People with a bad credit history will find it difficult to get a new credit card. Nevertheless, they can still obtain a credit card in spite of a bad credit by following these steps.

1. Make a credit card application on small retailer stores. These companies are still willing to gamble on people with bad credit history. When they accept your application, you should purchase only on small amounts using your credit card. Pay your minimum expenses every month within the specified time. It will save you from paying higher interest’s charges. Late payments will negatively affect your credit rating. Never go over the 30-day period limit before paying.

2. Go to a bank, credit union, or savings institution where you do most of your business transactions. They have your business, so they may also give you a chance to get a particular credit card.

3. If you failed on the first and second step, then it is much better for you to choose a secured credit card. A secured credit card is requiring the holder to open a savings account and maintain it. It will serve as a security on your credit lines. Whatever amount of money you have deposited on your account, some of its percentage will be allocated to your credit lines.

4. If you owned several credit cards, reduce its number as much as possible. Inform your creditors and request them to close your credit card accounts. Immediately report this change to other credit card reporting agencies.

5. Avoid tax liens and collections, and bankruptcies. A lien means not paying the federal or state taxes, or taxes on property. Remember, bankruptcies will stay on the credit card report for a maximum of ten years. The tax liens which are already paid and collection accounts remain for seven years. Tax liens which are not paid will forever haunt you.

6. Write a request letter to your creditors asking to reduce the limits of your credits in your accounts. It will help you lower the amount of your available credits. Keep in mind that available credit amounts are still considered by issuers.

7. Ask a family member or a friend to be your co-signer on your credit card application. Select someone who has a good credit history. It will help you a lot. In case you are not able to pay the loan, your co-signer will. However, it will also affect their good credit rating.

There are available clinic on credit-repair as well agencies on consumer credit that are ready to arrange and restructure payment plans. But still, skipped and smaller payments will be always accounted against you, even if the plan was accepted by the creditor. You can be charged by these clinics as higher as 2,000 dollars for restructuring your payments and cover any administrative fees. But some CCAs can arrange it for you free of charge.

8. Always obtain the credit card report copy every year. Review for any errors done and report it immediately to the authorized body. If the remarks posted on your file are true, then make sure to write a brief letter explaining about the negative remarks written in your file. You could do this especially if you are planning to rent a home or a house.

Even if there is a solution to a bad credit history, it is still better if you build a good history credit. No hassles, no headaches, and no drawbacks.

Most people perceive bankruptcy as the ultimate life failure. Unfortunately, for millions of U.S. citizens, it is the last alternative available to save their worldly possessions. Personal bankruptcy can stir up many emotions and leave people feeling ashamed. Worse yet, it can leave a financial black mark on credit reports for ten long years.

Before filing personal bankruptcy, it is important to seek out alternatives to determine if better financial options exist. Sometimes, debt consolidation, debt settlement, credit counseling and budgeting can achieve the same results without the credit chaos associated with bankruptcy.

If bankruptcy alternatives cannot solve financial problems, debtors should take time to become informed about the bankruptcy process. New bankruptcy laws enacted in 2005 have made filing considerably more difficult and expensive. Debtors are required to undergo credit counseling from an approved U.S. Trustee agency and undergo the ‘means’ test to determine the amount of debt to be repaid.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was implemented to help consumers from subprime lending tactics and to protect creditors from people who were abusing the system by filing bankruptcy to write off frivolous credit card expenses. BAPCPA provisions require all Americans filing for personal bankruptcy to pay back at least a portion of their debts.

Six bankruptcy chapters exist including: Chapter 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15. Personal bankruptcy falls under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.

Chapter 7 is often referred to as ‘liquidation bankruptcy’ because debtors are required to turn over non-exempt property to a bankruptcy trustee. The Trustee supervises the sale of property and funds are used to pay outstanding creditor debts. Remaining balances are written-off and debtors have a clean financial slate.

Under chapter 13 bankruptcy, debtors are allowed to retain their property, including automobiles and real estate. However, a repayment plan must be submitted to the bankruptcy judge for approval.

Chapter 13 payments generally extend for two to three years and can place significant financial restraints on debtors. One unexpected expense can cause debtors to fail out of bankruptcy. When this occurs, debtors lose court protection and creditors can commence with collection actions.

Bankruptcy is governed under federal law. However, each state establishes bankruptcy policies. If planning to file bankruptcy you will need to adhere to the laws of your state. Petitions must be submitted to the district where you reside and approved by a bankruptcy judge.

When possible, attempt to obtain a repayment plan with creditors and avoid filing chapter 13 bankruptcy. Depending on the circumstances, creditors might reduce outstanding balances or interest rates. Increase your chance of successful negotiations by offering an upfront cash payment and reasonable repayment plan.

If bankruptcy is the only feasible option, retain the services of bankruptcy attorneys well-versed in state and federal laws. Doing so ensures proper documents are filed and improves your chances of having the bankruptcy court approve your petition.

Many people talk about consolidating their payments, but what are they seeking to benefit from it? There are several things you should know before you consolidate your credit card bills.

First of all, there are several ways to consolidate your credit card payments. One way to consolidate your payments would be to transfer your balances from several different cards to one card. This would allow the convenience of only having one payment, but low introductory rates don’t last very long. You also may be putting yourself in a bad situation if you have to find another way to lower your monthly payment. Another way to consolidate your bills is to get some kind of loan such as a consolidation loan or home equity loan. These loans may carry high rates that will not be beneficial, or require collateral that you could lose if you default on the loan.

Another way to consolidate your payments is to follow a debt management plan. This type of plan is not a loan, but it does allow you to pay one payment each month. When you sign up to a debt management plan, your creditors are more willing to work with you to lower your finance charges because they want to ensure that you will be able to pay them back the debt you owe. Often times you are able to pay a lower payment each month while still making reasonable progress to pay off your credit card accounts.

Another thing you should know before seeking credit card consolidation is that there are companies who offer things that are better than true, but are in fact not a type of debt consolidation. Some who advertise to clear up your debt are offering bankruptcy or debt settlement. Bankruptcy is certainly a valid option for some people, but make sure that you have tried less extreme ways of fixing your debt problem as it can affect your finances for quite some time. Debt settlement companies often charge you high fees to provide a service that you can do on your own. They also are not usually up front about the other problems with settling your debt such as the additional taxes you will owe and the harm that it does to your credit score.

While consolidating and lowering your credit card payments is convenient, make sure you are also finding a way to lower your interest rates or it will take you much longer to get out of debt. If you have a lower interest rate on your debt, you will be able to apply more of your monthly payment towards paying off your debt. This is what a debt management plan does which is why it can be helpful for so many different people.

If you take the time to seek the help you need, you should be able to find a way to consolidate your payments and spend less of your money on interest. Make sure that whatever debt consolidation option you choose works for you.

Having multiple credit cards brings more problems than benefits to a person’s life. Keeping track of multiple repayments, varying interest rates can be too overwhelming and if not managed properly can lead to late payment penalties. Procrastination on repaying the debts can lead to accumulations of high interest credit card balances, that threaten to throw a person into credit card debt and under serious default it can lead to bankruptcies. Credit card debt consolidation helps such people, but an individual is not qualified and experienced to get the best consolidation deal. Here’s when the credit card debt consolidation agencies come into the picture. They can do a lot for such debt ridden people. In this article we take a look at what benefits a Credit Card Debt Consolidation company can bring to a person who is suffering due to multiple credit card debts.

1. Single not multiple debt

Credit card debt consolidation gets rid of multiple credit card debts instantly. This brings a welcome relief to the debtor who is plagued by multiple credit card repayment dates, juggling of APRs and various penalties.

2. End of harassment

Credit card debt consolidation brings an end to the threatening calls from debt recovery agencies. All the communication is now channeled via the debt consolidation agency, which takes care of all the harassment in a more professional manner and restores peace back in your life.

3. Professional negotiations on your behalf

Credit card debt settlement agencies, have seasoned professionals with extensive experience in negotiating debts with credit card companies. This ensures that your point is put correctly before the credit card companies and a well negotiated settlement is reached.

4. Reduction in overall burden

Credit card debt settlement companies not only club all your existing debts into a single debt, but they also do it so that you are able to pay it more easily and it reduces the debt burden significantly. This involves waving of late payment fees, reducing interest, making the loan a long term loan and reducing monthly repayment amounts.

5. Saves from bankruptcy and prevents severe damage to credit report

By taking a credit card debt consolidation, you get one more chance to repay your debts. Following the debt repayment schedule diligently will keep you out of the debt trap and ensure that the damaging effects of getting bankrupt do not arrive and malign your credit report.

Engaging a professional credit card debt consolidation agency ensures that you get the best deal. Once you have repaid all your credit card debts make sure that you don’t fall into trap of multiple credit cards again.

It almost seems counter intuitive that there would be such a large number of costs associated with bankruptcy, something done when people are pretty much insolvent.  Unfortunately, the price of declaring bankruptcy can be very high.  The more complicated your financial situation, the more you can expect to pay.  But everyone will pay something.  However, most people still find the long term savings to be greater than continuing with their current state of debts.

When filing bankruptcy, you will at the very least have to pay filing fees.  Most people will also end up paying an attorney to help them along in the process.  If you are willing to put in the time and effort, and if you situation is not overly complicated, you should be able to save thousands of dollars by doing the work yourself.

If you situation is a little more complex, you will probably save money in the long run by hiring a professional bankruptcy attorney.  These lawyers specialize on bankruptcy matters and have spent years studying the laws and wading through the bureaucracy that is the court system.  One mistake made when filing papers can cause you a whole lot of problems and professionals can avoid this.  A single mistake can cost as much as hiring an attorney, so if you aren’t absolutely sure of your abilities to fill out and file the papers correctly, you should seek professional help.

Even if you are familiar with bankruptcy, new laws are being enacted all the time.  Only those who spend their time keeping up with these changes have the least idea about the current rules and regulations.  For example, new bankruptcy laws require you to attend counseling before filing.  After filing, you will have to attend classes to learn how to handle your finances.  These are additional costs associated with filing bankruptcy.

Laws dealing with bankruptcy are not the same across the country.  Each state has its own particular laws and requirements.  The one thing they all have in common is that they want your money and you will have to pay to file.  Even filing and court fees can amount to thousands of dollars.  A bankruptcy attorney can help you minimize these costs by advising you what is absolutely necessary.

There are costs associated with bankruptcy that have nothing to do with money.  The damage you will do to your credit rating is immense.  After filing, you will basically have no credit at all.  You will have to begin to once again slowly build your financial trustworthiness.  This can takes several years and during that time getting credit of any kind will be very difficult.  If you do get a loan you can expect to pay high interest rates.  Even finding a job can be difficult since many employers check employees’  credit histories.

Based on the substantial costs associated with bankruptcy, you can see that information is critical.  Though an attorney’s help is not required by the court, you will likely save time and money by using their service.