What these terms cover
This site and everything sold or given away on it: The Money Rulebook Nobody Handed You, The Credit Rulebook Nobody Handed You, the free checklist, and any workbook published after them. Where something below says “the workbook”, it means whichever one you bought.
Not advice, and not a substitute for advice
Nothing in the workbooks or on this site is financial, investment, tax or legal advice, and reading one or filling it in does not create an adviser relationship of any kind. Marcus is a pen name and the books are written in a personal voice; that is a writing choice, not a professional credential.
The Credit Rulebook describes two federal laws, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and how a consumer can use them without hiring anyone. That is general information about how those laws work. It is not legal advice, it is not tailored to your file, and reading it or sending a letter from it does not make anyone here your lawyer. States layer their own consumer protections on top of the federal rules, and yours may differ from the general picture.
For decisions that turn on your actual circumstances, talk to a licensed financial planner, an accountant or an attorney who can look at your situation.
If you are dealing with collections, wage garnishment, eviction, or a debt you cannot service, please talk to a nonprofit credit counsellor or a legal aid office in your state before applying anything here. Those situations need help a worksheet cannot give.
If you are being sued by a debt collector, facing a bank levy, or weighing bankruptcy, talk to a consumer law attorney rather than working from a workbook. Many take Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act cases on contingency. A missed court deadline is not something a later letter can undo.
Rates and rules change
Interest rates, fees, minimums and product terms move constantly, and some will have changed between a book being written and you reading it. Anything specific in a workbook is an example, not a recommendation. Verify current terms with the actual bank before acting.
The same goes for credit reporting. Federal rules, court decisions, and the credit bureaus’ own voluntary policies all change, sometimes twice in a year, and the medical debt rules are a live example. Check anything time-sensitive at consumerfinance.gov before you rely on it.
No promise of a result
Nothing here is a guarantee of an outcome. What you get out of a workbook depends on your circumstances, and some circumstances are not fixable with a worksheet.
For the credit material specifically: no promise is made that any item will be removed from your credit report, that a score will rise by any amount, or that a lender will approve you. Accurate, verifiable negative information cannot be removed ahead of schedule by anyone, and the workbook says so at length.
Your licence to use the workbooks
Buying a workbook buys one person a licence to use that workbook. That includes printing as many copies as you need for your own use — it is a workbook, so please do print it.
It does not include reselling it, posting the file anywhere, sharing your download link, or reproducing the worksheets or letter templates for a group, a class, or a client base. If you would like to use it with a group, email hello@penciledinfinance.com and we can sort something out.
The text and illustrations remain the property of Penciled In Finance.
Free updates
Buying a workbook entitles you to every revised edition of that workbook at no extra cost, delivered by email through Gumroad. This covers revisions of the book you bought. Separate books are separate products, so buying one does not include the other.
Buying and refunds
Purchases are processed by Gumroad, who act as merchant of record and whose terms govern the transaction. Refunds are covered by the Refund Policy: thirty days, no questions asked.
This website
The site is provided as it is. Links out to other websites are for convenience and are not endorsements of what is on them.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.
Who you are dealing with
The Money Rulebook Nobody Handed You, The Credit Rulebook Nobody Handed You, and this site are published by Penciled In Finance, operating in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Questions about these terms go to hello@penciledinfinance.com.
Changes
If these terms change, the date at the top of the page changes with them.