Keep credit problems in check
Book Review: 'Living Well with Bad Credit'
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, March 2, 2010.
Image courtesy HCIBooks.com.Book Review
Title: "Living Well with Bad Credit"
Authors: Chris Balish and Geoff Williams
Publisher: Health Communications Inc., 2010; 192 pages; $10.36
Once upon a time, it was the case that you could pretty accurately assume that if someone owned a home, they probably had at least decent credit. These days, that assumption is inaccurate more often than not.
So many homeowners have either lost homes to foreclosure, off-loaded them via short sales, filed for bankruptcy, gone late on mortgage payments to qualify for a loan mod, or fallen behind on credit-card payments so they could make their mortgage payments.
As a result, many, many homeowners of my acquaintance have taken some sort of credit hit in recent years.
Credit repair programs abound, but it's tough to tell which are legit and which are scams.
Into this mix enter personal finance journalists Chris Balish and Geoff Williams, with their new book "Living Well with Bad Credit: Buy a House, Start a Business and Even Take a Vacation No Matter How Low Your Credit Score."
The authors nail the art and science of living a good life in the aftermath of credit trauma, with this soothing, pragmatic and deeply reality-based instruction manual, starting with an introductory chapter on how to move away from the psychological fear and depression that so often seizes new entrants to what they call the Land of Bad Credit.
While making clear that bad credit is truly undesirable, the authors set the stage for living well if you end up with it anyway, by declaring up front that having bad credit does not make one a bad person (contrary to surprisingly popular belief) and sketching out the various scenarios that frequently send good folks into the Land of Bad Credit.
After mentioning several potentially profound upsides (yes, upsides!) to having bad credit, Balish and Williams proceed to provide sound advice and very realistic action steps on banking with bad credit, including such well-supported advice as minimizing automated withdrawals and avoiding payday loans. ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by chis eliopoulos on March 2, 2010 - 10:52pm.
This is INSANE.
Why will you entourage anything that has brought this current catastrophe?
The "institutions" are the ones that have VIOLATED their own rules, and if they were to be measured by the credit that apply to borrowers the whole industry will had a mare fico score of 350 LOL.
I think it is time to MOVE way from the so called "credit economy" as it has cost us TRILLIONS and benefits ONLY the institutions.
I do not think that the banks are in ANY position to demand anything from their costumers.There is not a person with 2 grams of brain that will take their "rules" seriously.There are plenty of ways to get financing with out involving them.