Tuesday, December 7, 2010

So do you know your credit status?

Have you checked your credit report lately?

If not: its worthwhile GOING ONLINE NOW and getting a report: BUT remember BAD CREDIT/POOR CREDIT - No LENDERS

Make sure you get the really important information:

YOUR PAYMENT PROFILES

These will tell you exactly who you owe, what to, your monthly payments, balances and IF YOU PAY YOUR ACCOUNTS ON TIME.

One of the main reasons for being declined credit is because you pay your accounts late.  That even means when you pay on the last day of the month - so what do you need to do to make sure you do not get listed as a late payer.

1. If your due payment is the 1st of the month then you need to make sure that if you bank at a different bank than your creditors you need to allow at least 2 working days for the money to get through....critical
2. If you have a debit order set it 3 days earlier.
3. If you can make one double payment immediately, then you Will always be in advance in payment
4. If you cannot make a payment, make the arrangements in advance not after the fact

ADVERSE

This is when someone believes you owe them money and they are so sick of the phone calls and going nowhere that they decide to list you on the credit bureau as a late payer or bad debt written off etc.

regardless of what they say - YOU STILL OWE THEM THE MONEY

So what do you need to do:
1. Call the person as their phone numbers are on the bureau listing and so is the amount and the account number.
2. Get the persons name and number and email address and keep track of what goes on
3. Make an arrangement: Pay off, etc but whatever you do keep track and stick to your arrangements.
4. Get a letter that relates to the arrangement and send it to the credit bureau and PLEASE keep a copy for yourself.
5, When resolved ask the person/company for permission that they will remove your adverse listing from the bureau.
6. Get a letter from them, MAKE A COPY FOR YOURSELF, send the letter to the bureau and call the bureau and make sure that it gets removed.
7. DO IT ALL YOURSELF because other people do not really care about you.

JUDGEMENT

If you have a judgement, it means someone has approached the courts to have a legal ruling against you for money you owe them.

Go see a lawyer and get this sorted.  Otherwise it will hold you for years to come.

SO WHAT ELSE NAILS YOU:

Too many accounts
Trace Alert - someone is looking for you because you owe them money
Looking for credit - too many times

YOU WANT CREDIT? - WELL GET YOUR CREDIT STATUS TODAY!
and start today....

You have questions email me today: THE DEBT DOCTOR

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Save Money Change to FNB

Excerpt. Studies like this one from Solidarity we welcome.’

Thanks Moneyweb




ALEC HOGG: FNB came out as easily the cheapest choice of the big four banks in trade union Solidarity's exhaustive investigation into bank charges that was released yesterday. Dave, what's your bank? Who do you deal with?



DAVID SHAPIRO: Standard Bank.

ALEC HOGG: So you are paying the most?



DAVID SHAPIRO: I pay the most.



ALEC HOGG: Are you getting value for money, though?



DAVID SHAPIRO: They never go down.



ALEC HOGG: Well, I asked James Fowle, who's looking for your account, David, he's the man who drives FNB's pricing, why his bank hasn't been telling the world that its fees are virtually half those of competitors Standard Bank and Absa.

***

james fowle: Look, we'd love to put on adverts like that - we do advertise our products and the pricing, but comparative advertising isn't allowed in South Africa currently and that's why studies like this one from Solidarity, we welcome. I think it's good for people to see a well put together analysis of bank charges and be able to read a summary page that really does tell them, in a nutshell, what the answer is without them having to go and visit five banks and put it all together themselves.



ALEC HOGG: So this is a well-done survey. There was one that Finance Week did a while ago that evoked a lot of criticism.



james fowle: Look, we criticised the FinWeek one in the past, not due to methodology but because anything of this type requires some sort of assumption as to how people transact. And the FinWeek survey previously, prior to 2010, looked at a family who transacted very inefficiently. They drew cash in branches, made deposits in branches. It wasn't sensible behaviour, and over a number of years we said this to FinWeek and this year they acknowledged that and they changed the transaction profile to look more like what most of our customers are. And that's transacting electronically most of the time and, on exception, if you're buying or selling a car and you're having to pay a lot of cash or deposit cash, that's when we'd expect someone to use a branch for cash. The ATMs are there for the other times.

So FinWeek changed their methodology this year and we saw all the bank fees come down, but particularly at FNB, where our pricing and our pricing options are geared around encouraging customers to use those channels and, like this unlimited option where you pay a fixed monthly fee for unlimited transactions as long as you use those electronic channels. It is how our customers transact, and hence we've seen, with the more realistic transaction bundle, FNB coming out I think in the spot that we deserve.



alec hogg: How easy is it to switch bank accounts?



james fowle: I think easier than people's perception of it. At FNB we offer switching services to assist customers in moving banks, so when you come to us you don't have to come into a branch at all. You can open your account on line, we'll courier the cards to you and we'll switch the debit orders, which is probably the biggest hassle that people try and avoid - and we offer that service. So we'll ask you to sign a mandate, give us your old bank statements, and we've got the process set up. We'll phone your cellphone service provider and - based on your mandate - get them to change your debit order and you don't have to do it. And we keep in touch with the customer throughout that process, letting him know which debit orders have been switched, which ones haven't, how much money they should probably put in their account this month, based on the debit orders that have come in - helping them to move.



alec hogg: So it seems to me that it's not that difficult to move accounts, and clearly FNB came out in this survey - and it was a comprehensive survey as you've pointed out a moment ago - and, Dirk Herman told us yesterday, very much cheaper than others. Why are you not having a flood of people from Standard Bank and Absa in particular?



james fowle: I think it's perception and apathy. A lot of people complain about bank charges, but they don't really know what they pay, they haven't compared banks since they first opened a bank account, and they'll read the first few lines of an article like this and just say "they're all the same and they're all ripping us off". But, as we've seen from this, there are vast differences in what you can pay for pretty much the same transactions at different institutions, and it is worth shopping around. And I don't think it's true to say any more that we aren't seeing customers - we're seeing a significant number of customers coming to FNB, starting to realise that there is great value for money. The pricing is low and there are great benefits.



***

ALEC HOGG: David, it's interesting - give credit where it's due. FNB have been focusing on that and they haven't been able to go out and advertise it, which is interesting, so they've been waiting for someone like Solidarity to come and do the advertising for them.



DAVID SHAPIRO: Ja, it's interesting. A lot of shoppers will compare Pick n Pay and Shoprite and so on, and you'll quickly go and change. I suppose changing banks is a lot more difficult, but...



ALEC HOGG: James says it's nothing. He says it's easy. You come in there, you just sign a couple of forms and away you go.



DAVID SHAPIRO: We used to be loyal to our banks because you used to go up to the teller and you knew the teller. Today it's all internet banking.



ALEC HOGG: Well, when last were you in a bank?



DAVID SHAPIRO: I don't even know - my bank branch is Braamfontein. I wouldn't know where to find it!



ALEC HOGG: I bank with Investec, and we don't have branches....



DAVID SHAPIRO: I haven't written a cheque for years.



ALEC HOGG: This was quite a lengthy conversation that we had, and the podcast is up on Moneyweb. He said only 5% of their clients at FNB have got cheque books. Can you believe that? One in 20. And he says primarily the older fellows. So - I'm surprised you haven't got a cheque, Dave! And they only use cheques very sporadically or very rarely - even people of your age group.



DAVID SHAPIRO: I do have a cheque book, only because there are certain places like if you pay your licence...



ALEC HOGG: You pay your traffic fine...



DAVID SHAPIRO: No, no, I do online traffic fines - and we amass a lot!



ALEC HOGG: Of traffic fines. Well, you want to drive a windgat car like a Mini!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I am lying to everyone to get a loan!!!! Help

Dear Debt Doctor.. I think I am going to be struck down by lightning.  I am lying to everyone to get a loan to pay off my debts and keep getting declined and rejected.  Why?  I earn enough but I really spend too much and just do not get around to paying my credit cards in time.  So if I get one loan i can pay them off and then i can start controlling it. What should I do because I really want to be free of this monthly problem.  DM



Hello DM

I think you need to get yourself a credit report with your payment profiles and see exactly what you owe.  Look up free credit reports on google.
You will probably find that so many people have done credit checks on you that your score is kind of low.  That is a no no.  Stop looking for credit for at least 6 months immediately.  Then phone your credit card companies and ask them for a 2 month break.  During that period pay 1 of your cards double and the next month pay 1 and half times what you must pay.  Then start paying all your cards the minimum amount.  at the end of 3 months phone them all again and ask for another holiday payment period.  Then pay the same card extra until you finish paying it.  then you take out a scissors, cut it up and close that account.  Then address the next card.  When you are left with one card reduce the limit by 50% and o yes...behave yourself, that's the only way you will get out of this predicament - forget about another loan.

Friday, September 10, 2010

What impact will the new interest rates have on my debt?

Dear Debt Doctor: I owe about R 250,000 on my home loan and am in arrears for two months, will this be an advantage to me and how can I use this.  Annie VD


Cover your .......
Hello Annie,

Well firstly you need to get back on track quickly.  If you do not, by the third time you go into arrears you will be listed and your home loan will go to the legal department of the bank, and then you have a serious problem.

Secondly, if your loan is at prime (we will assume this as the same principle applies).  So your payments would have been R 250,000 bond at 10% = R 2,463.26 per month.  With the new rate at r 250,000 bond at 9.5% = R 2,380.36 and improvement of R 82.90 per month (or better still R 19,896.00 savings over 20 years).

So this is what you must do:
1. Phone your bank and explain that you are at fault and you want some assistance to put your account in order, take the persons name, number and record the date an time.
2. Ask for a payment holiday for the two months you are late and they MAY at THEIR DISCRETION add these two months onto the end of your mortgage period.
3. If they do not; make an arrangement to pay this off over the next few months and make an arrangement with them and get this recorded and in writing and keep track of this.  Make sure you pay this arrangement on time.
4. when you pay phone the person, let them know you have paid and thank them for their help.  this person is on your side and will help you always if you treat them with utmost respect.
5. With your new payment, do not adjust your payment to R 2,380.36 per month.  instead pay the old amount.
6.  You will clear your backlog quicker, be seen as an early payer and very quickly be in advance on your bank payments.

Then, if you need a months breather etc, call the Same person and make arrangement for non-payment for a month or so, because you have paid more- no sweat.

BUT, DO IT TODAY!!An apple a day keeps the debtors at bay!!

cheers the DEBT DOCTOR

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

So Doctor Debt , What do I do next??

Dear Debt Doctor: "I have attached the latest copy of my Credit Report from Transunion. You will see that it is not all that bad and that I just went through a bad patch.

There are only 2 creditors which need sorting out but the problem is with them and not me.  Other than that all is in order.  What do you think I should do?" 



 Well, well, well, well:  Credit is like sex, great when you get it, but terrible when you are refused.  So I gather your credit and loan requests were refused.

There have been to too many folks who have done credit checks on you and that negatively affects your score. So you need to hold back a bit on trying to finance. Each credit check drops your Delphi score by a few points each time and the banks use this as part of your credit rating for their internal scoring systems.  I see 17 checks this year alone.  Maybe you should use a loan officer that is independent from the banks.  As this is homeloans you are looking for I suggest you use a mortgage originator and then let them pre-decide whther you should go to a bank or not.