My favorite visualization excercise

This visualization exercise has always been my favorite and I look back at it often.

I want you guys to let your imagination flow and fill in the blank as you read this verse. Make it your own. Dont be afraid to dream. As you go through this paragraph a few times try to imagine the images in your head. Eventually you wont need to read the paragraph and just close your eyes and play it out in your head.

I wake up in the morning and the time is ________. I open my eyes and turn to my right and I see ________ next to me. A feeling of joy comes over me as Im so happy to have ________ in my life. We have enjoyed a great life together having ________ children and a beautiful house in ________ area. I get up and open the curtains to see ________. Wow, what a beautiful view. I walk into the living room and I look at ________. I remember the exact day I bought that, and the feeling of joy that came from rewarding myself for a job well done. It was during that moment that I really felt that my dreams were in reach. I walk over and open up the garage and I see ________, and ________, and ________ lined up in the garage. Today I think im going to take the ________. I get on the road and I hit my favorite stretch of road. Its that stretch of road that I can do with my eyes closed. Just as I look up into the beautiful sky my favorite song ________ is playing on the radio. Im singing my heart out to the lyrics.

As I pull up the venue everyone is waiting for me. They greet me with cheers and applause. I cant believe I got ________ to come to my event! And I have ________ playing for my guests. Everyone had a great time, and the best part about it all is that we raised ________ cash for ________ foundation. The biggest fund raising event that this foundation has ever seen! 

I get home and I relax under the stars with ________. We talk about the day and how amazing of a journey it has been. In just a few short years of committing ourselves to changing our lives and helping others we accomplished more then we ever thought was possible.   

It may sound cheesy but I like to play violin or piano instrumental music in the background as I visualize. Try it out it may or may no work for you too.

What is one piece of advice you would give a younger person?

Heres an interesting question that was asked of me by a 21 year old just recently (Im 27 at the moment).

The initial answer I gave her was to take advantage of all the resources college has to offer. If I could go back to the time I was in college I would have definitely rooted myself more in the community, maybe join a fraternity or a serious group...because those connections and friends will be with you for years to come. As you move on in life so does your core network and its much easier to get a job when you have someone in the inside. Lets be honest here, nowadays the person with the friend that's already and employee (considering that person isnt a jackass that pisses everyone off) will most likely get the job over someone much more skilled and talented. I always say "its who you know or who you blow".

But its been a week and for some odd reason I didnt feel fully satisfied with my answer and its been hanging in the back of my mind. So I rephrased the question to hit a little more to home. And I challenge you to ask this question yourself and see what answer you come up with. "If you had the ability to give advice to yourself 6 years ago...what would you say?" Heres the best answer I came up for myself...and I think its general enough to satisfy the original answer posed to me just a week ago

Visualize your dreams often

To me its kind of funny that I came up with that answer because this is usually one of the core concepts in these motivational books...and Ive read a lot of those friggin books. At one point I was pretty much what I call a "seminar junkie". I would go to all these motivational meetings and listen to audio tapes as I drove around. Go to Barnes and Noble to pick up the latest book by John C Maxwell even though its the same book rewritten 21 times. Dont get me wrong...its a great way to start, but there comes a point where too much in one period of time is bad for you. I would limit the Tony Robbins tapes to no more then a hour a day guys. 

Ok back to the answer I gave and the reason why I say visualization is key. Now if you have read any motivational book and seen this as one of the core concepts you understand half of the reasoning. I hate the fact that most of these books dont give the mechanics behind why things is visualization is important...and thats what I want to talk about. 

The core reason why I visualize daily now is because it helps me get shit done. Heres something that everyone knows but forget when you transition from theory to application. If you want to be successful, wealthy, someone that will change this world or make a impact then you have to get off you ass and work towards it. Sacrifices must be made...and energy must be spent. There are going to be times where your out of your comfort zone. Your family will doubt you. Give you shit for taking the road that doesnt seem to end. And you know what? Until you get there...your always going to have doubt in your mind. It freaking sucks, but deal with it. Heres where visualization is key. 

First, you have a general idea of what you want to do with your life. Not career wise, but in the life aspect. I have a poster in my room with all the things I want to accomplish. Think of it as a visual bucket list. For example, My poster consists of things like: pictures of my dream home, the words "worlds greatest hotel", and a picture of Yao Ming with the words "Live Big" for shits and giggles.  

Second, you must understand that everything big you want to accomplish you will have to work for. You will have times where your going to be forced to do things that you dont want to do because your uncomfortable. Like take those annoying ass clients our for a drink and talk business. Or even tougher, make that call to that person that is super important and it will morally crush you if they decline to work with you...then do it again and again and again to the rest of your "chicken list". Even little things of habit can work against you. Its been a long ass day at work. You come home and you just want to chill...but you need to go to the gym. You know in the long run it will do you good, but at that exact moment it sucks balls to get your work out in.

Third, for the most part the difference between the person that hits their dreams when they are young versus the ones that are older is they got the important crap that needed to be done sooner. The jacked thing about life is that the action that brings you the most benefit, will also be the action that is mentally toughest to do. Most of the time that mental road block comes in the form of fear. Fear is something you cannot avoid, but the amount of intensity you give to fear for a specific situation depends all on you. Ive found personally that keeping the end goal in mind helps me progress in my business and fight the urge to put those important actions off to the next day, and the day after that.

So there you have it. Visualize often to motivate you to get off your ass and get er done. Until next time my friends and please let me know what you think if this blog. 

Section 609

Ah Im going to get some hate mail for this one. Heres one of my favorite sections from the FCRA and one of the most powerful tools in the credit repair industry.

609. Disclosures to consumers [15 U.S.C. § 1681g]

(a) Information on file; sources; report recipients. Every consumer reporting agency shall,

upon request, and subject to 610(a)(1) [§ 1681h], clearly and accurately disclose to the

consumer:

                          (1) All information in the consumer's file at the time of the request except that--

               (A) if the consumer to whom the file relates requests that the first 5 digits of the

social security number (or similar identification number) of the consumer not be included in the

disclosure and the consumer reporting agency has received

appropriate proof of the identity of the requester, the consumer reporting

agency shall so truncate such number in such disclosure; and

Why cant these laws be written in plain English?! Well here is what credit repair companies read when they see it. "The consumer has the right to ask to verify with the bureaus any part of the reporting file". If they can't...well then the same rules apply. 

So what does that mean? Well ask them to verify any part of the file that you want...what was the date of the signed contract? What was the address listed on the file? Did I put my dog as a reference? Be creative but clever with it

Sorry guys Im never going to give specifics because Im not in the business of putting these companies out of business. I just want to inform whoever reads this and if you get value and run with it...more power to you my friend. 

As always. If your doing it yourself. 

1. Copy of DL

2. Copy of SS card

3. Proof of address

4. Certify mail that puppy

5. Ask for physical verification ;-)

The FCRA Handbook sleep aid. Free and most effective, nothing else compares

If you like this post please like this page and let me know what are some concerns about credit that I haven't addressed yet. Thanks for reading and share the knowledge, its power!

-Henry

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

www.creditconscience.com

henry@creditconscience.com

Credit Repair Secrets of the Industry

Alright as a professional in the industry this might be my last post if word gets out that Im spilling the beans.

To be honest, I feel like the industry needs a major face lift. Since credit repair is such a in demand field, all types of scumbags are jumping into the industry.

Here are few things that people need to know before they enlist in any service to correct or repair your credit. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES! Although I've seen magic happen on clients files there is no guarantee that it will work, and if that company says they can then check your pockets to make sure your wallet is intact and run. Second, you can always do the work yourself. As part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act you have the right to dispute inaccurate information on your file. 

Secret number one. Most credit repair companies fix credit by asking the credit agencies and bureaus to verify the accuracy of the information on the report like the amount, time of reporting, or the status. Whether the debt or the late history is yours is another story. Part of the rules is that the bureaus must respond in 30 days to your request or they have to take it off your file. Disputing a item on your credit report that is accurate by saying that it isn't yours will get you a reply saying your request is "frivolous"...and your just plain lying. Frivolous response is the bureaus way of saying "your full of crap and don't talk to us because we wont listen anymore". Game over from there, good luck trying to take that item off. 

Secret number two. When sending disputes, do not use the online system. There are a different set of guidelines that the bureaus can use when you send a electronic dispute as opposed to sending in the written dispute via certified mail. Don't go cheap on this people. Send your dispute via certified mail or your chances of success are greatly diminished. Transunion seems to miraculously lose most of the mail they get thats not certified. Ya I said it Transunion! Speaking from my personal experiences Ive had through the years. 

 Secret number three. Dont use those stupid templates you can find from a book or buying a credit repair software. The bureaus have a special way of scanning letters and if the format matches other files they have scanned before numerous times they are going to think your a credit repair company and red flag your dispute immediately. Remember that the credit bureaus want the consumer to initiate the dispute themselves. My thoughts on how a lower credit score brings more profits to the banks is a blog for another time. Bottom line is that there are certain laws that credit repair companies know and cite directly from the FCRA that lite a fire under them that consumers wont know. Heres is one of them:

§ 623. (b) Duties of furnishers of information upon notice of dispute.

(1) In general. After receiving notice pursuant to section 611(a)(2) [§ 1681i] of a dispute with regard to the completeness or accuracy of any information provided by a person to a consumer reporting agency, the person shall

(A) conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information;

(B) review all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to section 611(a)(2) [§ 1681i];

(C) report the results of the investigation to the consumer reporting agency;

(D) if the investigation finds that the information is incomplete or inaccurate, report those results to all other consumer reporting agencies to which the person furnished the information and that compile and maintain files on consumers on a nationwide basis; and

(E) if an item of information disputed by a consumer is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1), for purposes of reporting to a consumer reporting agency only, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation promptly --

(i) modify that item of information;

(ii) delete that item of information; or

(iii) permanently block the reporting of that item of information.

Secret number four. And this relates to part three. Send the disputes directly to the furnishers or most cases the banks that are reporting the information. Make sure to include in your dispute some type of hardship story that makes you want to cry like "I was so embarrassed when I got turned down for that credit card at Macy's. You dont know that sleep I lost over how that cashier shook her head looked at me. I'm now lost in life".

Secret number five. And one of my favorite ones. First keep all correspondence from the bureaus. If the information is inaccurate and you know it is, and those jerks still wont take off the derogatory information you can take them to small claims court and sue them for damages. When they receive notice that your are going to file any type of claim against them, watch them drop the file like your are playing a game hot potato. 

To be fair to the industry I'm not going to reveal the step by step process in how to do the work. I'm not trying to put anyone out of business but I do want to weed out the scam artists and fly by night companies. Credit repair companies are a great service to the nation and it definitely is a great service, especially now that identity theft is the fastest growing crime. I want to let those people know that where there is a problem there is always a solution. 

Bottom line is that if you have the time and patience, you can definitely do the work yourself. Dont be fooled into thinking that you cant. But instead when evaluating a company think of your personal situation and if the time and expertise trade-off is worth the few thousand you are paying. The next question of evaluating a credit repair company you should be asking yourself is accessibility and the professionalism of the company. Honestly I used to work out of my home, and my former partner used to bounce from office to office bumming off other peoples spaces. In a professional industry if the company you are working with doesn't have the capability of paying for a actual location, what does that say about their finances? What does that have to say about how established they are?

For me, after being in business for so many years, I prefer to deal with people that are local. Id want to deal with a person who has a set location of business so I can go punch them in the face if they burn me. 

If you like this post please like this page and let me know what are some concerns about credit that I haven't addressed yet. Thanks for reading and share the knowledge, its power!

-Henry

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

www.creditconscience.com

henry@creditconscience.com

What Should I Do If I've Become a Victim of Identity Theft?

As Im doing my research on providing a service for identity theft victims, I ran across some really good information published straight from the Department of Justice. There is a whole page dedicated to identity theft. Heres the part from what happens if you've already become a victim. 

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html

• What Should I Do If I've Become a Victim of Identity Theft?
If you think you've become a victim of identity theft or fraud, act immediately to minimize the damage to your personal funds and financial accounts, as well as your reputation. Here's a list -- based in part on a checklist prepared by the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG) and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse -- of some actions that you should take right away:
1. Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation, whether Online, 2. By telephone toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or TDD at 202-326-2502, or 3. By mail to Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act , the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for receiving and processing complaints from people who believe they may be victims of identity theft, providing informational materials to those people, and referring those complaints to appropriate entities, including the major credit reporting agencies and law enforcement agencies. For further information, please check the FTC's identity theft Web pages . You can also call your local office of the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service to report crimes relating to identity theft and fraud.
You may also need to contact other agencies for other types of identity theft:
1. Your local office of the Postal Inspection Service if you suspect that an identity thief has submitted a change-of-address form with the Post Office to redirect your mail, or has used the mail to commit frauds involving your identity; 2. The Social Security Administration if you suspect that your Social Security number is being fraudulently used (call 800-269-0271 to report the fraud); 3. The Internal Revenue Service if you suspect the improper use of identification information in connection with tax violations (call 1-800-829-0433 to report the violations).
Call the fraud units of the three principal credit reporting companies:
Equifax:
1. To report fraud, call (800) 525-6285 or write to P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250. 2. To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241, or call (800) 685-1111. 3. To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report. 4. To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit, call (888) 567-8688 or write to Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta GA 30374-0123.
Experian (formerly TRW)
1. To report fraud, call (888) EXPERIAN or (888) 397-3742, fax to (800) 301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013. 2. To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states): P.O. Box 2104, Allen TX 75013, or call (888) EXPERIAN. 3. To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report. 4. To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 353-0809 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013.
Trans Union
1. To report fraud, call (800) 680-7289 or write to P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634. 2. To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064 or call: (800) 888-4213. 3. To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report. 4. To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 680-7293 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O Box 97328, Jackson, MS 39238.
Contact all creditors with whom your name or identifying data have been fraudulently used. For example, you may need to contact your long-distance telephone company if your long-distance calling card has been stolen or you find fraudulent charges on your bill.
Contact all financial institutions where you have accounts that an identity thief has taken over or that have been created in your name but without your knowledge. You may need to cancel those accounts, place stop-payment orders on any outstanding checks that may not have cleared, and change your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, account, and Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Contact the major check verification companies (listed in the CalPIRG-Privacy Rights Clearinghouse checklist) if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief. In particular, if you know that a particular merchant has received a check stolen from you, contact the verification company that the merchant uses:
1. CheckRite -- (800) 766-2748 2. ChexSystems -- (800) 428-9623 (closed checking accounts) 3. CrossCheck -- (800) 552-1900 4. Equifax -- (800) 437-5120 5. National Processing Co. (NPC) -- (800) 526-5380 6. SCAN -- (800) 262-7771 7. TeleCheck -- (800) 710-9898

Negotiating your debt

Alright so I'm hanging out here on my vacation on the beautiful sands of Hawaii and I'm reading this great finance book called "i will teach you to be rich" by ramit sethi. I highly recommend this book to the younger readers because he really puts things into perspective and breaks it down for us to understand.
I have 1 problem with these finance books (other then them bashing on financial advisers)...they talk about paying off your credit cards like its a simple thing. Hells no it isnt...here's the problem...what if your in debt up to your ears and can even afford to pay for the monthly payments? If you're having problems paying off your debt here is a possible option. Settle you debt.

Alright, so in an earlier article I wrote about what to do to avoid those collections calls. Truth is your going to eventually have to pay them back (unless you want to wait 5 years statute of limitations). So here's in a nut shell to do what my partners and I charge people a good amount of money to do. Yes I'm throwing all I know out there for free...no buy my book no subscribe gimmick. I truly believe knowledge should be shared free of charge, services on applying the knowledge comes at a price. Negotiating is tough when you have a personal attachment to the settlement, and that's where experts come in. And that's why I like selling my services as a financial advisor, because we aren't going to get emotional about your money...so f you Ramit! Just kidding .

Ok so theres a few steps your going to need to do to negotiate your own debt. First, your best chances of a good settlement will come from if you can pay the debt in a lump sum. Payments will work, but spread over time they will expect more money. So when you are prepared to settle, make sure you have funds in hand. Borrow from someone if you don't have it. Ask your parents...just man up and tell them if you haven't, it will save you a lot of gray hairs in the future.

The next thing you need to have is a VALID hardship, yes I repeat a valid hardship. Heres the trick...don't make shit up people, if you get caught your committing perjury and thats worse then being in debt and they wont work with you anyways. But honestly, they arent going to hire Sherlock Holmes to check out your story. So I recommending taking a moment and truly figure a good story on why you couldn't pay your debt...then Hollywood it. Make it sound worse then what it was, make them cry...shit if you can keep a straight face cry while your telling it to them lol just,kidding...sort of.

So once you have these two in place you can get ready to call the collections agencies. They probably have been trying to reach you at this point and have,sent letters to you saying they are willing to settle for x percent of what you owe (which is usually around 70%). When you call the number on the letter pretend like you never saw that settlement. They will first ask you for a case number, give it to them and expect to be transfer to a negotiator. Heres where people get scared and where the experts have fun. They are going to ask what you want to do. You should reply with a "i would like to settle this account". They are at some point going to ask you why you couldnt pay your debt, at this point go on with the sob story (although they dont give a crap). After you do that, tell them you want to settle for less then whats owed. Just like any negotiation tactic, start low and eventually meet in the middle. I would suggest starting off at 10% of what you owe (if you owe 10k then your offering 1k). They would prob laugh and counter with something much higher like whatever they sent you in the mail. Tell them you can borrow the money and can do something like 20% of the balance. Negotiations will go back and forth and usual settlements are around 40% of the balance. If they dont budge, politely tell them you cant do that, hang up and call back in a couple months. Dont get frustrated, its part of the games.

Heres a few tips. The longer you have had the account in collections the more willing they are to settle and at a lower balance. Theres a statute of limitations for debt. Once you get sent to a collections agency, they have 5 years to collect from you or its wiped out. Also, never pay the agency until you get the agreed settlement on amount in writing. Remember the harassment collection calls you logged from reading the "how to avoid those collections calls" article? Well you can use them in the negotiations when things get heated. Warning, dont come out the gates guns blazing, that will piss them off. You want to act as naive as possible, and progressively bring up some laws if the conversation gets more heated, and if your lucky you wont even have,to pull out those tricks. When I was new to negotiating debt, before I knew any of this I spoke to the sweetest lady to resolve a discover card settlement. She helped me settle at 30% of the balance and had an email already sent to me before the convo was done. I didntThats because any money creditors get back is like icing on the cake. When you stopped paying they already wrote you off on their losses, but when you pay its like you finding money in those jeans you havent worn in forever.

Alright I know this is a lot of info and can be intimidating...if you eventually decided to hire a debt settlement agency heres some tips to not get scammed (or you can ask me). A good agency will give you different options of paying. They will either charge you the percent of what they saved you (my pick), which should be more then if they charge you an up front but it ensures results. Or if you feel the trust you can do a up front fee, but make sure they dont charge both. Second never let them hold your money! This is most important. You should have money set aside ready for settlement, but they should never be asking to hold it. If they do, walk away. A good settlement company will tell you what they came to agreements on and pay the creditors a certain amount.

Alright, thats all I got to say. Happy negotiating guys!

Dealing with those damn collections calls

Alright lets face it. The economy sucks and just about everyone is in debt. Statistics show that about 50% of credit cards are going into default because we simply just cant pay for them. There's no freaking jobs open and well...we spend too much. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my spending habits (or drinking habits) if I didn't have my business lol. So here we go, lets talk about that skeleton in the closet that you have....
 
First off...I have to give a few disclaimers. "I am not a lawyer. I am not giving legal advice. Please consult an attorney if you have any pending litigation. Please seek legal advice if you are considering bankruptcy". Second, this is a piece for people that have unsecured debt and cannot keep up with the monthly payment because a legitimate hardship. I AM NOT telling you to stop paying for your shit people...and I would highly recommend against doing so because its a hard freaking climb to bring your score back up...trust me. Lastly, again I am not writing this as legal advice! If you owe money...and collections agencies are bugging the crap out of you, this is simply what I would do *wink* *wink*. If you choose to *do what I would do* then follow these steps precisely to make a credit restoration company's job (like mine) easier and save you a ton of money in the end.

So I'm going to tell you a little make belief story about my buddy...um Elvis. Shout out to my cousin Elf! For the people that know him, no he doesn't owe creditors money...just me...freaking asshole. Anyways so Elvis goes off to college and for the first time and is free to experience the world unfiltered. He moves out of his parents place and finds a nice little place to rent in the hood close to school because rent is cheap. Like many college kids in his same situation, Elf has a lot of new things to deal with that he hasn't ever had pay for before: rent, food, groceries, the bar. Yes...Elf has a part time job at my favorite little sandwich place La Metro (french for Subway), but he hasn't gotten the hang of budgeting yet and goes out of control with spending because evil credit card agencies keep sending him offers in the mail...and he accepts the offer to borrow money with the promise to pay them back...evil credit card agencies :-p.

Alright now here comes the interesting part of the story. Elf decides to say "F*** you credit cards"! He stops paying his monthly bill. After his first missed payment the credit card agencies start to get nervous and give him a call to see if maybe he forgot...but no answer. After 3 months of missed payments the credit card company realizes this little bastard isn't going to pay and starts calling him off the hook! The next thing they are going to do is sell his balance over to a collection company, usually a law firm, to bug him until he coughs up the money.

This collection company starts to call him non stop! They leave 2 or 3 voice messages a day because they think Elf doesn't know the rules of the Fair Debt Collections Act where they cant do that...because nobody knows their rights in this great free country right?

Elf is enjoying his life no worries because he found out of a little FREE service called Google Voice....damn I love google. Anyways, Elf signs up for google voice and uses his same number that hes been using for years. He sets his google voice to direct calls from specific numbers (like those 877 and 800 numbers) to go directly to his voice mail and they get logged.

After a few months and his credit is shot...he decides he wants to start to get serious about his finances and wants to see what he can do about his credit. So Elf goes to his extremely tall and hansom, super smart cousin "Quang" (lmao I had to do it!) for advice. Q tells Elf that he is going to need to pay off his debts owed on these cards, but what he can do is settle for less than what is owed on the cards. Since Elf has a log of times he received a voice message more then once in a day...Q has more negotiating power because that's considered a form of harassment and the company can be fined for every instance.

After some negotiation, Elf and the collection company agree to do a lump sum payment for less then half of what he originally owed. The next step he did was to go to a credit repair company to dispute the validity of how these bad remarks on his credit were reported. We will go over that in another blog.

Hope you guys learned some valuable pieces of info from this story to apply to your situation. Till next time!

PS. If your getting calls to your work number because they somehow got a hold of it. They should know that they are allowed to call once...and only once to your place of work to attempt to collect. But they aren't going to stop unless they know that you know.