Debt Settlement - 4 Things To Look For!

If you're looking for a debt settlement company to help you with your indebtedness problems, consider these four points:

1. Be wary of promises to settle your problems in just a few days. This process might take several years to actually complete if your put on a reduced payment schedule. Additionally, there's a very real prospect of paying more interest and late fees in a stretched out payment schedule.

2. Should a company "guarantee(s) to get your creditors to reduce your debt", be aware that it's illegal to promise or guarantee that a creditor will accept partial payments.

3. Check for complaints. The Better Business Bureau is one that register consumer complaints; another source is www.RipOffReport.com. If there are a large number of complaints you may do well to avoid them.

4. Think critically! If it seems the firm is hiding or omitting the bad side of debt settlement, ask! If the firm doesn't respond to your satisfaction, go to the next . As a consumer you need to know both the upside and downside to debt settlements.

Credit Unions - Once Again Beat the Banks!

A national survey by Bankrate.com has found that credit unions, on average, provide better deals to their customers for many types of loans and investment products than do banks.

For example, new and used car loans, second mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and credit cards are items in which the credit unions consistently beat the banks. In doing so the credit unions are again proving their worth to their shareholders and customers.

Not all credit unions provide the same products as do banks. As a point of fact, ATDFCU tailors its products to reflect membership desires for the highest possible returns. Therefore, ATDFCU does not offer credit card services, ATMs or checking services in order to provide both a better rate of return for investments and lowest rates on loans for borrowers.

An example might be in order...
In California, banks surveyed charge from 7.24% Annual Percentage Rate (B of A) to 4.82% APR (Wells Fargo) for a $25,000, 15 year fixed rate second mortgage... and some have additional requirements like deferred loan application fees and electronic transfer mortgage payments that considerably increase the cost of a loan. ATDFCU doesn't engage in those types of practices, preferring instead to make the loan in a straight-forward fashion, without a lot of "catches". And by the way, ATDFCU's current rate (available until Mar. 31st, 2012 for variable rate second mortgages is 3.25% APR.

Car loans are another popular service you expect from your credit union, and once again they deliver! Nationally, for a new car loan of $16,000 (48-month term), credit unions betters the banks by an average .60% (8.41% vs 9.01%). ATDFCU beats the national credit union averages by a wide margin, offering its members a rate of 3.50% for a similar loan.

In short, often the very best in value and service are tried and true friends, those at the ATDFCU! The paperwork is held to a minimum, and processing of your loan is done quickly by people you know and trust. How many banks can you say that about?

Experience the incredible personal service each and every member gets from your credit union. Try it yourself when exploring ways to free up cash and reduce monthly bills... call your credit union at 408-365-4444!

Credit Card Facts and Tidbits

Comments gleaned from credit card experts...

• Do department store cards affect your credit report?
If the store cards are reported to the major credit bureaus, store cards can either help or hurt your credit. If your late or missing payments, or have maxed them to the limit, it'll hurt. On the flip side, if the credit is managed responsibly, they'll help your score.

• How many credit cards are too many?
There's no pat answer regarding how many cards are too many. FICO scores are computed on a number of factors. Open the store cards you really need and pay them off as soon as you can. Interestingly, if you have some on your report you don’t use anymore, FICO generally recommends you leave them alone rather than closing them.

• Cash advances from credit cards make for expensive loans!
Most credit card issuers charge a higher interest rate (20% or more) plus a one-time fee (as much as 5%!) of the amount advanced. Be aware that cash advances don't qualify for the usual interest-free grace period, so interest accrues promptly. Additionally some credit card issuers don't apply your payments to the cash advance until whatever lower interest rate balances you have on the card are paid-off.

• Credit card issuers may increase APRs if your credit score drops or if you miss a payment on another credit card
Higher interest rates go hand-in-hand with higher risk and they provide motivation for cardholders to pay-off their higher APR balances first. Card issuers don't want a loss on a credit card account so if they see you are having financial trouble they want to send you the message to pay-up and go elsewhere. Though seemingly unfair to penalize you in this manner it is permitted under current federal regulations.

• Watch Your Credit Lines
They may be lowered without your knowledge. Card companies are moving away from raising interest rates on risky cardholders to simply reducing credit lines. Monitor your account to make sure you still have the credit line you remember; otherwise you might easily go over the new and reduced credit line. Going over your credit limit at any time can cost money. Stay safe - always stay 10% or more under your credit limit.

•The average family owes more than you think on their credit cards
Based on current industry statistics and consumer surveys the average American household with at least one major credit card owes $9659. However, given that 13% of Americans carry credit card balances above $25,000, the median is about $6,600 for the typical card using household.

• How high can interest rates go?
The highest amount of interest that can be charged monthly on credit card debt is nothing short of exorbitant. Credit card companies based in Delaware or South Dakota can by law charge what they want. You might well see rates as high as 32% to 41%.

• Call your credit union!
The bottom line to all this is manage your credit wisely, and pay no more than you need to for borrowed money. Call ATDFCU to discuss your loan needs before you turn to your credit cards!

With rates starting to rise from all time record lows, your Credit Union can offer you some of the very best in variable rate second mortgage rates - currently 3.25% ANNUAL Percentage Rate, available until Mar. 31st, 2012, and unparalleled ease of application.

Why a variable rate second mortgage? Read on and discover the benefits available to homeowners. As a homeowner, a variable rate second mortgage is a means by which you can use the value of your home to save you money. The loan can allow you to consolidate the balances of a number of existing bills and debts into just one loan... and one monthly payment. The beauty of this is that high interest credit card balances, for example, may be paid off with a loan having a considerably lower interest rate, which saves you money every month! And the difference in your monthly payment can be astounding!

The symbol next to documents indicates that the file is in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be read by Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download a copy now by selecting the appropriate option below or go to Adobe's Web Site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.

Before downloading the MacIntosh Acrobat Reader, you need a program such as Stuffit Expander that can decode MacBinary files, Once you have this program installed, you can download Acrobat

Reader and Stuffit Expander will automatically decode the file.
For the most recent versions of Acrobat Reader & details about installation and troubleshooting, go to Adobe's Acrobat Reader download site.*(see Note below)

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

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The privacy and security policies may be different than those of ATDFCU.
ATDFCU is not responsible for the contents of these sites.
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