My name is Linda Hostetler. I had the amazing experience of working with Krista Phillips for over a year, and what a pleasure it was.

Not only did Krista “hold my hand” walking through the mess we had gotten into, but she “coached” me and showed me how to never let it happen again.

Over the time we worked together, I felt like I had made a wonderful friend in Krista. She was excited when we got good news, and supportive when we didn’t. I cannot think of words to express our appreciation for what NCR through Krista’s help has met to us. Our credit scores increased about 100 points during that time, and have continued to improve even sore since by following what we learned from Krista. Since our business relationship has ended, we have given your name to several others, including our real estate broker and the credit union loan officer.

As I write this, we are waiting to hear from the lender as to our closing date of our new home, which we believe will be next Thursday. We are excited and extremely thankful for the opportunity to work with Krista & NCF….

Love you Krista!!!

Sincerely ,

LaVerne and Linda Hostetler

“6 Tips to Shop Safer This Holiday Season”

Holiday Fun Facts

1. Given the different time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts, but his reindeer really have to fly, since that means visiting 823 homes per second.

2. Dreaming of a green Christmas? Household waste increases by 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. In the United States, trash from wrapping paper and shopping bags totals 4 million tons.

4. The U.S. Postal Service delivers 20 billion cards and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

5. Rudolph first hit the holiday scene back in 1939, when Montgomery Ward stores distributed 2.4 million copies of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” written by Robert L. May, a copywriter for the company. Executives vetoed the original name, Rollo, when May’s young daughter suggested Rudolph.

6. The Löschner family of Neuhausen, Germany, owns the biggest nutcracker collection: 4,334. It is said that German craftsmen made the first decorative nutcrackers around 1800 as a way of mocking authority figures, leading to the phrase “a hard nut to crack.”

7. Despite their bad reputation, poinsettias aren’t deadly. Latex in the stems and leaves can be irritating, but not much more, to humans and animals.

8. The first candy cane dates back to 1670 in Germany. According to holiday lore, a choirmaster distributed sugar sticks bent into the shape of a shepherds’ crook to quiet his young singers during Christmas services. Today more than 1.76 billion candy canes are made for the holidays, enough to stretch from Santa Claus, Indiana, to North Pole, Alaska, and back again 32 times.

9. Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” between October and November of 1843. The story was a hit, selling 6,000 copies by Christmas Day.

10. The largest gingerbread man in the world is a dieter’s nightmare, weighing in at a whopping 466 pounds, six ounces. The Gingerbread House, in Rochester, Minnesota, baked the giant cookie on February 21, 2006.

11. An average of 5,800 people end up in the ER after suffering injuries from holiday decorating.

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

–Walt Disney

The post NCF’s Tuesday Tidbits appeared first on National Credit Federation.

But once again thanks to NCF, Monique and Krista they gave us confidence that they could make a difference for us. This change in our credit is awesome and for the better. We just purchased a new car for my wife and I was able to buy a 2015 Camaro with 3% interest (WOW).

Just two years ago I bought a used 2001 Dodge truck that’s not worth much and I still had an interest rate of 19% over a 3-year loan ouch . . .

I am just blown away at the results from National Credit Federation, Our dream is to buy a home and we are so close to be able to make that come true. We will start looking early in the New Year.

Once again thank You NCF, Monique and Krista.

Sincerely,

Danny & Brenda Durham

CLICK HERE for 5 Tips To Tackle Student Loan Debt

Below are some fun facts about December:

Its name is based on the Latin term for ten. In the Roman calendar, December was the tenth month until the addition of January and February at the beginning of the year. In the North of the equator, December has the shortest daylight hours and marks the beginning of winter. South of the equator December provides the longest days and it is the beginning of summer. December is a month home to many religious holidays.

·         The birthstone of December is turquoise.

·         Zodiac signs for December are Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) and Capricorn (December 22 – January 19).

·         The birth flower of December is the narcissus.

·         World’s AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1st.

·         December 3 – International Day of the Disabled Person

·         On December 3, 1967, the first heart transplant was completed.

·         On December 4, 1791, The Observer newspaper (the first Sunday newspaper) was first published in Britain.

·         Universal Human Rights Month

·         National Read a New Book Month

·         In December, Nobel Prizes are awarded.

·         Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25th.

·         On December 20, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was completed.

·         Kwanzaa is celebrated on December 26 – January 1 every year.

·         National Stress Free Family Holiday Month

·         December 27th is National Chocolate Day

·         On December 29, 1862, the bowling bowl was invented.

·         Poinsettia Day is on December 12th.

·         On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made their first flight.

·         On December 14, 1791, the Bill of Rights was passed.

The post NCF's Tuesday Tidbits appeared first on National Credit Federation.

If you’re going to access capital before the holidays here’s something you’ll want to be sure to look at… CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

13 Fun Turkey Facts….

• The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.
• The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
• A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.
• The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.
• Turkey has more protein than chicken or beef.
• Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.
• Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clucking noise.
• Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.
• Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.
• A large group of turkeys is called a flock.
• Turkeys have poor night vision.
• It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.
• A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster.

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

–      Theodore Roosevelt

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Remember, it was only a year ago that Target disclosed that its credit card database had been hacked. Just a month later, Neiman Marcus suffered the same fate.

Don’t fall victim to cybercrimes or identity theft. Protect yourself this holiday season by following these shopping safety tips.

1. Create strong passwords and update them frequently.
Passwords provide the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your accounts. The stronger your password, the more protected you’ll be.

In general, strong passwords:

• Are at least eight characters long.
• Don’t contain your username, real name or company name.
• Don’t contain a complete word.
• Are significantly different from previous passwords.
• Contain a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.

Also, be sure to change your passwords every 3 months or so to stay ahead of cyber crime.

2. Keep sensitive and personal documents secure.
Your Social Security card, birth certificate and other important documents should be kept in a safe-deposit box or fireproof safe. At the very list, keep your sensitive documents filed in a secure place in your home, not in your purse, wallet or car.

3. Protect and set a password on your mobile device.
While the small, lightweight design of our mobile devices make them easy to carry with us, this also makes them easy to misplace or lose.

Back up and protect the data on your mobile device. Create a strong password, use your device’s auto-lock feature and don’t share your device with others. Also, back up your data, delete messages with sensitive information and install security updates.

4. Check your credit report.
At a minimum, you should check your credit report at least once every 12 months. Among other benefits of checking your score, this is often the first indicator that you’ve been the victim of
identity theft.

Multiple websites offer opportunities for their users to check their credit report for free. If you find names you don’t recognize, Social Security numbers that don’t belong to you or accounts that aren’t yours, you might have been a victim of fraud. Work with an expert, Like National Credit Federation who can help you stop this fraud and prevent future misuse of your identity.

5. Only carry what you need in your purse or wallet.
Don’t needlessly expose your credit card, debit cards or important documents to possible theft. Leave any cards that you aren’t planning to use, as well as your Social Security card, in a safe, secured spot when you head out on the town.

6. Make a copy of everything you carry and store them
in a safe place. If you’ve ever misplaced your purse or wallet—or worse yet, had them stolen—you know that canceling and replacing your cards can be a huge hassle.

Minimize this headache by making front and back copies of everything that you carry with you, like your credit cards, debit cards and drivers license. Store these copies alongside your other important documents.

If you’ve fallen victim to cybercrime, been hit by identity theft or need to make a dramatic improvement to your credit score, call National Credit Federation at (877) 720-PLUS (7587). We’ll help you develop a strategy to get your life back on track and legally restore your credit score!

-Dave Fulk
President | National Credit Federation

The post 6 Ways to Shop Safer This Holiday Season appeared first on National Credit Federation.

Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates just aired an interview by Michael Gerber, the author of the E-Myth.  The segment was shot at film studios in Orlando and I had a great time.  Michael Gerber is not only an internationally acclaimed author but also has a huge corporation. He seeks out companies that are totally unique and are on the cutting edge within their industries to profile.

Check it out…

More than the publicity, it excites me that hundreds of our members over the last year have achieved home-ownership that never would have without our help.  To all our consultants, and staff but more so to our members…thanks for your confidence!  If you’d like to get your credit reviewed with no obligation CLICK HERE

Great credit and home ownership…Definitely two of the things in life that are Priceless!

BE BOLD!

Herschel

The post Michael Gerber and Herschel Bentley discuss Credit Repair the National Credit Federation way appeared first on National Credit Federation.

I have been in Houston, TX the last few days with one of our Regional Directors Dan Fries, who laid the ground work for this relationship, along with several other NCF consultants.

You see DR Horton having partnered with Bank of America as it’s go to mortgage lender knew that many people could not buy their dream home or for that matter their first home due to their credit scores.  As Alfredo Rodriquez, the Director of “My New Home” a pilot program of DR Horton designed to put more people into a home of their own, explained to me… they needed the best credit repair company they could find and their search ended with an agreement to have National Credit Federation as it’s sole source for those with credit challenges.  His biggest reason was… the bottom line results we get for our members with our exclusive attorney assisted process.

This event, the first of many hosted 350 folks coming through the doors, at the Westin Galleria in downtown Houston, TX, to see what all the excitement was about.  And let me tell you EXCITEMENT just doesn’t do the event justice!  It was an EXTRAVAGANZA, a huge success and honor to be a part of it!

DR Horton through Alfredo’s vision have put together a process like none I’ve ever seen.  And I’ve seen alot in this business throughout the last 30 years!  His vision starts with a simple truth…People want to own their own homes.  That said, the question becomes so “how does DR Horton as a builder help more people achieve home ownership?”   And that’s where the “My New Home” program was born and where the magic begins.

Simply stated by partnering with Bank of America, National Credit Federation, Farmers Insurance and many other top vendors for the different aspects of the home buying process that a new home buyer may experience, a better overall experience can be offered and enjoyed.

I mean even the simplest things from having pizza and cokes for the home owner planned on move in day and yes even the movers are geared up and ready to go has been thought of!

Through a better managed process, the savings a new home buyer realizes can be dramatic.  The savings range from a simple down payment offered at $100…YEP, $100 and you can get a new home under contract and  be off to the races!  Additional savings with closing costs, insurance, and yes they are even covering our fees upon closing!

Here’s the basic steps after you pick out your new home model and the lot.  Bank of America will generate an approval for you to know exactly what your payment and down payment will be (as little as 3.5%).  Actually B of A has created a brand new FHA product just for this program (I told you there is all kind of cool stuff!)  where they can help out with credit scores all the way down to 580!   If for any reason credit is an issue no matter if it’s a particular line item on your credit report or too low of a credit score that’s where National Credit Federation comes in.

It’s our job to help you get approved to remove anything that might be preventing you from achieving your goals. And check this part out…DR Horton is so confident and committed to their vision that IF YOU ENTER OUR CREDIT REPAIR PROGRAM THEY WILL CONTINUE TO HONOR YOUR CONTRACT as long as you remain in our program and refund you up to $1400 when you close!!!

Let me say that another way.  YOU CAN BE A HOMEOWNER!

Horton has kicked this off in Houston and will expand to other markets as quickly as can be managed but with friends like DR Horton and Bank of America, the number one builder and number one mortgage lender in the country well, let’s just say a ton of people that thought they could never qualify for a home are going to have their dreams realized!

To find out more CHECK IT OUT!

Be Bold!

Herschel

PS We had a professional, shooting video coverage but I don’t have that in my hands just yet.  I should soon so I’ll get that posted on the website and blog about what new things are happening as events continue to unfold!

The post DR Horton partners with NCF! appeared first on National Credit Federation.

Jack’s situation was that he had paid off several bills with a bonus check from work about 10 days ago.  He had called the three credit card companies involved and verified he had indeed posted the payoffs which totaled almost $6000.  He then had his mortgage broker pull a new credit report thinking he would have the increase in credit score that he thought the payoffs would give.  He only needed about 17 points to qualify for this loan but was told that his scores had actually gone down 2 points from a month prior.

Well this is what prompted Jack’s call.  He was confused and upset that he had read something I wrote previously about how FICO computes credit scores.  He thought that by freeing up his credit lines and paying down the debt would help his credit scores.   Was he right?

Upon review of Jacks credit report it did look like he would benefit from a score increase by paying down the $6000 of the $9000 worth of credit lines to cut his outstanding credit line usage from 67% overall to 0%.  so why didn’t he get any boost in his credit score?

Well. the answer to this in one of the myths regarding credit reporting.  Credit Scores are computed only on a snapshot of a credit report at the exact time the report is requested.

The problem is that most creditors only report to the credit bureaus one time per month.  Credit Bureaus are NOT real time so if you make a payment or payoff an account as in Jack’s case it might be days or weeks before the creditor reports it to the credit bureau and thus any FICO credit score change taken into account.

After Jack realized what was happening he was relieved that the bump he hoped for in credit score was most likely just a couple weeks away.  But Jack did ask a very good question…This process seems screwed up, most everything else we deal with is in real time, why aren’t the credit bureaus?

It is 2011 almost, right?

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It is absolutely insane the nutsy amount of credit information you can extract from the internet if you’re just surfing around!

From credit repair and credit card tidbits to just plain crazy credit facts you can find, like Crazy Credit Fact #22, Corpus Christi, Texas, residents have America’s worst credit scores!  Or that if you live in Nevada you are 8 times more likely to file bankruptcy than if you live in Alaska?

These certainly are in the category of “things that make you go hmmmm”!  They can make you all glossy eyed kind of like looking at Phyllis Diller.  Don’t tell me you don’t know her!  See the pic to the left?  Uh huh..

Anyways, I found these to be both interesting as well as entertaining.  I hope you enjoy…

25 Crazy Credit Facts

1)      The average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,788  Some of you are better than average here!!  Sorry, a little joke.

2)      609.8 million credit cards are held by U.S. consumers (Source Fed Reserve Bank of Boston Feb 2010)

3)      Average APR on new credit card offer: 14.35 percent (Source:  CreditCards.comWeekly Rate report, Aug. 25, 2010.)

4)      U.S. credit card default rate: 13.01 percent. (Source: Fitch Ratings, April 2010) Delinquency trending up.

5)      Visa credit: 270.1 million cards out there, down 11 percent (Source: Visa.com)

6)      Visa debit: 382 million out, up 18 percent (Source: Visa.com)

7)      MasterCard credit: 203 million cards out, down 22 percent (Source: MasterCard.com)  Both Visa and master card are way down in issuing new credit a sign of much tighter lending policies

8)      MasterCard debit: 125 million, up 1 percent (Source: MasterCard.com)

9)      American Express credit: 48.9 million, down 9 percent (Source: AmericanExpress.com)

10)  Discover credit: 54.4 million, down 6 percent (Source: Discover.com)

11)   Eighty percent of consumers currently own a debit card, compared to 78 percent who own a credit card and 17 who own a prepaid card. (Source: “The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice,” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)

12)   In 2006, the United States Census Bureau determined that there were nearly 1.5 billion credit cards in use in the U.S. A stack of all those credit cards would reach more than 70 miles into space — and be almost as tall as 13 Mount Everests. (Source: NY Times, Feb. 23, 2009)  Yeah, that’s more than a few!

13)   Eighty-four percent of the student population overall have credit cards, an increase of approximately 11 percent since the fall of 2004. (Source: Sallie Mae, “How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards,” April 2009)

14)   76 percent of undergraduates have credit cards, and the average undergrad has $2,200 in credit card. Additionally, they will amass almost $20,000 in student debt. (Source: Nellie Mae, “Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards in 2004: An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends”)  This is a scary number! Keep in mind this is average, almost 8% have over $7100 in credit card debt

15)   Credit card usage fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008, with only 64 percent of consumers indicating they used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey, compared to 87 percent of consumers in 2007 — a 23 percentage point decline. (Source: Javelin, “Credit Card Spending Declines” study, March 2009)

16)  Residents of Jackson, Miss., use the highest percentage of their credit limit. (Source: Men’s Health magazine’s personal debt survey, July 2008)

17)   Lincoln, Neb., residents use the lowest percentage of their credit limit. (Source: Men’s Health magazine’s personal debt survey, July 2008)

18)  Total bankruptcy filings in 2009 reached 1.4 million in 2009, up from 1.09 million in 2008. The vast majority were personal bankruptcies — Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.   Business bankruptcies made up 6 percent of all filings. (Source: AACER, the American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2010)  This is a 28% jump in one year!

19)     Nevada surpassed Tennessee atop the listing of bankruptcies per capita, with more than 11 bankruptcies filed for every 1,000 residents. Tennessee and Georgia took the second and third slots behind the Silver State. Compared to 2009 third-quarter data, the biggest mover was Arizona, which rose six spots from No. 21 to No. 15. At the other end of the scale is Alaska, which had only 1.4 bankruptcy per capita, meaning the average Nevadan was eight times more likely to file bankruptcy than the average Alaskan. (Source: AACER, the American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2010)

20)   From Q3 2008 to Q1 2009, the average TransUnion credit score fell 6 points to 651, the credit bureau says. Scores fell even further in the some economically challenged states: California fell 10 points and Arizona, 11. (Source: USAToday.com, April 2009)  In one quarter and this trend continues!

21)      On average, today’s consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, and bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically not reported to a credit bureau). Of these 13 credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards and four are likely to be installment loans. (Source: myfico.com)

22)  Corpus Christi, Texas, residents have America’s worst credit scores. (Source: Men’s Health magazine’s personal debt survey, July 2008)

23)   Sioux Falls, S.D., boasts America’s best credit scores. (Source: Men’s Health magazine’s personal debt survey, July 2008)

24)      Miami residents are the biggest overspenders, one study says. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas were ranked in terms of percent of median yearly household income owed to credit card companies and Miami residents owed 22.61 percent. Tampa (17.1 percent) and Los Angeles (16.81 percent) came in second and third, respectively. (Source: Forbes.com, Equifax and US Census Bureau, April 2009)

25)  What credit score do I need to get a mortgage loan?   This is one of the most  common questions we have received from home buyers over the years. New data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency revealed some interesting trends about credit scores and mortgage loans.

According to the report, 84% of mortgage loans purchased by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae came from borrowers with credit scores of 660 or above. The data pertained to single-family mortgage loans acquired by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae between 2001 and 2008.  Fannie and Freddie are the government-sponsored enterprises that purchase mortgage loans from direct lenders and sell them to investors.

Only 5% of “Enterprise-acquired” mortgages came from borrowers with credit scores below 620. What does this mean?

Credit Scores are king! If your credit scores are low it’s time to do something about it!

If you’ve come across some Crazy Credit Facts reply with a comment and share the fun,  some days I just can’t get enough of these crazy little tidbits!

Be Bold!

The post 25 Crazy Credit Facts… appeared first on National Credit Federation.

A story for FederalNewsRadio.com written by Suzanne Kubota says that:

If you can’t pay your bills, you can’t keep your job.

That’s what it has come down to for 39 employees at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The employees have been terminated or indefinitely suspended after they were found “ineligible” to meet security requirements of the job.

The article titled “DFAS employees fired after security review” goes on to mention that the decision to fire those employees included background checks. The article does not specify how the background checks were performed but did give this information:

The background checks included financial delinquencies, bankruptcies, liens, tax liens and the like.

It seems likely that the DFAS performed a credit check on these current employees to determine whether they were able to meet the security requirements of their job.

Though the article states that it is “unusual” for an employee to be removed from their job for strictly financial issues, it may be a harbinger of things to come. Or it might be a new way for difficult-to-fire employees to be removed from their post.

Either way, in this current market, whether you have a job or are currently looking for a job, taking care of your credit is becoming a bigger part in job security.

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