I just finished my very first blog last night, and I'm already rarin' to go on number two. I must still be in the newbie-blogger honeymoon stage. By the way I can't stand the word 'newbie'. I liken it to a co-worker asking if you've got a case of the 'Mondays'. It's just so cheesy and smarmy I wanna smack it. I only use it because everyone else does and I just want to fit in. What can I say, I'm a hypocrite. Chalk it up to the dichotomy of man. On to the post at hand.
Getting a copy of your credit report isn't as hard as you might think it is, and doesn't cost a thing once a year. I've heard that even checking the status of your credit report will result in dropping your score a few points, but I don't know this to be a fact. I'll have to look that one up and get back to you. There are three main credit reporting agencies out there that know everything about your borrowing history and just what kind of a debtor you are. They also know where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. They are: Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. Just put a dot-com at the end of those words and you'll go straight to their websites. On the front page of their websites is a place to go and see your credit report for free from the 'Personal' section. Or they might just say 'Free annual credit report. Click here.' If it tells you there is a fee, you're in the wrong area and you need to go back and look again. You might have to dig a little, but you should find it. I just looked at one of the sites and it said that your score does not go down for getting your report. Hopefully that's true. Once you're there, all you do is follow the instructions. You have to fill in a questionairre with all of your personal information, then answer a short multiple choice quiz that only you will know the answers to, to determine that you are who you say you are, then you're in like Flynn.
I made hard copies of my report from all three agencies. Went through about half a cartridge of ink, but it was worth it. Now comes the fun part. Also known as the gut wrenching, knock you on your ass, ice-cold bucket of financial responsibility part. Make that irresponsibility in my case. The few of you out there reading this probably have stellar credit compared to me. I have got a total of twenty-five, count 'em, twenty-five items on mine. Most are outstanding debts. There are a few that have been paid, but they are still reported on. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act,(FCRA), most negative information on your credit report will stay on there for at least 7 years from the time of your repayment of the debt, either delinquent through a collection agency, or through the original lender. Exceptions to that rule include 10 years for bankruptcy, and a few others that I'll list here. Information about criminal convictions may be reported without any time limit. Information reported on response to an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit. Information reported because of an application for more that $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit, and information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.
Now, those of you who haven't been living in the bottle for the past two decades might find this post somewhat redundant and fairly common sense type stuff. Maybe your parents even taught you how to do this. If they did, count yourself lucky. But I think most people have no clue how to go about finding this info. Maybe they're too scared or intimidated by the process to find it. Especially if you've been running from and ignoring debt collectors who are trying to get your money. They are just doing their job, but some of them can be rather unscrupulous about it. They are pressured to get results, and in turn put the pressure on you to get as much out of you as they can. What they don't tell you is that you have choices and options. I recently made arrangements with a collection agency for monthly payments of $78 a month for a very old loan from college. At first they were putting the pressure on, trying to get half of what I owed now, then make $250 payments a month until it's payed off. Now, I make about $32,000 a year. After I pay my rent, utilities, gas and insurance for the car, groceries, and whatever miscellaneous expenses pop up throughout the month, I'm left with very little to spend on old bills. I also have two children that live with their mother. Fortunately she has always been responsible and on top of her finances, but they stay with me on occasion and I sometimes need to spend a little money on them as well. Only within the last year have I gotten to the point where I'm paying all of my regular monthly bills on time and in full. I got a better job than the restaurant gig just about a year ago. Even if I could scrape up the half of what I owe, (about $3,000), there's no way I could afford those monthly payments. Plus I wouldn't be able to pay my next rent, or any of my monthly bills. I'd be so far behind the eight ball it'd make my head spin. So that's what I told them, including my income and expenses. Upfront and honest. The representative I was talking to asked me to hold while she conferred with her manager. A few minutes later she came back and asked me what I could afford for a down payment. I told her $150 in one week's time at my next paycheck. She said ok and set up $78 monthly payments for the next 6 months, at which point my debt will be transferred to another lending company with whom I will make new arrangements. Granted it was originally a federal school loan, and if I couldn't make arrangements that they liked, they had to fall back on the $78 a month. The point is they weren't about to tell me that information. I am genuinely, actively working on getting my life together, and I may not have a whole lot of options, but you don't know what you've got or what you can get unless you try, and do a little pushing back to stand up for yourself. I wasn't angry or obnoxious with her, just matter of fact. This is what I can do, this is what I can afford. One down, twenty-five to go.
OK, that was way longer than I thought it would be, and I'm not sure how long these blogs should be. But I promised you the debut of 'Your Banker, Your Friend', and I will not disappoint. I do my banking at a small town bank that's got six branches total. I guess I didn't pay much attention to the big national banks I used to be with back in the boozin' days, but it does seem like I get a little more personal attention now. If I've got a question or an issue, all I need to do is ask for a banker, sit down with them and ask my question, or tell them whatever my issue might be. They're always happy to oblige, and can sometimes give me a more detailed and informed answer than I was even looking for. At least that's been my experience so far.
Well, that was fairly anti climatic, but what the hell, I delivered. That's it for this installment. Next time, more teeth talk. As always, brush your teeth, and pay your bills on time! Good night everybody!
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