Friday, February 15, 2008

"Universal Default Clause"

The new law allows ALL creditors to raise your credit card interest rates up to that companies maximum interest rate even if you are late on your water bill! Customers can potentially trigger universal default pricing by a credit card issuer by the following behaviors:

1. Being late (even once) on a credit card, mortgage, utility or car payment.
2. Going over the credit limit, on ANY credit card.
3. Carrying too much debt overall.
4. Using over 50% of the credit line for an individual credit card.
5. Having too much available credit and open trade lines.
6. Making too many credit inquiries.
6. Getting a new mortgage or car loan.

Your interest rates can skyrocket to 30 percent or more if you make late payments, or even make 3 minimum payments in a row!

"How can this be legal?" you may ask. The answer is found in the fine print of your credit card agreement, and it is called a "universal default clause." According to the Institute of Consumer Financial Education, currently almost 40 percent of credit card issuers apply this policy to their customers.

Your creditors also have the right to routinely monitor your credit file. So a creditor with a "universal default clause" will be watching -- and waiting for you to make a small mistake! Check all your credit cards for this clause in the fine print!

They are losing too much money on bad mortgages made, and they will be after your money.

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Reduce Your Debt to Income Ratio to Improve Your Credit Score

Your Debt to Income Ratio is your total debt divided by your income. If your total debt is $40,000 and your income is $40,000, your debt to income ratio is 100%, meaning it takes a full year's worth of income to pay off your debt.

If you have a mortgage of $120,000, you have added 3 more years of income or 300% to the ratio.

Most people do not realize that your debt to income ratio has a heavy effect on your credit score, even more than on-time payments. Paying off debts has a very positive effect on your credit score.

Clients in our program are getting completely out of their unsecured debt load in 18-39 months and seeing much higher credit scores as a result. Get on our MMA Mortgage Reduction program as well, and see your score go much higher in just a few years. The mortgage reduction program can been seen at: http://www.u1stfinancial.net/achieveunlimited

Why is this the case? Logically, if someone has debt which will take years to repay, they are at much higher risk of a negative life event: loss of job, disability, etc., and a higher credit risk.

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