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PROPERTY LOAN ALERT
for property investors
and home buyers
Do you need credit repair or
debt consolidation? Is it best to use a firm or do it
yourself?
Once a year, I order my free credit report from Veda, which
holds a data bank of about 10 million Australian credit
files.
I check it over for errors, information that needs updating,
and so forth. I have not needed to complain to Veda to
correct an error, but 3 out of 10 Australians who order
their credit report have needed to do so. The correction
process is called credit repair, and is especially useful
before applying for a loan so as to improve your credit
score.
If I need time to pay a debt, I contact the company I owe
money to directly and agree on payment terms. But many
Australians are permanently stretched financially with car
loans, credit card debts, and electricity bills. And so for
these 31% who suffer financial stress, good advice on debt
relief is needed. The advice could be to enter into an
informal payment arrangement, prepare a budget (and stick to
it), or take out a debt consolidation loan.
A whole industry has grown up to deal with credit repair and
debt management in Australia. The financial regulator, ASIC,
has now published an unflattering report on the industry,
finding it to be riddled with very high fees and poor
service. ASIC suggests using the free services which are
available, if you cannot do it yourself.
To look at my commentary upon the ASIC report click
Are credit repair and debt relief
companies worth using? ASIC has its doubts.
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