Leadpile's Blog» creditors

Do You Know What Your Credit Score Is?

Mari Woods Holt — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:21:57 +0000

Let’s face it, the economy is in a slump and this is affecting people being able to pay their bills amongst many other things. The good news is, that the economy is going to get better, which means lenders are going to start lending again AND credit will be extended to consumers again. However, if you do not have your credit in check, you will not be able to take advantage of this. The first thing to do, when trying to fix your credit, is understand what your credit score is AND what makes up that credit score. First, you need to understand who the credit reporting agencies are that are gathering this information. The three credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Secondly, you need to understand what a good and bad FICO (also known as a credit score) is. A credit score can be between 300 and 850. The higher your credit score, the better. Finally, you need to read your credit report and understand what is on it. To understand it, you must know the main things that make up your credit score:

1. How you pay your bills- your payment history on your credit cards and loans is the biggest factor in making up your score. This means if you have not paid your bills on time, now is the time to start.

2. What do you owe on your credit cards and loans- if you have your balances maxed out on all your creditors, this will negatively affect your credit score. Stopping charging immediately if the balances are close to their limits.

3. How long have you had each of your creditors-the newer the credit, the more it will negatively affect you. If you are applying for new credit cards, stop now to help your credit score. Keep a few creditors for a long period of time and that will help your score.

4. Do you have all sorts of creditors like car loans, credit cards, installment loans etc-the credit bureaus likes to see a diverse selection of creditors. This is not a major factor in your credit score, but something to think about if you are thinking about getting a new creditor.

Leadpile is currently working on generating this sort of lead and will welcome publishers that will eventually be interested in connecting those consumers that want to know their credit score, with the company that will be able to provide this service. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

To No Surpise, Personal Bankruptcies Still Rising

Mari Woods Holt — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:54:08 +0000

Going a day or two without hearing something on the news about our unemployment rate or consumers buried in credit, has not really happened lately. So it really was not a surprise for me to see MSNBC.com reporting that, in the month of September, there were almost 125,000 bankruptcy filings. This is one of the highest months ever, since the bankruptcy laws had changed back in 2005. We are all waiting to see if the housing market is really starting to become more stable, and this then could help us to see this bankruptcy filing statistic go down, not up. It’s like a domino effect, once the housing market truly becomes stable, more people will hopefully be keeping their jobs because our nation’s consumers will begin to feel okay to spend money to keep our businesses open.
Leadpile will continue to monitor the legal industry, and will continue to try and connect some of these consumers needing legal help. Sometimes it is not a matter of filing bankruptcy, but just a case where someone needs to be connected with someone that can give them some much needed advice. Leadpile is generating bankruptcy leads, and will continue to do this as long as there is a need for these consumers to get help online.

Buried In Debt: What’s The Best Way to Deal With It?

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:12:14 +0000

The holidays are here and more and more of us are getting more and more in debt trying to prepare. The unfortunate thing is many consumers were already in a bad situation with their debt, and now the holidays are going to add to the mess. There are various options out there to help consumers with their debt situation. Debt consolidation, debt settlement and credit repair are a few services that help consumers with resolving their debt situation.

Debt Consolidation: Working with a company that helps you consolidate all your credit cards into one payment. A lot of companies can even work with the creditors to pause any future late charges or excess fees from being added to the current balance.

Debt Settlement: Working with a company that works with the creditors to get balance settlements. A certain percentage of the total debt amount is paid, versus the whole amount and the balances continuing to get larger.

Credit Repair: Working with a company to help educate and direct you in the right direction regarding your credit. There is a lot of information to know about your credit report and how to really optimize getting the most of your credit report.

According to Consumers Affairs, here are some things that determine if you need help with your debt:

•	Your credit card balances are rising while your income is decreasing.
•	You are only paying the minimum amounts required on your accounts, or maybe less than the minimums.
•	You’re juggling bills. For example, you apply for another credit card and use cash advances from it to pay an existing card.
•	You have more credit cards than a smart gambler has poker chips.
•	You are at or perilously near the limit on each of your credit cards.
•	You consistently charge more each month than you make in payments.
•	You are working overtime to keep up with your credit card payments.
•	You don’t know how much you owe and really don’t want to find out.
•	You have received calls or letters about delinquent bill payments.
•	You are using your credit card to buy necessities like food or gasoline.
•	Your credit cards are no longer used for the sake of convenience, but because you don’t have money.
•	You are dipping into savings or your IRA to pay your monthly bills.
•	You are hiding the true cost of your purchases from your spouse.
•	You’re playing the card game by signing up for every credit card that sends you an unsolicited offer.
•	You have just lost your job or are fearful that you are about to and are concerned about how you will pay all your bills. Leadpile Lead Exchange deals with all these lead types and knows there are a lot of people struggling with trying to get some sort of help. Getting more knowledge regarding your “credit” is key to any of these services. Come out with something learned if you seek out any of these services, so this sort of thing does not happen again (if avoidable of course).