How Overdraft Protection Can Wreck Budgets and Ruin Credit Scores in Minnesota

Banks in Minnesota frequently promote overdraft protection as insurance against occasionally going over-budget. However, Minnesota consumers who habitually use overdraft protection get slapped with the kind of heavy fees that can wreck budgets. These fees make it harder for banking customers in Minnesota to bring their balances back to positive. While dealing with overdraft fees, in fact, many consumers miss due dates on bills, and hurt their credit scores. For these reasons, some consumers in Minnesota may wish to opt out of overdraft protection. Without it, debit card charges don’t go through when they exceed available funds. Yet, in spite of this inconvenience, consumers who don’t have overdraft protection don’t face overdraft fees.

When Overdraft Protection Turns into High-Cost Credit for Minnesota Banking Customers

Consumers in Minnesota and throughout the U.S. collectively pay about $17 billion in overdraft fees every year. Typically, banking customers with overdraft protection incur a $35 fine every time their bank covers a charge. Some banks enforce a $35 fee for every day that accounts are in the negative, so these charges add up quickly.

Sadly, too many Minnesota consumers rely on overdraft protection in the same way that other consumers become dependent upon payday loans. They get used to borrowing against their next paycheck when money gets tight. Then, the fees they incur make it even more difficult to get back on track with their finances. In the worst cases, Minnesota consumers who habitually overdraft their accounts build up sizeable debts with their banks. Often, when this happens, banks close accounts and report the unpaid debts to the credit bureaus, which causes credit scores to plummet.

Unfortunately, a lot of banking customers in Minnesota don’t fully understand how overdraft fees work. They also don’t necessarily know that overdraft protection is always optional. In fact, according to federal law, all banking customers in the U.S. must “opt in” to overdraft protection services. Therefore, when opening new accounts, consumers should fully understand the potential risks attached to overdraft protection before opting in. Then, armed with the right information, a lot of Minnesota consumers will likely opt out instead.

Why All Minnesota Consumers Should Regularly Check their Credit Reports, whether they Have Overdraft Protection or Not

Minnesota consumers working to build, rebuild, or maintain good credit scores must keep up with several responsibilities. For example, they should pay their bills on time, and use credit responsibly. It also helps to avoid potential debt cycles brought on by overdraft protection and payday loans. In addition, all consumers in Minnesota should regularly check their credit reports.

Reviewing your credit reports from all three major credit bureaus at least once every 12 months is necessary for two important reasons. First, it allows you to check for signs of identity theft. Remember that more than two million Minnesota consumers were affected by the Equifax data breach of 2017. This means that the threat of identity theft will loom large in the state for many years to come.

Next, all consumer in Minnesota should know that creditors and the credit bureaus often make mistakes with consumer information. Through, mishandling and misreporting data, these organizations create credit report errors that frequently damage credit scores. Therefore, Minnesota residents must take advantage of their rights under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). This federal statute entitles all consumers to a free annual copy of their credit report from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Just go to www.annualcreditreport.com to request all three from one convenient website.

Then, while looking over your credit reports, if you spot fraudulent items that indicate identity theft, file a police report immediately. Next, contact Credit Repair Lawyers of America in Minnesota. Or, if you catch mistakes and errors on any of your credit reports, call the credit pros at our firm right away. We’ll connect you with an experienced credit attorney who will fix your credit issues and get you clean credit reports for FREE.

The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit in Minnesota

Don’t let errors on your credit reports or identity theft damage bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? The law allows us to collect our fees and costs from the defendants in any successful action.  This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.

Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (612) 235-4458 or sending him a message through our contact page.

For more information about Free Credit Repair, please visit https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/minnesota/credit-repair/. Or, to learn more about Free Credit Repair After Identity Theft, check out https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/minnesota/id-theft/.