How To Erase Fraudulent Activity On Your Credit Report

Everyone has heard the horror stories. The stories about
individuals whose credit score is ruined from errors and
fraudulent activity that is posted on their credit report.
Stolen identities, stolen credit card numbers, and stolen
Social Security Numbers, can all be used to fraudulently
apply for credit on your credit history. There are a few
simple rules to keep in mind if ever you have fraudulent
activity reported on your report.

Always remember to dispute the fraudulent activity on your
credit report as soon as you find out about it. Waiting
too long, can erode your rights to dispute the fraudulent
activity on your report. Make sure to write to all three
credit bureaus, when disputing fraudulent activities. Only
disputing fraudulent activity with one credit bureau, will
not erase the activity reported on the other two bureaus.

Make sure to ask for proper documentation from the
financial institutions that are reporting the fraudulent
activity. Many times individuals will dispute the
activity, but forget to request documentation from the
financial institutions reporting the activity. If you
don’t ask for the proper documentation, then you
won’t receive it. Usually, the fraudulent activity
is some sort of mistake that can be cleared up upon
inspection of the credit application and identifying
information, given to the financial institution by the
credit applicant. In many cases, the financial
institutions may have wrongly reported someone else’s
credit activity on your report, simply by erroneously
giving the wrong address, wrong name, or wrong Social
Security Number to the credit bureaus.

Keep in mind, that if the financial institution
doesn’t provide the proper documentation to prove the
debt is actually yours within thirty days, then by Federal
law, the credit bureaus have to remove the disputed charges
from your report. This is defined in the Fair Credit
Reporting Act. Don’t be under the impression
however, that after thirty days, the disputed charge will
be removed. Although the credit bureaus are required by
law, to remove the disputed charges from your report if the
financial institution doesn’t provide the appropriate
documentation automatically, usually you have to write them
again, after the thirty day period expires, to inform them
of the failure by the creditor to provide the proper
documentation. Persistence is the key.

It usually takes on average, about four to six months, to
clear up fraudulent activity on one’s credit report.
Unfortunately, it is a very slow process. Also, be aware
that the individuals who work at the credit bureaus, may
not necessarily be legally savvy. It is always a good
idea, to provide the credit bureaus with copies of the
relevant legal statutes, under which you are making the
dispute of charges.

Don’t get discouraged if at first the disputed
charges are not removed in a timely manner. Remember that
persistence is the key. Sooner or later, the financial
institution will usually give in, and remove the disputed
charges. They are not in business to fight with consumers
over disputed charges on their credit report. They are in
business to make money from interest charged on the
borrower’s debt.

Sometimes, the credit bureaus and the financial institution
will refuse to remove the disputed charges. If this
happens, then you have the right to place a comment along
with disputed charges. You can say something like
“Credit company refuses to remove fraudulent
charges”, or “Credit card was issued to someone
else fraudulently, and charges are not mine.” You
may also want to consult an attorney, because you may have
the right to sue the financial institution and the credit
bureaus, to force them to remove the fraudulent activity on
your report.

Always remember, that just because a fraudulent charge is
shown on your credit report today, doesn’t mean that
it has to be there tomorrow.

----------------------------------------------------
Bryan Pringle, Ph.D., has written many articles on the
credit industry, and is the webmaster of websites offering
news and information regarding credit cards. For more
information about applying for credit cards, please visit:
http://www.apply-forcreditcards-online.com

Business Finance and Church Loan Choices for Church Financing

Specialized business finance situations such as those
experienced with church financing will typically require
more advanced commercial mortgage solutions. A church loan
will usually involve several recurring commercial real
estate loan problems.

Church financing is possibly the most difficult commercial
mortgage to arrange. Since churches represent an integral
part of most communities, it is clearly desirable to
improve church loan options if at all possible. In almost
all cases financing will require a very specialized
commercial real estate loan that is typically not widely
available.

Churches are certainly not typical business organizations,
but churches nevertheless have very real and substantial
business loan needs. This article will provide an overview
of four primary church financing difficulties followed by a
discussion of six practical church loan solutions.

Four Major Church Financing and Business Finance
Difficulties -

Before addressing possible solutions for the most common
church loan needs, it is important to discuss the typical
barriers to obtaining appropriate financing. Historically
church financing has been difficult to arrange for several
reasons:

(1) Church Financing Difficulty Number One: Church
properties are unique. Lenders are therefore concerned that
if commercial loan payments are not made in a timely manner
and the lender is required to assume ownership of the
property, it will be very difficult to find a new owner
because of the unique property features.

(2) Church Financing Difficulty Number Two: Lenders
frequently want personal guarantors for church loans, and
this requirement is not appropriate for church financing.
The financial structure of churches simply does not lend
itself to a traditional lender/guarantor approach. But most
lenders are uncomfortable with the potential lack of
guarantors (especially because of the previous observation
about the difficulty of reselling the church property
should it become necessary).

As a result, it is common to find that church financing has
been obtained only after one or more church members have
provided a personal guarantee. The requirement for personal
guarantors acts as a severe obstacle because church members
might be unwilling to act in this capacity and because
there simply might not be individuals who have sufficient
net worth to provide a personal guarantee for a large
church loan.

(3) Church Financing Difficulty Number Three: When church
financing is obtained, there are frequently unacceptable
business finance terms such as very small loans, low
loan-to-value (LTV) of 50% to 60%, short-term loans and
high interest rates. These onerous terms are tantamount to
the church loan being declined, and if the terms are
accepted, the church is likely to experience continuing
financial difficulties due to unrealistic commercial
mortgage requirements.

(4) Church Financing Difficulty Number Four: Construction,
renovation and land acquisition are even more difficult for
churches to finance than purchases or refinancing. As a
result, needed repairs are often postponed indefinitely and
new churches frequently take many years to become a reality.

Six Practical Church Loan and Commercial Mortgage Solutions
-

There are common-sense financing solutions for the church
loan issues described above. Here is an overview of church
financing that is now available from some non-traditional
lenders:

(1) Church Loan Solution Number One: Non-Recourse Loans
(instead of guarantors). As noted above, the willingness to
forego traditional guarantors does require a
non-traditional lender. This particular church financing
solution means that lender decisions will not be based on
personal guarantors in any way.

(2) Church Loan Solution Number Two: Long-term loans (up to
30 years). Church financing will be much more successful
when it is long-term instead of short-term (payments will
be reduced dramatically).

(3) Church Loan Solution Number Three: Low interest rates
(usually a maximum of prime plus 1%). In reality many
churches have been taken advantage of and charged excessive
interest rates because lenders perceived that they did not
have any other realistic options.

With payments based upon a rate in the range of prime plus
1%, church financing payments will be reduced dramatically.
In combination with longer-term loans, the overall payment
reduction will make a significant contribution to church
cash flow improvements.

(4) Church Loan Solution Number Four: Minimum church
financing of $500,000. This allows churches to complete
most financing in one step rather than piecemeal over a
period of years.

(5) Church Loan Solution Number Five: High LTV (75% to 90%
is available). This results in a more workable amount of
10% to 25% (rather than 40% to 50% with traditional church
financing) for the down payment or non-financed portion in
refinancing.

(6) Church Loan Solution Number Six: Church financing can
now include new construction, renovation, land acquisition,
purchase and refinancing. Because of more flexible terms,
it is no longer necessary for these vital financing needs
to be postponed indefinitely.

Collectively the six church financing solutions described
above should benefit a large number of churches by allowing
refinancing with much better financial terms and by
facilitating the construction of new churches on an
accelerated timetable. The six business finance solutions
are likely to result in improved financial terms that are
conducive to the long-term financial health of the churches
which take advantage of these suggested church loan
solutions.

Regardless of the practical business finance and commercial
mortgage strategies that have been described above, it is
appropriate to emphasize that arranging appropriate church
financing will almost always be difficult. With a
specialized church loan, the commercial real estate
financing will usually have some unavoidable complexities.
As a result, prudent church borrowers should attempt to
acquire a better understanding of these complex business
loan issues.

----------------------------------------------------
Stephen Bush and AEX Commercial Financing Group provide
business finance - church loan help and AEX Business Loan -
Commercial Real Estate Investment Property Financing
Reports:
http://www.church-loan-financing.org

Benefits and Pitfalls of a Java-Based Forex Trading Platform

Many forex brokers today offer a Java-based platform to
traders as opposed to the traditional software that needs
to be installed on your computer.

If you are considering using a broker that offers this type
of web-based trading platform, it is important for you to
understand what makes this option good, as well as its
potential downfalls.

First off, Java is a programming language that can make
dynamic programs available through just your web browser.
So understand that with Java-based tradin, your forex
trading platform will load within your internet browser
(such as Internet Explorer or Firefox).

One of the potential upsides of a Java-based trading
environment is that because there is no need to install any
software, you can use nearly any computer to access your
forex trading account. With a downloadable trading
platform, you will usually be tied to a single computer for
your trading because any other computer that you would use
would need to have this software installed as well.

A potential downside of a Java-based forex platform is that
downloadable platforms tend to have many more features,
such as a newsfeed, advanced charting, and possibly even
trading signals. A Java-based platform will likely have
not much more than you need in order to place trades, and
you will need to use some external charting program in
order to view price data.

FX trading platforms that you have to download and install
onto your computer tend to be highly refined to the point
that they will very rarely, if ever, crash. Brokers know
that they could lose many customers if they use a software
which is prone to crashing, so they will put significant
resources into making sure that their software will be
stable.

Your internet browser is much more prone to crashing than
is your trading software (usually), especially if you are
surfing other web pages or checking your email at the same
time. If your browser does happen to crash or shut down,
and you have trades open, it is hard to predict what will
happen.

Either way, it is always a good idea to keep the phone
number of your broker on hand just in case you should have
trouble with your trading platform. If for some reason
your Java-based trading environment were to crash while you
had trades open and you were unable to bring that data back
up on your screen, it would be wise to call your broker and
close all open positions.

Ideally, you would want to choose a forex broker that
offered both a Java-based trading environment as well as
downloadable software. That way, you could enjoy the
stability and features of the downloadable software, but
also be able to log into your trading account from a
computer that does not have the software installed.

----------------------------------------------------
Get more free education and ebooks about the forex market
at http://TheForexSurfer.com/ebooks , and also learn about
a highly profitable trading strategy called Forex Surfing.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ride the Waves of the Global Economy ~
http://TheForexSurfer.com

Corporations- How To Start A Business With Bad Credit

Possessing a bad credit history, is a very common hurdle
for individuals who wish to start and run their own
businesses. Unless you win the lottery, or have an
extremely rich relative, then you are going to have to be
able to retrieve a certain amount of capital startup funds.
The easiest and quickest way to retrieve capital startup
funds is through loans or lines of credit. This can be
very tricky for the individual who wants to start a
business with bad credit.

First, let’s take a look at starting a business as a
sole proprietor. The most common mistake for an
entrepreneur looking to start a business, is to establish
too much personal financial liability in connection with
the business debt. A sole proprietorship establishes the
absolute maximum liability on the business owner. All
business debts are the sole responsibility of the owner,
and any outstanding debts, if the business happens to fold,
affect the owner’s credit and finances directly.
Keep in mind, that 80% of small businesses fail within the
first five years according to numerous government reports.
Sole proprietors who have the business debt tied to their
personal finances, will be 100% liable, when those
businesses fold.

Next, let’s take a look at starting a business with a
partner. The second most common mistake an entrepreneur
looking to start a business makes, is in thinking that they
can lessen their liability by taking on a partner. This is
a very common myth, because if and when, they business may
fold, the personal finances of both partners suffer
equally. Yes, it is better to have two or more partners,
to shoulder the financial load, however, if the business
itself is the sole means of paying for all the financial
responsibilities, then whether there are two partners, or
fifty partners, whenever the business fails, then
everyone’s finances and credit suffer equally.

Now, let’s take a look at corporations. Ah yes,
there is a light at the end of the tunnel. What is a
corporation? A corporation is a continuous independent
entity which is created by an association of individuals,
under authority of law, which has independent powers and
liabilities from the members of its association. Okay,
that’s the dictionary definition, but in
laymen’s terms, a corporation is like another
individual, with another social security number, which can
file its own tax return, declare bankruptcy, and has all
the powers and liabilities of an independent business owner.

What this means, is that if the corporation fails, then the
individual who runs the corporation has absolutely no
liability whatsoever. A corporation simply dissolves into
thin air when it fails. In this way, an entrepreneur who
starts a corporation, has absolutely no personal financial
risk or liability. An entrepreneur can start multiple
corporations which may fail, without affecting their
personal credit or finances in a negative way.

Okay, so if I have bad credit, then how does starting a
corporation benefit me? Since a corporation is a new
entity, with a new social security number, then the
corporation has no bad credit. This means that the
corporation can now apply for loans, credit cards, and any
other type of credit. The individuals who run the
corporation may have terrible credit, however this has
absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the
corporation’s credit is good or bad. Many banks and
credit card companies, are much more willing to give
corporations higher credit limits, with much better terms,
than individual business owners. An entrepreneur with bad
credit can start a corporation, and receive credit based
upon the corporation’s credit history, without every
having their borrowing history checked. Many
entrepreneur’s with bad credit, have utilized the
corporation’s limits of liability and borrowing
potential, to attain massive amounts of startup capital to
fund business projects, which they themselves would have
never had the opportunity to fund otherwise.

The bottom line: if you have bad credit and no capital,
then start a business as a corporation. This will limit
your financial liability, and give you the opportunity to
attain capital based upon the corporation’s credit
history, not yours.

----------------------------------------------------
Bryan Pringle, Ph.D., has written many articles on the
credit industry, and is the webmaster of websites offering
news and information regarding credit cards. For more
information about applying for credit cards, please visit:
http://www.apply-forcreditcards-online.com