Tony Hawkins, ABR
Real Estate Broker / Instructor
Office: (919) 491-7254
tony@tonyhawkinsre.com
Tony Hawkins, ABR
North Carolina Real Estate Broker / Instructor
Credit Tips
From The Hawk's Cry - February 2003
OK-so this is the year that you’ve decided to get out of credit card debt. According to the Motley Fool there's one thing you can do about that credit card. All you have to do is make a phone call to your current Creditor and ask for a lower interest rate. More than half the people who call their credit card customer service departments are successful in reducing their annual interest rates by an average of one-third. However, if you have less than stellar credit, the Creditor’s representative will follow the ‘party line’ and say that your interest rate may not be reduced. Remember be polite and request to speak with the supervisor or manager. Persistence is required with a poor credit score. Should your phone conversation be less than satisfactory, shop around for a card with a 0% balance transfer option and continue to destroy the debt. Debt does appear on your credit report. Get a copy of your credit report, (www.myfico.com) and repair any erroneous reporting. If debt's really got you down, take charge of the situation. Choose the credit card you now have with the lowest balance (or the one that carries the highest interest rate), and devote all your energy and budgeting expertise to paying off that card. Keep paying all other debt obligations, and repeat the process until you knock off each credit card balance. Pick up the phone right now and start bargaining. Now your get-out-of-debt attack plan is operational!
From The Hawk's Cry - November 2002
Compliments of the Thanksgiving Season. I include you in my Thanksgiving prayers and pray the best for you and yours. In preparing for end of year festive occasions, many clients are discovering in refinancing their original mortgage loans, or in restructuring their financial portfolios, serious inaccuracies on their credit report. I have also discovered grave and erroneous issues. Let’s all be forewarned. Keeping track of personal debt, through credit cards or other purchase means is an accounting duty. Owning a home in the 21st century is managing a business. And it’s our business responsibility to address any mistakes on our credit reports NOW.
The first step is to request a fresh, updated copy of your credit report. There are three major reporting agencies; Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. Each is a different entity. Each has its own method of reporting your credit worthiness. And each credit reporting agency is independent of the other. Going online to www.myfico.com and expending $12.95 will get you your credit history from FairIssacs, the company who devised the BECON score, and your Equifax credit report. You may contact me for the mailing addresses of any of the three credit reporting agencies.
Carefully review the information contained therein. Address any discrepancies in writing immediately. Thereafter, do yourself a favor and check your credit report once a year. Contact me for a simple form letter that will get you started in refuting any erroneously reported data.
Should the information be correct; now you know what creditors know. The data enables you to address any personal spending habits, savings methods, and gives you a creditor total balance on debt owed. Depending on the payment history and amount owed, a bill payout may erase the debt.
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Tony Hawkins, ABR
Real Estate Broker / Instructor
Office Direct: (919) 491-7254
tony@tonyhawkinsre.com
Global Realty Marketing
