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I couldn’t help but notice there have been a few articles circulating around espousing the merits of taking a home equity loan out to pay off your high interest credit card debt or other types of unsecured debt. Did you look to see that they are written by mortgage brokers?

Here is my problem with consumers taking out these types of loans. One, they are attempting to borrow their way out of debt, which is impossible and overall, just a terrible idea. Secondly, they are borrowing from what is essentially the savings account of their home equity. For most people, this is their single biggest investment and financial asset. So, this loan to pay off unsecured debt is secured by the roof over their heads which costs more each month when a loan is taken out against it.

Let’s look at a worst case scenario that is all too common. It might help you if you envision it before taking out one of these types of loans. You get a bigger house payment with the borrowed money, your credit cards get paid off but you don’t cut them up. Six months to a year later, you have them maxed out again but now you get laid off. The cards may never be paid and you have all the credit problems associated with being unable to pay them along with a higher mortgage payment. If you can’t make the payment on it, you are in more danger of losing your home than you were before you took it out. But most tragically, you have nothing to show for the thousands more you now owe on your home. Thousands you may have spent years paying down from the original debt.

Even in the best case scenario, you are now years longer away from paying the house off and if you pay off the cards and cut them up, you have less equity in your home in exchange for items you bought with high interest credit cards. In my opinion, it is a bad trade and only the credit card companies and the companies that originate the home equity loans win. You get stuck with a higher house payment, less money in your equity “savings account” and unsecured creditors get paid with funds taken from your most important asset. What do you really have to show for borrowing more money to pay off money you effectively borrowed at 18% to 29%?

What is the alternative? Negotiate with the credit card companies; that’s what! There are ways to make the creditors and collections agencies stop harassing you instantly and in some cases they are trying to collect a debt from you that you no longer owe. Remember, you have the one thing they want: MONEY. And even if you don’t have much or any, you still can get them to lower the interest rate, maybe even to 0% or knock off the late fees and get the debt to a manageable level. In addition, you have the ability to dictate your terms to them!

If you listen to the collectors, they will have you terrified into thinking the only options are for you to get a loan to pay them or to declare bankruptcy because they will have you convinced they will automatically get a judgment against you and ruin your credit. While a judgment certainly is a possibility and I don’t take the threat of it lightly, it must be done through the courts and you do have options to stop a judgment. When you can’t make your house payments it is much harder to stop a foreclosure. Additionally, your credit can be addressed with the credit reporting agencies and is not necessarily going to cause you problems for seven years as they would have you believe.

So, take the time to think through all the ramifications of a home equity loan to pay off credit cards and go to the trouble to educate yourself on some of your rights along with the protections offered to consumers through federal laws and statutes. You can get out from under the crushing load of credit card debt with a fresh start, without risking your home.

Believe this! You can overcome or solve or successfully live with any problem you will ever have to face including credit card debt. If you are committed to making a plan, setting some goals, working your plan, and doing the things that are proven to work, you will end your credit card nightmare without worrying about a foreclosure nightmare.

Pat Hicks is the author of “The Negotiate Your Way to Financial Freedom from Credit Card Debt Ebook”, located at http://www.Iwantafreecrediterport.com, a web site providing competitive priced credit reports and scores with no tricks or misleading advertising.

Tags: bankruptcy, credit card, Credit Report, Credit Score, debt, debt consolidation, free credit reportbankruptcy, credit card, Credit Report, Credit Score, debt, debt consolidation, free credit report

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Did you apply for a personal loan only to be turned down by a bank or lending institution? Like most people there is always a need to borrow money to buy a car or to renovate a home or even to get a student loan. There are many reasons why people need a loan and lenders turn people down from a loan application based on ones credit rating and credit score. Fortunately there is a way to resolve this situation by obtaining a credit report and checking to see if there are any inaccuracies or items that should not be in the credit report. By cleaning ones credit report it begins the process towards obtaining credit and even better interest rates on loans.

With the costs of living on the rise and the limit that one has on earnings it is easy to understand why borrowing becomes necessary for a lot of people. However, care must be taken to ensure that when money is borrowed it can be paid back to the lender.

There are times when money is borrowed and the borrower has difficulty in meeting the loan requirements and payment schedule as was outlined at the time of obtaining the loan. If there is a good reason for non-payment of loan and if this reason is brought to the attention of a lender in a timely fashion, it is very likely that the lender will be accommodating and suggest a revised payment arrangement.

The problem arises when there is default in loan payments and when the loan is not repaid as agreed upon by borrower and lender. This then gets into the credit reports and becomes part of ones credit history and it becomes a problem for future borrowings.

However, it must be noted that often times there are errors and inaccuracies in ones credit report. These credit report errors can and do affect ones credit rating and places a person as a bad or poor credit candidate. It is therefore very important that the inaccuracies be dealt with and a clean credit report be in place after all the discrepancies in the credit report have been removed.

People with a bad credit report that have a need to clean up their credit have the law on their side which allows them to request a reinvestigation of information in a credit file and dispute it as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no charge for this. Everything a credit repair clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or no cost. As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act people are entitled to a free copy of their credit report if denied credit, insurance or employment within the last 60 days. If an application for credit, insurance, or employment is denied because of information supplied by a credit bureau, the company you applied to must provide you with that credit bureau’s name, address, and telephone number.

You can dispute mistakes or outdated items in your credit report for free. Ask the credit reporting agency for a dispute form or submit your dispute in writing, along with any supporting documentation. Do not send them original documents.

Clearly identify each item in your report that you dispute, explain why you dispute the information, and request a reinvestigation. If the new investigation reveals an error, you may ask that a corrected version of the report be sent to anyone who received your report within the past six months. Job applicants can have corrected reports sent to anyone who received a report for employment purposes during the past two years.

When the reinvestigation is complete, the credit bureau must give you the written results and a free copy of your credit report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, the credit bureau cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the credit bureau gives you a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.

You should tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you dispute an item. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider then reports the item to any credit bureau, it must include a notice of your dispute. In addition, if you are correct-that is, if the information is inaccurate-the information provider may not use it again.

If the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, have the credit bureau include your version of the dispute in your file and in future reports. Remember, there is no charge for a reinvestigation of your credit report.

Reporting Negative Credit Information

Accurate negative information generally can be reported for seven years, but there are exceptions:

Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years;

Information reported because of an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limitation;

Information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limitation;

Information concerning a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer; and

Default information concerning U.S. Government insured or guaranteed student loans can be reported for seven years after certain guarantor actions.

It pays to view your credit report, check your credit score and to rectify any inaccuracies, which in turn will give you better borrowing power. Visit the following website now for more Info.
http://www.zen-design.org/credit-reports.htm

Julian Pereira has researched the problems associated with poor credit and offers suggestion on obtainging a free credit report and improving credit score. You can obtain more info at http://www.zen-design.org/credit-reports.htm

Tags: Bad Credit, credit rating, Credit Report, Credit Score, debt, debt relief, free credit report, poor creditBad Credit, credit rating, Credit Report, Credit Score, debt, debt relief, free credit report, poor credit

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