Co-Signer a.k.a. ‘The Borrower’
What do you call someone who co-signs a loan: borrower. If you are a co-signer, then you are a borrower, you have a debt and it is your responsibility to make sure that the payments are made in full and on time. Whether you sign or co-sign, that debt affects your credit score. If you sign your name on a loan, that loan is yours. If the signer defaults, then your credit can be dinged, the debt sold, and your accounts or wages garnished before you are notified. A signer and a co-signer are jointly and individually liable. Be careful who you co-sign for, you may get more than you bargained for. Read More
Home Is Where Your Credit Lives
Home is where your credit lives. Credit is not something you can see, feel, hear, smell, or tastes, but it can have a big effect on the tangible items of your life, like a car or a house. Your credit helps determine what (and if) you can buy, and how much a loan is going to cost you. In a foreclosure lawsuit, your credit is on the line. You will probably lose your foreclosure lawsuit, however, how much credit you lose depends on how you handle your case. If you let it go unopposed, then you give the fate of your credit score to the plaintiff, but if you launch a Foreclosure Defense, then you may wind up with a better outcome. The more credit you can retain, the better off your financial future will be. Remember, you are still going to need a place to live, and you might also need a car and / or a student loan in the near future. A Foreclosure Defense gives you time to pursue an alternative. Your credit will take a hit for a short sale or a loan modification, but generally it will be less detrimental than for a foreclosure or [...] Read More
Leading & Following in Foreclosure Cases
Often upon a time, the bank’s lawyer asks the bank’s representative leading questions during direct examination in a foreclosure trial. (Questions like: Is this a business record—yes. Was it posted during the normal operation of doing business—yes. Is it your job to post it—yes.) Without opposition from the homeowner, there is no one to object, and leading questions lead to foreclosures. A foreclosure defense is not a denial of debt, but may be a way for a homeowner to pursue an alternative ending, like a short sale or mortgage modification. A foreclosure defense asks the bank to prove their case—to verify the records on the homeowner, like how much they owe and the interest rate. Meanwhile the homeowner has the opportunity to seek a different outcome. Instead of following the questions that lead to foreclosure, launch a legal defense to aim the case in a different direction. Read More
Your Christmas Credit
Christmas comes but once a year…your credit card bill is monthly. Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases may accrue interest before the gifts are opened. Situations happen—medical hardships, job loss, divorce, loss of income, and Christmas—which can affect good bill-paying practices and damage your credit. The thing is, you can fix it. If you can talk, text, and chew gum, you can fix your credit score. For general tips on do-it-yourself credit repair (for free), visit the Federal Trade Commission website at www.ftc.gov. And if you are looking to buy a house (even if you have just lost a house to foreclosure), there are local credit counseling programs available that review the problems on your credit report and will help you make a plan to fix those issues. Visit the St. Johns County Housing and Community Services website at http://www.sjcfl.us (click on “Housing & Community Services”) and the St. Johns Housing Partnership website at http://sjhp.org for more information. Read More
The Role of Credit Through Foreclosure
The market is up in Old Master paintings at Christie’s, with Rafael’s selling just shy of $50 million. Of course to buy such an expensive piece of art you have to properly insure it, and to insure it, you have to have adequate security, and to have security, you have to have a home in which to set up sensors and alarms. A laser net, motion detectors, and steel doors do not do much good in a cardboard box. From the top of the line to your bottom line, credit is important. If you are facing foreclosure, you are facing more than simply the loss of a place to live. Credit is not something you can see, feel, hear, smell, or taste, but it can have a big effect on the tangible items of your life, like a car or a house. Your credit helps determine what (and if) you can buy, and how much a loan is going to cost you in interest. Foreclosure is usually pretty hard on your credit score. A foreclosure defense may give you a chance at loss mitigation, whereby you pursue a strategy to minimize your drop in credit. The less credit you lose [...] Read More
Bankruptcy, Amnesty, & the Waldorf Astoria
The Waldorf Astoria has been granting amnesty to former guests who checked out with more than their luggage. Over the years, the famous New York lodging has lost everything from silver creamers to a two-foot crystal vase appraised at $30K. They want it back. They are appealing in a promotional campaign to try to recoup a portion of their losses. Creditors are not so nostalgic. While bankruptcy is a way for debtors to cap their debt and pay creditors at least some of what is owed, it does not grant credit amnesty you can walk away from. Bankruptcy has long-term consequences that you need to know and understand before you declare the “B” word. Bankruptcy is not the quick and easy fix for credit or foreclosure. It is not the same as returning a moss-covered, three-handled family gradunza to the Waldorf Astoria. Seek competent legal counsel to review what you are getting into versus what you are getting out of before you make a declaration that could turn into a long sentence. (Also note that while the Waldorf is looking for everything from salad forks to shower doors, and despite its rigorous reputation and exquisite location, it is offering [...] Read More
When Bankruptcy Burns
Polly ’Possum went to the bank to get a loan. Her babies were getting big and she did not want them hanging around the house any more—she needed money to send them off to college. But the bank denied her a student loan for her overgrown joeys. “Ms. ’Possum, you filed bankruptcy,” the loan officer said to her. “But that was last year,” she replied. “You cannot file bankruptcy like federal income tax,” the loan officer told her. “You have been playing ’possum with your creditors. You cannot take on new debt until you have completed your bankruptcy program.” Polly ’Possum felt like she had been hit by a car, but there was nothing she could do except to creep home with her pouch full of bad credit. Bankruptcy can be a great resolution to debt, but only if it is the right choice for you. To find out more, the US Courts website offers an online buffet of nine bankruptcy videos (all under five minutes) at http://www.uscourts.gov/video/bankruptcybasics/bankruptcyBasics.html. Consult competent legal counsel to discuss the specifics of your situation. Read More
Quick Draw of Non-Judicial Foreclosure
Texas has the fastest foreclosure in the West…and any other part of the United States according to numbers at the end of last year on RealtyTrac. While the national average was 348 days, Texas could foreclose in only 90. Florida was averaging 806 days, and New York was the empire state of slow foreclosure at 1,019 days. A foreclosure is a legal proceeding for the collection of real estate mortgages and other types of liens on real estate, which results in cutting off the right to redeem the mortgaged property and usually involves a judicial sale of the property to pay the mortgage debt. And how lenders deal with that proceeding differs from state to state depending on whether or not a judge is involved in the process. The slow draw of judicial foreclosure is good news for homeowners, giving them an opportunity to examine and question the claim against them. The problem with non-judicial foreclosure is that it is a shortcut of due process and gives the oversight to the lenders (not a judge). You cannot put up a defense just to put off the inevitable, but with time as a side-effect of a foreclosure defense, you have the [...] Read More
Personal Credit Crisis
Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with. Credit is the same way. Credit is not something you can see, feel, hear, smell, or tastes, but it can have a big effect on the tangible items of your life, like a car or a house. Your credit helps determine what (and if) you can buy, and how much a loan is going to cost you in interest. To qualify for a loan, creditors look at your payment history, credit use, length of credit history, and your credit accounts including new applications for credit. They want to know how thin your credit is spread and how much it covers so they can make a risk assessment of the likelihood of you paying them back. Lenders need to loan money—that is what they are in business to do—but it does not work if they do not get paid back. Generally the higher your credit score, the more money you can borrow and the lower the interest rate at which you will have to pay it back. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests you build credit by paying your bills on time, pay down outstanding balances, and stay [...] Read More