Two of the biggest mistakes that people new to credit repair make are 1) not disputing the items on their credit report to the credit bureau’s first (this is a biggie) and 2) not using Certified Mail, Return Receipt when sending correspondence to anyone related to their credit repair efforts.

If you don’t send the mail via CMRR, you have no way of proving (in court, or to the credit bureau) if and when you sent anything, and if and when the receiver received it. I guess you can just rely on them to tell the truth right? Wrong, don’t count on anyone’s honesty, you will be let down a lot. Cover your butt when it comes to credit repair, don’t give them the chance to take the path of least resistance, because they will, you can be sure of that.

Don’t know how to send a Certified Letter? Go here. 

Don’t know how to send it Return Receipt? Go here.

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For many people today, money has never been tighter. While the economy and employment are on the way down, the price for gasoline and other basic needs are on the way up. A lot of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, broke on payday waiting for the next check. The problem with living this way is that if something unexpected happens (and it does occasionally) then you are unable to fix the situation if it requires a financial expenditure. Things like a flat tire, medical expenses, electric bill disconnect notice, and other urgent matters come to mind.

One option people take is to sign up for a payday loan. This is where a company will lend you a lump sum of money (usually at a max of $1000), and you agree to pay them back within a week or two, along with the accrued interest (which can be as much as 25% for the term and even as high as 1000% yearly). If you establish a good track record with them, they will gradually raise your credit limit as you go. Normally, the requirements are a bank account in your name, a verifiable place of employment with direct deposit activated, and legitimate identification. Once you supply them with this proof, they deposit the loan amount into your bank account on the following business day. The repayment is automatically debited from your account on the due date.

This all sounds great doesn’t it? Well, don’t be so sure. These loans are not for everybody, especially not for people that are awful with money and have trouble paying their bills. It is not a coincidence that some of these payday loan companies (not all of them) don’t check credit before approving you for a loan. They actually prefer people with bad credit. Why? Money, that’s why. People with bad credit will likely request one or more extensions on the repayment date. These extensions can be very costly, some of these companies are outright criminals. In some cases, you would be better off going to the mob for a loan. If you don’t think that you’ll be able to pay off the full loan amount plus all interest in the allotted time, then you shouldn’t consider this type of loan to begin with. These extensions can turn into a vicious cycle that quickly spirals out of control. You can find yourself ultimately paying three or four times the amount of the loan itself in interest.

Payday loans can be a quick fix for you when you know for a fact that you will be paying the money back at the first due date. If there is any doubt, then you risk getting caught up in the endless cycle of penalties and interest, always paying the interest and not the balance. This is exactly what some of these companies want you to do, more money in their pocket. You are better off borrowing the money from a friend or relative, or even taking a cash advance on a credit card.

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Your answer to that question is likely “No”. Section 805 15 USC 1692c of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act clearly states that if you contact the debt collector in writing and inform them that you cannot pay this debt at this time (for whatever reason) and you want them to cease any further contact, then they must cease any further communication. Make sure you make a copy of this letter, send it certified mail, return receipt. This way they can never say that they didn’t get it, and trust me, they will say exactly that.

After this, they can only contact you for two reasons: to let you know that further communication has been terminated, or to let you know that they will be taking further action available to them by law. Other than that, if they start calling you again, record the calls and tell them they are being recorded. Get the name of whoever is calling you.

They are not allowed to contact you at work if they know, or have reason to know, that your employer disapproves of such communication. Now this part baffles me. What employer is going to say, “Yeah, that would be wonderful if you had creditors calling here all day, sure go ahead.” Either way, if they do start calling, make sure you let them know it is not okay. Be sure to quote the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The more knowledgeable you seem to them, the more they are not going to want to bother with you. These people are the Athlete’s Foot of America, they couldn’t care less if you were dying of a brain tumor right there on the phone with them, they would ask for the chemotherapy to be temporarily halted so you could settle that eight year old Blockbuster debt for $73.00.

I am not saying it is okay to not pay your bills, I just don’t think anyone has the right to torment you in your own home, regardless of how much money you owe them. Unless of course, the money you owe is on the home itself

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