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An article I found on the net !!! Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month By Sandra Block, USA TODAY You floss regularly, yield to oncoming traffic and use your credit cards judiciously, dutifully paying off your balance every month. You may believe that your exemplary behavior shields you from unexpected credit card fees. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Starting next year, Bank of America will charge a small number of customers an annual fee, ranging from $29 to $99. The bank has characterized the fee as experimental. But card holders who have never carried a balance or paid late fees could be among those affected. NEW RULE PROPOSED: Fed wants banks to get customer OK to pay debit card, ATM overdrafts CALCULATORS: How long will it take to pay off your debt? Citigroup, meanwhile, has started charging annual fees to card holders who don't put more than a specific amount on their cards, typically $2,400 a year. Other banks are charging inactivity fees if customers don't use their credit cards during a specific period of time. You heard that right: You could be spanked for staying out of debt. These fees are the credit card industry's response to credit card legislation that will, among other things, restrict credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates on existing balances. Credit card issuers are looking for ways to raise income before the new rules take effect in February. During the first quarter, 27% of credit card offers included annual fees, up from 18% a year earlier, according to Synovate Mail Monitor, a credit card direct-mail tracking service. Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com, says he expected credit card issuers to raise annual fees after the legislation was enacted. What he didn't expect, he says, "was that good customers were going to be hit." Fortunately, if you've paid off your balance on time every month, you probably have a good credit score. And when you have good credit, you have more choices. What to do if your card issuer starts charging an annual fee — or increases the fee you're already paying: •Call and complain. Check your credit score first to make sure you're on solid ground, says Adam Levin, founder of Credit.com, a consumer website. If you have a good score and you've been a good customer, the lender may be willing to waive the fee to keep your business. •Weigh the benefits of rewards against the annual fee. The days when you could get a rewards card with no annual fee are numbered, Arnold says. If your rewards card charges a fee, you'll need to figure out whether the value of the rewards exceeds the fee. That's not always easy to do, particularly with cards that give you airline miles, says Chris Fichera, associate editor for Consumer Reports. Rewards miles often come with restrictions and expiration dates, making it difficult to figure out how much they're worth, he says. "A lot of airline cards are not the best deal unless you can combine them with a frequent-flier plan," Fichera adds. If you're not a frequent flier, Fichera says, you're probably better off using a card that gives you cash back. As long as you can estimate how much you spend, it's easy to figure out whether you'll get enough cash back to justify the annual fee. •Leave. If your card issuer won't waive the fee, you'll have a choice: Pay the annoying fee or close your account. Unfortunately, this decision isn't as clear-cut as it sounds, because closing an account could hurt your credit score. One of the factors used to calculate your credit score is what's known as the "credit utilization ratio," which is based on the amount of credit you have outstanding as a percentage of your total available credit. When you close a credit card account, the amount of your total available credit shrinks, which could lead to a higher utilization rate. This ratio accounts for 30% of your credit score. In addition, closing an account you've owned a long time could affect your credit history, another factor used to calculate your score, Fichera says. Still, if you aren't carrying balances on your other accounts and the card is relatively new, closing your account is worth considering. Even now, there are good deals out there, particularly for card holders with good credit, Arnold says. For example, the Fidelity Rewards American Express card pays 2% of cash back to a Fidelity account, with no limits on cash rewards and no annual fee. If you don't care about rewards and just want a credit card that doesn't charge an annual fee, consider applying for a card through a credit union. Many credit union cards charge no annual fee and offer below-average interest rates. Associations, such as the USAA, which provides products and services for military personnel and their families, also offer good deals on credit cards, according to Consumer Reports. Sandra Block covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Her Your Money column appears Tuesdays. Click here for an index of Your Money columns. E-mail her at: sblock@usatoday.com. Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sandyblock

public records can stay on for 10 years after they are paid, I think. I was wondering; if they are disputed can they come off? or do they not come off via dispute?

I disputed all 3 reprts 2 1/2 weeks ago and got the results from TU today - they verified one of the accounts and was wondering if i can start the hippa letter program for that account or did i mess it up by doing a "regular" dispute first? I have not had any contact with the collection agency - ever and it was placed for collection on 06/2005 Will WhyChat's Hippa letter Program still work? If so: 1. should I wait any time since i just received the results today 2 should I ask for verification also? should i do both? 3 Would I start out by sending the pre hippa medical dispute to the cra? anything to the CA? I had 2 regular( non medical) accounts also that I disputed and they both came back verified - I will get them off my report!!!!!

I Have had 2 federal Tax liens on my reports for the last 2 years - and was wondering , has anyone ever heard of them coming off after they disputed it.? I recently disputed mine on the basis that the liens on my report are not my liens since the amounts are not correct( i did not state that in the dispute , I just said i am not the owner of theses accounts) I got a response from TU today and in results it says " new info. below" the only thing that changed on either one was they added who the plaintiff was, the IRS the reason I disputed it was the amount is not the amount I owe. Is there anything else I can do? also, I never went to court for this - all communication was done over the phone; i was on disability and they kept taking a % of my check which in turn left me not being able meet my monthly obligations due to their garnishment. I asked the IRS guy who i spoke with what I can do because with their money being taken out _ i will soon be homeless. I filled out a questionaire and was put into a staus that states you are not able to pay - but it goes on your credit report. I said put it on my report since I do need a place to live. any advice? aross

Thank you - I thought you overlooked those questions

I have not disputed online w/ equifax recently

Thank you for the reply BonBon!! I think I was reading somewhere that, i should not interact with the cra's while i am disputing(have not got response from dispute letter). So , you feel i should get rid of all the names ans addresses from exp. next? 1- can I dispute names & addresses while i am in dispute status( they received the dispute letters about 2 1/2 wks. ago)- or should i wait the 30 - 45 days then proceed 2- what is the time they have for their response , 30 or 45 days?

I have been reading- sometimes too much. I just don't want to start doing or sending things that will mess my credit repair process up!!! There is so much info to absorb !!! Thank you Breeze

All three cra's sent me letters that have nothing to do with my disputes. Is that normal? they do not even acknowledge that i am disputing. in fact, the letters sound like they are done with me!!! I guess i should wait the month and see if i get a reply

I was hoping no one saw my error!!!!!

Thank you very much!! It seems weird that My credit report from them was printed out before they even signed the green card... by a whole day. I used to work for the USPS and know some shady thing go on. I was just thinking that the mailman lets them keep the green cards a day or two before they get re-shipped.. Remember they had my credit report printed before they even got my letter!!! I am hoping WHY CHAT reads this , as he seems really knowledgable in this whole process; I appreciate your 2 cents also!!! Thank you again and good luck on your journey. aross

I sent the disputes before I read whynots site about hippa and medical - If someone could just guide me towards my next plan of attack

Hi all, Last summer I disputed some things on my cr's and was successful in getting some tl'd deleted. some came back verified. I then did nothing. several weeks ago I I opted out then waited a week and disputed all the medical collections on all three reports - I mailed them cmrrr and got all green cards - now i will wait - 45 days.. experian signed for their green card on the 9th- but on the 8th they printed my credit report and shipped it to me. It arrived the same day as the green card!!! 1. Why did they send me a credit report? 2. How did they know To print my report, remember, they signed the green card the day after my credit report was printed.- What day did they really receive my dispute??. Maybe it is mail fraud? Holding the green cards an extra day or two!!! well anyway ,all of my disputed Tl's are beyond the sol - I know I should of sent a different type of letter (hippa) to get the medical tl's removed - I just got so confused reading this site!!!! I sent out the disputes when I thought I had a moment of clarity- I guess I was wrong. My questions are: 1 why did experian send a credit report right after/before they got my dispute letter? 2 Can I still send the hippa letter to remove the medical Tl's? if tis dispute letter does not work? how long should I wait? 3 A couple of the medical tl"s i disputed last year were verified - what can I do now? Is it to late for hippa Letter experian has 34 different addresses and 27 different name variations for me- I konw I should have disputed these first - I think I am creating more of a problem than what i had before If anyone would be willing to steer/guide me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it smack me if i do anything stupid Thank You, aross

For the past several weeks I have been reading the posts every night and I got myself way to confused. Here is what I did .... from the beginning Lat year i got all my reports and disputed some stuff... My reports were/are very bad there were: 14 -17 charge offs 2 federal tax liens many differents names many different addresses I got some of the co's off and a couple of the names came off. unfortunately i stopped after that the majority of my charge offs were hospital bills from 2005 but a couple came back as verified Turn the clock to sept 2009 I get all three reports again and here is what I find equifax: 2 good accounts ( car and cc) 2 closed accounts (negatives) 3 collections- all hospitals experian 2 public records - federal tax lien 9 credit items- (8 are health care -doctors and hospitals) a couple say they were verified a lot of inquiries - car dealer trying to get me a loan 18 DIFFERENT NAMES - CRAZY 34 DIFFERENT ADDRESSES - THIS IS CRAZY most of the names are variations of my name I did move a lot but not 34 times trans union public record 2 federal tax liens 7 adverse accounts ( 5 hospital and doctors one bank and phone co.) 12 inquiries ( from trying to get car loan OK - if you are still with me ; The first thing I did was opt out from whynots credit opt out..this was 2 weeks ago then last week I disputed most of the bad tl's in all 3 reports the only ones i did not dispute were the ones that they said were verified from experian from re-reading i know i should not have disputed the tl's first. but it is done. what should my next course of action be??? by the way the majority of the hospital bill are from 2005 If anyone can steer me in the right direction _ Please help ross