New VW and Other Things I Didn’t Purchase

It seems strange considering my profession.  I recently pulled a copy of my credit report through the credit watch service  I am a member of.  I needed to purchase a car so I wanted to see where my scores stood and shop for the best interest rate.  To my surprise I had purchased a brand new VW (at close to $25,000)!  It turned out this new purchase had affected my scores somewhat and I would have to wait to get it off my credit before I could qualify for the interest rate I wanted.  The strangest thing of all is that I have never owned a VW and I also noticed that there was a strange address listed on my credit report from a nearby town. 

Coincidence?  I thought so until I went to my neighborhood Kroger to pick up a prescription.  When the pharmacy rep rang up my order, she confirmed my address as the nearby town I mentioned above.  Turns out the prescription was not even mine, but a totally different prescription from this ghost VW gal.  My best guess is that this mystery person has the same name as me, social security number very close to mine, and just happens to live less than 15 miles from my home. 

This sounds bizarre but you would be suprised how often these types of scenarios play out.  More commonly these mistakes are made due to family error or even family identity theft.  Are you a Sr. or a Jr.?  Better check your credit.  If you are a Sr. and have a Jr. floating around out there, it is likely you may have some things mixed up on your credit.  Have you been through a divorce?  Even more likely that the ex’s junk is showing up on your report  and affecting you long after their gone.  If you have ever filed bankruptcy, you better believe there is junk hanging around on your credit that shouldn’t be there.

Don’t be caught by surprise like I was.  I had to wait an extra 60 days to purchase my car while I was waiting for mystery girl’s junk to be removed from my credit (after I disputed the information to the credit bureaus).  Now I keep watch on my credit every 30 days through my credit watch service and have instant notification of changes or new inquiries.

FreeCreditDusters.com is LIVE!!!

 

Our team has been working on this site for over three months and we are proud to unveil it.

FreeCreditDusters.com is a complete resource for financial guidance and credit education. You can read more about what we do or even listen to our podcast. You can listen online or download it to your computer. We are very excited about this new tool and hope you enjoy it. Check it out!

Thanks,

 Matt Sullivan

Zombie Debt: Coming now to a Credit Report new you!

Credit Dusters post this today:

http://creditdusters.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/zombie-debt-coming-now-to-a-credit-report-near-you/

Good Stuff!

Wart of The Roses

Do you remember that dark comedy, War of The Roses? It starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner? The basic premise of the movie is about a couple whose marriage has fallen apart, but neither is willing to move out of the home they share.

Divorce like war is hell. Its toll can be felt like the stone that is thrown in the placid lake. You do not realize its effects until many years later. There is no better example of this than your credit. If it is not shot before things start to unravel then it is certainly destroyed afterward. In the heat of battle and emotion the state of ones credit is usually the last thing on their mind. I can assure you that it needs to be a major priority. Most divorced consumers do not realize the value of good credit and that there is a problem until they apply for a loan. Sometimes years have passed before the damage is revealed. It is especially embarrassing if they have remarried and “moved” on.

I coach divorcee’s everyday that come to my office or call me on the phone. The conversation is always fraught with anger, hurt, and four letter words. The ex-wife says, “I don’t understand! He said he was going to pay the payment. It’s in my divorce decree! I can show it to you. Does that not count for anything?” I also hear from the ex-husbands whose wife have added some lines of credit way after they have parted ways, “I can assure you I have never had a Victoria Secret card.  (Then the light comes on.) That little @#$%!”

The good news is that all of this can easily be avoided with a proactive attitude and a game plan. I will give you the cure, but you have to take the medicine.

1.       Assume the worst – I am writing this based on the assumption that your ex or soon to be would rather see you dead, stuffed, and mounted in the trophy room. With this being said you have shared some pretty intimate moments and more importantly personal, financials with this person. Even if, for some odd reason, you and your used to be are cordial you still need to follow the check list step by step and do it now.

2.       Check your credit - Immediately. This is the foundation to everything else. The longer you wait the worse it will be. I have a friend who went through a divorce and just recently checked her credit. She was prompted because she had received foreclosure papers on a house that she was making payments on time every month. I suggested she pull her credit. Much to here horror her ex-husband had taken out a second mortgage in her name just before he left her. It is imperative to keep a check on your credit. We recommend credit.com to our clients which allow them to pull their credit anytime they want. You can check out the link here.

3.       Reality Hits: The divorce decree is a worthless piece of paper when it comes to your credit. Unfortunately, Capital One does not care the slimy loser ran away with your best friend. If your name is listed on the debt then you are liable for the whole thing. (We will discuss this in a deeper context on future posts.)

4.       Join a credit watch service. If you did #2 then you have already joined a program. Credit.com is amazing about alerting you when someone has pulled your credit. That way you can track unauthorized inquiries and stop them before anything is approved. Here is the link if you did not join credit.com – they are awesome. We recommend them to our clients.

5.       You may need professional help (no I am not a therapist). If you find that the process of rebuilding or even repairing your credit is too much for you to handle you can check out their site on Credit Dusters. They provide credit repair and financial coaching to help you get through the storm. You may just need some FREE advice and an opportunity to plug into a great support team.

6.       You will need to subscribe to a FREE service called proquo.com. It helps you to remove your name and personal information from thousands of marketing lists, data brokers and other organizations that send you unsolicited mail.

7.       Next, you will need to put a FREEZE on your credit – all three of the bureaus offer this service. Experian, Equifax, Trans Union. – This will keep anyone from accessing your credit without your permission.

The bottom line is to be proactive. If you do nothing then you are open to hardship years beyond the divorce.

Divorced Credit is LIVE!!!

Divorce is traumatic, but it does not have to be a death sentence. This blog focuses on one very important part of your financial picture and that is your credit. There is so much misinformation out there in regards to people who have been through divorce and what it means to their credit.

We want to be a source of hope and give the opportunity to start fresh.

 Thanks,

Divorced Credit / divorcedcredit@live.com

Check out our other blogs:

http://creditdusters.wordpress.com

http://credithawk.wordpress.com