Quick Credit Cards

The Federal Reserve last week released the long-awaited new credit card rules, which specify how the provisions of the Credit CARD Act passed by Congress in May of last year are to be implemented. In the new rules, which will take effect on February 22, the Fed takes aim at some of the new variable rate credit card tricks card issuers have introduced over the past year.

Since the law was passed, card issuers have been busy finding ways to minimize the effects of the new rules on their bottom line, hiking credit card interest rates and penalty fees and inventing new fees and novel, obscure tactics to extract money from cardholders.

Variable rate credit cards in particular have been a target for card issuers’ efforts. W

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A bad credit score can keep you from doing a lot of things – buying a house, getting a credit card, and yes, it can even keep you from getting a date. I recently discovered a dating website that helps people mate based on their credit score. I can’t help but think the dependency on credit scores has gone too far. What do you think? Does credit matter when you’re choosing a date? Would you date or marry someone with bad credit?

• Yes, credit has nothing to do with love
• I could date, but not marry
• No, I wouldn’t date or marry someone with bad credit
• Something else (leave in comments)

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Are you being contacted about an old debt? The statute of limitations on that debt may have passed, preventing you from being sued over the debt. Each state has a different statute of limitations on debt like credit cards and loans, so make sure you know the statute in your state before agreeing to pay an old debt.

More on Debt Statute of Limitations

• Debt Statute of Limitations Overview
• Sample Statute of Limitations Letter For Debt Collectors
• Why an Expired Debt May Be Listed on Your Credit Report

Your credit rating plays a vital role in your ability to be approved for secured loans. It is ideal to have a credit score over 700 with the max being 850, although most banks only require a credit score of 620 for some loans. It is easier to get secured loans such as a mortgage or car loans then an unsecured personal loan. In these cases if your score is below 680 your odds of being approved are slim. Even if you are your interest rate will be very high, the lower your score, the higher the interest rate.

Getting a secured loan, such as a home loan, in Ireland when you have bad credit can be a challenging task. Most people unfortunately do not know what their credit is really like nor their credit score.

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