Wednesday, April 15, 2009

What is Holding You Back From Qualifying For a Mortgage?

While in the past the mortgage business seemed to offer a free for all

on mortgages, in recent history this same industry has tightened up its

standards and no longer offers home loans as generously as it did before.

Plenty of hopeful would be homeowners have located a perfect home or

neighborhood they would like to live in, only to find it hard – if not

impossible – to qualify for a mortgage loan.


Granted, initially there were problems with the costs of homes in

various locales, but since January there has been a marked resurgence in

home loan apps, especially since interest rates are at historic lows.

Given the recent bailouts to the banking industry, consumers were sure

that seeing some of these funds trickle down in the form of consumer loans

would be a given. Sadly, they were sorely surprised.


Banks are concerned that their lending practices – which had already

come under the microscope – would be further under scrutiny if they wrote

any more loans resulting in foreclosures or bankruptcies. Adding insult to

injury, consumers who are even tangentially affected by the current

economic slowdown are now having a tougher time qualifying for mortgages


Are you a consumer who has a hard time making ends meet? Are your

unsecured debts causing your family’s budget to strain at the seams,

sometimes leaving the more important secured debts unpaid? You know this

jeopardizes your car and home, but the bill collectors are insistent.

Imagine once again living within your means simply by undergoing a debt

settlement that eliminates your debt quicker than paying it off could ever

accomplish. As a matter of fact, you could see 25% or even 65% of your

overall indebtedness evaporate before you even make one payment!


Debt settlement is the process by which you and creditors negotiate the

outstanding balances due. This process is an industry accepted means of

avoiding bankruptcy, collection calls, and also higher interest rates,

while at the same time ridding you of the consumer debt. Debt negotiation

of this kind is only open to those with unsecured debts, such as credit

cards or personal loans without collateral. Its primary goal is to reduce

monthly payments to an affordable level and cut outstanding balances by

sufficient amount to make debt repayment possible within a few short

years.


It is noteworthy that some creditors may not initially be open to debt

settlement negotiations, but with the help of a skilled debt settlement

agency they oftentimes are won over. Professional debt negotiators know

the industry inside and out, making it possible to talk to the creditors

on their level. Debt settlement agencies charge a moderate fee for their

administrative services, and it is usually a percentage of the amount by

which your overall indebtedness is reduced. For example, a debtor who

contacts a debt settlement agency with $20,000 and succeeds in having the

debt reduced to $15,000, only pays a small percentage of the $5,000

reduction in cost.


There is a caveat that consumers must be aware of: debt settlements do

show up on the credit report. They appear as a renegotiated debt and as

such have the potential of lowering your overall credit score. On the

other hand, they do not have the negative impact that multiple late

payments showcase or even a bankruptcy, which remains on your record for

10 years. Moreover, contact your accountant to discuss the potential need

for declaring the forging debt as income. The Internal Revenue Service

generally requires $600 or more to be declared as miscellaneous income.


It is tempting to let these downsides scare you away from taking charge

of your unsecured debt today. Do not give in to the temptation to just put

the debt on the backburner in the hopes of having it go away. The odds are

good that it will never go away and instead merely aggravate your

financially precarious situation. Remember: your creditors will not go

away and the debts you owe are a legal obligation. Failure to deal with it

now may result not only in an adverse notation on your credit fit, but

also court action compelling you to make the payments you can ill afford

right now.


In order to find out more about mortgages, you can visit our site www.lender411.com.

Daniel DuffieldAbout Me
Lead Content Developer of Lender411. Please add my to your circles.

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