Tax Time means Credit Repair Time

After you have completed your taxes and taken care of your tax requirements, it is now a good time to review your credit report. Finances are fresh on your mind and reviewing your credit report would be best served with your heightened awareness. You can order your credit reports once a year for free at annualcreditreport.com and only from that sight for free. There are plenty of other sites that will tell you they will give you the credit reports for free, but they will end up charging you for other things. Things that you simply just don’t need.

By going to annualcreditreport.com and providing them with some information, you will get your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus for no cost.

Then you can simply review your credit reports, dispute any inaccurate information and keep your credit history up-to-date. Simply reviewing your credit once and a while is not acceptable in today’s world. If you take the time once a year to review your report and then respond to anything that is incorrect, you will keep your credit history accurate and protect yourself from identity theft. If you see anything out of the ordinary or find that there are some things on your report that appear to be identity theft related, then you should immediately work on those issues.

Identity Theft is on the rise and people with good credit are more susceptible to theft than someone with a poor credit history. A thief wants to obtain things that someone with a poor credit history can’t so by finding someone who has a good credit score makes a better mark. But everyone can be a victim of identity theft so you should at least review your credit once year.

Some people will work on their credit once a year and resolve any issues that they find on their credit report. Then six months later will pay for a credit report from all three bureaus so that they can see if there are any changes to their credit report. If you have been victim of identity theft then monitoring your credit history should be a priority. This keeps your credit history updated and correct. Because you will never know when you need your credit. With credit becoming more and more important every day, it is becoming more and more important that it is accurate 100% of the time. Any inaccurate information can negatively affect your credit score and possibly impair your ability to get the best possible deals on most things that you want to buy. Things like homes, automobiles, insurance, and your credit score can affect all rental items.

Tax season is over but take the time to review your credit history and bring it up-to-date. Bad credit is not something that you want and finding things on your report that are inaccurate can lead to bad credit information.

Now if you have spoke with a professional, followed that advice and have begun to prepare for bankruptcy, there are additional things that you should do. By gathering the paperwork and preparing to hand that over to your attorney, you are ready to continue on your path.

You need to begin to save some money so that you can pay for the bankruptcy. They are not free after all and the typical bankruptcy will cost you around $1500. You can save for this money by several methods. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Talk with your Attorney about which debts are likely to be discharged. Since they are going to be discharged you can stop paying those debts that will be erased in bankruptcy. If you are planning on giving up your home or automobile then you can consider those amounts as well. But talk with your attorney first about which debts you can stop paying.

2. Hopefully, you have already tried to correct your financial problems by managing your finances. If you have cut all of your extra expenses and are managing your budget well, then maybe you can have a garage sale. Cleaning out your clutter will help you with more than one problem, especially if you are planning on giving up your home.

3. Get some additional income at least temporarily by getting a second job or your spouse getting a job. It may be difficult if you have children but a little additional income can help you find the funds for the bankruptcy.

4. If you have a tax refund coming, then you can put that towards the bankruptcy.

5. You can ask for a gift from your family or friends. This may be difficult unless you have been completely honest to your friends and family because they may not know of your financial situation.

Be aware that if you have money in a bank that you owe money, you may want to move that to a bank that you don’t owe any money. Some banks will freeze the account and try to cover their losses when you file bankruptcy. 

Stop using your credit cards because you know that this is money you are not going to be paying back, it won’t look like fraud. By making any large purchases or using your credit cards prior to bankruptcy you make be accused of fraud and this could affect your bankruptcy. Again, talk with your attorney if you have any questions prior to doing anything.

Talk with your attorney if you plan to pay off any personal loans or transfer title on any properties that you have. Even if you are trying to do the right thing, you could be accused of committing fraud and then it might cause problems with your bankruptcy.

Finally, you will be required to complete a credit-counseling course. Talk with your attorney and see if you have a specific course outline that must be followed, then complete that course. It will be required before you can complete your bankruptcy so talk with your attorney and get that completed.

Bankruptcy should never be anything but your last option in correcting a financial problem. Although it might solve your current financial situation, you may not have learned your lesson. Learning what caused you to get into this position is the only thing that helps you in the long run. Do not repeat your mistake or you will end up here again. You will have to report if you have ever filed bankruptcy on many application and if lenders see that you have filed more than once, then you are likely to be denied no matter your credit at that point. Lenders can forgive a single bankruptcy because we all make mistakes. But if they see that you keep repeating your habits and have filed more than one bankruptcy then some lenders are likely to deny you based on that information.

An e-Threat is a type of identity theft that is handled electronically. This type of threat is directed specifically to obtaining your personal information for illegal purposes. There are several types that could affect you. Here is a list of types and some explanations of how they work. The first three don’t even require a computer for you to become a victim of identity theft.

1. Vishing (Voice Phishing) - You may come home one day and see a message on your answering machine. This message indicates that you should call your bank or credit card company. Even the caller ID shows the bank or credit card company’s name. So you call the number and are asked to punch in your account number, your pin or other personal information. Then the message might indicate that the problem is resolved and thank you for your prompt attention to the matter. But when you get your statement, you will find that there are lots of charges on your account that you never made. If you get a message like that, compare the number to the number on the back of your card. If they are not the same, call the number on the back of your card and report what happened to you. The Credit Card Company or Bank might be aware of the Vishing problem already, but you may be alerting them to a new threat. If there is truly a problem, then calling the number on the back of your card will get you legitimately transferred to the correct department and then you can work to solve any issues you have.

2. Bank-Card Skimming - There are two types of theft under this category. You need to watch pulling money out of an ATM Machine. A thief may install a device over the ATM machine that will allow your card to pass through their device and into the ATM Machine. They will also have some type of camera pointed so that they can record your entry of your pin into the ATM. This will give them all of the information they need to completely empty your account plus get as much as possible leaving you with an overdraft and all of those fees. The second type of skimming is done at a store or restaurant that has a dishonest employee. The store or employee might have a portable card reader. They will swipe your card so that they have all of the information they need for most online purchases and might possibly steal your pin information. They can take that information and transfer that information to any plastic card with a magnetic stripe. I have even seen a hotel key card used as a credit card. They transfer the information to the card, and then go make a purchase. Most stores have the card device for the consumer to swipe their own card. So no one has to see the card (thus allowing the use of the hotel key card). Make sure that if you use the ATM, watch and look for any changes to the machine. Additionally, watch your card when you use it at a store. Try to keep an eye on transaction to keep the dishonest worker from illegally swiping your card into a portable device.

3. Simple theft of your identity - If your wallet or purse gets stolen, report this immediately. Keep a list of your credit cards and phone number to those cards someplace where you can access that quickly. Do not throw any personal information away in your trash and watch your mail for any theft. These are the easiest ways to have your identity stolen.

4. Spyware - The first type of computer based theft. Spyware is software designed to record your keystrokes. By obtaining that information, they might be able to access your credit card information, bank account information and the appropriate personal information including pin information. This will allow the thief to use information online and make purchases using your information. The spyware can also be used to access information on your hard drive. Getting a good security software package can protect you from Spyware.

5. Spoofing - This type of theft is also known as Pharming. A computer hacker may redirect a legitimate web site’s traffic to another site known as an imposter site. From there you will be asked to enter your personal information. Once you have entered your personal information into the imposter site, you will become a victim of identity theft.

6. Smishing - This type of theft is fairly new and could become a big as more consumers are using smart phones. This is done by sending a text message to your cell phone and then will instruct you to visit a website that will request your personal information. Of course, this is done with lots of glam and glitter so that you are not suspecting anything illegal. You may be thinking that you are buying something legitimate but in actuality you are getting your identity stolen.

7. Phishing - This is one of the most common types of identity theft online. You will receive an email that will look completely legitimate (mostly from ebay or paypal). You will click on a link in the email and it will take you to an imposter website and ask you for your personal information. Since everything looks legitimate you will punch in your information and then it will be used for illegal purposes.

These types of identity theft are becoming more common as more people are using online shopping. Protect yourself by using common sense and paying attention to the information you are providing. If you become of victim of identity theft then you will have some credit problems and possibly bad credit. Some online shoppers have been doing business online for years and have never been a victim of identity theft. This does not mean you can let your guard down, but you must be diligent in what information you are providing to anyone.