Stop “Pre-Approval” Credit Card Offers & Prevent Identity Theft

 

Letters promising 0% financing and no annual fees pile out of mailboxes every day, but the number of letters hawking new credit card deals and insurance offers can be maddening.

Reducing the number of unsolicited credit and insurance offers you receive

If you decide that you don’t want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years by visiting www.optoutprescreen.comor you can opt out of receiving them permanently by calling toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). The telephone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies. When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.

Remember that if you have joint credit relationships, like a mortgage or a car loan with a spouse, partner, or other adult, you may continue to receive some prescreened solicitations until both of you exercise your opt-out right.

Why would someone opt out — or not?

Some people prefer not to receive these kinds of offers in the mail, especially if they are not in the market for a new credit card or insurance policy. They may prefer to opt out to limit access to their credit report information for credit and insurance solicitations, or to reduce some mailbox “clutter.” However, some companies send offers that are not based on prescreening, and your federal opt-out right will not stop those kinds of solicitations. Many of these solicitations include information which in the wrong hands can lead to indentity theft and opting out is a great way to reduce the likelihood of your indentity being stolen. 

As you consider opting out, you should know that prescreened offers can provide many benefits, especially if you are in the market for a credit card or insurance. Prescreened offers can help you learn about what’s available, compare costs, and find the best product for your needs. Because you are pre-selected to receive the offer, you can be turned down only under limited circumstances. The terms of prescreened offers also may be more favorable than those that are available to the general public. In fact, some credit card or insurance products may be available only through prescreened offers.

Does opting out hurt my credit score?

Removing your name from prescreened lists has no effect on your ability to apply for or obtain credit or insurance.

If I decide to opt out, how long will it be before I stop getting prescreened offers?

Requests to opt out are processed within five days, but it may take up to 60 days before you stop receiving prescreened offers.

What if I opt out and then change my mind?

You can use the same toll-free telephone number or website to opt back in.

Will calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com stop all unsolicited offers of credit and insurance?

Calling the opt-out line or visiting the website will stop the prescreened solicitations that are based on lists from the major consumer reporting companies. You may continue to get solicitations for credit and insurance based on lists from other sources. For example, opting out won’t end solicitations from local merchants, religious and charitable associations, professional and alumni associations, and companies with which you already conduct business. To stop mail from groups like these — as well as mail addressed to “occupant” or “resident” — you must contact each source directly.

What other opt-out programs should I know about?

The federal government has created the National Do Not Call Registry — a free, easy way to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To register your phone number or to get information about the registry, visit www.donotcall.gov, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number you want to register. You will get fewer telemarketing calls within 31 days of registering your number. Your number will stay on the registry for five years, until it is disconnected, or until you take it off the registry. After five years, you will be able to renew your registration.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), a trade association for businesses in direct, database, and interactive global marketing, maintains a Mail Preference Service that lets you opt out of receiving direct mail marketing from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail marketers. However, your registration will not stop mailings from any organizations that are not registered with the DMA’s Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA, send a letter to:

Direct Marketing Association
Mail Preference Service
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Or register online at www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html.

The DMA also has an EMail Preference Service to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails. To “opt-out” of receiving unsolicited commercial email from DMA members, visit www.dmaconsumers.org/offemaillist.html. Your online request will be effective for one year.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit http://www.ftc.gov/or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

For More Information Visit http://www.JasonOpland.com

Understanding Your Credit Scores

Home buyers who are seeking a loan find out early-on that their credit scores play an important part in the loan approval process and in determining the interest rate that a lender offers.

What is a credit score?
A credit score is a number that lenders use to estimate risk. Experience has shown them that borrowers with higher scores are less likely to default on a loan.

How are scores determined?
Scores are generated by plugging the data from your credit report into software that analyzes it and cranks out a number.

The three major credit reporting agencies don’t necessarily use the same scoring software, so don’t be surprised when you discover that the scores they generate for you are different.

Why are they sometimes called FICO scores?
Because the software used to calculate a vast number of reports was created by Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO).

Which parts of a credit history are most important?
Below you will find a breakdown of the approximate weight each aspect of your credit report brings to the calculation.

35% – Your Payment History
30% – Amounts You Owe
15% – Length of Your Credit History
10% – Types of Credit Used
10% – New Credit

Payment history considerations:
* Number of accounts paid as agreed
* Delinquent accounts:
Length of past-due status
Total number of past due items
How long it’s been since you had a past due payment
* Negative public records or collections

Amount you owe are considered:
* How much you owe on accounts and the types of accounts you carry balances on
* How much of your revolving credit lines you’ve used (looking for indications you are maxed-out)
* Amounts you owe on installment loan accounts vs. revolving

Credit history length considerations
* Total length of time tracked by your credit report
* Length of time since accounts were opened
* Time that’s passed since the last activity
* The longer your (good) history, the better your scores

The types of credit you use
* Total number of accounts and types of accounts (installment, revolving, mortgage, etc.)
* A mixture of account types usually generates better scores than reports with only numerous revolving accounts (credit cards)

Your new credit
* Number of accounts you’ve recently opened and the proportion of new accounts to total accounts
* Number of recent credit inquiries
* The time that’s passed since recent inquiries or newly-opened accounts
* If you’ve re-established a positive credit history after encountering payment problems
* In general, checking to make sure you aren’t out there opening up numerous new accounts

Credit scoring software only considers items your credit report, but lenders typically look at other factors that aren’t included in the report, such as income, specific employment history, and the type of credit you are seeking.

What’s a Good Score?
Credit scores range from 300 to 900. The higher your score, the less risk a lender believes you will be. As your score climbs, the interest rate you are offered will probably decline.

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Correcting Errors & Removing Negatives From Your Credit Reports

So you’ve just discovered errors in one or more of your credit reports, or even worse, accurate references to late payments or other debt-related issues! Don’t panic, the errors can be fixed, and it’s possible that even some of the negative items can be eliminated! An individual’s credit score is one of the most influential factors a bank will use when considering a loan application, your score will have a significant impact on the rate you are offered.

How To Dispute Errors on Your Credit Report

1. Make a copy of your credit report and circle every item you believe is incorrect.

2. Write a letter to the reporting agency (the address will be printed on the report). Explain each dispute and request an investigation to resolve the issues. If you have supporting paperwork, send it along, coding pages to match dispute paragraphs. Do not send your originals.

3. Send all materials by certified mail, return receipt requested, so that you can prove the packet was received.

4. Send a similar letter of dispute to the creditor whose reports you disagree with (most billing statements include a special mailing address for disputes).

Your dispute might involve personal information, such as your place of employment or your current address. A copy of a pay stub or W2 should resolve an employment issue. A copy of your driver’s license or a utility bill in your name can verify your address.

The reporting agency will initiate an investigation, contacting your creditors to verify the accuracy of the information. If the creditor cannot verify that the entry is correct, it must be removed. When the investigation is complete, the agency must send you a free copy of your report if changes were made.

If the investigation uncovers an error, you have the right to ask that a corrected version of your credit report be sent to everyone who received the report during the past six months.

Tip: Contact your creditor first, then allow a bit of lead-time before you submit the dispute to the reporting agency. By the time the dispute is verified, the creditor will hopefully have corrected the error.

Online Disputes

You can initiate an investigation from your online credit report. It’s an intuitive process–just follow the links and check the disputed items as directed. There sometimes isn’t a place for remarks–you’ll simply check a multiple-choice reason for each dispute.

When Changes Aren’t Made

If the agency verifies that the information is accurate, it must provide you with a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider. If you still disagree, you can initiate another investigation.

If your attempts to correct an entry are unsuccessful, you can ask the reporting agency to insert a 100-character explanation next to it that explains your side of the story.

Negative Entries

Bankruptcies remain on your credit report for ten years, while other types of entries are generally reported for seven years. If an account that was previously past due has been brought current, and has been either paid off or kept current for at least a year, the creditor might agree to an early deletion of the past due references.

Write a letter to your creditor and request that the negative entries be removed. There’s no guarantee, but they’ll often comply if they see you are up to date and handling your account in a positive way.

Another tactic is to dispute a negative item even if you believe it is accurate. You’ll have to follow your conscience on that one!

Need Help With Letter Formats?

About.com’s Credit/Debt Management Guide, Michael T. Killian, offers a set of sample letters to help you file disputes and write correspondence regarding many other credit-related issues.

For Additional Information Visit http://www.JasonOpland.com

Tips On Improving Your Credit Score

Most increases to your credit score take place over time and require an ongoing effort from you. The only true credit score quick-fixes are to pay down debt and to successfully dispute negative information on a credit report.

Credit scoring agencies analyzes five elements of your credit report:
* Your Payment History
* Amounts You Owe
* Length of Your Credit History
* Types of Credit Used
* Your New Credit

You can begin to improve your scores by working on each of those five credit elements.

Improve Your Payment History
* Always pay your bills on time. Late payments play a major role in driving down
your score.
* If you’re already late, get current and stay that way.
* Contact your creditors as soon as you know you will have a problem paying
bills on time.
* Try to work out a payment arrangement with your creditors and negotiate with
them to keep at least a portion of the late notations off of your credit reports.
* Work towards developing an ongoing track record of paying on time.
* If your situation is serious, see a legitimate, non profit credit counselor.

Manage Your Amounts Owed
* Keep your credit card balances low. High debt-to-credit-limit ratios drive your
scores down.
* Pay off debt, don’t move it around. Owing the same amounts, but having fewer
open accounts, can lower your score if you max out the accounts involved.
* Don’t close unused accounts–the zero balance might help your score.
* Don’t open new accounts that you don’t need as a quickie approach to altering
your debt-to-credit-limit ratios. That can lower your score.

Length of Your Credit History
* Time is the only thing that can improve this aspect of your scores, but you can
manage it wisely:
* Don’t open several new accounts in a short period, especially if your credit
history covers less than three years. Adding accounts too rapidly sends up a
red flag that you might not be able to handle your credit responsibly.

Applying for New Credit
* The ideal number of credit cards to have is two however, you if you plan on applying for a mortgage or auto loan in the near future you will not
want to cancel any accounts as this will reduce your credit score by reducing your total credit line. If you carry a balance on any of these
cards the damage to your score will be even more severe.
* Several credit inquiries during a short period probably means you are attempting to open multiple new accounts. Look for lowered scores.
* Scoring software recognizes when you are shopping for a single loan within a short period of time (such as a home loan). If multiple inquiries
are necessary, have them pulled close together.
* Checking your own credit report does not affect your scores when you order the report from the credit reporting agency or an organization
authorized to provide reports to consumers.
* Open a few new accounts if you’ve had credit problems in the past. Pay them on time and use the credit wisely.

The Types of Credit You Use
* A mixture of credit cards and installment loans can help raise your score if you manage the credit cards responsibly.
* Don’t open new accounts just to have several accounts or to attempt a better mix of credit.
* Closing an account doesn’t remove it from your report. It may still be considered for scoring purposes.

START GROWING YOUR SCORE TODAY
By checking all three of your credit reports at http://www.annualcreditreport.com . Here you can check your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion reports free of charge, once a year.