Understanding Second Chance Banking

With the economic downturn raging, plenty of individuals have found themselves in either short-term or long-term monetary trouble. Unfortunately, these troubles can haunt you across many aspects of your life. Too many individuals do not realize that there are ways to navigate around these financial problems. Be it bad checks, credit debt, or lack of health care, there are resources that will get around, or at least alleviate whatever is stopping you from achieving a better financial outlook. This article will focus on second chance banking.

Writing bad checks will land you on the ChexSystems and/or TeleChex database. Being in either one of these systems will make it exceptionally challenging to get a checking or savings bank account from the majority financial institutions. These systems are used by banks to determine whether a possible customer is too much of a chance. If a person has a previous checking account that was closed with a negative balance, or has unsettled debt, their name will be reported to ChexSystems or TeleChex. Most banks will not proffer checking or savings account to individuals whose names are on one of these lists. Any one that has ever tried to navigate contemporary society without a credit card or checking account can attest to the inconvenience in performing even everyday financial tasks, such as cashing a payroll check.

Getting a checking and saving account is necessary if you would like to budget and save your money. Keeping it in the proverbial mattress is a guaranteed recipe for check-to-check living. Nonetheless, there are now viable banking options for those people that have found themselves unable to get a bank account from one of the traditional banking institutions.

There are banks that either do not use ChexSystems and the like, or make allowances for people that have been reported. Some only initially provide savings accounts, while others give all of the traditional services you would expect. These banks do vary by state and the services they offer. Most provide checking accounts, savings accounts, direct deposit, paper checks, and a debit card.

Internet only banks are analogous to branch banks except that nearly all have no nearby physical location. While they do have account and routing numbers and provide the same services as traditional banks, you will do all of your banking online. Although some may balk at this notion, as long as the bank has a physical address and is FDIC insured, then your money is safe. Many online banks ignore the traditional banking fees since the way they operate accounts for a small overhead. Yet, many do require you to maintain small monthly balances.

Pre-paid debit cards, once funded, provide you with a debit card that either has a specified limit, or only allows you to spend as much money as you have added to the card. You are able to use these cards as debit and credit cards, which will allow you to make purchases over the Internet or anywhere debit cards are accepted. A lot of pre-paid care services also offer direct deposit and bill pay services.

Lianne Gaines has been writing about financial problems for many years. Be sure to obtain more of her recession survival hints that will help you achieve a stable and prosperous future.

Five Things You Need to Know About Debt Collectors Rights

If you owe money to creditors, you may already be aware of your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, also known as the FDCPA, you have the right to demand certain ethical debt collection practices from debt collectors.

The FDCPA specifies exactly when debt collectors can contact you, how they can do it, and what they can tell you in order to collect on a debt. One example is that a bill collector can’t tell you a lie or misrepresent the truth about your debt. The FDCPA was created after a long string of debt collectors abusing people to collect on debt. What you probably don’t know about the FDCPA, however, is that even bill collectors have rights.

The first is that they have the right to communicate with you to let you know that you owe a debt. They can communicate with you via telephone or by letter. In this phone call or letter, they can tell you exactly how much you owe, including any fees or penalties.

Next, they have the right to keep contacting you unless you tell them in writing that you don’t owe the money that they claim you do, that you don’t owe them as much as they say you do, or that you’re demanding that they give you proof that you owe the debt. They are, however, limited by the FDCPA in how and when they can communicate with you, but as long as they stay with the rules under the FDCPA, they’re allowed to continue to contact you unless you tell them to stop.

Thirdly, if the original creditor and the debt collector are one and the same, or the debt collector is an in-house agency affiliated with the original creditor, they’re allowed to keep contacting you even if you ask them to stop. The reason for this is that the FDCPA doesn’t see creditors as being the same as debt collectors, so they don’t have to operate under the same rules as debt collectors do. Of course, they still have to obey the guidelines of decent behavior as outlined by the FDCPA, including not annoying people that you know, or calling you during all hours of the night.

Fourth, a debt collector has the right to contact others about your debt. They can only do this once, though, and they can only do it to find out your address, your telephone number, or the place where you work. They are, however, prohibited from contacting any third party multiple times, because that would be harassment.

Lastly, a debt collector can sue you in court in order to collect on a debt that you owe them. Of course, you still have the right to defend yourself in any legal proceedings, but if the judgment goes against you, the judge may garnish your wages.

When dealing with debt collectors, make sure that you know your rights under the law. But also make sure that you know the rights that the law gives to debt collectors. This knowledge can help you to better deal with them when and if they become a problem.

Sean Payne is crazy about personal finance and getting out of debt. After paying off his own debt, he devoted years to finding the quickest way to get out of debt, and keeping your cool while dealing with debt collectors. To learn more about debt collectors’ rights, and what you can do to preserve your peace and quiet, check out his excellent debt reduction course.