Monthly Archives: July 2010

The Best Way To Get Great Phoenix, AZ Movers Deals Around AZ

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Kelly| Comments Off

Most Phoenix locals enjoy working with movers instead of taking on the challenge of executing it on their own time. The general public is learning quickly and realizing that getting Phoenix movers is well worth the expense. The diminishing expense of movers is outweighing the precious time it takes to package the whole household and put it in a moving truck your self. Surfing throughout the internet makes obtaining greater deals for relocating services a lot simpler then in prior times.

Hiring Arizona movers can become a lot less of a inconvenience if you implement a few clever methods prior to the day of the move. If their will be a good deal of big and heavy objects that you don’t really have to take then leave them behind. A big portion of your moving service quote is determined by the total of areas you have and the exact weight of your stuff. You are able to see know how some straightforward housekeeping can reduce your Phoenix Phoenix, AZ Movers charges.

The sum of working hours or days that the relocation takes to finish will usually influence the Phoenix, AZ Movers quote. There certainly are a variety of things you’ll be able to do to lessen the total amount of time it requires to complete the move. Pull everything of your wall surfaces so that they are ready to be prepared an put on a moving truck. It is essential to let the movers comprehend exactly how you wish the move to take place, so don’t be timid about showing them what you want.

Phoenix movers have a tendency to put a hefty dependence on moving mileage when putting together your relocating quotes and expenses. There is most certainly a distinction from mover to mover on what they charge for range so choose the company that fits best for you. Some Phoenix moving companies are a lot more favorable towards regional moves around Phoenix and some are more friendly to cross country moves. Everything within this article is crucial to saving cash when hiring Phoenix Phoenix, AZ Movers.

Since you’ve read this post we hope that you utilize the advice to get great savings on Phoenix, AZ moving services the next time you plan to move. Getting the very best rate is going to suggest getting as many moving quotes that you are able to obtain in a reasonable degree of time. To make your life much easier be sure you look at some internet sites that enable you to fill out a quote sheet and obtain rates from several Phoenix, AZ Movers in Phoenix. Safety can be a serious problem when employing moving services from the internet so it’s a good thing that these websites confirm if they’re licensed in Phoenix Arizona. This should open up your eyes to the rewards of obtaining moving quotes online for Phoenix inhabitants.

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Has Anyone Used Austin Davis’s Program? Here’s My Experience.

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Kelly| Comments Off

Last year I was introduced to Austin Davis. I was told about Austin from another investor I follow. The teacher whose program I had bought I found very useful so I bought Austin Davis’s program. First, unlike the program I had already bought on apartment investing thi s program was just for funding. If you are a new investor you may want to start with a overview program or book on apartment investing. The one I started with was by Monica Main and I got it for less than $100 online. Since Austin was offering a 60 day money back guarantee I decided to give it a try.

The website he has is to the point and easy to use. Once I ordered I was able to download the program right away. The cost was $999 and I got 60 days to try it out risk free. Now that Austin has become so famous you can get his program for 50% off fairly easy. He was up front about wanting to find students to bring him deals and does encourage students to send him deals in his property scout program. You are not required to send him deals for his property scout program though. I was set on buying my own apartment and wanted no partners.

After I read through his program I sent his staff a email for help. I got help on how to submit a deal using the forms each week from his staff. I got a year of support included for free when I bought his program which was really nice. I just include my name and email and date I ordered to get the free support. I had to work up 9 deals before the numbers finally worked, but with $3,200 a month in cashflow it was well worth it. I was able to buy with nothing down thanks to his investor fund. I have never been able to qualify for a grant of any kind as I am not in any special group or class so getting the down payment fund to help me was a major bonus.

It took me 7 months to get my first apartment, but I bought it with no down payment and only $12,000 cash up front. Austins team did show me how to get the prefunding for up front costs too. I got a seller credit at closing to cover my closing costs and got cash to pay the up front costs back too. I just wish I could get cash back at closing from my first deal, but I did not know how to do it then. I did learn how to get cash on a deal back from the investor fund.

My free 12 months of support has since expired. His mastermind group is $99 a month and great for continued support. I am working on my 3rd apartment now and still use Austin’s staff to help me on my deals.

Before I started with Austin’s team I tried dozens of other real estate programs. I spent a lot of money on other gurus stuff.

What has set Austin’s program and his team apart from the other programs is the support. I also am impressed to see Austin now offering his program for $500 or less. Austin offers the 60 day guarantee now on his program too. I always pay for a program using my credit card for protection. What I love about being able to buy with a credit card is I also got the protection of my credit card. If a merchant does not refund my money when they offer a refund guarantee I can always dispute it with my credit card to get the money back. Austin also went the extra mile to have his program billing handled by a independent third party called Clickbank. I have found few teachers go to the length of using a 3rd party to audit and protect customer billing information any more. Clickbank is the internet’s largest and most respected internet billing provider. What I do know is that Clickbank is high on security and has a iron clad refund policy all merchants have to follow. Just google clickbank to read about the awards for security they have in place.

I would like to take the time to thank Austin in my review for all his help. I could not find any reviews a year ago when I looked for Austins program reviews. I have noticed a lot of people asking for reviews so I wanted to share this.

There are many scams online today. Always look for a program with a money back guarantee. You also want to pay with a credit card or paypal. Look for a 3rd party billing servicer such as clickbank or authorize.net or something like that to protect your billing infomation. Clickbank is one of the largest.

For real estate you need someone with support. This is big. What you must have is a good team to support you on doing your deals. The price of a program does not equal value or worth. I think the big $10,000 and $20,000 bootcamps are a joke. Just think about that for a minute. If an investor is profiting from deals why do they want to charge $5,000 or more? Why even charge a grand?? I asked Austin this and I think that is why he has dropped the price to $500 or less. It just makes since more people will be able to buy your program if it costs less. I wish it was free. I do understand though you have to charge something to help people and provide good support.

I was troubled by the lack of clear reviews and feedback from people online about Austins program. How will you know if this really works? Try it is what I say to do since then you can see how it works first hand and if it doesn’t ask for your money back. Just use your credit or debit card and keep a copy printed of the website guarantee for your records. I was told if it did not work for me to ask for a refund from the start which was reassuring to me. I got help on my order from clickbank too. Clickbank also sends you a order confirmation email with a easy click refund request for your protection. If you are skeptical – you have the printed copy of the guarantee and can call your credit card company and they will refund it. The point is you can try it and see for yourself.

I only wish someone would have wrote a review like this for me when I was skeptical. I really wish someone pointed me in the right direction of who try try so I would have saved the $10,000 I spent on other programs before Austin. Being able to finally live the life with freedom I have worked so hard for in the last 12 years has been such a blessing. I have time to spend with my kids. I have time to travel now. In this day in age that’s a valuable thing. I wish you well in your investing and your dreams.

Posted in Real Estate Investing

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The Difference Between In House And Third Party Debt Collectors And Why It Pays To Know Who You’re Paying Part One

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

Anyone who has experience in the field of bill collection probably knows about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This legislation was crafted in 1978 and provided a very decent amount of protections for consumers. There are a variety of guidelines that a debt collector must follow, and if any of these rules are violated, you should call up your attorney general’s office and complain. Examples of rules that third party debt collectors must follow include: a debt collector can only call between 8:30 AM – 9 PM, they cannot call a debtor repeatedly, and they must positively identify that they are speaking directly to the debtor before they proceed with their attempt to collect debt.

These are just some of the rules of the FDCPA, which you can look up on Wikipedia if you would like to know more, and also, third party collection agents have to abide by certain state rules and regulations as well. But different kinds of people owe different types of debt. What about that friend of yours who owes you five bucks? Do you have to grant them thirty days to refute the claim? Of course not! You can call up that friend at eleven at night if you know they are up and ask for your money back!

This is where things get tricky. Notice how I specifically said “third party” debt collectors when I wrote about the guidelines of the FDCPA. These are just one kind of collection agent. The other kind is called “in house collectors.” Third party debt collectors work for an independent debt collection company that is hired by a creditor to collect delinquent accounts. In house collectors work directly for the creditor. Usually in house collectors work for financially based institutions that have huge accounts receivable departments like credit and mortgage companies, or health care companies. In house collectors are not considered “debt collectors” under the FDCPA and therefore do not have to follow many of the legal rules.

Three examples: The Department of Education works with seventeen private debt collection agencies to collect on federal student loans. Any officer or employee of the Department of Ed is not bound by the FDCPA. However, the private debt collection agencies are. Second example: Morency v. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp, a district court case in Illinois from 1999. While trying to retrieve medical debt, a hospital issued and mailed out pre-collection notices. Big no-no for third party collection agencies. This could have potentially meant that everybody who received that notice would have been absolved of their debt, but the court ruled that the hospital was a creditor, not a collection agency, so the FDCPA did not apply.

Third example: I am notorious for taking out ten books at the library at one time, reading about five, getting distracted and reading other books in between, and reading multiple books at the same time. I am surprised I have not gotten my library card revoked. Last summer I had books out for so long that they had a debt collector call me! The debt collector called my third party telephone, clearly a shared number, and left intimate information on a message about my delinquent account. I might have been annoyed, but I knew I had to give the books back, and the debt collector told me to pay the library directly, which meant that she was an in house collector, so the FDCPA does not apply. Third party collection agencies will almost always ask you to pay them directly, not the creditor, and they certainly cannot leave messages on third party phones with specific account information. Luckily I returned my books and because it was a public library I ended up owing like five dollars. To find out what makes third party collection agencies and in house collectors different see part two…

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on nationwide collection agencies.

Posted in Credit

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Just What Can A Debt Collector Do To Me If I Don’t Pay?

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

There seems to be a lot of misinformation about what collection agents have the power to do. Admittedly, some bill collectors may intentionally lie or insinuate that they can do more than they legally can to intimidate debtors. Typically the main factor that will motivate debtors to pay is the persistence of correspondence from the debt collectors. If they do not pay, they know that the letters and phone calls will not stop.

Debt collectors do have the capability of negatively marking credit scores which can do a lot of financial damage and stay on the score for seven years. If a debtor is especially resistant and obviously has assets, a third party debt collector will either recommend that the creditor sue them, or if they own the debt themselves, they are entitled to sue themselves.

Contrary to popular belief, debt collectors can’t seize a debtor’s bank accounts, assets, or garnish wages unless there has been a successful lawsuit already with a judgment against them. Debt collectors are strictly banned from making the debt public. The only entity that they can discuss the debt with is the credit bureaus. They can not get a debtor fired from their job, and if a collector was to threaten violence on a debtor for the purposes of intimidation, they would almost certainly be fired, and perhaps sued.

Again, debtors usually repay their debts to collection agencies to stop the constant contact, but oftentimes, most debtors realize that the debt is legitimate and it is the right thing to do. Perhaps they did not have the money to pay on the delinquent account in the past, but have it now, or maybe the account simply slipped their mind.

In light of the negative stereotypes about collection agents, it is ironic that it is oftentimes the collection agents themselves that enable the debtor to pay off their debt. Collection agents usually have the authority to offer some type of repayment plan or debt reduction plan, or in some cases, both. Because of their two main capabilities, one being the authority to damage your credit score, and two being the authority to make it easier to pay, it is never a good idea to simply ignore a call from the debt collector.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies

Posted in Credit

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Debt Collection Agency Thwarted In Legal Battle

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

Litigation against local forestry contractors in Arrow Lakes that was filed by an American collection company has for the time being been put on hold by a Delaware judge. On January 20 a hearing was held in a U.S. court with PricewaterhouseCooper legal counsel attending via telephone conference.

Contractors raised concerns with the judge who agreed that something should be done. The orders that are being entered did not affect any of the Canadian entities, or at least they should not. The case was pretty much put on hold while mediators and lawyers tried to determine the best possible route for the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the contractors says that she was notified of the lawsuit by mail, like a lot of others in the area. She claims that she has lined up her defense in case the proceedings continue, but she believes that the lawsuit is simply a last-ditch scheme to get cash.

The Minnesota-based legal debt collection company asked the contractors business, Summit Lake Services for $19,000 for work completed three months before Pope and Talbots collapse. Another local contractor, Reg Gustafson of Cougar Valley Ventures also seems to believe that this is a ploy for money. Furious about being asked to return $41,000, Gustafson claims that they will have to put him in jail before he pays up. He says that although he took the legal papers very seriously when they were first served, he now has been able to put the situation into context.

He alleges that he will continue to take the litigation seriously, but he will make a point of saying no. Crystal Larder of Mountain Meadow Contracting owns a company that was asked to repay $49,000. She hasn’t put up any defenses yet, but even if the local contractors were to be tried in court, it must be in Canada.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. Also she writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and collection agencies.

Posted in Credit

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How Long Does A Debt Last And What Type Of Rules Regulate Debt Collectors?

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

All debt collectors must abide by the state laws where they are making the phone calls that regulate collection efforts, and for a collection agent calling across the country, this all can be very confusing. Many times, debt collectors will use software to guide them and help them remember each state’s laws.

But the most important piece of legislation that debt collectors must follow is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal law written in 1978 which strictly guides collection activities. Bear in mind that the FDCPA only applies to third party collection agencies, not the original creditors. If a third party collection company buys a debt, then they essentially become the creditors. But, according to law, even if a debt has been purchased, a third party debt collection agency must still abide by the FDCPA.

The Federal Trade Commission watches over the collections industry, and has the ability to penalize collection agencies for not complying with the FDCPA. But because they are so busy, the FTC usually does not get involved with general consumer complaints. Only after they receive a substantial amount of complaints against one particular agency will they notice a pattern that could lead to action against it.

If a debt is sold to a third party collection agency, this does not make the debt “new” again. There is a seven year credit reporting time limit that is based on the date of the original delinquency with the original creditor. The time limits for filing lawsuits are also founded on this same date.

After these statutes of limitations run up for filing lawsuits and credit reporting, a third party debt collector still has the ability to send out letters and make phone calls about the debts. Somebody may question why a consumer might pay back a debt if they are not faced with a negative penalty, and the reason is usually that they are not aware that the debt has an “out of statute” status.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on medical collection agencies.

Posted in Credit

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Average Americans Struggle To Make It While Rich Billionaires Remain Optimistic

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

According to the most current research by company TNS, people in debt still feel quite negatively about the state of the United States economy. According to the study, their concerns about the economy haven’t changed at all since September. An overwhelming majority, sixty four percent of consumers who were surveyed held a position that things had taken a turn for the worst at that time. On the other side of the fence, unlike Americans struggling to survive in debt, business executives surveyed that pull in between three million to two billion dollars have a much more positive outlook on the situation.

Despite the fact that debtors felt a little more positively about the economy potentially getting better in September, their opinion was markedly more negative in December. The survey showed that a larger majority of consumers, about sixty six percent, strongly felt that they will be reducing their personal spending and struggling more financially over the next six months.

Even though the executives surveyed were more likely to believe that the economy will recover in the next coming months, consumers remain wary. This might be chalked up to the fact that these obscenely rich millionaires don’t have much reason to worry about anything financially related any time soon. The current economic situation has almost every typical American stuck in cost cutting mode, with the exception of these top executives who sail in yachts and enjoy caviar while sick people are struggling to pay doctor’s bills. It seems as though debtors may have a more realistic take on the situation; most companies are planning to continue to aggressively search for ways to cut costs in the next year. Fifty two percent of these companies surveyed said this includes layoffs and pay cuts for the average American.

And despite the fact that executives remain footloose and fancy free, they concede that the unemployment problem in America will only get worse before it improves. After all, why cut their salaries when they can lay off the average Joe? For example, Walmart recently laid off 11,200 Sam’s Clubs Employees, choosing to outsource the positions for cheaper pay instead. And even if the recent studies suggesting that the jobless rate has been shrinking are correct, there is no denying that no new jobs are being created.

Obviously, this information has its effects on the collections industry. As a writer who focuses on this subject, I see more and more blogs and news articles about debt collectors growing more persistent and aggressive, and more and more bloggers complaining about collection agencies. According to them, debt collectors should be the only ones prospering in the economy. But clearly, they haven’t been. It just seems like these rich executives are the only ones doing that well. The simple fact of the matter is that when consumers just don’t have the money or the means to repay a delinquent account that they took out before their financial situation went downhill, things get tougher for both the debtors and the collectors.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies.

Posted in Credit

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Debt Collectors Working From Home May Be A Reality Soon

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

Despite the fact that professionals in managerial positions at collection agencies should always be looking for more excellent workers to add to their ranks, they also must keep in mind that keeping the best employees around is crucial. These are the workers that have already proven themselves motivated and capable; often they are the hardest workers and bring home the biggest commissions. Trends in the collections industry have indicated that one way of doing this is allowing tenured collectors to work from home.

For these hard workers that have put much time and energy into improving your company, it might be a wise decision to accommodate for these people’s needs considering that the number of accounts that collectors receive nowadays might be smaller, thus reducing commission. Also, personal situations such as health, stress of a commute or a need to spend more time at home with the family might drive your top collectors away. Although work-at-home programs have not become an everyday thing yet, there are a few agencies that are currently making exceptions for particular debt collectors. Typically these collectors are the best at what they do and most likely deserve to work from home a couple of days a week.

The way that work-from-home programs operate is simple enough. Usually, the bill collector will be given a computer with access to the computers at the agency and they will be given designated phone equipment to use. One of the perks for agency managers is that everything that the collector does and says can still be monitored, just as if he or she was working in the call center itself.

However, before you start to send workers to work from home, it is important to closely evaluate the good and bad qualities of each collector. Obviously, the debt collectors with the best work ethics can be trusted to work from home more than the easily distracted ones. But, research has indicated that if a debt collector is a good fit for working at home, they will likely be more productive, take fewer breaks, and without the social interactions with other employees they are free to hone in on the job itself.

Still, there are many issues that should be addressed before management thinks about permitting collectors to work from home. First, there is the potential of data security issues. Also, due to the fact that there has been a staggering amount of recent legislation impacting the collection industry, many formal work-at-home programs may not come to fruition anytime soon. Still, researchers feel that it is not good to alienate the top workers at your agency who are asking about working from home. They predict that the collections industry will see more agencies permitting debt collectors to work from home within the next five years.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies

Posted in Credit

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I Have A Collection Agent On The Phone! What Now?

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Takara Alexis| Comments Off

Individual phone collectors will be given a portfolio of accounts, and the bulk of their workday, every day, will be spent working them. Collection agents are subject to many performance evaluations and most of their paycheck is earned from personal commission payments. Thus, the size of a debt collector’s paycheck depends on how successful he or she is at collecting from debtors. This factor, coupled with relentless confrontations with angry and sensitive debtors, makes for an extremely high stress job with high employee turnover.

If a debt collector attempts to reach a debtor and comes into contact with somebody else, they are legally prohibited from informing this person that they are calling about a debt. Each state has its own laws that debt collectors must abide by, and sometimes, the collector can speak to the debtor’s spouse.

If a debt collector reaches an answering machine or voicemail, it is customary to leave a message, but in theory, somebody who is not the debtor may hear it. Thus, the details of the call will not be disclosed, and the tone of the debtor will be apathetic. Collection agencies generally have to provide a toll free number so that it does not cost money for the debtor to return the call.

When the debt collector speaks to a debtor on the phone, they will begin with what is referred to as a “mini Miranda.” Much like your Miranda rights, which tell you that “anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law,” the mini Miranda informs the debtor that this is in fact an attempt to collect debt, and any information disclosed will be used for that purpose. This is usually what separates a mediocre debt collector from an excellent one. A mediocre collector will often do most of the talking, but a skilled collector develops good listening skills to ferret out important information.

Therefore, debt collection phone calls are generally recorded, and any key information is written down on the debtor’s permanent record. Key information includes anything that could be used to ascertain the probability that they could successfully collect, or if taking legal action could be a good decision. In other words, if the debtor mentions that they are employed, makes mention of assets, or admits that they owe the debt, this is very encouraging for the collector and could be used in future litigation.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on credit collection agencies

Posted in Credit

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Important Facts Concerning Life Insurance

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Florence Wynn| Comments Off

Life insurance is a very important investment that many people make at some point in time or another. Before jumping in and making a purchase there are some important things that should be taken into consideration. Here we will look at what some of those things are,

Taking a good look at your finances is a good way to start determining what life insurance needs may be required. This means that you should look into any outstanding debts you have and tally them all up to determine the total amount that would be owing if something were to happen to you right now. Getting insurance can help protect your loved ones by giving them the funds to be able to pay off these debts without touching any other funds that are in the estate.

You should also have some idea as to what kind of funeral costs will be when you die. This is where a lot of people have found that prepaying and pre- planning their funeral is a good idea. They are able to know what the costs are and have all or the majority of the costs paid for before anything may happen to them which in turn leaves less money owing when it comes time for the debts of the deceased to be paid.

Many of the companies will offer a benefit of this kind to the people that they employ. For single people or those that have very few debts this can be more than enough coverage. For those that have children or spouses they may opt to buy more to be sure that there is something left to help these loved ones out when they are gone.

Checking the prices that are associated with life insurance is another thing that should be done. In most situations it is far cheaper to buy it at a young age before any health concerns or other issues start to come along. You want to be sure that this is an affordable option for you as well as it is a bill that will be recurring over an extended period of time.

Take the time to look at the different kinds of insurance that can bought as the prices will vary with each different kind. This can help you determine the most affordable options that are at your disposal. Be sure that the cost is something that you can cover if you were to have a change in your financial situation later on.

A lot of companies are around that offer this kind of coverage. It is one of the most competitive businesses around which makes it even more important for people to do their homework when it comes to comparing the prices and services that come with each one. Getting written quotes or printing and saving information is an easy way to be sure you have all the information you need when it comes time to do the comparisons.

Family members are another way to find out about life insurance companies. Many people will be glad to let you know what they feel about the company they deal with and this information can all be used to help you decide what company you may want to do business with. Educating yourself is crucial when it comes to making good decisions in this regard.

Purchase of a life insurance policy is intended to give financial security for family members following your demise. Life insurance helps to prevent economic disaster during a time of grief.

Posted in Mortgage Loans

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