I did something really stupid, and it was all because of what I read in a book.

This was many years ago, before I knew anything about how to build and protect my good credit.

I was a single mom at the time, just making ends meet, working as a receptionist for The Southland Corporation. It was a fun job when vendors stopped in and gave me all kinds of free samples, in hopes of getting an audience with an executive who would buy their product to sell in the 7-Eleven Stores nationwide. It was also incredibly boring at times, and that is why I started drinking coffee. Anyway…

On $7/hour, I managed to pay my rent every month as well as my other bills. I didn’t have many bills, because without much money, I didn’t spend a lot. However–

I did have a Macy’s account with a balance. It was from clothes purchased for my kids and myself. Then I read something in a book.

It said if you can’t pay all your bills, it is no big deal to skip a store credit card.

So I decided to skip payment for the month. No big deal, right? It’s not like rent where you have to pay or get kicked out of your apartment.

When my Macy’s bill came the next month, I was a little shocked to see how much interest had piled up. I’d been used to not paying interest since I normally paid off the bill each month.

Not only that, but there was a late fee, too. Yowzers! That was a lot of extra money I now owed, and that hurt, because I didn’t have extra money to throw away. Not on my small income.

I called Macy’s and apologized and asked if they would waive the extra charges. That was mistake #2. I had just admitted my guilt.

They said no. Of course they did. So I paid the extra interest and late fee; but the pain to come was much worse.

The next year, I got a new job and my income improved. The sale of the house from my divorce went through, and I received my half of the proceeds. Now I was ready to buy a modest home and stop renting.

I didn’t know anything about mortgage loans at the time, so I relied on the loan officer to guide me through the process.

To my complete and total SHOCK, I learned that I could not qualify for the best and cheapest loan –the conventional loan. Why? It was all because that one late payment to Macy’s had torpedoed my credit score! My otherwise perfect credit was shot all to smithereens!!!

I had to take the FHA loan. That meant paying the 1.75% upfront fee and paying more in monthly mortgage insurance.

I was so mad at the author of that book for saying skipping a store credit card payment was “no big deal.” What a load of garbage advice that was!!!

Lesson learned the hard way.

That painful lesson led to my journey to learn everything I could about credit, to entering the mortgage business, to entering the credit repair business, to getting my certificate at a credit education for 20 hours completed, to interviewing top executives at Fannie Mae, TransUnion, Equifax, and more. It took a good decade to acquire boots-on-the-ground knowledge and to gain insider experience.

Now, I urge you to save yourself and your family from going through the financial pain I went through. Take a quick read through Build and Protect Your Credit Like the Pros (see here), and I promise you that you will have the equivalent of getting a Masters Degree in Credit Scoring (if there was such a thing).

If only my younger self had been able to read the book my older self had written! Ha! God bless you on your journey through life and may all your credit decisions be good ones.

Available in paperback and Kindle

Are you holding out on buying a home, waiting for a better interest rate?

I know people who did that — for 10 YEARS! — and rates never got better.

But prices went up. And they lost out.

What about now? What’s going on with mortgage rates and what is the Fed doing?

 When the Federal Reserve Board met last week, the decision not to change rates was unanimous.

The market read the atmosphere as leaning towards future rate increases based upon recent inflation trends.

We will find out more about the tone of the meeting when the minutes are released in a few weeks. But generally, those who are expecting immediate relief from high interest rates are likely to be disappointed. There are generally two reasons for this likelihood.

First, Chairman Warsh has indicated a preference for shrinking the Fed’s $6.7 trillion dollar balance sheet. This activity is known as quantitative tightening and can put upward pressure upon interest rates.

Second, it is not likely that the Fed will be disposed to lower interest rates anytime soon due to the fact that inflation is currently elevated. The recent strong jobs report gives the Fed room to stay neutral at this juncture because the economy is showing no signs of slipping into a recession. Of course, geopolitical events in places such as Iran could always alter this scenario.

The best advice I can give you is to get your credit and finances in order as fast as you can. Make that a priority.

For sure, with a credit score of 740 or higher, you will qualify for an excellent conventional loan. And if your score is at least 700, you can get financing.

Why not pick up a piece of inspiration and information on managing finances? Credit Repair Mindset is one of my personal favorites. You can see it here.

Experts have pointed to the monthly employment report as the bellwether of economic indicators. It makes sense. After all, it is working people who power the economy. When jobs are plentiful, the economy is typically humming along. And when unemployment rises, we are typically heading for a recession.

That has changed.

During the past year and a half, in regard to predictions and analysis, we are in unchartered territory. The economy has created fewer jobs in the past year than any non-recessionary period in memory. But that’s not the whole story.

There are so many factors in play this year that it’s hard to predict whether this pace of job creation will be a new normal. Certainly, elevated inflation numbers will also be an important part of the equation. One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment when you are talking about our nation’s economy and the world’s economy as well.*

So far this year, and again this week, mortgage rates have remained stable. There have been the little blips and bumps, but overall, we’d have to call the interest rates flat.*

For now, mortgage rates in the mid-6% range seems to be holding steady. Only God knows what the future will bring.

*Many thanks to Origination Pro and Mortgage News Daily for this information.

News from National Credit Fixers, Matt Liistro:

NY has passed one of the most Consumer-friendly laws against Predatory Debt Collection. Let’s take a quick glance at it and then how you can leverage it for yourself or for your clients if you are a credit repair specialist.

Called the SHIELD law (The Stop Harassment and Intimidation and Ensuring Lawful Debt SHIELD) – goes into effect Sept 1, 2026

I encourage you to read the full bill – I am only hitting a couple of high points here.

1) The collector is only allowed three attempted communications per week across all channels of communication.

2) The consumer is allowed to demand cease and desist by oral communication. (Just tell them on the phone, writing not required.)

3) They must give you Written Notice 14 days prior to attempting collection of time barred debt.

4) They must send you written notice of the collection at least 14 days prior to credit bureau reporting and monitor for undeliverability.

5) For accounts covered after Sept 1 2026 a first dispute would trigger a mandatory cease collection obligation unless or until a verification is provided within 60 days.

6) Consumers will now be allowed to dispute anywhere in the lifecycle of the debt by oral, written, or electronic methods.

7) Original Creditors CAN be considered Debt collectors when they begin to engage in collection activity such as when they stop sending periodic statements, acerated a debt, or threaten to or take legal action.

It is very important to point out that under the SHIELD law there is NO private right of action! This means consumers can not sue for violations. An effective use of this law would be to threaten to inform the New York City Department of Consumer and Workers Protection (DCWP) to get the accounts removed when violations are found.

If you are an attorney practicing in New York, I would be very interested in your opinion of this new, coming SHIELD Law.

Many thanks to Matt Liistro, owner of National Credit Fixers for this news.

Maybe they thought it would be so easy: grab some dispute letters and invite people to sign up for credit repair.

They figured they could make a bundle of money. Then they had an even more lucrative idea.

Give people the opportunity to start their own businesses, under their umbrella. That way, they would skim profits off multiple credit repair companies.

Soon they were rolling in the dough. They collected $50 million from consumers who signed up. They purchased a mansion and expensive cars.

Then the Feds came investigating.

The Feds label them “a deceptive business opportunity and credit repair scheme.” I have to wonder if they even investigated what the federal and state laws are for operating a credit repair business… ?

The verdict: A judgement for $48,597,538. Wowzers! They have to give up all cash, sell their mansion and cars and turn over all money to be distributed to the victims. (I hope you aren’t one of the victims, but if so, you should get some money back.)

The lesson: don’t start a credit repair business without first learning the laws. Be aware that each state has its own individual laws, and they are not the same. For example, California requires that the client signs certain forms unique to California.

If you would like to read the juicy details about it, see here.

Earlier today, I posted about many credit repair companies outsourcing their work — sending your credit information to third world companies to save themselves time and money. HOWEVER…

I want to make clear that NOT ALL credit repair companies do this. There are the good guys in the business who handle your credit file with full confidentiality and do all the work themselves.

One of the good, ethical credit repair companies is ASAP Credit Repair USA.

USA is right in their name, and they do all of your credit repair work themselves. No outsourcing.

Another thing I like about this company — and if you have read Repair Your Credit Like the Pros — then you know this is a sore point with me — is that they don’t charge you month-by-month and purposefully drag out your work for as long as they can in order to mazimize their profits. One flat fee is what I said I prefer in my book, and that is how they do business.

I just want to make it clear that even though MANY credit repair companies outsource their work, there are the truly good guys who don’t. There are situations in which you don’t have the time it takes to do your own credit repair work, and it makes sense to hire a professional. Just make sure you ask if they outsource and choose wisely.

Do you want your credit report and all your personal information sent to the Philippines, India, Mexico, Ukraine, Poland, Colombia, or Costa Rica?

No? Neither would I! And yet, all those are destinations that many professional credit repair companies outsource their work to.

Then those third world teams are sending template letters to dispute your credit on behalf of the actual company in the USA that you signed up with.

Did they tell you that? Did they ask your permission or was it somehow in the fine print of the contract that you never noticed?

Recently, a big boo-boo happened. A group in the Philippines accidentally sent all the information they received from Credit Repair Company A to Credit Repair Company B. Thus, all the people who signed up with “A” were now in the database of “B.”

Company A was distraught because all their clients had been given away to a competitor.

Last I heard, “A” and “B” were amicably straightening it out.

But this mess would never have happened if both A and B weren’t using the same cheap source in the Philippines.

So again, I ask you: do you want your personal information outsourced to Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, or Latin America?

If not, maybe you’d be better off doing your own credit repair. You can pick up the step-by-step guide, including letters I have written myself, for less than it costs to pay for one month of hire. See here.

Do you have a bankrupcy on record? If so, see here.

I wish you all the best in building good credit in 2026!

Avoid the 50-year mortgage loan like a scam. While technically not a scam because all the terms are fully disclosed to you, it is a TERRIBLE deal for you and a big money-maker for the bank or mortgage company.

You must understand this: When borrowing money, your main “enemy” is not the interest rate. It is time!

It is paying off a loan over 30 years that makes it so you pay three times more. That is why advisors like Dave Ramsey and myself and hundreds of honest loan officers love the 15-year loan so much. It saves you a boatload of money.

But now stretch that out over 50 looooong years? Are you kidding me? The total you will pay for your home is insane!

I’ve been asked quite a few times over the past few weeks what I think of the 50-year mortgage, so let me be perfectly clear: IT IS HORRIBLE. AVOID IT. SAY NO.

You will not build up equity with the 50-year loan.

You will not own your own free-and-clear in your retirement years if you pay as agreed for 50 years.

Any questions about this, please drop a comment in the comment box. I read all comments within 24 hours.

Thank you and God bless.

Which of these reasons for not paying a bill will a credit card company be likely to accept?

1. My dog destroyed all my bills and I lost my Visa bill, so I couldn’t pay.
   
2. I got married and the wedding costs were more than what I’d budgeted for, so I didn’t have the funds last month.
   
3. I was traveling out of the country and my accountant was supposed to pay my bills, but he missed this one.
   
4. I have auto-pay set up, so I assumed the bill would be paid like always, but I changed banks and forgot to reset the account.
   
5. I was laid off work with no advance notice, so I couldn’t pay for a few months.

Do you see a good reason or two from the list above? If so, which ones are likely to be accepted by Visa or Capital One or MasterCard?

Answer: None of them. Here’s why:

1. If your bill is destroyed, you are supposed to contact them before the due date and make payment arrangements.
   
2. Overspending on a wedding or anything else is not an acceptable excuse for not paying as agreed.
   
3. It is not their fault that your accountant failed to pay the bill; they do not give grace for traveeling reasons.
   
4. Changing banks or being overdrawn is not an excusable reason for being late. You are supposed to pay better attention to your finances.
   
5. If you are laid off work, you should have money in reserves to cover your bills while you’re looking for a new job. At the very least, you should contact the creditor immediately to inquire about making other arrangements — which you must get in writing to be sure they don’t report you as late for making a partial payment, even if they agreed to do so on the phone.

Now let’s look at how a different type of reason may work for getting grace from a creditor:

1. Dear Creditor:
   On 9/12/2025, I was in a terrible car accident that put me in the hospital. I was in intensive care for several weeks and required emergency surgery to save my life. Naturally, I was focused on survival and was unable to take care of my Visa bill during that time. I have enclosed copies of my hospital bill to show the date corresponds with the date of the crash and so you can see this was a major life-threatening event.
   I have been a customer of Visa for five years and have never been late. I am now recovered and at home and am paying the full balance on my Visa bill. This late payment on my credit report is not accurate nor reflective of my pristine finance management. Therefore, I ask that you instruct your team to remove the late notation from my credit report so that I can continue being a loyal customer of Visa.

2. Dear Creditor:
Yesterday, I checked my credit report to make sure everything was accurate, and I was surprised to find an inaccuracy regarding my student loan #xxxx12345. It shows a missed payment last month, which is false. How could I be late when I have auto-pay set up? I have paid on time for the past three years! It appears that your system did not record my payment. I have enclosed a copy of my bank statement that shows the $255.36 monthly bill was withdrawn from my account on 11/15. I don’t know why your system failed to withdraw it on the normal set-up date, but this is not my fault, and I was not late, and reporting it as a late payment is erroneous and a violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Act.
DELETE the late payment at once and confirm deletion to me.

You can see the difference between the five excuses at the beginning and the two reasons after. Both of the two reasons after also include documentation.

While there is never a guarantee for what the creditor’s response will be, you will have a greater chance of success if your reason makes sense, does not sound like you’re being irresponsible or sloppy, and includes documentation to support what you’re saying.

And remember this: If your first attempt fails, don’t give up. The pros don’t quit on their clients if they get a rejection letter. They proceed to “round two” and then to “round three” if necessary.

And now I have a question for you: If I put together a short book on Best Tips for Credit and Finance Success, would that be something you would purchase? If enough people comment saying yes, then I will get to work on that right away. Either way, thank you for reading my books and my posts.

Carolyn Warren