Kevin Trudeau Debt Cures Reviews

Kevin Trudeau Debt Cures Book Reviews of Chapter Fifteen

After giving us information over the last several chapters on how to get out of debt and stay out of debt, in Chapter 15 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau goes back to his attack on lenders in the United States. Each year credit card companies pay millions of dollars in lawsuits for fraudulent actions committed against their customers. Recently, it was shown that one credit card company had their employees hold or shred customers’ checks so that they could charge late fees, while another charged customers for services that they never ordered. Imagine, being required to refund millions of dollars a year and still the credit card companies are highly profitable.

One credit card company took the liberty of changing the monthly due date of its customers. Only they didn’t bother to point out the change and must people realized it changed only after they noticed the late fee penalty on their next bill. That’s why you need to read your monthly statement carefully and call to question and complain when there is a charge that should not be there. Keep fighting back. That’s what a resident of Minnesota did. She signed up due to a low, fixed interest rate. A few months later she noticed that the interest rate went up. So she contacted the credit card company and she contacted the Minnesota state attorney’s office. She knew her rights and she fought back. Credit card companies spend millions of dollars a year on marketing campaigns because they think they can get the money back.

Make sure you are not a victim of any company schemes. Trudeau says you should file a complaint if you suspect anything shady. The first place to start is with your state’s Attorney General’s office. While the federal government may not do much, your state most likely has an office to investigate consumer issues. Most lawsuits against credit card companies are filed by attorney generals, and most of them are initiated due to average citizens like yourself taking the time to complain. While the federal government does little about credit card companies, your local congressman just might. Remember to contact them; they are ultimately responsible to you. You elect them to office; not the credit card company’s contribution. Make sure they are reminded of that.

Trudeau also provides contact information for other government offices to contact. And if you are worried about what to say, Trudeau also gives details on the information you should be providing. Remember it’s your money and you need to fight to keep it.

 Watch out for a little tactic call Universal Default. Universal default is legal, but Trudeau screams about how unfair it is. An example of Universal default is when you make a late payment to company A and they raise your rate because of it. Then, other companies are now allowed to increase their rate to you even if you have never missed a payment with them. Trudeau says the average default interest rate is 24%. Imagine if this happened while you were in school. You turned in homework late in English class, and now you math teacher lowers your grade as well. Kevin Trudeau encourages you to call your congressman and complain. Debt Cures teaches you how to fight back.

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Kevin Trudeau Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen

Home Sweet Home. If you already own your own home then you are on your way to financial stability. A home not only provides roots and stability in your life, but it is also a good investment. In Chapter 13 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau points out that it makes so much more sense investing in a home which will build equity, than to be paying rent and never seeing the money again. If you have a 30 year mortgage, Trudeau says that he can help you reduce how long you will have to pay on the mortgage and thus save thousands in interest payments.

Repeating the theme of a good credit score, Trudeau points out that by having a higher credit score, you can get a lower interest rate. One example he shows is a person with 720 credit score paying about $500 less a month on a $200,000 mortgage than a person with a 500 credit score. If you have been able to improve your credit score, now is the time to shop around for a lower interest rate. Use the savings from the better rate to pay down other debt or to pay ahead on your mortgage if you can.

Another fee banks charge on mortgages is the Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI is charged when you have less than 20% equity in your home. The banks charge PMI each month to reduce their risk on your mortgage. Check with your bank to see if you are being charged PMI and how much it costs each month. If you own more than 20% of your home you should verify with the bank that the PMI charge has been removed from your monthly bill. Try avoiding the PMI like the plague. If you can try to get a loan from a family member to get it paid off then do so. Kevin Trudeau also mentions other ways in Debt Cures to increase your equity to get rid of PMI. You can put that money to better use.

When refinancing your home, don’t fall for any interest rate gimmicks. Trudeau recommends you stay away from variable rates and get a fixed rate loan. Make sure there are no penalties for early repayment. There are ways to reduce or shave years off your mortgage. One way is to pay more than your monthly payment. Since you might not be able to afford that, consider splitting your mortgage payment. Set up mortgage payments to be made automatically each time you get paid. You’ll save thousands over the life of a mortgage and could reduce a 30 year mortgage down to a 25 year mortgage. Be creative! Just make sure you check with your lender first so that they won’t hit you with any fees.

In Chapter 14 Trudeau encourages you to stay away from bankruptcy unless it is absolutely necessary to do so. Thousands of Americans are declaring bankruptcy each year, you probably know someone who has. Ask them if it has helped them. Chances are they are now having problems with their credit because they have a poor credit score and can’t get a good rate. Bankruptcy lawyers may be the only ones benefiting from the increase in bankruptcies in the United States.

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Kevin Trudeau Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapters Eleven and Twelve

Chapter 11 of Debt Cures is titled Show Me the Money. Kevin Trudeau is not talking about Jerry Maguire. Instead, he begins talking about ways to create wealth now that you’ve gotten your debt under control. Remember that improving you credit score saves you money.

You’ve gotten your credit report, you’ve fixed it, you are now monitoring your score (and if you are not sure how to monitor your debt, Trudeau provides you with the tools to eliminate your debt and to increase your credit scores). Trudeau provides several more tips on improving your credit score in the book. Trudeau also urges you to pay down as much debt as you can. You should never be in debt more than 30% of any credit limit provided by a credit card company.

Kevin Trudeau points out that someone with a credit score of 700 could save $100 a month in mortgage payments versus someone with a credit score of 675, and save $300 a month over someone with a credit score of 625. That’s the incentive for working hard at improving your credit score. This translates to more money in your pocket to do what you want to do or to pay down additional debt earning you more money in the future. Over the life of a mortgage you could be saving as much as $110,000 or more depending on the size of your mortgage.

There are other ways to “see the money.” Trudeau points out several tips including:

1. Paying on time – this not only saves you on penalties but will keep your credit score high.
2. Pay more – if you pay more than the minimum requirement you build up your principle while reducing your interest charges.
3. Never skip any payments, and don’t close out credit cards – make your payments and remember that having a long history with a credit card company improves your credit score. So don’t be quick to cut up your cards.

There are several other tips and of course, Trudeau provides details on each tip. Remember following these tips will increase the money you retain each month.

In Chapter 12 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau points out that bad information equals bad credit. It is possible that your poor credit score might be the result of Identity Theft. Identity theft is impacting more Americans every year. It is not just you that could suffer, but banks lose millions of dollars a year thanks to identity theft. That’s another great reason to check on your credit report. It might be the first time you realize you are a victim. In addition, Trudeau maintains that you should also use a credit monitoring company. Credit monitoring not only helps protect you against identity theft but it also will help you maintain a good credit score. You should also follow basic security steps, don’t give out personal information to people you don’t trust, always log out of financial websites when you are finished with them, make sure you have up to date antivirus and security software on your computer.

This is all part of Kevin Trudeau’s continuing Debt Cures to take charge of your life and your finances.

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Kevin Trudeau Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapter Ten

You’ve taken control of your financial well being. You’ve gotten copies of your credit reports, reviewed them and corrected the errors on them. Now you are going to stay on top of your finances, pay your bills on time and not allow the credit companies to constantly hit you with fees and penalties. In Chapter 10 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau goes into further details regarding your credit score and how to begin to use it for your advantage, not for someone else’s.

Your credit score is calculated using an algorithm, a fancy word for complex mathematical formula. After all your information is thrown into a computer your score will come out between 300 and 850 points. In the past the banks wanted to lend only to people with high scores, because they represent the lowest risk. Now they want to lend to people with average or below average scores, because the profits are in the penalties, fees and additional interest they earn when you get behind in payments.

Remember your credit score is nothing personal. The credit reporting companies do not take into consideration your weight, race, religion or nationality. They don’t care if you root for the New York Yankees or the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a cold hard look at your financial numbers. They are looking at how your financial numbers are painting your life. Not only do creditors look at your credit score, but many employers will check your credit score as part of the hiring process.

With three credit reporting companies a good question is how will banks determine my score if all three scores are different? Trudeau explains that they will take the middle score. If you have scores of 680, 710, and 750, then your credit score will reflect the middle 710. It is not based on your average. Each company uses a slightly different formula to compile your score so it is not uncommon to have three different scores. Also, there is a difference between your credit score and your credit report. The score is simply your number, the report provides details such as how much you owe and who you owe it to.

In general, there are five areas that go into your score:

1. Payment history
2. Amounts you owe
3. Length of your credit history
4. Types of credit used
5. New credit.

Trudeau provides details on each of these areas along with their importance.

Banks will almost always use credit reports from all three companies while department stores may only use one. So it is important that you get and clean up all three credit reports. Remember the companies have to provide you with a free credit report annually thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It may also be advantageous to pay a small fee to get an updated credit report a few months after your review, to see if the corrections have been made and to see how much your score has improved. With an improved credit score, you can now save hundreds or thousands of dollars by improving the interest rate on current and future credit. You’ve started down the right path to curing the debt, now Kevin Trudeau wants to keep you moving down that path in future chapters of Debt Cures.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapters Eight and Nine

In chapter 7 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau said that you can fight back against credit card companies by getting your credit report. In chapters 8 and 9, Trudeau explains further why you need to fight back, and provides details on getting and improving your credit report. Remember, the higher your credit scores the better for you. The best way to improve your score is to get your credit report so you can find out what you need to do.

There are three companies in the United States that create credit reports, and each of the companies is required to provide you with a copy of the report at your request once a year. Don’t worry, Trudeau provides you with the contact information for each of the companies. So getting you report is easy. Once you get your report you will need to go over it thoroughly.

There are four main areas on your report: 1.) Personal Information, 2.) Credit Information, 3.) Public Record Information, and 4.) Inquiries.

Personal information is your name, date of birth, address etc. This is very important as it is not uncommon to find someone else’s information here. Imagine seeing that someone with the same name as yours in another city has bad credit, and it’s showing up on your report. This is a quick and easy fix.

Credit information is the good, the bad, and the ugly. This will show your loan and credit history. Make sure this is accurate, if you have paid off a loan, and the report shows it is still active, you will want to get this straightened out.

Public Record information could be a legal judgment or a tax lien. Again, you want to verify that the information is accurate.

The last section is inquiries. This is the part of the report that shows who is checking you out. Each time someone checks your credit history it will show up on this report. Every credit card that you have applied for will show up on this report, and each inquiry will bring down your credit score. That’s why you should not be applying for every credit card offer in the mail or at every store in your local mall.

Your credit score will fall between 300 and 850 reports. The higher the better, if you are average or slightly below average, then the credit card companies will come after you because you are likely to get behind slightly and they make money off of you.

Trudeau lists several ways to improve your credit. The most important thing involves contacting the credit reporting companies so that you can correct any inaccuracies. This can be done on the telephone, online or by snail mail. The dispute process is free, and must be completed by the companies within 30 days. If they cannot justify the dispute you win and it will be taken off of your report. Make sure you check each of the three reports carefully, as an error may only be on one of the reports. If it is on all three reports, then you will have to open three disputes. Again, Trudeau lays it all out clearly in Debt Cures.

As Kevin Trudeau maintains throughout Debt Cures, you need to take control and be in charge of your financial life and not allow the credit card companies to run your life.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapter Seven

In chapter 7 of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau rallies the troops to fight back against credit card companies. The lenders are fighting dirty, so Trudeau urges consumers to fight back. Lenders are like the bullies you had to face on your elementary school playground. Debt Cures describes how to win the fight. Again Trudeau asserts that Americans are in debt not because of their spending habits, but because lenders are looking for ways to get you into debt and keep you in debt.

To fight back Trudeau says you must take a good look at your current financial situation. If you were sick, then you would want your doctor to give a thorough examination before diagnosing the illness and before issuing orders for your recovery. The same with your financial health take a good look at how you got into the situation, but more importantly know your current finances to help you fight back. Trudeau wants to show you how to get out of bad debt and then use good debt to build wealth. No longer do you need to be bullied around, it is time to win.

The best place to start to determine your financial health is with your credit report and your credit score. The credit card companies and other lenders will always use these to determine the amount of credit they’ll give you and your interest rate. The higher the score, the better for you. Don’t go into bankruptcy when there are ways to get you out of debt without the sting of bankruptcy.

There are three lending companies in the United States who provide credit reports to lenders. They use a scoring system which grades you between 300 and 850 points. Unlike golf, you want as high of score as possible. The three companies will look at how deep in debt you are, how much available credit you have, whether you pay your bills on time and other detailed information about your finances. What they want to determine is will you repay this debt. It is strictly a numbers game; it doesn’t look at anything other than your current or past finances. While it is a good tool for lenders to have, the credit report can be a poor system for consumers.

While you would think that only a few people would get to look at your credit report, you might be surprised at who can view it. In addition to your bank or credit card company, your current employer or a prospective employer can review your credit report, as can your insurance company or your landlord. To no surprise, the government also has access to your credit report. The good news is you are also entitled to see your credit report. In the coming chapters of Debt Cures, Trudeau will go into detail on not only how to get your credit report, but also how to read the report, and how to improve your score. This will help you create wealth for yourself and to win the fight against high debt and the lenders.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapter Six - Cut Your Rate

In Chapter six of Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau writes that credit card companies entice you to use their credit cards then hit you with high interest rates, penalties and fees when you can’t pay the full balance on time. With Americans averaging $8,000 in credit card debt, it is easy to see how the credit card companies are making exorbitant profits. In chapters four and five of Debt Cures, Trudeau told you how to negotiate and eliminate your debt. If those cures don’t work, in chapter six, Trudeau shows you how you can reduce your interest rate.

If your credit card company can raise your interest rates with little or no warning, then you have the right to ask them to bring them back down. Say you owe $2,000 to a credit card company; you could be paying up to 24% interest on the money. Trying to pay the interest while paying down the balance and meeting any new charges is nearly impossible. Trudeau suggests that you call up the credit card company and ask for a reduction in the rate. Be armed and ready when you make the call, check today’s mail and see if you have a credit card offer from a competitor. When you get the operator ask the operator what your current rate is. If they respond 19.6%, then respond with why should I keep my account open with you, when credit card A is offering 0 percent for six months followed by a 10% interest rate. Use the leverage from one company to drive down the rate. If the operator won’t help, ask for their supervisor. The most important thing to remember is to be persistent. There are hundreds of operators; some will be helpful others will not. If the first person is not helpful call back the next day or later that day until you get someone who will be. Remember, depending on the size of your debt, a small drop in the interest rate can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars over the life of a debt. And just like he did in previous chapters, Kevin Trudeau helps you in chapter six with the details on exactly what to say.

There are a couple of other pitfalls that Trudeau warns you about in chapter six. First, he warns you to stay away from bankruptcy. Bankruptcy lawyers will tell you it helps (but it most likely helps only their checking accounts) but bankruptcy will hurt your credit score and credit report and make it difficult to create wealth in the future. Beware of credit repair agencies as they could hurt your future credit score as well. Also, it’s always better to cut your rate than to consolidate your debt. Say you owe several companies, if you can lower the interest rates on each of the debts, you will probably save more money in the long than you would by consolidating. Trudeau also offers information on finding a reputable credit counseling agency if that is the route you need to go.

Many people live in fear of their debt, but Trudeau maintains that you can break free of that fear. Eliminate, negotiate and cut the rate are the first three Debt Cures that Kevin Trudeau introduces. It’s all part of fighting back.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapters Four and Five

Kevin Trudeau talked about the ways that credit card companies and banks are ripping off American consumers in Chapters One thru Three of his book Debt Cures. In Chapters Four and Five, he begins to lay out the cures to your debt problems. And his debt cures may be easier to use than you might be thinking. If you follow his steps, Trudeau promises debt reduction of 50%, 75% or even 100%.

One thing to remember about credit card companies is that after time, they will write off an old debt for the tax advantage. Once that happens, you may not owe them anything. What’s more, if you are getting calls from a collection agency they may be a “scavenger debt collector.” These are the lowest forms of debt collectors. They purchase uncollectable debt from credit card companies for pennies on the dollar, then use any means necessary to extort the money from you, at potentially high profits. But what the scavengers don’t want you to know is that “paying a debt that is too old is NOT required of you.” There is a statute of limitations on every debt, a sort of expiration date for debt. If the date has passed, you no longer legally owe the money and are not required to pay. The statute of limitations varies from state to state, generally from three to six years. For your convenience, Trudeau has included a chart showing the statute of limitations for each of the 50 states.

You can be armed for your next collection call. When the call comes, just tell the person on the other end of the phone that the debt is no longer collectable and that it has expired. You can sit tight and zip your lip. Trudeau warns that you should never admit that the debt is owed (that could start a new time period). Simply state that the debt is not collectable and hang up. End of discussion. You do not need to live in fear of collectors if you know your rights.

Since not every debt that you have will be old, you may have to learn the next cure; how to negotiate. When a credit card company or collection agency calls regarding a current debt, you have the right to negotiate how you will pay the debt, and you can even negotiate the amount down. Trudeau recommends creating your own financial statements to show creditors. A balance sheet shows your assets versus your liabilities; while an income statement will show your income and expenses. Don’t worry about the difficulty of the statements, Trudeau provides samples for you to review. He also recommends taking them to an accountant to verify. Then, armed with the financial statements, you can show your creditors whether or not you can pay the full debt. Since most companies would rather accept some payment on a debt versus none, you are now in a position to greatly reduce your debt.

Remember, that while it may sound difficult to construct the statements, Trudeau has samples in the book, and takes the time to review in detail how to prepare them. By sitting tight on old debts, and negotiating on your newer debt you can greatly reduce your debt and in many cases eliminate them completely.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapter Three

In chapter three, titled “Hanky Panky”, Kevin Trudeau starts out saying that Debt Cures will show you the way to true financial independence and financial wealth and to no longer enslaved to debt.

According to Trudeau, Americans are too trusting. We do not know that the federal government is getting in the way of our financial independence. Further, the Feds are aware of the games that are played by the credit card companies and the banking industry. Why doesn’t the federal government do something to help stop us from going further into debt? Because we don’t contribute to their re-election campaigns and the banks do. Combined debt by Americans is at a record $6.7 trillion dollars, and Trudeau makes the statement that the average working person spends 90% of their disposable income in paying down debts (again, I wish he would attribute that statistic). Debt is an epidemic but the federal government is looking the other way. Americans are faced with such stress from debt that many fear getting out of bed, yet Trudeau states the federal government is partners with the lenders.

There are four problem areas that Trudeau sees with this union. First is bankruptcy; personal bankruptcy is at an all time high with one in fifty Americans having filed bankruptcy. With debt so high, the government recently took actions to make it more difficult to file for bankruptcy. This protects the banks and credit card companies but not consumers. I wish Trudeau would say what the government should do for consumers, but I’m sure that’s coming later. Next, Trudeau asserts that it’s not the borrowers who are out of control, it’s the lenders. We wouldn’t be in so much debt if it wasn’t so easy to borrow, and the reason lenders make it easy to borrow is so they collect on the fees and penalties they are allowed to issue because it’s legal by the government. And if the banks want to do something different, they get their cronies in Congress to change the law. Third is the subprime mortgage crisis. This was brought on according to Trudeau by the government and the banks, with the government encouraging the banks to make risky loans so the government can take credit for creating new home ownership while the banks then get to foreclose and gobble up valuable property. Finally there is a student loan scandal. $85 billion dollars worth of scandal. Trudeau points out that several financial aid officers at colleges and universities are collecting big bucks as kick backs from student loan companies. When the scandal is exposed, the government sits on its hands “lacking the legal authority” to do anything.

Trudeau wants us to know that “the inner workings or the entire consumer lending industry is one of the greatest travesties that this country has ever seen.” There’s a breach of trust between the government and us consumers. Not that we know this background information for the Debt Cures, Kevin Trudeau can show us how to fight back.

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Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cures Book Reviews – Chapter Two

In Chapter 2 of Debt Cures, the Credit Shakedown, Kevin Trudeau continues his assault on the credit and lending industry. Trudeau starts out with some revealing statistics about America’s credit card use. He points out that Americans’ use of credit cards is greater than the rest of the world combined and that the credit card industry draws the highest profit of any industry in the U.S. Unfortunately, Trudeau doesn’t say where he gets these statistics from. He also states that credit card banks were top contributors to President Bush’s 2000 election campaign (leaving me to wonder who funded then Vice President Al Gore’s campaign).

The average American is $8,000 in debt these days and Trudeau says it’s not trips to Rodeo Drive that is driving up debt; rather it is visits to the grocery store, gas stations and the doctor’s office. Trudeau is shifting blame for America’s debt from consumers to the lenders, asserting that Americans would pay their credit card bills on time consistently if not for life’s crises. A job loss, a divorce, or a medical illness. These are the causes that drive America further into debt according to Trudeau, not a lack of fiscal responsibility by consumers. And the greedy credit card companies wait for Americans to have a personal crisis and, instead of greeting them with compassion and help, instead greet them with late fees, penalties and higher interest rates.

The drive to pump up American’s debt and, consequently to increase the profits of the credit card companies, has lead to increased the opportunities for Americans to use their plastic. McDonalds now allows you to charge your Big Mac and fries. Trudeau alleges that this is not for your convenience, nor is it for the transaction fees they charge McDonalds. No, you can now use your credit card at the drive thru so that you will be late on your next payment, max out your card and be stuck paying fees and profits to the card companies. One would think that the federal government would step in, but Trudeau maintains that the government is in partnership with the card companies. He does not, however, show us a link between the credit companies and the government other than political contributions. Trudeau concedes the fees are legal, but states that they are unfair because they frequently change without notice and that when notice is provided, it takes a lawyer and a magnifying glass to read the fine print. Miss a payment and watch your interest rates go up, terms changing in midstream costing you thousands of dollars over the life of the credit card and nothing but pure profit for the bankers. Trudeau wonders if you know your credit score, because if you don’t the lenders certainly do. And if they notice a change in your credit rating, up goes your interest rate, keeping you further trapped in debt. Pay a late fee to Company A, and see Company B jack up your rate.

Fortunately, Kevin seems to know the credit card industry very well. By helping his readers to better understand the objectives and incentives of the industry, he is hoping that they too will be able to overcome the system. I assume that this information will be valuable in future chapters we Trudeau begins to explain the Debt Cures approach and how it can solve our credit problems. The book remains interesting in style and in content and I look forward to seeing how I can get out of the credit card mess.

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