Credit Report Experts

In recently looking at a Facebook wall posting, it occurred to me that for those women who hyphenate their names to include their maiden name puts their families at risk for identity theft. You are probably scratching your head thinking, “Yeah, right!”

Consider this, if your children are grown and have established credit, what is one of the first questions a creditor and the bank will ask? What is your mother’s maiden name? On most FacebooK pages people have listed their children, grand children, pictures of them and their names. I am not a computer geek, but armed with a name, address, mother’s maiden name, a computer and cross reference directories that are available, it wouldn’t be hard to gather enough information to steal the identity of one of your family members and/or to hack into a bank account. Heck, it is not even much of a stretch to find that information through back linking through your friends and other family members. The possi

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Consumers who tuned into Thursday’s hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee may not have recognized what they were seeing. An earlier hearing, in May, about the government’s new watchdog agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, descended into a bunch of hotheaded yelling and accusations of lying, garnering quite a lot of press for a committee that is usually mostly ignored.

Well, the latest hearing seemed tailor-made to push the committee back into its customary sleepiness. Both sides admitted that they went a tad over-the-top during their earlier engagement.

“I think it’s proper to ask if we are maintaining the proper decorum and respect,” said Mike Quigley (D-IL). “I would respectfully submit that both sides have pushed the envelope on that.”

For her part, Elizabeth Warren, the president’s special advisor charged with creating the new agency, conceded that her refusal to stick around for a few extra minutes of questioning last time was a pretty serious political gaffe.

“I’ve cleared my schedule and I’m here for as long as you need me,” she said.

But that still left plenty of time for posturing, gamesmanship and downright nastiness, as Republicans and Warren parried over the proper role of the new bureau, which opens its doors on July 21. Many members of the com

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Question by Lisa E: Is there a limit to what a loan company can charge you for interest on an unsecured loan?
I recently got a loan from a company called “cash call”. I had to go ahead & accept the loans terms at 59% interest as I had to have some surgery & now everyone is telling me that what they are charging me in interest has to be illegal? Does anyone who if ths is true or how to find this information out?

Yes…interest rates on non-secured loans are typically rate capped by the state….for example my state (NC) is capped at 15%.
It differs by state. I have linked to prosper.com info on state rate caps and policies.

Additional info: They can often charge fees that are not counted toward interest. I did some work for a mortgage broker and the stuff they tacked on could often exceed the state rate but was technically below it because it was considered fees and not part of the interest rate.

Many major lenders are now testing plans that will charge consumers a monthly fee for maintaining an account with an associated debit card, and customers say that this will make them reconsider their payment methods, according to a report based on a poll by the Associated Press and GfK Custom Research. Currently, nearly 67 percent of consumers use debit more often than credit, but if they were to be charged a $3 monthly fee, 61 percent would switch. That number rises to 66 percent for a $5 fee, and 81 percent for a $7 monthly charge.

The change on the part of banks is largely coming due to greater federal regulation that will severely limit the revenues they enjoy as a result of interchange fees on debit purchases, the report said. Beginning on October 21, they will only be able to charge 21 cents for every debit transaction they process, down from the current average of 44 cents.

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More from Reuters: by Linda Stern
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

There’s an irony about the new credit score disclosure rules issued by the Federal Reserve Board on July 6, and this is it: Would-be borrowers who are most likely to get their credit scores for free are still the people who may find it advantageous to buy their scores.

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The borrowers who won’t get their scores may find they don’t need to buy them, either.

That’s because the rules require lenders to supply potential borrowers with their scores if they are denied credit or offered less favorable terms because of those scores. Starting on July 21, scorned applicants for credit cards, student loans and auto loans will see their scores.

But learning after you apply for a loan that there was a problem with your credit score isn’t that much help, is it? People who know t

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