TRENT NAS Qnd Edition Reborn With Credit Revised and Expanded Second Edition Reborn With Credit Revised and Expanded Second Edition Trent Sands a neO U, eSatIs N Breakout Productions Port Townsend, Washington This book is sold for informational purposes only. Neither the author nor the publisher will be held accountable for the use or misuse of the information contained in this book. Reborn With Credit, Revised and Expanded Second Edition © 1999 by Trent Sands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher. Reviews may quote brief passages without the written consent of the publisher as long as proper credit is given. Published by: Breakout Productions, Inc. PO Box 1643 Port Townsend, WA 98368 360-379-1965 Cover design by Linda Greer ISBN 1-893626-23-7 Library of Congress Card Catalog 99-61777 Contents Introduction to the Second Edition................::sscsssssssssssseceess 1 PLCLACC eecesaccersistcesen tosses cetriccceuetsrtetsrecareerteerss eteretme tteereette 5 Chapter One EOI ASIC SEN tote tet wsreeeans oe ee scn tesa ee aoe eanene 5 Chapter Two Rect ESULCGU SSCLV ICES sasyesesneacesstieitsi asteevtnurescrstenesteeeaesirae s 13 Chapter Three New Laws Regulating the Credit Industry......................0... 15 Chapter Four MASECHU SCOMIDG rr tce see teveia Oeste pect ener cceer ee 39 Chapter Five LSEE G S70 sts FERS a ln Re aa idc h ERROR OR 43 Chapter Six Creating a Blank Slate at the Credit Bureau ..................... 55 Chapter Seven ATleIb t A U ETO OCAMIG eer: octet eect tg te occ sutanyestatuscesedessscnteaace 61 Chapter Eight Step-by-Step Through the Credit Application .................... 67 Chapter Nine New Ways to Get Back in the Credit Game ................000+++ 75 Chapter Ten Credit:Fraud and: Identity iTh elt cet. Bees... .2<2005--s 79 Chapter Eleven Becoming a Credit Card: Millionaire citer see 83 Appendix One Po wehart fOr NCW Credit: a... trn can tree eseee eae 89 Appendix Two Secured Visa and MasterCard Account Programs .............. 91 Appendix Three Employment Not Liked by Credit Grantors.....................6 93 Appendix Four Occupations Liked by Creditors.................cccccssssseseesrececeees 95 Appendix Five Beating Credit Scoring S ystems..,...,.:0...ssceeteeee 97 Appendix Six Social Security Numbering System.................cccccssssseseeeees 99 Appendix Seven Additional Sources of Information...............ccccccccscscsseseeees 103 Introduction to the Second Edition 1 SSE EE EE EE ee eee eee Introduction to the Second Edition Many changes have taken place in the credit industry since the first edition of this book was written six years ago. Major changes in all aspects of the credit industry, from the credit bureaus, to the major banks, have altered the landscape that the credit applicant must navigate. The thrust of this book was, and remains, to enable those who have bad credit to reenter the credit system for the pro- verbial “second chance,” and secondly, to strip away the veil of secrecy that surrounds the credit bureaus. This enables the reader to become a smarter credit consumer and save money. One major change has been consolidation in the credit in- dustry. The credit reporting industry now consists of just three major bureaus, Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. As readers of the first edition know, your credit report is the single most important factor to obtaining any type of credit, and the terms on which that credit will be extended. The credit bureaus are now the subject of new federal leg- islation that makes it easier for consumers to lodge disputes with the bureaus and have them resolved in the consumer’s Reborn With Credit 2 favor. Some states, such as Massachusetts, have passed tough new legislation regulating credit bureaus that goes far beyond the federal laws. We will also see that your credit report is now much more widely circulated than it was six years ago, often without the consumer’s knowledge. A new chapter will give additional information on how to effectively dispute negative and inaccu- rate entries on the credit report. The Internet is now a source of up-to-date information on credit problems, which was not the case six years ago. In a new chapter which discusses Internet credit information (Chapter Nine), we will list some sites that are useful to credit consumers. The new credit card superbanks, who do little else but issue and market credit cards nationwide, are voracious users of credit reports and a new tool called credit scoring. We will examine how these institutions use this tool to set credit limits and monitor customer accounts.