Dyani's Creations

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Credit Scores Prevent Some From Enjoying The New Housing Market

The housing bubble has burst. Now would be a great time to purchase a house with prices falling to their lowest levels. It would be a great time if you didn't have such a low FICO score. Lenders are reluctant to lend to people with low FICO scores because this type of loan is exactly what got them into so much trouble last year.

Early in the decade lenders created a lot of sub-prime mortgages. Sub-prime mortgages are home loans given to people with bad credit which means a score below 620. After five years, the typical period before the interest rate adjusts, the troubles began.

Part of some sub-prime loans is the balloon payment. The borrower makes monthly payments for a typical period of five years with the understanding that the balance of the loan will be due at the end of five years, called a balloon payment. Because this turned out to be a large sum of money, which the borrower a lot of the time did not have, the borrower would either default or be forced to refinance the loan. Refinancing the loan is good for the lender because he/she can charge high fees every time this is done. The borrower is not as lucky in these instances. After a default the borrower loses the home and the lender sells it.

Another tactic of some lenders was to charge a high interest rate on a loan regardless of the borrower's ability to repay the loan. The lender knew that after five years the borrower would not be able to make the payments that would be charged, but they went ahead with the deal anyway. This was the reason for several defaulted loans; the interest rate adjusted higher and the borrower could no longer afford to make the payments.

Not everyone fell into the sub-prime mortgage trap. Currently, interest rates have fallen to their lowest levels. Housing prices have fallen. Some people did not take a sub-prime loan because they knew they would not be able to afford the payments after they adjusted and remained in their apartments. These people knew that the house prices were artificially inflated and that it wouldn't be a good time to buy a house at such high prices. These people were wise and waited and kept themselves out of sub-prime mortgage loans.

You might be one of those people. You might have thought that the sub-prime mortgage was a bad deal for you and stayed away from it. Now that interest rates and housing prices are lower, you may have thought this would be a good time to buy a house. If your FICO score is below 620, you may find that it isn't possible to get anything but a sub-prime loan. This is not something you want to do.

The only thing for you to do is raise your credit score. You will not be able to do this overnight, but it will benefit you in more ways than just your housing situation. With a little patience, you will find yourself in your first house that you did not have to pay an arm and a leg for and with a higher credit score.

You will find an excellent guide to raising your credit score by clicking here Credit Secrets Revealed

Saturday, January 23, 2010

RAISING YOUR SCORE BY DISPUTING NEGATIVE ITEMS

In the last post, we explored the reasons to check your credit reports periodically. What do you do when you find that there are inaccuracies in your reports?

When you find that there is incorrect information on your reports you can address this yourself. You do not have to go to someone and pay large sums of money for them to do this for you. It is advised that you write letters to credit bureaus when you have something to dispute. It is important to keep all records of your financial transactions should this type of situation arise, because you are going to need to present them to the credit bureaus to prove that a non-payment, for example, actually was paid. In the letter you write to them, make sure to state plainly what is inaccurate, provide proof with copies of your records and ask them to correct the item. One more important thing that you must do when sending correspondence to credit bureaus is to send it by certified mail. They will have to sign for your letter and you will have confirmation that they did receive it. From this point on the credit bureau will handle the rest.

It is the credit bureau's duty to investigate your claim. They do this by notifying the entity that offered them the disputed information. In turn, the company which reported the disputed information will do their own investigation. If the company discovers that you are right, you did pay the required amount to them, they will report this to the credit bureau. The credit bureau is then obligated to let the other credit bureaus know that this piece of information is inaccurate. The incorrect item will be removed from your credit reports.

The credit report that has the inaccurate information may have been sent to people who requested it. The inaccurate information on the report may have been the reason that you did not get the mortgage you applied for. The credit bureau is also responsible for sending an updated version of your credit report to anyone they sent it to in its flawed form. When this happens you may be able to return to your mortgage broker and have a better result.

If there is anything missing from your reports you can also contact the credit bureaus about it. What is missing might help you raise your credit score when it is added to the report. It is worth the time it takes you to send for your credit reports and dispute anything incorrect or missing if it results in a better score.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

WHY CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORTS?

Despite what you may have heard, good credit scores are in abundance. About half the population has a FICO score above 700. As the scores go lower, the fewer people you will find. The lowest scores, below 500, have the fewest number of people. The highest scores are comprised of a larger section of the population than the lowest scores. Even in this economy it is possible to maintain your credit score.

And, you may have a better score than you think. The score you may have in your mind may have come from part of your credit history, but if you were to go to another source, such as another credit bureau, you may see a completely different score altogether. This happens because each of the three credit bureaus look at different things to determine your score. When you check on your credit report, you might order all three of them, one from Experian, one from Equifax and one from Transunion, to have a complete picture of your credit history.

It's important to know what is going on with the credit bureaus; they play an important role in your life. They are in charge of collecting all the information about your payment history that others report to them. When you bounce a check, your bank reports it to the credit bureaus. Conversely, when you make every payment on time to the electric company, this will also be reported to the credit bureaus and recorded on your report. Your past history has been dealt with in this manner. The credit bureaus will also be involved in your future transactions.

When you decide to rent a new apartment, the apartment manager will ask to run a check on your credit history. They do this by going to the credit bureaus and, because they all have their own ways of doing things, they will give their different scores to whoever is asking them. If your scores are significantly different from each other, it may be better for them to check one report over another, but you will not know which report they will choose to check. For this reason, it is a good idea to check your credit reports periodically to make sure that everything is correct on all three reports.


By signing up for my email list you will receive more information on how to raise your credit score. Sign up by sending a blank email to GoodCreditScore@podcastingpossibilities.com

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Spouses Who Keep Their Credit Separate Live Happily Ever After

Getting married can be the beginning of a wonderful adventure if you choose wisely. If you don’t it can be the beginning of a nightmare you wouldn’t have been involved in without your spouse introducing you to it. This is what happens when future spouses do not check each other’s credit. This may sound formal and unromantic, as if you are interviewing someone for a job, but it is actually a very important step to take.

Avoiding the task of looking up your partner’s credit is not in your best interest; it may tell you something about your future spouse that you do not currently believe to be the truth. When two people marry, it is possible to combine each other’s credit. If you do this when you have better credit than your spouse, your rating can go down. The spouse with the lower credit score may not have lowering both people’s scores in mind when wishing to combine credit, but it can happen.

Another reason not to combine credit with a spouse who has a lower score than you do is in the event of a divorce. This is another unromantic thing that people do not necessarily want to consider before they marry the person of their dreams, but it happens; the divorce rate is very high in America. When this happens and you have combined your credit, it can be difficult to separate your records again. Delicately approach this subject before your wedding because it is not worth losing your prospective spouse over this subject; it is only practical.

To make it easier to discuss this subject before you marry someone, there is one possible angle you can use. If there is a large discrepancy between credit reports with one score significantly lower than the other in severe negative territory, it will make it extremely difficult for a couple to be approved for things such as mortgages. One thing that married couples like to do is buy a house. They have dreams of owning their own homes with a backyard where their future children will one day play. This dream will not come true in the abovementioned scenario. In this case if the credit is kept separate, one spouse can put up his or her credit alone to apply for the mortgage and have a better chance of being approved. This story may make it easier to convince your future spouse to keep your credit separate.

Keeping your credit separate when you marry your spouse is not necessarily a bad thing. You are not planning to divorce this person one day, you are just being practical. And keeping your credit separate can make it possible to make your dreams come true in the future.

Credit Secrets Revealed is an e-book which contains a lot more great advice on credit.

LOSE YOUR STUDENT LOANS

Student loans can be the bane of some people’s existence. They seem as if they are never-ending! Maybe you would like to be someone who avoids this situation. It’s possible. There are times when student loans can be made to disappear. There are several activities and jobs that can be taken up that will qualify you to have your student loans erased. Maybe you have considered doing one of them.

Some teaching jobs will qualify you if you begin teaching in particular areas. Teachers who agree to work in schools that are located in economically disadvantaged areas are on the list of people who can have their loans forgiven. Teachers who are willing to work in these areas are needed and forgiving student loans is one way of showing appreciation to those who agree to take those jobs. Also, filling a need where teachers are scarce can keep you from paying your loans. You may be sent to far away and remote areas to teach, but you may find it to be worth it to take those jobs if you don’t have to pay your loans. It is a decision that you can decide to take or not.

Serving in one of the branches of the military and other professions such as these can be considered for loan forgiveness. If you plan on joining the military in any capacity, your student loans can be forgiven. Sometimes people who become police officers, probation officers or any other peace officer may be eligible for this program. If you are planning on entering one of these professions, it would be worthwhile to look into whether or not your student loans can qualify for the loan forgiveness in your circumstance.

Some volunteer positions can also qualify you for loan forgiveness. One example is the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps consists of volunteers who travel to foreign countries to do good works and help the people in those countries accomplish goals. The Peace Corps’ mission is to 1) send qualified people to foreign countries to help them meet their needs, 2) help these people get to know Americans and 3) to help Americans get to know people of other cultures. If this seems like an adventure you would like to take, it will do more than just expand your horizons; it will also relieve you of your student loans!

Certain jobs can help you rid yourself of your student loans and the activities are worthwhile. You will have given yourself experiences that can never be taken away and you will benefit financially from it.

Credit Secrets Revealed is an e-book that contains even more information about loans.

STABILITY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME IN CREDIT

Applying for credit can be a daunting process. Sometimes people do not want to give you a credit card for all kinds of reasons. Not having credit currently can keep companies from giving you a credit card because no one wants to go first in giving credit to a new credit customer. This can make finding a credit card difficult for the first time credit customer. There are other reasons that people may turn down your application that you may not have ever thought about and we will explore some of those reasons here.

Stability is important to credit companies. Having a permanent address to write down on your applications, generally, shows credit card companies that you are in a stable home. With multiple moves and multiple former addresses, credit card companies can become wary of you. If you have a post office box that will mask all of your moves, it will not actually do this. The credit card companies sometimes believe that post office boxes are a sign of instability. They will think exactly the opposite of what you would have hoped it would prove to them.

To further demonstrate that you are in a permanent place a permanent address is not the only thing you can add to your application to show stability. You can also have a landline for your telephone. Only having a cell phone implies mobility, since you can move several times and have the same cell phone number. But, a landline is definite proof of remaining in one place for a significant amount of time. The trend now is to have a cell phone and no landline, but if you want to show people that you are a good risk for things such as credit, mortgages and loans, you will have to decide to buck the trend.

There are remedies for the situation if you have to move while you are in the process of applying for credit. If it is absolutely necessary that you move, have a permanent address that you can write down for the application. It could be a friend’s or a relative’s addresses but make sure that this person is not planning on moving! That would completely defeat the purpose of this practice.

Making yourself look in as stable a position as possible, with a permanent home and a stable job, will improve your chances of receiving the credit you seek. This requires a home address, never a post office box, and a landline. With just these two steps taken, banks and credit companies can feel more comfortable lending to you.

Credit Secrets Revealed is an e-book that will help you to get the credit you need.

UNSCRUPULOUS LENDING PRACTICES

A lot of people are having trouble paying their mortgages at the moment. They may be desperate to lower their payments so that they will not lose their homes. In these cases, they may be vulnerable to people who have unscrupulous lending practices. It will be necessary to do a thorough check of any company that you plan to do business with to avoid being a victim of these practices. Some of those practices will be described in this article.

The first things you need to watch out for are people who want you to lie on your applications. Never do this! Don’t even think about it, because you will be the one who is in trouble when the lies are found out when your payments reach an amount that you cannot afford. At that point, you may be forced out of your home because you cannot defend yourself by stating that your lender told you to overstate your income. The lender will not be held accountable for the trouble you will be in, so run if anyone tries to get you to lie in any capacity.

Balloon payments are another tactic that may not be good for you in the end. This is something that may come up after you have agreed with a bank to pay the interest only on your mortgage. After a set amount of time, the balance of the loan will be due, called a balloon payment. This can be quite a large sum of money. If you cannot be certain that you will have this large amount of money at the end of this time period, you may lose your house. To be careful, it would be better to not get into this type of loan with anyone.

Another tactic that has been pushed in the past couple of years has been house flipping. It may be that no one is thinking about doing this at this time, but in case you hear anyone try to convince you to do this you will be familiar with it. Some people will try to convince you to take the equity out of your home to use it to buy properties. There are several foreclosed homes that you can buy that you will need to fix up and sell to others or use as rental properties. Here lies the problem. It may be difficult to sell these properties and make a profit. It may also be difficult to fill them as rental properties and make a profit. You will be responsible for these properties and everything that goes wrong with them. You must be prepared for this if you are planning on flipping houses.

Remember these practices and you should be okay when looking to refinance your loans. You must still be careful because, unfortunately, there are more negative practices out there that we have not had space to explore in this article.

Credit Secrets Revealed will share more with you about unscrupulous lending practices.

MORE NEGATIVE LENDING PRACTICES

We learned earlier that there are a few things to watch out for when you are looking for a lender: 1) Lying on your applications, 2) balloon payments, and 3) house flipping. Unfortunately, there are even more illegal practices out there ready to suck you in. The purpose of these articles is to help you stay clear of these types of things.

Continuing in that vein, here is the next scheme. This one is done by contractors who will, supposedly, do work on your house. It is supposedly because sometimes they will not begin the work after you have signed blank papers without knowing exactly what is written on the papers if anything; if they have begun the work and you have refused to sign their papers without reading them, they will refuse to finish the work. The contractor in this case may have agreed to arrange for financing for the work the contractor will do on your home. If you aren’t sure what the contractor is doing, then do not sign any blank papers. This means never sign anything a contractor gives you without reading it because that is the only way you will know what your contractor is doing otherwise. A common practice is to have you sign the papers and disappear, so if it has not been made clear enough already, do not sign anything without reading it.

Sometimes insurance is used to take advantage of people who would like to obtain a loan. These lenders’ tactic is to slip various insurances into the loan. These insurances are not part of the loan, but these lenders like to make appear as if they are part of the loan and not an extra expense. If you are to say that you don’t want the insurance, which is the right thing to do, these lenders may make it appear as if it would be a huge hassle to remove the insurance. In this case, it is important to let them know you do not want anything extra and refuse to sign until it has been removed and read everything to make sure it happened.

For anyone who becomes desperate to avoid foreclosure, there are people ready to take advantage of you, too. The clue in this case is if the lender asks you to sign your deed over to them in order for them to refinance your mortgage. This is not a good idea. Do not sign your deed to anyone because it will essentially be their house after you do. Go to a legitimate lender and you may be able to keep your home.

Be wary of contractors who don’t want you to read your contracts, lenders who will slip extra things into your loan and those who want you to sign your deed to them. You may have a chance to save your house, but if you are not careful things can be made to be much worse.

Credit Secrets Revealed is an e-book that will show you some of the things you should look out for when searcing for a lender.