Ben
“Dear Steve,
I read the book called Debt Cures by Kevin Treadeau. It was awesome and it has a lot of tips and help there. What I am trying to do is get an outstanding credit score and it needs to be improved.
When you call the credit card company it is pretty darn hard to make them lower your interest rate like it says in the Debt Cures book. I would like to lower my APR and they would say all we can do is wait 6 months and try again. How can I speak them and get them to lower my APR without waiting for to be lowered. Help!!!!
Ben”
Dear Ben,
I read the book by Trudeau as well and while it is filled with some interesting tips, many are outdated in this economic climate. While it is true that creditors used to easily lower your percentage rate by just calling and asking, these are different times.
Credit card companies today are jacking the rates up on customers that have never been late, have not missed a payment and have not exceeded their limits. By all outward signs, credit card companies are running for profits in an otherwise horrible economy and are unlikely to reduce interest rates at this time.
The six month advice that you got tells me one of two things. Either you have had some credit problems in the last year or the representative wanted you to call back at a latter time in hopes that the economy would improve and deals would be had again.
The best way to get an outstanding credit score is not to guess at what needs to be fixed, but to know for a fact what is bringing your score down. Without a doubt the best way to do this is to get a consolidated credit report with a credit score and not only will it identify all of your lines of credit and show your credit history but it will specifically tell you what you need to do to improve your credit score. Click here to get your credit score specific information.
While the Debt Cures book and certainly the infomercial about the book with the Playboy Playmate, make you excited about easily improving your credit score and lowering your interest rates it is really dependent on a few factors.
- Debt to Income Ratio – If your card balances are more than 33% of your limit you will find that can lower your credit score. These days with creditors reducing limits without notice or warning you can easily find yourself maxed out through no fault of your own. You can also get wounded when you carry a number of balances on cards and in total they are a risk based on your current income.
- How You’ve Paid Your Bills – If you’ve been sloppy or had issues that prevented you from paying your bills on-time then that will be reflected in your credit report. If you have accounts still showing up in collections, that hurts you as well.
- Creditor Policies – The book and books like it provide good tips but ultimately they can all be worthless if your creditor adopts a corporate policy and does not want to bend. Don’t lose sight of the fact that as long as you carry a balance on your credit cards the credit card company calls the shots. If you don’t like how they treat you then look into doing a balance transfer to another credit card. A credit card company does not have to value you as a customer or want to retain you if you no longer suit their target demographic.
Outside of paying your debts off in full, no other trick or tip is going to get you lower interest rates without potentially damaging your credit report further. However, the best way to get the best rates is to pay your bills on time and follow the credit score improvement guide that will come with your consolidated credit report and tell you exactly what you need to do to legally boost your score.
Thanks for the question.
Steve
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