[caption id="attachment_1056" align="alignleft" width="183" caption=" "]Photo by Irargerich[/caption] Liz Pulliam Weston, the popular personal-finance columnist, recently released an article on MSN Money entitled "5 ways to kill your credit scores". I actually follow most of Ms. Weston's RSS feeds, but for some reason I skipped over this one during my daily dive through credit-related news. I'm not sure why I skipped it. It must have been the name—it didn't really spark my interest. For whatever reason, I just assumed it was another one of those articles preaching the same old advice about credit scores. You know how they go, right? Pay your bills on time, keep your credit utilization ratio low, and avoid bankruptcy, or else you can kiss your good credit score goodbye.

[caption id="attachment_1019" align="alignleft" width="90" caption=" "]Photo by HikingArtist.com[/caption]

How can a company find customers willing to pay almost $400 in fees for a credit card that will only finance 30% of purchases from a single catalog? It's hard to imagine, but the FTC seems to have caught one dead in its tracks.

According to a press release issued on November 3rd, a formal complaint was issued in federal court alleging that Low Pay, Inc. used deceptive mailers to market its card to consumers with credit problems, charging them hundreds of dollars in up-front fees and often reneging on its refund policy. In response, Low Pay has apparently agreed to pull the plug on its questionable practices while they battle it out with the FTC.

The actual complaint explains in more detail how the FTC believes Low Pay pulled this whole thing off. Here's what was allegedly going down:

Should you opt out, opt in, opt in to opting out, or opt out of opting in?

So many choices!  But when it comes to over-the-limit fees, there's only one answer in my mind— opting out.

One of the major provisions in the CARD Act of 2009 is that banks will no longer be able to charge over-the-limit fees unless customers choose to be allowed to make purchases in excess of their credit limits.  So, you will have the right to "opt out" of over-the-limit fees, which are often as high as $39, by simply telling your bank you would rather live within your credit limit.

 I used to have an online savings account with a popular national bank. Now, my account is with a different bank I happen to despise due to several poor customer service experiences. Of course, I didn't choose to take my business to this new bank. My old bank happened to tank in grand fashion and its competitor gobbled it up before things got even worse. I should just be happy that all is well and my savings are safe, right?

Piggybacking, a technique often used to build credit by paying to become an authorized user of a stranger's credit card account, has been under fire since it first gained widespread popularity in 2007. In practice, the loophole in the credit scoring system works great, which is perhaps why it's ruffled the feathers of so many people that find it unfair and sleazy. Should it really be so easy to dupe the system? Instead of slowly building my credit history one on-time payment after the next, I can simply pay someone to add a credit card with a high credit limit, low balance, and a clean payment history directly to my credit report. And voila - I instantly have stellar credit and thus a higher credit score. Millions of people have benefited from artificially boosting their credit scores this way, and there's no doubt in my mind that many credit repair agencies have made a nice profit from connecting buyers and sellers of trade lines as well.