I’ve gotten two of these unwanted cards in the last 12 months after signing up with two different financial institutions for two different reasons. The first was a mortgage I signed, the second for a business checking account where I was the primary account user. I’ve worked hard all my life to maintain good credit, and I don’t want these things to affect my excellent rating. What should I do now?
Read Beau’s letter and our advice, inside.
Casey-Serin is 24, but he’s already $170,000 in debt, thanks to a bevy of hare-brained schemes that helped him buy 8 homes in 8 months in 4 states with no money down, looking to do the ol’ “fix n’ flip.” None of them sold, and now he’s strapped to the nines.
Yesterday’s Morning Edition featured confessions from former Ameriquest mortgage employees. The confessions included startling revelations, such as:
All Financial Matters has a nifty online tool for comparing different mortgages.
Lost an important document? Misplaced your birth certificate, driver’s license, passport, social security card, property deed, title insurance policy, mortgage, car title, marriage license, divorce paper, or diploma?
Hey, you may be asking yourself, why are GM’s profits down 90% from this quarter last year?
“Even if they’re not trying to sell their house or getting hammered with problems with a subprime mortgage, consumers can’t ignore the headlines.”
About 85 percent of mortgage borrowers have credit scores of 620 or higher. So far — knock on wood — most of these prime customers needn’t worry about being turned down for home loans on the basis of their riskiness as borrowers, so long as they’re willing to let the lender verify their incomes and assets.
Other sections include an analysis of the Federal debate, and “Lender Implosion” which declares that the industry has itself to blame.—MEGHANN MARCO
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America announced that they have set aside $1billion for the refinancing of subprime mortgages, but it’s not nearly enough. From the Washington Post (emphasis ours):
NACA requires that people who ask for its help attend intensive housing counseling workshops. It also assesses the person’s ability to own and maintain a home. It then helps the person obtain a mortgage with one of its partner lending institutions, the biggest ones being CitiGroup and Bank of America.
Eric writes:
NYT has a sobering counterpoint to the recent gangbanging of the subprime mortgage market in the press and in Washington. It’s main points:
So many lifestyles, so many loans…which one goes with which? Bankrate has a tool that matches your lifestyle to one of 8 different types of mortgages. You’re bound to match one of them, right? —MEGHANN MARCO
You could be forgiven for thinking that predatory lenders really only go after poverty-stricken borrowers. However, a recent study by the San Diego Business Journal found that 73% of predatory loans were made to middle and upper-class borrowers.
WikiHow has a primer on saving your home from foreclosure. If you find yourself unable to make payments…
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