as possible by the loan companies who are eager to offer you a loan. However, before you concern yourself with the process you may wish to take a moment to make sure that debt consolidation is actually the best solution to your problem.

Debt consolidation is about taking out one big loan to pay off all your existing debts, leaving you with one single, easy to manage monthly payment to worry about. The clear advantages are the practical one of making life easier (you no longer have to keep track of all your different debts and creditors) and the apparent saving on monthly payment which are probably lower than your old combined debts.

You just need to look a little deeper though, to be sure you really are going to be better off. There is no arguing about the simplicity offered by consolidation and that this is definitely a benefit in terms of time and effort. But that relatively modest benefit is only worth it if you are also improving your overall financial situation. The thing to look out for is how much you will be paying back in total through your new loan, compared to how much you would have paid back in total through your old debts.

The reason I say ‘in total’ is because your debt consolidation loan is likely to be spread over a much longer period than most of your old debts were. Despite paying slightly less each month under the loan, the fact that you are still going to be making those payments well past the time when your old debts would have been settled means that by the end of the loan you may have actually paid far more than you would have if you hadn’t consolidated your debts.

So the question of how do I consolidate my debts has a pretty straightforward answer - you work out the total of all the debts you want to pay off, and you apply to one of the thousands of lenders who offer consolidation loans. Actually you should get quotes from several, as interest rates will vary a lot. When you know what interest rate lenders are going to charge you for a consolidation loan, you should then look again at your debts and select only those for which you are paying a higher rate of interest than the loan company is offering.

Better than that, though, is to give serious consideration to an alternative way of getting rid of your debt, which does not involve borrowing more money or paying anyone else for their help. The most effective long term solution to debt problems is to re-negotiate repayment terms with your creditors yourself. That may sound easier said than done, but it is a tried and tested solution and you can find free detailed guidance online.

Be careful not to jump straight into debt consolidation just because it is convenient. Work out whether you will actually be any better off in the long run, and don’t be tempted to automatically consolidate all your debts. Check the interest rates on your existing debts and choose carefully which debts you include, and always shop around.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the US and UK.

Home Budgeting Software - Advice On Tools To Help with Personal Budgeting Strategies

There can be little doubt that budgeting is a really useful way to plan and control your expenditure, but the reality of actually putting it into practice is often so daunting that we just never even start. There is a tendency to think of budgeting as a painful kind of rationing, making yourself go short of things you want and not being able to spend any money. In fact this is not the case at all. Good budgeting is just a way of reorganising your finances, so that you can get the most out of the income you do have. If you get it right, proper budgeting means you can actually identify where you are spending money that you don't really want to, and you can then save money and divert it to the things you thought you couldn’t afford.

In the absence of some guidelines on how to prepare a budget, not being quite sure where to start can be enough to prevent people from getting to grips with household budgeting. There are two distinct elements to budgeting. The first is the preparation of an initial financial statement detailing all your income and expenditure, which will give you a clear picture of your current situation. You then use this to identify the areas where your spending is not how you want it to be, and set a budget for your future spending. That can sound bad enough to many people, but the tricky part is then actually sticking to that budget by monitoring what you spend every day.

How to prepare a budget

If you want to prepare a personal budget manually, there are household budget forms online that you can download free of charge. These will help to guide you through the process and ensure that you do not miss out any areas of income or expenditure. While you can then use such forms to set a monthly budget for yourself, it is up to you to work out how you monitor and record your daily spending and measure it against your budget.

How Home Budgeting Software Can Help

The reason home budgeting software tools are so popular is that they make the difficult job of budgeting so much easier. The basic principles are exactly the same as for a manual budget, but a good budgeting tool will guide you through the process of entering your initial information, then make it very easy to identify the areas where savings can be made and where you need to change your spending pattern. The big advantage, though, is in the ongoing monitoring and measuring of your spending, which can be a real challenge to do properly without a budgeting software tool.

When selecting home budgeting software, it is a good idea to go for something that has either a free trial period or a policy where you can get your money back if you don’t like it. That way you have no risk and can make sure it really is the best option for your circumstances. There are lots of home budgeting software packages out there, but you may find that some of them are actually more sophisticated (and expensive) than you require. Some have the facility to deal with lots of different accounts, stocks and shares and all sorts of things, which for many of us are not really what we need the tool for. You don’t want to pay for lots of functions that you are never going to use, so go for a modestly priced, straightforward product. You also want a home budgeting tool that you will be happy to use regularly, so make sure you find one that is user friendly and not over-complicated.

Read recommendations on home budgeting software now.

How To Pay Down Debt - Find Out About One Of The Best Ways To Pay Off Debt

Serious debt problems are unfortunately on the increase in this time of economic difficulty, leaving many people facing a problem they have never had before. Most of us have thankfully not had to face the problem of a debt crisis in our lives, so the fact that most people are unsure about the best way to get rid of debt is hardly surprising. It is wise to seek advice on how to pay down debt before launching on any course of action, because the best way is not always the most obvious.

Being short of money has a habit of making people want to borrow more money to solve the problem. This would almost certainly be a mistake, as borrowing more money can only add to your overall burden of debt and ensure that you take much longer to become debt free. Another route that people have heard of is bankruptcy, but this would be an extremely serious step with long lasting consequences, so it should not be entered into without very careful thought and an understanding of what is involved.

Go to any independent debt counselling service that has no interest in making money from your plight, and the advice they give you will almost always revolve around negotiating new terms with your creditors. There is no magic way to make debts disappear, but you may be able to come to arrangements with the companies you owe money to about changing the terms of repayment and even wiping out a certain amount of debt.

All the other debt solutions that people will be tripping over themselves to offer you involve taking more money from you. Consolidating your debts in a new loan will cost you more money in interest, and debt management plans, IVAs and bankruptcy all make money for the companies who offer to administer them, because part of what you pay out goes to them.

There is a tried and tested process of negotiation that is well worth attempting before considering any of the costly alternatives. You will of course need some help with the details of the procedure, but this is all freely available online. The process first of all involves communicating with your creditors about your situation and getting them to confirm your outstanding debt. You then put all your debts into a priority order and create a personal financial statement to demonstrate the exact state of your finances. Then begins the process of making offers to creditors, based on what you can show them is both fair and the most you can actually afford.

This is the only way to pay down debt that you can manage for yourself and which does not involve borrowing or spending more money, and therefore making your situation worse. It is the process which is most likely to lead to a situation where you are debt free and can stay that way.

Read a detailed guide on how to negotiate debt.

Collection Agency Procedure To Collect Unpaid Debt - Basic Debt Collection Techniques

People are often very frightened or intimidated by Debt Collection Agencies, often because they are not sure about the powers these companies have. It is fair to say that some of the less scrupulous debt collection agencies lead people to believe that they have greater powers than they actually do, which does not help the situation.

Debt Collection Agencies are organisations that are used by other companies to collect unpaid debts. Some larger companies actually have their own debt collection departments as part of their businesses, but most will farm such work out to specialist collection agencies. Using collection agents for this kind of work is usually done on a basis of either a fixed fee or a percentage of the outstanding debt. Some of these debt collectors will specialise in actually buying the unpaid debts outright. This means that if you owe money to a company and they sell your debt to a collection agency, you then legally owe that money to the collection agency instead.

When companies sell debts to debt collection agents they only get a small proportion of the amount owed. Whatever the agency can get above what they pay is their profit, and how they make their money. The company selling such debts will then write off the difference between what you owed and what they get from the agency. The fact that the only source of income for some collection agencies is what they can collect on debts leads to them being highly motivated to get that money, which has been known to result in some unfair practices.

Debt collectors cannot enter your home or take away your possessions. Essentially all a debt collector can do is ask you for the money. The problem is that they can do this over and over and over again, and some of the more dodgy ones have been known to sound threatening or intimidating. A good debt collector will actually try to establish a positive relationship with the debtor in order to begin discussing how the debt might be repaid. Such an agreement can even involve agreeing to write off a proportion of the debt.

Debt collection agents should not contact you at inconvenient times such as very early in the morning or late at night. They can call you at work, but must stop if you tell them that your employer does not permit you to take calls while at work. No debt collector is allowed to threaten you with violence or harm in any way, or to use obscene language. Neither are they allowed to make false claims about the amount you owe, lie about their official status or legal rights, threaten to take your property or have you arrested or have your wages garnished (known as attachment of earnings in UK).

In the US the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates how debt collection agencies can operate. Many states also have their own laws relating to debt collection, and in general if the state law is considered to be more restrictive than the FDCPA regulations, then the state law is what counts.

In the UK, debt collection agencies are covered by the Office of Fair Trading, who set out guidelines on how they should operate, and list examples of unfair practices, such as harassment or pretending they have more powers and rights than they do.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Erasing Bad Credit Reports - Find Out The Truth About Promises To Erase Poor Credit History

I am forever surprised at the volume of sites and adverts on the internet claiming to wipe out bad credit reports. These appeal to the same desire in all of us as those adverts promising to give us the secret of getting rich quickly without having to work at it. Sadly, both such claims are scams and the only people likely to get rich are those taking money from you for something which cannot be done.

The only thing approaching legitimate credit repair are those handful of companies that will advise you on the things that anyone can do themselves to help improve their credit rating. If you have a bad credit rating because you have unpaid debts, or something similar, there is no-one on earth who has the power to remove that history. Steer well clear of anyone who claims to be able to do that.

There are things all of us can do to improve our credit rating, and you do not need to pay anyone else to do these for you. The first step is to check your own credit report for yourself. In the US, everyone is entitled to one free report per year, and in the UK, you can check it by taking a free trial with one of the credit agencies. The reason for doing this is so that you can examine your report for any errors. This can include things which are just plain wrong or things which were true, but should have by now been removed from your report. You need to challenge any such findings by writing to the credit agency concerned.

You must accept the fact that you cannot just erase a bad credit history, but there are things you can do to gradually improve your credit score. As well as the most important starting point of actually checking it for yourself, the other crucial thing to do is also the most obvious; make sure you keep up with any repayments you have on any loans, mortgage, etc. If you default or fall behind, you are never going to get a good credit score. You can start to build your rating back up by using credit cards sensibly. This is actually better than avoiding credit cards completely (and a lot better than using them badly!).

Cut up and cancel any cards you do not use (not using them is not enough, you must cancel them or the credit limit will remain on your credit rating). Use a card and make sure you set up a direct debt to pay off the balance in full every month. Don’t apply for lots of cards or other credit as every application affects your rating, so only apply for things for which are likely to be approved.

Check your credit score rating free of charge now.

Where Can I Get A Loan Quick With Bad Credit - Borrowing Money When Your Credit Is Bad

The first thing I would advise anyone who wants a loan quickly is to make sure you are aware of the alternatives to borrowing money and think about whether getting a quick loan really is the best solution for your problem. It may be that your circumstances are such that a fast loan is in fact the thing that will best meet your needs, but many people experiencing debt problems turn to quick loans when there are other options that would be more beneficial in the long term.

I would first like to consider the practical difficulties in getting a loan when your credit rating is not so good. You will see lots of lenders marketing loans that say you can get them even if you have bad credit. Many of these, or similar adverts, may also say that loans are available to home owners. Chances are that the loans being offered here are secured loans.

Secured loans, or homeowner loans, are for money which is secured against your house. This is why you can only get them if you have your own house. You will still be eligible for such a loan if you have money left to pay on your mortgage, but not if you are renting. The main thing to remember about secured loans is that if you don’t keep up the repayments, the lender can have your house sold to get their money back. With such serious potential consequences, you should think very carefully before entering into an arrangement for a secured loan.

Anyone with bad credit is not a good bet for a lender, but if they are prepared to secure the loan against their house, they suddenly become a much safer option. This is why it is much easier to get a secured loan than an unsecured one if your credit rating is poor. So that is one option open to you, but I would advise caution before going down this route. You need to be very sure that this really is your only option, and even more certain that you can keep up with repayments.

Another alternative to a loan is of course a credit card, provided that what you want the money for is to purchase something (never use credit cards to get cash). The reason you should consider this option is that usually it is easier to get approval for a credit card application than for a personal loan application. Using credit cards responsibly can also be a good way to gradually build up your credit rating again.

In general, a poor credit rating will result in you paying more to borrow money than someone with good credit. This is because you are a higher risk to the lender (ie more likely to default on payments), so they need to charge you more. Loans designed for people with bad credit will therefore be at very high interest rates. The other thing you should always do if you know your credit rating is bad is to check your credit rating for yourself, to ensure there are no mistakes on it. You can do this free online.

The bigger question of course, is whether getting a loan is really the best option for you at all. If the loan is to help you with debt problems, then you may be better off finding out how to negotiate with your creditors instead. Detailed help with this is available free online. Borrowing to deal with debt can often just make matters worse because it just adds to the amount you owe.

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