Buying a home can certainly become a daunting task.  It sure helps if you have some information before jumping in.  You should always create a structured plan before beginning your home search.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) is a local not-for-profit firm that is dedicated to educating buyers about the home-buying process.

If you plan to buy a home in the near future, your first step is attending this free course at their NEPA office in Pittston, PA.  It's going to be held Wednesday, September 17 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.  You can click here to enroll in the course to ensure you have a spot.

Of course, you should also meet with a Credit Specialist if you fear you may have issues with your credit report.  CCCS is a very good company for debt management programs and education, but they will not perform "Credit Repair Services".  Credit Repair Consultants, LLC. does perform these services, like deleting negative information from your report if it is found to be unverifiable.

Hey folks!  I just got back from vacation at Walt Disney World.  My wife and I decided to go for our 5th Anniversary without our 22-month old boy.  We wanted to be a little selfish and experience it for ourselves before we took him down a few years later.  Boy, am I glad we did!  There's a lot to accomplish in those parks and I can't imagine doing as much as we did with our boy in tow.  Now that we've experienced it, I can't wait to bring him down.  I know it will be a much more rewarding experience for all of us with him there.

With my vacation, I wasn't able to contribute to my blog, but I will offer you another article from my column with the Scranton Post:

In case you haven't noticed, the American Consumer has been pressed to their very limit.  More specifically, we've been pushed to our credit limits.  We have very little left to borrow but there is an ever-present, pressing need for more credit.  We are at the breaking point and it's scary to think about what happens from here.  We are teetering on the edge of a proverbial cliff, looking down and waiting for someone else to decide our fate. 

How did we get here?  We all start off on solid ground.  We are born without debt.  When we do start making income, we bring in plenty to cover these debts.  Very quickly we watch as our incomes and expenses both increase.  The trouble is that your bills jump by leaps and bounds while your income increases...  not so much. 

Sure, there are exceptions, but not as many as you think.  You may think that rich people are immune to the credit crisis that we're trying to survive through.  Well, I've worked with Doctors and Lawyers that have had just as many problems as anybody else. It turns out that the only way to earn more money is to go into more debt.  How ironic?  After you've taken all the student loans necessary to make it through post-grad studies, and after borrowing money to start up your new practice, the prestigious income that comes with a professional occupation doesn't mean so much after all.  Especially when there's so much competition in these professional occupations.

So what hope does that give everyone else?  How are we supposed to pay our bills with our income dwindling in comparison to our expenses?  I was inspired to write this column based on personal experience in the last five days.  Serious plumbing issues presented themselves to me recently.  This happened in my previous home, which I'm now renting out.  Reality can hit you like a punch in the gut.  You never know when something serious can suddenly happen and when it does it takes the wind right out of your lungs. 

When confronted with an immediate fear the first thing that happens is that you focus on it like a laser beam.  I put everything else on hold.  The next thing you do is begin to imagine a new reality based on the worst scenario.  For me, that was having a family of eight suddenly not having any working plumbing in their home.  Would I have to pay for hotel rooms?  I had no idea.  How much could I spend on a plumber before finding the problem?  I imagined having to dig a trench through my yard and to the street.  I imagined having to get the permits to close down the street, dig it up, and fix it when we were done.  Then, my thoughts turned to money.

What would you do if you suddenly needed thousands of dollars?  Do you have it stashed in bank accounts?  Do you have it in an available equity line?  Would you have to refinance to get access to it?  If you don't own a house you have to look at credit cards and rich family members for answers.  This is the event that can push you off the cliff.  Scary, huh?  Luckily, I dodged a bullet when the good people at Roto-Rooter came by within 24 hours to blast the pipe clean.  But this life experience forced me to realize how close to the edge we live.

So what can we do?  We have to plan ahead to live in this economy.  If you plan to buy a home, start putting money away right now.  This money isn't just for the closing costs.  It's for security in case you come across an event like this that throws you for a loop.  If you can get six months of mortgage payments sitting in your bank account for security, you're in great shape.  Too many people jump into the process with just enough money to get by.  By doing this, you are inviting yourself to become another statistic.  So many have foreclosed on homes they love because they ran into a sudden, drastic change in their lives.  They weren't prepared.

Not everybody can simply put thousands away.  One way to protect yourself, albeit dangerous, is to make sure you have available credit at all times.  Never use more than 50% of your available credit lines.  Just make a list of all your cards and cut the limits in half.  Refer to that list at all times and eventually you'll forget that the other 50% is there for you in case of emergency.  Go ahead and increase your credit limits to accommodate if your credit card company will allow you.  Just know that if you don't protect your credit, that emergency fund can be gone in an instant.  Your creditors reserve the right to cancel your access to your cards at anytime without much notice.  Be careful!

So, the best way to take control of your life is to prepare to be pushed off the edge.  That way you won't have to live in worry.  Go ahead and let life throw that twist at you.  Dare it to push you because you know all along that you've got a comfy safety net waiting for you below.

I have had the privelidge of contributing to the newest newspaper publication in Scranton, "The Scranton Post".  It is a wonderfully unique paper with a concentration on local content.

Since the paper comes out biweekly and is only available mostly in stores in Scranton, I wanted to republish my contribution here for all to read.  Please feel free to comment and pick up a copy of the next Scranton Post.

I'm so glad to be a part of this new voice for the people of Scranton.

It's been a whirlwind since I was asked to contribute to The Post. I've been getting a crash course education in the newspaper world. Most importantly, I've had to deal with something I hadn't experienced since college. I've been re-introduced to the concept of deadlines. Thankfully, the all-night cram sessions are done and I'm approaching them a little more intelligently this time. However, sometimes you have no choice but to start behind the "8-ball."

My first column ran last Friday, in which I asked you for your questions, concerns, and any other comments you may have. To attack my deadlines more intelligently, I've set a goal for myself, which means that I should have the next column written in just a few short days after the previous one runs. Since you've only had a few days to digest my first column, I don't have many questions to answer. So, I'm going to save them up and entertain you with my own information for this week.

Given my current situation, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the important aspect of time and deadlines. Since this is a specialized column, I'd like to share some important time frames in the mortgage and credit industry that can have a profound effect on your life. It is crucial that you know and understand the reasons for these time frames. They can help you improve your credit, get a better mortgage rate, and live a happier life.

So, let's start with: Ten Years -

If you've had a bankruptcy in the past, you can expect that notation to remain on your credit report for at least 10 years. That's a long time, but having a bankruptcy on your report is not the end of the world. Filing the bankruptcy is a delicate decision and one that should be made with professional counsel. Now that it's done, you have a new time frame to consider.

Two Years -

It will be pretty darn near impossible to get a mortgage to purchase or refinance a house until you've put that bankruptcy two years behind you. As soon as it is discharged, the clock starts. From that point, you will be in mortgage limbo save for any risky mortgage programs that may develop in the future. This is a good thing, though. You've been given the gift of time. You now have two years to plan and to establish a positive credit history. If you plan it right, you could be an incredibly strong borrower by the time your two years is up.

Seven Years -

Your credit report gives banks and other lending institutions a glimpse of your payment history. The idea is to give them a feel for your recent payment habits.

Have you been able to pay your bills or haven't you? The factors that answer that question today could be completely different just a few years ago. You may have had bad credit because you were in a bad marriage. Now that's over and you've moved forward. Shouldn't your creditors move on too?

Credit reporting bureaus consider credit cards and loans to be "over the hill" at seven years. At that anniversary, you should see these old accounts, good and bad, falling off your credit report never to be seen again. Sometimes these old accounts can linger. You should check your report every once in a while to make sure it only shows accurate information.

One Year -

You should check your credit report at least once per year. If nothing else, just make sure that there is no fraud going on with your credit information. It's become too easy for people to open accounts in our name and ruin our credit scores. I recommend using www.annualcreditreport.com. They don't have any flashy commercials and catchy jingles, but they are the only place you can go for a free credit report without giving them your credit card information. It's also the only one that's sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

I highly suggest you visit your local mortgage company or bank one year before applying for a mortgage to purchase or refinance your home. Start early. You may have surprising information pop up on your credit report. You're going to want plenty of time to fix any possible roadblocks to getting the best rate and term on your mortgage financing. You can get some sound advice from local professionals to put you into the best position when the time comes to buy or refinance. A local Mortgage Loan Officer should be more than thrilled to review your credit report in detail with you.

There are plenty of other equally important time frames to discuss, but you've got a busy morning ahead of you and I don't want to take any more of your time. Time is the great equalizer. It's the only thing that we all have the same amount of. What makes us different is how we choose to spend the time we have. I hope you spend some time today jotting down some questions for me and sending them to kevin@ufploans.com.

Hello and welcome to my Credit Repair Blog!

I'm very excited about this blog because I believe that I can help a tremendous amount of people.  I have met countless people who had bad credit due to circumstances beyond their control. 

Unfortunately, the credit reporting system is set up for failure for those people.  Because of the way debtors can transfer collection accounts, a person can be penalized for years, or even decades, for simple mistakes that they could not avoid.

Thankfully, the Federal Government set up a series of strict rules and policies that consumers can use to clean up their credit and keep their creditors honest.  However, as government usually does, they made these rules very difficult to learn and to follow and left exceptions all over the place. 

That's why I created Credit Repair Consultants, LLC.  You deserve better credit.  I can guarantee that your credit report is not as accurate as it should be.  I can also tell you with some certainty that your collection companies aren't fulfilling their legal requirements. 

My goal is to make sure that your collectors are following all legal regulations in collecting your debt.  If your debt can't be verified, then it should be deleted.  And it usually is.  You just need to know the laws and your rights as a consumer.  I can help you get rid of your nasty collection companies and chargeoffs.

Call us today!

(570) 941-0672