In February, Maine became the twelfth State to pass legislation that allows consumers to freeze their credit information. This program has been floating under the radar for quite some time and I think that if more consumers were aware of it, they would be flocking in droves to sign up.

I know that I wrote eight States and reference Maine becoming the twelfth. There is a reason for this. But first, let me explain about the program. OK fine. For those of you that are impatient, 8 States allow any consumer to participate in freezing their account. The other 4 States and potentially on a National level, you must be a victim of identity theft before you can protect yourself in the future.

California was the first State to pass this type of law back in 2003. The vast majority of Californians have not signed on because they don’t know about it.

Here is the reason behind the law and how it works:

Nearly 10 million Americans fall victim each year to identity theft. Current statistics show that a victim will spend an average of 330 hours resolving problems as a result of identity theft and paid between $851 and $1378 in out of pocket expenses (excluding a median of $4000 per victim in lost wages in 2004).

Identity theft also costs U.S. …continue reading the article titled Freeze your credit, well in eight States anyway…….

Dear Mr. Smith, thank you for your response to my offer. You are approved and here is your money! Oh yah, here is what you agreed to by accepting such a generous offer made by me and my distinguished associates.

1. You can’t sue me or be included in any class action law suit against me.

2. If you miss a payment to someone else that you owe money to, even if you’ve made all of your payments to me on time, I can charge you a higher interest rate for that.

3. I can change the terms of our agreement, anytime that I want to.

4. If you pay back all the money that you owe me, I can charge you an additional fee for that.

5. If you pay me back and you continue to not owe me money anymore, I can charge you a fee for that.

Being a “Shylock” with these terms and conditions….Illegal

Being a Credit Card company with these terms and conditions and having Congress in your back pocket….Priceless

Plain and simple. Over the past 15 years that I have been in the debt and credit industry, I have read countless articles and have met with thousands of people effected by the credit card industry that I am litterally sick and tired it. The credit card industry has been set up to take advantage of uneducated people who have been barraged day after day with ads and offers telling them that without credit, they can’t live like they should be. “Life takes Visa. You live life, we’ll help you” or some moronic statement like that I keep seeing while watching this year’s Olympics. Actually, I get to watch about 10 minutes of Olympic coverage and get to spend the next 5 minutes watching stupid pitches like this.

In this article, I am going to go over some real facts that are in these credit card company contracts and hopefully someone out there will see that this is one of the most underhanded, unregulated, profit mongering businesses out there today.

Here is some “did you know” that hopefully get’s you as angry as I am. Now on a positive note, so we don’t hurt some people’s feelings out there, credit cards are a tool that if used correctly can give you some advantages. Yah, about 5% of the American population falls into that category.

1. Chase Manhattan Bank’s cardholder agreement plainly and clearly makes you agree to give up your right to sue them: “the cardholder cannot take the issuer to court or be included in a class-action suit against the company.”

Wow, the tobacco companies should have had these lawyers on their team…Hmm, let’s see. Sorry Mr. Jones, it clearly states on the underside of the cigarette pack that you purchased, in size 3 font: “By purchasing these cigarettes, you agree that you cannot take the manufacturer of these cigarettes to court or be included in a class-action suit against the company.” I guess that was their big mistake. The warning label only states that you could die, it didn’t say anything about not being able to sue them….

2. Banks and credit card issuers spent millions, yes millions, of dollars lobbying Congress …continue reading the article titled Credit Card Companies are “Shylocks”

Over the next several publications, I am going to take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about credit and debt. Hope it helps….

The amount of money you make determines how good your credit is: False

An impressive salary doesn’t translate into a good credit report or good credit score. It’s true that a lender will look at the amount of money you make to determine your ability to make your monthly payments on the loan but, that’s as far as it goes.

Your credit worthiness is based upon your credit history, not your salary. Creditors use a FICO score to determine if you are qualified to get a loan, and at what interest rate that loan needs to be paid back at.

FICO scores range from 400 to 850 points. The higher your score, …continue reading the article titled Demystifying the Myths about credit: