CAP program helping people rebuild their credit rating
Juanita Renee Brister of Longview checks her budget while Tyler Johnson, 5, and Kaitlynn Brister, 8 look on. Brister has learned to handle her finances better and fix her poor credit rating through Money Smart classes offered by CAP. Greg Ebersole / The Daily news
By Cheryll A. Borgaard
The Daily News July 3, 2008
When Juanita Renee Brister was floundering under a sea of credit card debt in 2005, she thought she had only one option: file bankruptcy. “I could keep up with my regular bills, but couldn’t keep up with the credit card bills, said Brister, who will turn 44 Saturday. “They just never went down. I had $7,000 in credit card debt. I thought there was no other way out than to file bankruptcy.” Brister has since learned better. She recently completed Money Smart, an 11-week program presented by Liz Myntti of the Lower Columbia Community Action Program to help people get their credit rating back in line and to teach them how to make good choices when it comes to banking and borrowing. Instead of filing bankruptcy, Brister learned, “I could have gotten hold of a credit counselor who could help me consolidate the bills and pay them quicker. Now I know to pay the high-interest ones first. And that you can negotiate the principal. They’d rather get some money from you than no money at all.” At a recent Money Smart class, instructor Myntti explained the importance of knowing what your credit rating is and how to go about getting bad credit cleaned up. Ironically, one of the best ways to re-establish a credit rating is to have a credit card. The key is managing its use.
“Charge just a little bit each month and then promptly pay off the balance,” she advised. “Creditors will see that you’re consistently making those payments.” That’s one of the tools Brister, the mother of an 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, is using. “I have two credit cards — J.C. Penney and Rivermart,” she said. “I might buy a tank of gas with the Rivermart card and make a small purchase at Penney’s and then pay it off.” There’s another good reason for Brister to always pay those credit card balances. “Both cards are 21 percent interest,” she said. “People with good credit pay only 9 or 10 percent.” Brister got into financial trouble by getting cash withdrawals on her credit cards during a brief period between jobs — a bad idea for even those with good credit. “When a credit card company sends you those checks, what do you do with them?” Myntti asked her students. “Run it through the shredder,” the class responded. Jeremy Farr’s credit problems began with “outrageous car loans, payday loans, credit cards — you name it — all the bad things Liz warns you about, I did.” Farr, 29, of Longview, estimates his debt totaled $30,000 five years ago. Today, he still owes about $13,000. The most valuable nugget he’s learned from the Money Smart classes was how to write letters and what words to use when contacting creditors. “I was able to negotiate amounts down and get better interest rates so I could make payments,” he said. “And I monitor my credit report more closely.” “It would have been better if I’d learned all this in high school.” Brister, who is the lounge manager at Panda restaurant, shares the same lament. “If they would teach this class your senior year, boy, you would have paid attention to this,” she said. “Your credit rating can affect everything in your life — even getting a job.” Brister said she didn’t realize the full repercussions of filing bankruptcy. “I never would have filed if I’d taken these classes,” she said. “When I filed, I thought it just meant that I had longer to pay, but bankruptcy erased those debts. But it stays on your credit report for a long, long time.”
“The Money Smart classes are good for people who have been through hard times, people who have been worse off than you,” Brister said. “It’s not as impossible as your think.” “The tools are there,” Myntti said of the topics she covers in the Money Smart classes. “Just about anyone can get out from under bad credit — but you do have to work at it.”
To join a class
CAP’s free Money Smart classes are open to the public and no preregistration is required. Workshops are held 9 to 10:30 a.m. Fridays at WorkSource Cowlitz, 305 S. Pacific Ave., Suite A, Kelso Workshops are held in 11-week cycles, then repeated. The next round of workshops begins July 18. A combination of topics can be chosen depending on the interest and knowledge of the participant. For more information, call CAP at 425-3430, ext. 216 or WorkSource at 577-2250. July 18: Bank On It — Introduction to bank services July 25: Borrowing Basics — Introduction to credit Aug. 1: Check it Out — How to choose and keep a checking account Aug. 8: Money Matters — How to keep track of your money Aug. 15: Pay Yourself First — Why you should save, save, save Aug. 22: Keep it Safe — Your rights as a consumer Aug. 29: To Your Credit — How your credit history will affect your credit future Sept. 5: Charge it Right — How to make a credit card work for your Sept. 12: Loan to Own — Know what you are borrowing before your buy Sept. 19: Your Own Home — What home ownership is all about Sept. 26: Deter-Detect-Defend — How to avoid and prevent identity theft