My True Credit Score / FICO Score

I listened to you guys from last post on my credit score and tried a couple of other credit score services: MyFico.com and Experian.com.

I think TrueCredit.com service I used to look up my credit score before is either inaccurate or lagging. They are definitely not living up to their name. The three credit scores are way too high considering that I am in foreclosure and delinquent on most of my accounts. So I cancelled the service, saving me $9.95/mo.

I like these guys better. The first one, MyFico.com gave me my Equifax score. The second is my Experian score. I took advantage of the free trial, though you can pay a little extra and see all three scores. This is a much more realistic credit score picture:

Myfico Equifax Score

Experian Score

All this FICO score and credit score can be confusing. It was helpful for me to learn more about FICO score here and read up Wikipedia’s Credit Score article.

I’m still confused. There are so many different scoring models and methods, its mind boggling. It’s amazing how we all call it a “FICO” score but there are different results based on weather a consumer is pulling their credit score versus a mortgage brokers, etc. I’m still trying to make sense of this whole credit score / FICO score mess.

By the way, your comments on the last post about my high credit score have been helpful. Thanks!

Update: I remembered that my Washington Mutual (formally Providian) credit card gives me a free TransUnion score and even has a cool little chart. Check it out:

Transunion Credit Score

So my three scores are: Equifax 459, Experian 514, TransUnion 490. I wonder if things can get any worse…
Finances Out of Control
I am Thankful for Facing Foreclosure
61 Comments

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hyperlexic
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:11 pm

that says you have no public records. does that mean they don’t know about the foreclosure yet? also, it only lists about 50k in unsecured debt. i thought you had 200k?
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Casey Serin
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:14 pm

Yeah I think the Dallas foreclosure hasn’t showed up yet… who knows it may not show up at all. I heard that’s a possibility.

My 140K in unsecured debt is made up of mine and my wife’s personal credit cards, my business credit cards, my personal credit lines and business credit lines.

Only MY personal credit cards and personal credit lines are reflected above. My business credit cards and business lines do not show up on my credit. I guess that’s a good thing. My wife’s side of unsecured credit is on her own report.

Hope that helps.
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teacher
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:27 pm

The last time I checked, truecredit seemed to be the best for the price. It gives your real-time credit report, changes to your credit, and a score, but what you said makes sence; it’s not a score calculated by fico.
What do others think is the best credit monitoring service value?
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DrifterBee
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:32 pm

Casey,

This is all well and good, but even after you sell these properties or have them repossessed, you will still have to pay back the couple hundred grand you are out … and still need to afford to live.

How do you propose you would structure paying back 200k and the daily necessities as nobody is likely to extend you credit? Facing forclosure seems to be the least of your troubles.
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Jose Conseco
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:34 pm

So, you’re implying that your wife has over $90,000 in unsecured debt? Sweet.
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a random looser
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:40 pm

Can you get a shot of your FICO score over the course of the past year? That would be pretty dramatic. Now that you’re already at the bottom 1% it can’t really go down anymore. What was your score before this mess?

Just declare bankruptcy already. Go sign the BK papers, give your wife the keys to the VW, put your brain in a cryogenic storage facility, and make your REI comeback in 2035 when the market finally recovers. It would be a win-win for everyone involved.
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Fielding Mellish
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:56 pm

I am convinced without doubt this experience is going to enrich you financially in the years to come.
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Daniel (Argentina)
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:11 pm

I see Casey is going to have a lot of success. He just have got to trace a Plan.

Casey role in this game is to be the RE loser. When the RE bubble blows Casey’s book will sell more than those actual Rich Dad, Poor Dad books.

His head will be hanging on the public Plaza for everybody kick at him in anger (like if he were gilty for all the economy mess)

Meanwhile, Big Fish will still be making money. First they made money with RE value increase, after they made money whit selling his books, after they give guru courses for all… and when the bubble blows they’ll make money selling losers’ book like “How not to invest”.

Of course people, Big Fish like Robert K did already sold his houses… to whom? to his aprentices of course! He is now preparing to rebuy all in a few months.

CASEY’s STORY
PRIBLKLSMK need a story where the Loser boy end up winning. The book will start telling about Caseys mistakes, his miserable life and his divorce in pain. The story will follow with his further mistakes like his ugly car, and his starbuck cofee. And will end by telling HOW thanks to his learning and a proper Rich Dad’s couching, he arose from scratch.

Yes maybe they are paying him to blog, cause this blog is a huge asset. I myself would like to take a bite from this tasty pie.

WHAT TO DO NOW?
I think man you’ve gotta get rid of your houses soon, taking your losses, so your debt takes a “payable” size. I think a $400k debt can be paid with your tiny salary. I’m sure you are/will_be getting other aditional incomes.

MARRIAGE?
man, people talk too much about your marriage. If your wife want to kick your butt off, let her do it man! You can come back in a little time as a winner. Just don’t let the marrige deteriorate by silly fight. Women are difficult to understand, if she is upset for your financial fail, she won’t tell but make problems for whatever else (like I dont like your blogging). Besides, at 23 both are unmature.

that’s all man, I LOVE THIS BLOG. Specially because everybody is making opinions on you. You’re a celebrity :)
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Roberto
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:17 pm

Casey,

You are posting too much of your personal information. I suggest you stop doing that. Have a nice Thanksgiving Holiday. Spend the time to be thankful that you are alive and healthy.
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hammawi
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:23 pm

Hello,

It seems that you and your wife honestly do not communicate Casey. Your wife should have been reading your blog from day one. She is going to be responsible to pay back your debt as well, not just you. Thats one of the either positives or negatives of being married. Spouses can be responsible for the others debts.

She will have a field day with you if she ever decides to get a divorce. But like I said earlier, she is also at fault for letting you get this deep. She can not claim that she didnt know anything while she spent her time focusing on studies. I do not serious understand how I would be having any time to study or go to class if I knew my wife owed over two million dollars and was destroying our marriage.

I would start taking out any property that you own and start giving it away and hope the bankruptcy court doesnt find out, or the divorce lawyer.

Spending money on credit reports or FICO scores at this point is pointless and stupid if you really have no money. Nobody is going to give you credit with no income and that debt, hopefully not. Are you trying to get more loans? Seriously?

If you are trying to get rich quick, why dont you try to get a loan from some of them Russian mafia types who have taken over Sacramento? Maybe get enough to put you on easy street. Thats always an option that you havent mentioned yet. Well maybe not, Wells Fargo wont break your legs if you dont pay them back.
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Train Wreck Watcher
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:23 pm

“I’m still trying to make sense of this whole credit score / FICO score mess. ”

It’s real simple Casey. It’s not a good score. Let me change that. It’s not a good score for those of us that wish to get and use credit in a constructive way. For someone that can buy six homes in half a year, at over market prices, under false pretenses, and get cash back under the table on the deals, only to completely waste that money, I really don’t know what it means.
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hammawi
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:37 pm

Hello,

I am still wondering, and have been for at least a month, about why your wife has put up with you for this long? If everything you have stated is true Casey, then your marriage is the poster for why women need to be strong and independent. Your wife should have dumped you long ago, but now she is the anchor on your sinking ship.

Your wife should cut you off. You know what I mean. If she hasnt cut you off from sex, then I do not know who is more out there, you or her.

Sure, a husband should take care of his wife, not because of some notion of being a strong man or husband, but because its the right thing to do. On the flip side, a wife needs to take care of her husband for the same reason. Sitting back and going to “school” while her husband sinks their marriage is not taking care of her husband.

The more I think about this, the more angrier I get, not at Casey, but at his wife. Even if she went a got a job at McDonalds, it would help. I think that you stated earlier that the love of your life is studying to be an accountant, yet your family finances are in disarray. Im glad that at this point she will not be able to be an accountant. Who would want an accountant who let her families finances get to this point?
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Fred
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:41 pm

You should get an account with Paypal & put a “donate button” on your blog. You would be surprised how many people would donate. A friend of mine did that a couple years ago and hundreds of people sent donations, some as low as $1 and some as high as $100.

www.paypal.com
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MaloneyBaloney
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:44 pm

My FICO is 801 and I live in a very modest home, drive old cars and never go to Starbucks. I’m cheap cheap cheap, but, I have a good FICO score. Gotta go, Jacob Marley is at the foot of my bed rattling chains.
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Fred
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:44 pm

oops, sorry. I did not realize you had a Paypal account already.
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John
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:59 pm

When I was broke (man do I start a lot of comments this way here) I didn’t care what my FICO was, and I don’t care what it is now. Little side-trips of sightseeing! Wooptie doo!
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Curiosity
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:08 pm

From comments section of previous post:

I’ve been on top of comment moderation today extra quick because I’ve been on my laptop all day trying to clear out my inbox. I still have mail from last month that I haven’t responded to. There are lots of opportunities and in some of those emails. I compare it to gold mining.

Aren’t you working that new job?

Do you really think a solution is sitting in your stack of email?
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walt526
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:13 pm

Did you clear posting this information with your wife beforehand?

You know, by the time your foreclosure(s) post and lenders start reporting your debt as a written off, its quite possible that the combination of your and your wife’s FICO score will be less than over half the country. That’s pretty incredible.
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Nigel Swaby
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:20 pm

Casey,

These scores are reflective of your situation. What I said about your other scores was true, if you had those scores. That other service is deceptive at best by using the names of the three credit reporting services. You won’t be able to refi.

Realistically, your best course of action at this point is to save one house by moving into it and paying for it and arranging short sales for the rest. Bankruptcy is also a viable option at this point. Your credit will take a bigger hit by holding onto all this stuff instead of taking one big write-off.

You already know how to obtain properties without traditional lenders, so bite the bullet and get these poor performing assets off your balance sheet and start fresh.

Nigel
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Crashlander
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:51 pm

His score near the very bottom, they start FICO at 300 and go to 850. Under 500 is considered a DISASTER. Over 720 is golden. Its a very small range.

Here’s a quote from http://www.bad-credit-advisor......score.html
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Bad FICO Score

FICO score from 500 to 580 is where the real trouble starts. Your credit is bad, period. You’ll get your loan and you won’t like it. But you should take it anyway, because that could be the beginning of your fresh start. Way to get away from bad credit. See repair your credit rating for more information.

FICO score of 499 and below … . My friend, you are in serious need for help for bad credit. There is very little what can be done and while it is still possible, the terms are going to be simply too brutal. The best thing is to try to repair bad credit first - the FICO credit score can be improved!
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Say What?
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:57 pm

Casey:

I am flabbergasted at your thinking and behavior.

Just a week ago (November 15) you announce you have a “job in real estate.” Did you start that job on Thursday (November 16) or this past Monday (November 20)?

From the looks of it, you were up most of the night last night monitoring your website and adding comments…. Plus your posting today and comments. When have you actually gotten any “work” done for which you can be compensated? And, equally important “what” have you accomplished and how long did it take you? And, what is the value of that work?

It is unbelievable you are asking for a “cash” advance on your “salary” when you haven’t even worked a full week.

You and your wife have it backwards. (“Oh, and I checked with her, apparently ALL her credit cards are maxed out too.”) Don’t you talk to each other about this mess you are in?

You say “The first job takes care of my basics at 3k/month” – Okay, are you paid a “salary” where Chris is taking out your state, federal, SS and Medicare taxes? If so, then you are only “taking home” – maybe – $2,450. If you are working as a consultant, then you need to set aside $750 of every $3,000 for your taxes. And, there is no way your employer/friend can pay you under the table, unless he is so independently wealthy that he’s not going to report you on his business taxes as a qualified deductible expense.

Next, you say, “The rest of the time needs to be spend (sic) earning $100-1,000/hour through smart flips/wholesaling/investing.” The market is not going to support you. No wise investor is going to give any value to any “flip/deal” you may present given your track record.

Give me – better yet, give all of us – a reason why any investor would want to work with you? You’ve already shown that you are poor businessman with questionable ethics. At this juncture, given the many fraud charges that could result from your previous business practices and endeavors, anyone teaming with you could end up facing a legal nightmare.

You need to hit bottom – your post earlier today says it all: “Guys, I’m seriously out of cash. I spend the entire $5K i got from the insurance company and all our credit cards are maxed out. I’ve already borrowed a bunch of money from friends and relatives and I don’t want to go there again.”
I would say you are living “paycheck-to-paycheck” but you don’t really have a paycheck, do you? And you have the audacity to say “Plus HOW am I going to pay off $300,000 (unsecured + short sale losses) in debt with a UPS job?”

You need to ask yourself a bigger question – where is your next meal coming from? And I’m not talking about a Turkey dinner tomorrow paid by your parents and/or friends…. or leftovers this weekend – but next Tuesday night when the leftovers are gone and there is no paycheck (because already spent away the advance Chris gave you)?

My advice Casey – get in your car and drive South and keep going. Go to Nicaragua – that’s where the next big wave of real estate wealth is going to happen. Nicaragua is the Costa Rica of 20 years ago. You can do all sorts of flips and deals down there. They are practically giving away the land.

In the meantime, the food is cheap, the weather warm, and your new car will be considered a “luxury” automobile. It’s the perfect place for being broke and homeless - great for “staging your comeback.”
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Tim
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:13 pm

Folks,

I hope Casey manages to have a good Thanksgiving Day (though it may still be a foreign American holiday to him).

He needs to make some important decisions–the Big Ones, about starting the bankruptcy/liquidation process, not so much the Small Ones, about whether to eat at Chipotle’s or to eat at home. (Personally, if I were poor, I’d eat brown bag lunches and simple rice dishes and stews at home.)

His situation is not hopeless. His “underwater” indebtedness is about $350-400K, as near as I can estimate it. (Total assets at actual market/sale value minus total debits. His properties will eventually be disposed of, for some fraction of what he paid. Add in the CC debt, personal debts, and I get the rought $350-400K figure.)

This sounds like a lot, and it is, but there are various ways to deal with this. Some of it may be written off by lenders (triggering a 1099 taxable event, but this may be handleable in various ways).

And I still think Casey’s story is one of the more important stories of 2006. Though it’s too much to expect some big book deal or movie deal, there are probably ways for Casey to tell his story to a wider audience and make some money.

Finally, if he can ever find the way to do what so many people do, and actually work for a living, this depth of debt can be climbed out of.

I cringe when I hear him (again) nattering about “sweet deals,” gurus, and “$1000 an hour” pipe dreams.

Casey and his wife ought to recognize that maybe their mission, their wealth producer, is in advising people how NOT to be taken in by the gurus, the mentors, the Rich Dads. This may be the time in the cycle to lead the way against these false gods.

–Tim
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Tim
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:23 pm

“His score near the very bottom, they start FICO at 300 and go to 850.”

When I went to buy a new Subaru Outback, I negotiated the best deal I could, and offered to pay cash, for a slightly better deal. I was bounced around a couple of times and ended up with the “credit manager.”

He ran my FICO and said that with an “840″ I could finance the whole thing in the blink of an eye. I told him that one reason my score was 840 is that I repay any debts promptly. He seemed surprised that someone with an 840 score would turn down the lure of easy money….

(My score would also likely be higher if I bought more stuff on credit….this is the obvious flaw in the FICO nonsense–they reward those who use credit and pay it back promptly, but don’t reward those who avoid using credit as much as possible. Which is partly the scam young college kids fall into, the notion that to “build a good credit rating” they need to charge a lot of stuff and then find a way to pay off their CC bills.)

Fact is, those with the highest credit scores are the least likely to _need_ credit.

Casey is not lost even if his credit gets cut off completely. He and his wife will just have to learn to enjoy the process of paying with actual cash for things, instead of saying “Charge it!” for overly expensive coffee drinks and blender juices.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

In ten years, when his FICO score has risen back above 500 and when card companies are inviting him to get new Double Plus Platinum Rewards Benefit! cards, I hope he remembers the benefits of paying with actual cash.

–Tim
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Credit Finance Loan » My True Credit Score / FICO Score
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:33 pm

[…] Original post by Casey Serin and software by Elliott Back […]
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Poor Son
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:48 pm

Casey,

I am looking for a mentor to show me how to ignore that inner voice in my head called ‘common sense’. It’s caused me nothing but grief - I’ve stayed at my job, saved money, and have been taking care of my loved ones. Help me Casey! You are the kung-fu mutha f’n master of self-delusion and irrational risk taking!. Please be my ‘Rich Dad’!

- Poor Son
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Daniel (Argentina)
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:02 pm

YOU ARE GOING TO SUCCEED (ANSWER THIS!)

The contract you signed is GRATE. Athough it was a weak decision, but you will win. Just CALM DOWN. Kiyosaki’s interest is that you succeed, he will make millions with you. Just CALM DOWN and start thinking on how you will catch up their offer again.

mi father always tell me that in business nobody gives for free. They invested in you, they want you to succeed, they will make millions with your story. Now your story is taking down their reputation, but if you succeed it will reinforce their reputation.

CALM DOWN, nobody gives for free they invested on you. They will make millions on you if you succeed, that’s what all Rich Dads want. They don’t want you brighness in business, they want you to succeed and sell your story. CALM DOWN.
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Free advice
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:40 pm

CREDIT SCORES:

Here’s the basic deal.

A “credit score” is a generic term. “FICO” is a specific kind of credit score.

FairIsaac sells a statistical “model,” that “scores” your data. But FairIsaac doesn’t loan money and when they developed the model, they weren’t even a credit reporting agency like Experian and the others.

Credit reporting agencies such as Experian use this model, but each can emphasize various aspects of it to suit their needs.

A credit score is like a risk score that an insurer may use. Nothing personal, but when you manage credit in a certain way, the likelihood of default is higher than if you manage credit in another way.

Does that mean that someone with a low score is a deadbeat? No. Does that mean that someone with a high score is a safe risk. No. But there is some predictive value in past credit management habits.

It used to be that no credit score was really a “FICO score,” per sem but more accurately an “Experian score derived from the FICO model.” But mortage brokers would generally refer to this as “your FICO score.”

Now, of course, FairIsaac offers its own score at the myfico site. And that makes life more confusing.

I can’t be sure, but I’ll bet most major lenders just average three or four scores, or maybe drop the lowest and average the rest.

This score really represents your location on a “distribution,” sort of like a bell curve. If you think of a bell curve, there are few scores in the tails of the curve, with most in the middle.

But this distribution isn’t a traditional bell curve. It’s more like a lopsided bell curve with more people skewing to the left. In other words, there’s probably less predictive value in the difference between 400 and 450 than there is between 700 and 750.

Is there really predictive value in the score? I have no idea. The model is proprietary and is presumably changed from time to time.

Some lenders may place all too much faith in the score, but think they’ll save a mint in manually reviewing credit histories — a sum that more than pays off measured against any extra delinquencies.
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Free advice
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:43 pm

One more thing….

Credit monitoring? Go for what you think is most accurate tool to guard against inaccurate data and identity theft.

If it comes with a score, great, but don’t worry about the specific score so much. That’s not what you’re paying for. If you apply for credit, a lender is just going to use their own procedures and scores.
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Paul
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:04 pm

I offer a free 30 minutes seminar on this subject on http://www.brokencredit.com
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a random looser
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:30 pm

I think the scores will continue to go down, but I don’t really know what I’m talking about. It’s interesting to see when your credit finally started to take a hit though. Do you know specifically whether the Dallas guy kept his word and didn’t report you?

Let me reiterate the wise words of Daniel from Argentina… “CALM DOWN. I myself would like to take a bite from this tasty pie. CALM DOWN. CALM DOWN. CALM DOWN.”
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HungryBear
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:43 pm

Hey, it says you still have 17% of your credit available, so why not get a cash advance now while you still can? If you wait too long they will probably close your accounts.

I had scores of 500-ish a few years ago and now 780. The secret? paytrust.com got me out of the habit of paying bills late all the time. I set it to pay automatically all my bills. All I need to do is keep a cushion of money in my checkin account.
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this may help you in the future
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:06 pm

Just started reading this site a couple days ago and am absolutely fascinated by it.

Casey most comments I have about it you have seen a thousand times already so lets just jump ahead to the comments I havent seen.

1. Was reading about you putting 1k down on a fixer upper to assign to another investor. In the future if you find a way out of this mess do not give up any actual cash.

You set up what is called a revolving trust account with an attorney..and in your offers your earnest money is a promissory note held at the Law offices of blah blah payable upon closing.

Yes you do have to keep 1k in the trust account…but since it is payable upon closing…the attorney sends a check to escrow when the escrow agent calls for it and in the escrow instructions you have 1k of it set aside and put back into the trust account. This is the revolving part….that way you can use the same revolving 1k trust account for multiple offers and never have to pony up more than 1k. After all the money is used the payment of the promissory notes…unless 1 of those is called in then there is no need to replenish the account out of your own pocket.

2. have you been to creonline.com yet…..there are tons of REI’s there and you can get any information related to REI for free….and tons have posted about being in your situation..you may find some options that could help you that you didnt see before.
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shawn
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:31 pm

The paytrust.com site referenced by HungryBear above seems a little fishy to me. Maybe I’m overly cautious, but every warning sign that you’re supposed to look for in phishing scams seems to be present on the paytrust.com site - though it has an intuit logo, there is no link from intuit’s site or even a reference on their site to paytrust. The first sign-up page asks for your social and all your banking info. Who knows, maybe it’s legit, but I certainly wouldn’t entrust my info to a company that doesn’t go out of their way to make it clear that they’re legit, especially when it would be so easy to do so via the [trusted] intuit website.
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Astro Zombie
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:57 pm

Paytrust is legit. I’ve been a customer for 3+ years.
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Time Will Tell
November 23rd, 2006 at 12:17 am

Tim said, “And I still think Casey’s story is one of the more important stories of 2006.”

It’s important because it’s not unique. Isn’t that an irony. If Casey was an isolated case of getting into financial trouble there’d be little interest in the story. Instead, he fell into the traps laid out by lenders, brokers, the government, realtors, high profile get-rich-quick hucksters: Housing always goes up; here, take some of our excess money; No doc loans are OK; RE is the only way to get rich; and on and on.

Casey’s story has been and will be repeated in CA, NV, FL, AZ, VA, OR, and elsewhere across the country. Casey has chosen to publicize his story, so he’s different than the others.

The term ‘Poster Child’ has been used a lot to describe Casey’s position and publicity. It’s an apt term, because we will be thousands of others like him in the coming months, and we will point at them and say, “Hmmm, just like Casey.”
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Time Will Tell
November 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 am

Here is another thought. I applaud your intent to repay your lenders. It shows strength of chararacter. However, I fear that it will saddle you for life. Just think about it, if you end up owing 400k, and you want to pay it back, it’s like having a mortgage on a house. It’s $2,400/month for 30 years (@6%).

Why not simply decalre BK. It will clear you from (most of) your debts and let you get on with your life. If your character requires you to repay the loans, repay them. But you will be in control of the situation, not your lenders. If you go gangbusters and make a mint in RE, you can pay them from that. If you end up flipping burgers, you won’t have to (or be able to) pay.
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Jerry
November 23rd, 2006 at 2:13 am

Here’s an idea for all of us to help out Casey… Support his sponsors (i.e. clicking on his ads)!

I used to run a site that ended up with AdSense ads from attorneys, and I was getting close to $1 per click on average, I kid you not. I guess attorneys have lots of $$$ to blow on advertising. I don’t know what kind of rates Casey is getting on his ads but I wouldn’t underestimate the money online ads can bring in.

Casey must be getting a couple of thousand visitors a day, judging from his Alexa ranking. If each of us clicked on ten ads, that’s gotta be at least a buck for Casey. If a thousand of us each did ten clicks a day, that’d be a thousand bucks a day! I think it’s really help Casey with his bills and keep the blog going longer.

So what do you say? 10 clicks a day for Casey!!!
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Someone
November 23rd, 2006 at 2:31 am

Casey,

Check out www.prosper.com

Happy Thanks giving

Dallas
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Casey Serin
November 23rd, 2006 at 2:31 am

@Jerry: Don’t do that too much or Google will kick me out of the program for gaming the system. I sure would not want to be the advertiser who is paying $1/click and getting a bunch of fake clicks.
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Big Cheese
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:59 am

Casey,

That’s the most honest thing I’ve heard you say…. at least you know how the advertising system works.

I really think that’s your true calling, not real estate.

Make your money in advertising, marketing and entertainment. Then you can buy all the properties with CASH and even make bad purchases with little risk to yourself.

-Big Cheese
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hammawi
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:28 am

Hello,

Casey wouldnt want to do anything illegal! It seems he is more afraid of Google than of the IRS.
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dumb da dum dumb
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:32 am

everyone should check out one man’s site,

carbuyingtips.com

he deserves a paypal tip from grateful readers!!!

casey’s paypal tipjar would be a handout! a virtual version of the cardboard ‘helpmeimhomeless’ sign
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Fraud
November 23rd, 2006 at 9:42 am

Am I missing something here?

If your Advertisers can’t help you, why would I want to visit them?

It’s like someone blogging that they have cancer while advertising cures to cancer web sites.
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ryan
November 23rd, 2006 at 10:21 am

Casey,

I have looked at your site after hear the profile on NPR and I have come to the conclusion that if you and your site are real and not Internet fakes, you are a scammer at heart and will always be. Your true colors show in your comment to Jerry concerning click fraud:

“@Jerry: Don’t do that too much or Google will kick me out of the program for gaming the system. I sure would not want to be the advertiser who is paying $1/click and getting a bunch of fake clicks.”

A little click fraud is ok?
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Google Schmoogle
November 23rd, 2006 at 10:56 am

“I sure would not want to be the advertiser who is paying $1/click and getting a bunch of fake clicks.”

Holy cow! First ethical Casey comment so far! (At least that wasn’t just posturing)
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walt526
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:36 am

“Casey must be getting a couple of thousand visitors a day, judging from his Alexa ranking. If each of us clicked on ten ads, that’s gotta be at least a buck for Casey. If a thousand of us each did ten clicks a day, that’d be a thousand bucks a day! I think it’s really help Casey with his bills and keep the blog going longer.”

No. I’m not going to participate in fraud to enable Casey to avoid the consequences of his own fraud. Also, Casey is correct: he’d be kicked out of the program within a week if people started doing what you’re suggesting. Whatever happened to basic ethics?
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Rancid
November 23rd, 2006 at 12:13 pm

Jerry
Screw Casey, and why don’t you pony up that $10 yourself instead of swindling his advertisers..wait a minute..you are a crook, just like Casey, never mind, scumbag.
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Tom
November 24th, 2006 at 1:34 am

Here is my advice on this…. If you file for bankruptcy by law it is suppose to stay on your credit reports for ten years. For those not familiar you can look up the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) that was passed by President Bush. It states that negative items stay on your reports for 7 years except for bankruptcies. Bankruptcies stay for 10 years.
Based on above here are your choices;
You can file for bankruptcy protection but since you have business and personal credit as well as real estate involved it will be separate fillings and more complex. The choices are a chapter 11 filing for your business. This means you plan on reorganizing your business. Creditors have to stop all collection efforts immediately. A trusty will be appointed over all your financing (which I think in your case is not a bad idea anyway) and you will have to present a plan to the court on how you will pay off these debtors. The court will have to approve the plan. Your creditors can still fight it but usually a good plan always wins over creditors. You would have 3 years to pay off the debt and at the end whatever is left for balkances is written off. The next option is a chapter 7 filing were all debt is dissolved and your creditors have to walk away with nothing (except with the mortgage lenders they walk with what the trustee sale brings in on the properties). Chapter 7 requirements have changed since president Bush signed a new bankruptcy law so there may be some other things you need to do first. Chapter 7 works for both personal and business. There is also a chapter 13 filing which is the personal version of chapter 11. In any of the cases it stops your creditors collection efforts. You should seek a good bankruptcy attorney who can advise you on the specifics and go from there. Find an attorney that specializes in bankruptcy not a general practice office.
Your other option is to do nothing. I do not recommend this because it is a deeper hole than bankruptcy. If you do nothing your creditors will foreclose on your properties and will then write off the unsecured debt after the sixth month of in activity. This is the fed law in which they have to follow when it concern unsecured debt. After the sixth month you do not pay on it they will write it off by law and then they will either hold onto the debt for further collection in house, sell it to a collection agency, or hire an attorney collector to try and collect it. In your case about a year to 2 later they will file law suits against you for the debt. At that point this is where the fun really begins. You will then be going into courts all the time on these law suits. Now if you have no money to pay them and nothing to attach or reposes then you will just keep appearing in court every six months per creditor for many years to come or until you move out of state in which they would try and find you.
Bottom line is you are in way over head and can not get out of this unless you win the lottery. In that case you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. Even with you short selling everything you will still owe on the unsecured debt. Also keep in mind that if other foreclosures happen and they can not get the full amount that you owe they may have recourse to get the difference from you by filling a lawsuit. The recourse all depends on the language of your actual note. If the note states without recourse (which they usually don’t because it doesn’t benefit the creditor) then you are clear. They can not come after you. Absent that unless state law says otherwise you could get sued for the shortfall. Given all the unsecured and all the shortfall you could end up with I agree with Tim that your debt is around 350 to 400k. Also even with the short sales you still could end up bad because the IRS codes view short sale difference from what is owed and what is not paid as income. Then you will be stuck paying personal income tax on that amount. The IRS does not go away and bankruptcy can not protect you from them. So I can not say it enough hire a bankruptcy attorney who specializes in the field and be done with it. Once it is over you can get a fresh start and get this weight off of you once and for all. If your worried about doing real estate deals and how to finance them don’t. You need to re-evaluate yourself first then if you still want to try there are lenders out there that can finance your home 1 day out of bankruptcy and considering the factors involved the rate would still be in the low 8%. That is not bad considering your credit at that point. All you would need to do it stay with that for 2 years and show responsibility and your credit worthiness will go up.
As far as the credit scoring system this is where free advice and I do agree. You need not worry about it now it is done use it only to monitor your actual accounts and in case of fraud which in your case is very unlikely because with your credit no one could get any credit with your id. Also free advice mortgage lenders pull from the three big ones, Tran Union, Equifax, and Experian. Then they take your middle score loosing your high and low. This is just for your knowledge.
One last thing “say what?” that is the worst advice you could give. First Casey got himself into this mess by thinking he was going to just flip. Second which is even more important Daniel Ortega just got re-elected as president after 16 years. In case you do not know who he is he was the one that caused a civil unrest in Nicaragua the first time around. He is a Marxist dictator who hates capitalist and everything about America. Last time around he confiscated everyone’s property for the benefit of the state. Stop and know what is going on before you give bad advice like that again. I do not know if you did it as a joke but someone unknowing could take that advice and then potentially loose there shirt.
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BFFChucky
November 24th, 2006 at 7:01 am

Wow, why is it that Casey and people who agree with him always get loose and lose confused? Is it a code? A genetic defect? Calling Daniel Ortega a dictator? - also hilarious.
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Want A Bargain
November 24th, 2006 at 8:40 am

Tom: you had my attention until your last sentence - “…then potentially loose there shirt. ” [should be ‘lose their’]

Is it just coincidence that Casey and a number of other posters continually use ‘loose’ when they mean ‘lose’???

Coincidence? hhmmmmm………
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SpaceMonkey
November 24th, 2006 at 10:53 am

Uh…why are you even spending $10/month on figuring out your credit score? Your credit score is shot–that’s all you really need to know. Does it really matter what the number is at this point?
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Click fraud
November 24th, 2006 at 12:33 pm

How bad is it, really, if Casey gets booted by his advertisers? Sounds like click fraud is one way to do it for those that want to speed his ultimate demise. Plus, no more ads (for those still using IE)!
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Tom
November 24th, 2006 at 1:39 pm

Why is it so many people have no knowledge of history but yet they want to make stupid remarks as to only show their true ignorance on the topic? Does one really think that when the s**t flows out of one’s month that we are all suppose to sit there in belief of what is being said? I find that 73 percent of the population is nothing more than clueless, 22 percent has a clue and knowledge of their surroundings, and the other 5 percent are the innovators who make our lives easier to live. By the way BFFChucky what would you call Ortega, your hero?
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star
November 24th, 2006 at 7:35 pm

There’s nothing wrong with TrueCredit. You just can’t compare those TC scores to FICO since it’s an entirely different scoring model. TC scores are fairly meaningless other than comparing with other historical TC scores since no creditor uses them in loan decisions.

The FICO score you get from WAMU is not the same FICO score you get from myfico.com. WAMU started this month using the NexGen scoring model. Previously it was the bank-card enhanced FICO model.

In your situation, paying for FICO scores is money thrown away. Instead, you should have kept TC to monitor your reports for changes. It’s the best deal around in that regard.

Also, with that Experian report number, you can now pull a fresh report from EX anytime you’d like for free. Go through the “view credit report again” link. It’ll pull a current report. One benefit of getting reports directly from the bureaus themselves is that they show soft pulls. None of the monitoring services show those.

Also, score is just one factor in many creditor decisions. Internal scoring and manual reviews are used quite often. In your case, I’d forget about scores for a while since nobody is going to extend credit to you anyway, and just focus on the tradelines and inquries reporting.
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rm
November 24th, 2006 at 10:19 pm

Are the Experian credit score and the VantageScore the same?
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Don
November 25th, 2006 at 11:59 am

I never understood a fico score. Mine is at 813. After reading all this, I realize it is not the best, but it is pretty good. I only have two credit cards and probably have only had 10 loans in my life.

I still have one small mortgage loan to pay-off and then I will be debt free. Although I still plan on RE investments, I will continue to write checks instead of giving away my future for the present.
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Subsonic22
November 26th, 2006 at 9:20 am

The lowest score I’ve ever pulled for someone was a 405, although my company has framed credit FICO score (with name and address blacked out) of 397 for some FB. I can’t tell you how remarkable a 397 is because 400 is supposed to be the lowest you can score. Even if you took out 10 various loans, and never made a payment on any of them, and had additional 10 collection accounts, you couldn’t get a score that low. Given his current financial condition, Casey might have a very good shot of beating 397. In fact, if he goes lower than 397, I will contribute $100 to the tip jar, because this type of accomplishment cannot go unnoticed.
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Jobu
November 27th, 2006 at 9:14 am

Don, do not worry whether your score is the highest. At 813, you have no worries.

Nigel, again, the boy could not refinance even with his other scores. He has no income so he would need to do a stated income loan. Unfortunately, his stated income would need to pass a reasonableness test. I believe someone previously said he would need about 28k a month to service his existing debt so he would not pass the debt to income requirement. He would also be turned down for numerous other reasons - loan to value ratios on the properties, non-owner occupied, etc. No chance, my friend, outside of hard money or Guido.

I have seen a 384 credit score from Equifax - lowest ever in my office.
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SCapitalist
November 28th, 2006 at 10:06 pm

Ouch, that score makes me cringe… Then again, it’s a pretty accurate reflection of the crisis you are in.
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Chris
November 30th, 2006 at 7:17 am

hammawi said “Sure, a husband should take care of his wife, not because of some notion of being a strong man or husband, but because its the right thing to do. On the flip side, a wife needs to take care of her husband for the same reason. Sitting back and going to “school” while her husband sinks their marriage is not taking care of her husband.”

All I can say is that his wife seems to have her head screwed on right!
She’s going to school for something that can increase their income quite a bit (if the right choices are made). In any case, I see her spending some money on education a considerably better alternative than spending untold amounts of “lying loans”, and being stuck with that debt for many years.

—————————————————————-

Casey, let’s go back to simple basics.
Income vs. Expense
If your income is less than your expenses, then you need to immediately increase your income. Get a solid base started, and then start delving back into RE. You’re still young and have a lot of time to do that.

FYI: Your web page (this one in particular) has some minor errors with it. Break tags (), should have a closing on it (). Also, INPUT tags don’t really have an attribute of “border”, except for IE, so the better solution would be to use a CSS rule that applies a border around the input field. But more importantly, scripts should have a type, i.e. is better than . Just because most browsers allow that doesn’t make it right. They do this to usually to make sure that old web pages don’t break.
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Chris
November 30th, 2006 at 7:19 am

And FWIW, my FICO recently hit somewhere around 780, and my wife’s (who stays at home with our 4 children after having worked for 10 years or so), is somewhere around 810.

Time and paying bills on time is the best thing to raise your FICO score. It’s really as simple as that.