Joshua Heckathorn

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Joshua Heckathorn

Joshua Heckathorn is a credit expert and has been featured on CNNMoney, FOX Business, Yahoo Finance, The Street, and many other national publications during the past twenty years.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Management (Finance) from Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business and earned his MBA from Seattle University.

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Recent Blogs

"Damage Points" Chart Better Than Nothing

December 1st, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

[caption id="attachment_1056" align="alignleft" width="183" caption=" "]Random NumbersPhoto by Irargerich[/caption] Liz Pulliam Weston, the popular personal-finance columnist, recently released an article on MSN Money entitled "5 ways to kill your credit scores". I actually follow most of Ms. Weston's RSS feeds, but for some reason I skipped over this one during my daily dive through credit-related news. I'm not sure why I skipped it. It must have been the name—it didn't really spark my interest. For whatever reason, I just assumed it was another one of those articles preaching the same old advice about credit scores. You know how they go, right? Pay your bills on time, keep your credit utilization ratio low, and avoid bankruptcy, or else you can kiss your good credit score goodbye.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

The panic-stricken days of Thanksgiving 2008 may be nothing more than a distant memory, but the fact is the economy still stinks. Unemployment has surpassed the 10 percent mark, credit markets have continued to tighten, and times are just plain rough for a lot of American families. It can be downright depressing at times.

Low Pay, Inc. Charged with Deceptive Marketing

November 16th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

[caption id="attachment_1019" align="alignleft" width="90" caption=" "]Low Pay, Inc. Charged with Deceptive MarketingPhoto by HikingArtist.com[/caption]

How can a company find customers willing to pay almost $400 in fees for a credit card that will only finance 30% of purchases from a single catalog? It's hard to imagine, but the FTC seems to have caught one dead in its tracks.

According to a press release issued on November 3rd, a formal complaint was issued in federal court alleging that Low Pay, Inc. used deceptive mailers to market its card to consumers with credit problems, charging them hundreds of dollars in up-front fees and often reneging on its refund policy. In response, Low Pay has apparently agreed to pull the plug on its questionable practices while they battle it out with the FTC.

The actual complaint explains in more detail how the FTC believes Low Pay pulled this whole thing off. Here's what was allegedly going down:

No Credit Card? Get Some Credit Before it's Too Late

November 11th, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn

The Credit CARD Act of 2009, signed into law by President Obama on May 22nd, just cleared a major hurdle in its path to early adoption. As reported on CNNMoney.com last week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new bill which would move the effective date for credit card reforms from February 2010 to December 1st. That's just under three weeks from today!

Don't Get Fooled: Opt Out of Opting In

November 3rd, 2009 by Joshua Heckathorn
GrouchoPhoto by Mykl Roventine

Should you opt out, opt in, opt in to opting out, or opt out of opting in?

So many choices!  But when it comes to over-the-limit fees, there's only one answer in my mind— opting out.

One of the major provisions in the CARD Act of 2009 is that banks will no longer be able to charge over-the-limit fees unless customers choose to be allowed to make purchases in excess of their credit limits.  So, you will have the right to "opt out" of over-the-limit fees, which are often as high as $39, by simply telling your bank you would rather live within your credit limit.

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