Zenith Financial Group’s founder wrote the first known Farsi-language guide to the U.S. credit system, gave thousands of e-book copies away for free, and answers credit questions at no cost.
LOS ANGELES — The story is almost always the same. A newly arrived immigrant sits across the desk from Mani Hatami. Sometimes a doctor, sometimes an engineer, often someone who owned a home and ran a business in Iran.
They have been turned down for an apartment, a car loan, even a phone plan. They have savings. They have a profession. What they don’t have is a credit score.
“Credit is a language,” says Hatami, founder of Zenith Financial Group in Encino. “If no one teaches you the language, you cannot speak it. And if you cannot speak it, you are locked out of the conversation.”
A book written for the people no one was writing for
Hatami has heard this story for more than a decade. His answer is a 426-page Farsi-language book, Everything You Need to Know About Credit, published in 2019.
According to its publisher, it is the first book written specifically for Iranian immigrants in the United States and Canada about the American credit system. For Farsi speakers, it has become a trusted reference in a financial culture where a three-digit number decides where you can live and what you can drive.
Free, because the people who need it most can least afford another expense
What makes the book unusual is how it reaches people. Thousands of electronic copies have been given away free to Persian-speaking immigrants.
Hatami does not profit from the free edition. He sees writing and sharing it as part of his mission: giving newcomers the knowledge they need without adding another bill. A print edition is available through Lulu for readers who want a copy on the shelf.
A practical manual, not a motivational book
The book explains, in plain Farsi:
- The five factors that make up a FICO score
- How secured credit cards work
- How to build credit from zero
- How to dispute errors on a credit report
- Why “no credit history” is not the same as “bad credit”
For someone who has never heard of a credit bureau, a charge-off, or a utilization ratio, the book translates more than words. It translates an entire financial system.
The problem isn’t money. It’s being invisible.
In the U.S., credit is checked by landlords, employers, insurers, and utility companies, not just card issuers. A family can arrive with real savings and still be unable to rent a home or finance a car.
The problem is not poverty. It is invisibility. And it is exactly the gap Zenith was built to close.
More than a book
Hatami founded Zenith Financial Group in 2015. The firm offers credit repair, debt negotiation, and business-credit development, led by a team of certified credit consultants.
His education work reaches well beyond the office:
- Radio: A weekly segment on KIRN 670 AM, Los Angeles’s Persian-language news and talk station, covering debt settlement, credit-card negotiation, and score improvement
- Writing: Articles in Persian media and on Medium
- Free consultations: His office line is open to anyone with a credit question, in Farsi or English, at no cost
A second book for every immigrant
In April 2025, Hatami published an English-language book, Credit for a New Life: A Beginner’s Guide for Immigrants in America. It is written for immigrants of every background, with chapters on building credit without a Social Security Number, common credit myths, and recovering from financial mistakes.
For Farsi speakers, the original remains the anchor. It is still the book recommended in Persian community groups, on the radio, and in kitchen-table conversations from Los Angeles to Irvine to Toronto.
The first chapter is credit
In a city built by immigrants, financial inclusion is not a policy idea. It is the difference between renting your own apartment and sleeping on a relative’s couch. Between financing a work truck and losing a job. Between starting a business and staying invisible.
Hatami didn’t build an app or a new algorithm. He gave his community the vocabulary to take part, and then gave it away for free.
The first chapter is credit. The rest is a new life.
New to U.S. credit? Start here — free.
- Free Farsi e-book: download Everything You Need to Know About Credit at zenithfg.com/books
- Free credit consultation in Farsi or English: call 818-200-0000
- English edition: Credit for a New Life: A Beginner’s Guide for Immigrants in America
Zenith Financial Group · Ventura Boulevard, Encino, CA · zenithfg.com