Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage fraud has been on a steady rise in recent times and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is currently looking into 200 scams that were all related to the mortgage industry.
The FSA believe that the fraud goes far beyond people exaggerating about their salaries in order to get the house they want, they believe that there are organised rings within the mortgage industry that are gaining huge profits from defrauding the mortgage and property industry.
The FSA are estimating that the current losses on each new build house connected to the mortgage fraud surge stands at
Bad Credit – Credit Cards – Use Wisely
Bad credit cards are normally designed for people with a bad credit history. People with a low score can usually get a card specifically for their needs. Orchard bank is one such institution that provides programs to improve your Fico score as they report to the major bureaus on a regular basis. Take advantage of the opportunities available, find the best rates and start rebuilding your Fico score today.
Unsecured
The unsecured options come without any collateral, but this type of program usually comes with much higher interest rates.
Secured
With the secured options, your limit usually matches the amount that you deposit. With on-time payments you can usually be considered for unsecured offers after some time, normally 6-12 months.
Interest
If you pay off your balances in full each month, you can typically avoid high interest rates and late fees associated. But remember, by paying only the minimum each month you will incur interest at very high rates especially if you have a card designed for bad credit. Consumers with low Fico scores usually will have higher interest rates because of the risk of default. The fact that these types of programs carry a high interest rate usually 20% – 30% or more shouldn’t stop you from getting one, in an effort to get your Fico score on the road to recovery.
Prepaid
Another option would be prepaid cards, which are a great way to control spending while still being able to use plastic and maybe help that low score. The amount of money available to use on a these programs depends on how much money is deposited on the card. Both bad credit and prepaid options will allow you a chance to build your credit. Another great use for this type of card is to teach your teens good spending habits.
Bad credit credit cards are a very good concept that can provide relief to people with a low score, by allowing them a chance to rebuild there credit, when used wisely. The above options are probably the best option for anyone who has a lot of debt as well as a low Fico score. It can be very rewarding to get you back on track with the help these types of programs, but they also have several disadvantages especially if you don’t make your payments on-time or only pay the minimum each month. You may very well find yourself in an even worse situation.
Mortgage – 3 Tips to Get Your Mortgage Paid Off Faster
Are you unhappy with your mortgage? There are more and more people that are finding that their mortgage is not what they expected. When we purchase a home or refinance our mortgage we give ourselves a mental picture of the mortgage being easier to pay down as the years go by. We think that with a raise in a couple of years we can make more money and pay our mortgage down quicker.
However, most people never get to a point where they are comfortable enough to pay down their mortgage faster.
We forget to calculate the cost of living that rises year after year and the raise we get usually ends up covering normal expenses instead of paying down our mortgage.
If you have a variable rate mortgage, then there is a good chance that your monthly payment will go up, which, again will make is harder to pay down your mortgage when you are making more money.
There is even something called a negative amortization loan or a Neg Am, that will have you paying less than the interest only payment on your mortgage every month. This will actually cause your principal balance to grow each month.
So how do you pay down your mortgage faster….
The first and easiest solution is to pay more money each month towards your principal. This will save you interest off the back end of the loan and will pay off your balance quicker.
Now you just have to figure out where that extra money will be coming from. You will have to figure out how much extra you can send in each month and how many months in a row you can send in to keep pace with yourself. If you can even come up with an extra $20 each month to pay towards your mortgage you will be able to pay it off faster than you could imagine.
The second way to pay off your mortgage faster is to make a 13th payment each year. This could come from a bonus at work, a tax return check, or from a month when you get 3 paychecks instead of just 2. Another way to achieve a 13th payment each year is to make bi-weekly payments. This will give you 26 half payments, which equals 13 whole payments.
Paying a 13th payment each year can actually save you 5-7 years on a 30 year mortgage, which can save you thousands of dollars in interest of the back end of your loan. It is amazing that more people are not already taking advantage of this method, but I guess there are more important things than paying off your mortgage.
The last thing you can do is refinance for a lower rate and have your mortgage guy or gal give you the payment amount that you would have to pay each month to pay off your mortgage faster. For example, if you refinance for a 30 year mortgage you can find out what the payment would be for a 20 year and a 15 year mortgage. Then, try to make the 15 year payment each month, but if you slip up and need a little extra cash you can make the 20 year payment one or two months instead.
However you go about paying down your mortgage faster does not matter as long as you stay disciplined and you just go ahead and do it already.