The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

Think your old credit score was bad?

Well, now there’s a new kind of credit score taking center stage…and setting the stage for financial institutions to make even more money off of the poorest Americans.

According to The Huffington Post, “The new CoreScore looks at financial records such as credit card borrowing, bank transactions and mortgage information, much like a traditional FICO credit score. The new rating also examines the kinds of transactions likely to occur at the lower end of the income scale. These include car and rental payments and payday loans. The CoreScore even examines the record for missed child support payments.…

Whether you’ve just concluded the bankruptcy process, been denied credit, are checking up on an identity theft incident, considering buying a home, or any other financial endeavor, it pays to check out your credit report. Why? Because when you’re trying to rebuild your credit health or prove you’re a good credit risk, it’s important to see what others see, namely your credit score.

You may already understand that you’re entitled to know what information is included in your credit reports. You may also know that you’re entitled to a free credit report each year. What you may not know is the right way to get it.…

Okay, it’s time for some motivation.

Coming out of bankruptcy, or at least the feeling of resolution that comes when the cloud of economic despair finally lifts, can do a lot for a person’s psyche and sense of self. Like a new breath after a long-time struggle in financial whitewater, knowing you are free of what has been pulling you under can empower you to try new things, pursue goals and live your dreams. So, in honor of that great feeling, let’s use this post to discuss ten things that you might hear when its time to get back on track toward leading the life you have always wanted.…

It would be inauthentic to blame every instance of bankruptcy on sudden life changes, such as a tragic illness or other life-altering emergency. The truth is, some bankruptcies are preventable.

However, we’re not judging. We know that timing plays a big part.

For example, let’s say one morning that you look at the pile of bills on the counter and say to yourself: “That’s it, I’m changing the way I handle money.” Then, the first thing noticed on your desk at work is a pink slip. That folks, is bad timing. And it explains a lot of personal bankruptcies.

What if you never you had that pile of bills?…

While many people consider it common knowledge, the last-minute fear before deciding to file bankruptcy could end up costing you even more come retirement. Turns out, that as the recession deepens, more people are looking toward their long-term savings for an influx of cash to help stay afloat.

Well, don’t ever be one of those people. Typically, what ends up happening is that you wind up without retirement money and still filing bankruptcy. We’ve seen it happen. And it’s hard to watch.

An article on USAToday.com pointed to figures that show a record number of people in the second quarter of this year used their retirement accounts to help stave off a financial problem.…

Well, it’s fall. In terms of school, anyway. And if you have a kid heading off to college now or this time next year, it means all kinds of expenses, like dorm supplies, new clothes, a computer and of course, textbooks.

A student’s learning resources have become one of the most underrated expenses of the college experience. Parents today worry greatly about tuition and room and board (as they should) but tend to be quite surprised when another $1,000 is needed just so a student can do the required readings.

For parents in a tough financial spot but who managed to send a child off to college, textbook costs can become a unexpected economical pain-point.…

Well, this may come as a surprise: a bank was deliberately charging customers for banking errors they did not make.

Shocker, huh?

Okay, well, maybe that kind of snark is a bit uncalled for. There are plenty of banks out there doing the right thing. But the timing of a California judge’s ruling that Wells Fargo must pay back more than $200 million to customers for egregiously fat-fingering their adding machines when calculating overdraft fees could not have come at a worse time.

News that the economic recovery is slowing (also quite the shock, huh?) and that unemployment continues to punish the nation has only exacerbated the nation’s mood toward the financial industry, largely considered the source of our current economic woes.…

In the last ten years, self-storage centers have infiltrated America faster than a bad singer on YouTube. From basic storage sheds with individual bays to climate-controlled multi-story complexes, we have become a nation obsessed with storage. Heck, you can even invest in a garage condo today.

Now, let’s juxtapose our need for storage with the general financial position of so many American families right now. There is really no more proof of our collective love of useless consumer products than the need to pay $100 month just to store it.

And if it’s not in a storage facility, it’s pushing the car out of the garage.…

Successfully coming out of bankruptcy is a financial rebirth. As you move on from your financial setbacks (and you will), you will be better prepared to build a healthy fiscal future. Part of that, or better stated, a huge part of that, will involve how you make decisions regarding money. It would be understandable, for example, to simply save everything in a conservative money market (savings) account or maybe drop a small bit of your monthly income into a 401k. Both options are solid and should be considered part of a comprehensive investment strategy.

So if bankruptcy has changed the way you handle money and it’s time for you to start moving forward building responsible, long-term wealth, consider the following investment tips:

1.…

Life after bankruptcy is beautiful thing. Your stress levels go down and you become more confident with money. Now that things are back on track, maybe it is time to take a whole-life approach to changing the way you live. For some, it’s a new, but smaller, home; a more economical car; or a strict monthly budget. For others, re-starting your life may include relocating. Boy, that sounds like a big decision, huh?

So if you have a new financial outlook on life and think it’s time to move, where would you go? Thankfully, our friends at Forbes.com have researched a list of the best cities in America for “getting ahead.” Their research was based primarily on areas that have good job growth and income growth and a relatively affordable cost of living.…

As someone facing serious financial difficulty, learning how much money is made by the huge banks to which you owe money can be frustrating. While we understand that we need to be accountable for our decisions, it stings to realize that profit models are often based on customers going into debt. Therefore, we can’t help but a feel a bit had, like the rube who just bought a cure-all tonic from the traveling pitchman selling from a horse and buggy.

CNN.com published an article recently that described what it deemed the “biggest rip-offs” in today’s society. We thought it relevant because knowing how some of these products are sold may encourage you to quit buying, using or subscribing to them and in the process, start saving more money to pay down debt or keep rebuilding after bankruptcy.…

So the impact of your bankruptcy is settling in. You have mixed emotions but underneath, feel confident that it was the right thing to do. The phone has stopped ringing, the mailbox delivers good news (for the most part) and best of all, you can sleep again.

Now that it’s time to get back on track, saving money should be a top priority. And one way to do that is by examining what it takes for you to keep a roof over your head every month, even if you managed to avoid foreclosure. Today, thanks to the real estate crisis which saw developers nationwide building new home homes and apartment communities on every plot of improvable land, it is a buyer’s market.…

Believe it or not, there are some situations when credit cards can be a benefit. They are often the only option when making travel reservations, and can come in handy in the event of genuine emergencies. A credit card can also help you build good credit, or rebuild credit after bankruptcy.

Yep, so that’s about four reasons. The reasons NOT to use credit can fill a book, but here are just a few situations in which using plastic seems like a good idea, but you’re much better off just saying no!

Department store credit accounts: notoriously high interest rates are just one great reason to avoid department store credit accounts.…

We see the commercials, hear the clever tag lines and are inundated with information about how to receive our credit report. So while a goofy guy singing catchy tunes about the perils of not knowing what’s on your credit report certainly has its marketing merits, his chorus doesn’t say much about what to do when you find something on your report that doesn’t ring true.

First, make sure that your report is indeed your report, as many of the mistakes found involve the most basic information, such as your name, social security number or birth date.

Look for items that are older than seven years, which signifies that a report item must be removed.…