Credit Card Traps To Avoid: How the New ‘Universal Default Clause’ Can Hurt Your Pocketbook

The problem: American consumers have an estimated $2 trillion credit card debt collectively, and the total debt seems to be going higher. Personal bankruptcies are on the rise. It’s been estimated that 8 out of 10 of these same consumers have never received any sort of meaningful, practical education in personal finance.

But you’re different. You’ve worked hard to improve your credit score by making sure you’ve paid all major credit cards on time every month without fail. But consider this: could a late payment to the local video store rental club unravel all you’ve achieved?

A record number of credit card companies have built “universal default” clauses into their agreements, which allow them to raise your interest rate if you’re late making a payment — even to someone else!

Is there such a danger lurking in the fine print of your credit card contract (blithly referred to as “the agreement” by the companies)? Is there a nasty surprise waiting inside your next monthly credit card statement?

Lately, news reports of more and more people becoming aware of the so-called “universal default” clause buried in the fine print in their credit card agreements; becoming aware not because they were curious about this heavy-handed new trend, but because they have been personally affected by the clause — a clause that sometimes spikes the monthly revolving interest rate up as high as 30%!

How could this happen, you say? Well, some credit card companies — apparently on a new search to implement new fees to increase corporate profits — have introduced this onerous high-interest penalty on their customers. Read more of this >>

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What Lenders Look For: 7 Things to Think About Before Applying for a Mortgage

So you want to buy a home? Unsure whether you will qualify?

I am here to tell you that applying and qualifying for a home loan is not as difficult as climbing Mount Everest or running a marathon, but there are some basic things that all lenders look for in your application. You can be lacking in one or two of these areas, but you must be strong in most of them in order to obtain a home mortgage. Let’s explore the 7 things that lenders look for when determining if you are worthy of a loan.

Job Stability: Lenders want to see a 2 year employment history on your application. The best situation is if you have been with the same employer for two consecutive years or more. Frequent job changes or gaps in employment of more than a month must be explained and can jeopardize your chances of obtaining the loan.

Own a business? Business owners must also document a 2 year history of the business by providing a letter from their CPA stating that they have been in business for at least 2 years, or provide a business license showing the start date of the business, at least 2 years prior to application.

Don’t have the 2 year history? Don’t worry, if you are strong in the other 6 categories listed below, you can still obtain a mortgage. There are “No Doc” loans designed especially for you. With a No Doc loan, the lender does not verify your employment history, and you don’t have to disclose it. However, you will pay a higher interest rate for this mortgage. Read more of this >>

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Getting a Bad Credit Mortgage Loan in Today’s Changing Lending Environment

A lot has changed in the lending industry since the beginning of the year.

Lenders are going bankrupt, Wall Street and the Secondary Market have stopped purchasing “high risk” loans (High LTV-Stated and No Doc, High LTV-Low FICO, and High LTV-NOO lending niches are considered “high risk”) and good loan programs for people with bad credit are being eliminated or revised. All this converging together is making it harder for those with bad credit to get a mortgage or get a mortgage with a good interest rate.

Find out what happened, who’s left and what your options are.

What Happened?

Seventy-Seven (That’s right—77) bad credit mortgage lenders have closed their doors for good since the beginning of the year—here are some of the notables:

- Southstar Funding (RIP 4-02-2007): Over 5.5 billion dollars in loans originated in 2005, employing over 700 employees, lending in more then 30 states and voted the “best company to work for” by Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2004.

- MLN (RIP 12-29-2006) One of the first to close their doors and one of the top 3 bad credit mortgage lenders in the country.

- Fremont (RIP 3-2-2007): One of the top ten bad credit mortgage lenders in the country.

Why Did This Happen?

A number of factors brought about the bad credit mortgage lender meltdown—issues like increasing interest rates, high national foreclosure rate, loan buybacks, defaults on warehouse line commitments and Wall Street & Secondary Market’s declining appetite for these types of “high risk loans”.

Who’s Left?

Not many…

Those that are still offering bad credit mortgages have realigned their positions with risk and the remaining bad credit mortgage loans being offered today are harder to qualify for then they were 6-7 months ago.

Here are few of the remaining bad credit mortgage lenders still offering bad credit mortgage loans Read more of this >>

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Improve Your FICO Score Before Shopping for Homes for Sale

It always is exciting to begin looking at homes for sale in your area, bigger and perhaps nicer than the property you currently own. Before you let the excitement carry you away and make an offer for homes for sale, first check your FICO score to ensure you can purchase homes for sale at the best rate.

If your score is below 600 for any reason, you need to take corrective action. Better to put off looking for homes for sale, until you can purchase one at a good rate. Otherwise, you will be paying thousands more than necessary for your homes for sale over the life of the mortgage. A score below 600 puts you at a disadvantage with homes for sale lenders; but with dedication and lots of effort on your part, you can improve your FICO score and get the better mortgage rate and terms for your homes for sale. This article gives you ways to improve your FICO score and your credit report.

Payment History

Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your FICO score and has the biggest impact on purchasing homes for sale. It covers your timeliness of payments, bankruptcy, liens, wage garnishments, collections, delinquent accounts, and the severity of the delinquencies — all very important data to the homes for sale lender. Do the following to improve your payment history:

• Catch up any delinquent bills and make them current. Begin with the revolving credit accounts and then the smallest to the largest account balances. Then, stay current.

• Begin paying all bills on time. Read more of this >>

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Six Ways to More Skillful Borrowing

The web abounds with bad credit mortgage lenders and articles on such. A lot of people are often confused by articles they have read or stories they have heard that say that it is almost impossible in certain cases to get a bad credit mortgage loan with the current market. Or that all lenders have about the same rates and mortgages are all about the same.

In reality, most people don’t do enough research to get the right information before they decide to apply for a mortgage or refinance. And if you are in need of a bad credit mortgage loan then this article is even more important, because there are a lot of unscrupulous lenders out there that will gladly take advantage of your situation. Here are eight things you need to know for more skillful borrowing:

1. Be Prepared

The first thing you must know before applying for a bad credit mortgage loan or home refinance is how much you can afford to spend before you even begin your search. Carefully go over your credit history by requesting a copy of your credit report.

It is estimated that 79% of all credit reports contain errors, so take care of those first. Most small errors can be cleared up by sending a letter and proof of the error to the credit bureaus. However, major errors should probably be handled by a good credit attorney. We have a very good one on our website if you are interested in this service. Read more of this >>

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Credit Score Advice – Home Equity Loan Tips for Better Refinancing

Refinancing your house can save you money. Even with the interest rates climbing, they are still at the lowest levels in decades and now is a good time to refinance your home before the rates climb higher. Before choosing a lender to refinance your current mortgage, consider a few key factors and analyze your options. Your current interest rate, the length of time you plan to stay in your home, your credit rating, and the value of your home are all important issues to consider when looking at refinancing your house. Let’s concentrate on your credit score and how it effects refinancing.

A credit score or rating is something that every adult with a credit report has. This is commonly known as a FICO score, which is a credit score developed by Fair Isaac & Co. Credit scoring. This is a method of determining the likelihood that credit users will pay their bills. Lenders analyze your credit scores to determine whether or not to approve a home mortgage, a car purchase and nearly all other types of loans. Your credit score can have a huge impact upon your future and those with a good credit rating can look forward to a far brighter financial future than those with poor credit scores. So, how exactly is your credit score determined?

Before lending you money, creditors want to determine how much of a risk you are—in other words, how likely you are to repay the money they loan you. Credit scores help them do that, and the higher your score, the less risk they feel you’ll be. The rewards of raising your score speak directly to your wallet: You’ll qualify for more loans and be offered better interest rates. Your credit report contains a range of information relating to your financial situation, including the money you owe or have borrowed, your repayment habits, any missed or late payments, court judgments and bankruptcies, any loan applications you have made, and any loan refusals. Your credit rating can be affected adversely in many ways, and this can include missing or late payments, as well as being turned down for credit by lenders and merchants.

Credit Scoring Analyzes Five Areas of Your Credit Report Read more of this >>

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Buying a Home with Bad Credit

Owning a home is the ultimate American dream. It is also the best way to build wealth for yourself and for future generations. Having bad credit should not prevent you from owning a piece of the American dream.

If you have poor credit – you are not alone. It is estimated that approximately 30 million Americans struggle with bad credit from having excessive credit card debt and not paying their bills on time. Unfortunately, rising medical costs, job layoffs, ridiculous gas prices and escalating home prices are exacerbating the rate at which Americans are falling into the bad credit pit.

Without a doubt, no other process renders you more ashamed and more aware of your bad credit score than the act of purchasing a home. Buying a house with good credit is horrendous enough, for first time homebuyers. For people with bad credit, it is an act of congress but it need not be. Here are four easy ways to buy a house with bad credit.

Keep it in the family. Get a relative who has good credit to purchase the house on your behalf. A family member with a solid credit history, will get a good interest rate thereby making your monthly mortgage payments more affordable. You will also get some exposure to the home buying process without being overwhelmed.After your relative closes on the house, you must take over the mortgage payments, insurance and taxes. This will ensure that you get the tax benefits of being a home owner right away. Arrange for your relative to sign a “Grant Deed,” to add your name to the title of the property. This makes you a co-owner of the house. Read more of this >>

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How To Buy A Home if You Don’t Qualify For A Conventional Loan

Is this the question that you are constantly asking yourself? How can I buy a home even if I don’t qualify for a sub-prime loan? What if I told you that you still could buy a home even when you get turned down for a home loan. I bet you are kind of scratching your head right now… How is that possible? How can I get in a home even when I don’t qualify for conventional financing?

Well here are a few answers:
1. You will have to be creative in your offer to the seller.
2. You need seller’s who has a need to sell: Relocating, etc
3. You need sellers who are open minded to listening to another way of getting there property sold.

So why no one every told me that there was a different way? Well because a lot of people don’t know how to think differently. I was talking with a group the other day and it seem like they where saying that if a new pair of jeans come out and it becomes stylish then we all tend to buy them based on the crowd. It’s the same way as buying a home. We have become so use to hearing lenders say no until after the third no we usually give up. What I want you to do is snap out of it! Stop allowing the no’s to keep you from moving forward in trying to purchase a home. I’ve learned that you have to get pass the no’s to get to a YES….. Just like right now you are ready to buy your next home and your lender has turned you down….. Here is the question to ask your lender: Read more of this >>

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Real Estate Financing Tips You Can Use Today

One of the first steps to take before you start looking for your dream home is to ask yourself what you can afford to spend on a monthly house payment. Ask real estate agents, real estate brokers, lenders and any other real estate professional you know any questions you have about real estate financing, home mortgages, home loans, commercial mortgages, refinancing and current mortgage rates and get quotes, even if you have bad credit; you can learn a lot in a short period of time. Bit of trivia- this year alone, Americans are expected to borrow $1.33 trillion in acquiring 7.4 million houses, condominiums and co-ops.

Some lenders may impose limits on how much of your down payment can come from borrowing from other sources. Make sure to get an estimate of your real estate financing closing costs from the lender you’ve chosen; by law, the lender is required to provide his statement to you within three days of receiving your loan application. Most of all you’ll need to determine what price range you can afford to buy in.

Loan programs for down payments of twenty percent or less require you to purchase Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). When financing real estate it’s important to know that a low FICO credit score does not mean you won’t qualify for a home loan or home mortgage. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages offer consistent monthly payments for all of the 30 years you have the mortgage; if the market is good, you can benefit from locking in a lower rate for the full term of the loan. Read more of this >>

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