Considered This: September 2005

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Friday, September 23, 2005

THE FREE CREDIT REPORT WEB SITE

At last, everyone in the entire United States -- territories, possessions and all -- can click or call for three free credit reports a year at Annualcreditreport.com.

On Sept. 1, thanks to The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, free reports can be obtained from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. territories and possessions. Through the site, or by phoning the toll-free 1-877-322-8228, you can get one report each year from each of the three major credit reporting companies -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. (The hearing impaired can use the TDD service at 1â€“877â€“730â€“4104).

The law -- along with the free reports -- went into effect early in 2004 in the West. The rest of the country has been added, piece by piece. With the addition of eastern states, the process is complete. Inside your credit reportSome anticipated a tidal wave of requests for credit reports. But one credit company providing reports says only that â€œthousands and thousandsâ€� of consumers have asked for copies of their credit sheets. No statistics are available on how many people have used the law, says Susan Henson, Experian spokeswoman.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

YOUR DREAM HOME WITHIN YOUR GRASP?

Buying a Home with Less than Perfect Credit
By Robert J. Bruss

Are you less than perfect about paying your bills on time? Or maybe you pay your rent, utilities and other bills with cash or money orders so you have no credit record.

If that's your problem, you may still be able to buy a house or condo. Thanks to innovative outreach home mortgage programs from Fannie Mae and other major home loan lenders, if you have a reliable source of income you can probably buy a home.

For example, I talked with a hard-working immigrant Hispanic gardener whose steady income comes from about 30 homeowners. A few of his customers pay him in cash. But most pay by check. Although he has no checking account, he told me how he recently got a mortgage from a major nationwide lender, with the help of a very patient mortgage broker, to buy the three-bedroom house he was previously renting. "I really need a four-bedroom house for my wife and our three kids, but it's a start," he told me.

Do you have a steady income?
If you are "credit challenged," probably because you have no credit or bad credit, you may still be able to buy or refinance a home providing you have a steady income. That's because mortgage lenders are now under extreme pressure to keep up their home loan origination volume, especially to borrowers without traditional verifiable income sources. Virtually every mortgage lender has a special home loan program for borrowers with credit problems. The interest rate might not be the lowest available, but mortgage money is abundantly available.

To illustrate, I once received a phone call from a long-time media acquaintance whom I had never met except by telephone. He briefly told me his home loan situation, admitting he "messed up" and had some serious credit problems. I was able to put him in touch with a savvy mortgage broker who arranged a mortgage at "only" 8 percent interest. My media friend was thrilled.

Know your credit report and score
If you're not sure what is in your credit report, or you don't know your FICO (Fair, Isaac and Co.) credit score, which most mortgage lenders use to rate your credit, the easiest source to learn this information is at www.myfico.com. For a small charge, you can obtain your credit report, FICO score and suggestions on how to improve your FICO score. At www.equifax.com, you can check your credit reports at all three major credit bureaus for an additional fee.

How do lenders use your score?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's largest home loan lenders in the secondary mortgage market, use computerized credit scoring programs to instantly approve mortgage borrowers for home loans.

When these non-human mortgage approval programs were implemented about 10 years ago, I was very critical. But the amazing result has been more, not less, home loan applicants approved when computerized credit scores are used. Furthermore, when a home loan applicant is rejected, a human mortgage underwriter takes a second look to see if an exception can be made for the loan to be approved.

FICO scores range between 450 and 850. The higher your FICO score, the better. A FICO score above 700 is almost always a "slam dunk" approval at the lowest mortgage interest rate. Nationwide, the average FICO score is 678.

Above 620 you will probably be approved for a home mortgage, but maybe not at the lowest interest rate. Below 620, you might get approved but you will surely have to pay a higher than normal interest rate.

Make sure your credit report is error-free
Thanks to a new federal law, all U.S. residents are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three national credit bureaus. After you obtain your credit report and FICO score, read it. If you discover any errors, contact the credit bureau immediately. When writing, phoning or sending e-mail to one of the three national credit bureaus, you will be informed if there is any cost for the services you are requesting. The latest credit bureau addresses and phones are:
Equifax, PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374; phone 1-800-685-1111; www.equifax.com.
Experian (formerly TRW), PO Box 949, Allen, TX 75013-0949; phone 1-800-422-4879; www.experian.com.
Trans Union, PO Box 290, Springfield, PA 19064-0390; phone 1-800-888-4213; www.tuc.com.

Each credit report contains different information because some of your creditors report to all the national credit bureaus, but other creditors report to only one or two. Each credit bureau must include a dispute form so you can correct any errors for correction.

Credit bureaus have 30 days from the date of dispute receipt to verify your complaint. If the credit bureau is unable to verify the information you dispute, that information must be removed from your credit report. When the credit bureau doesn't receive a response from the creditor, the disputed item must be removed from your credit report. Be sure to follow up and insist on receiving a revised or corrected credit report.

Get pre-approved in writing
After checking your credit report and FICO score, even before shopping for a house or condo, it's time to apply for a home loan.

Whether you apply with a direct mortgage lender or a mortgage broker who can "shop" your loan application among many lenders to find you the best terms, the first step to buying a home is to get a written mortgage pre-approval letter or certificate from an actual lender.

Don't accept a mortgage "pre-qualification letter." That means nothing because the issuer isn't the actual lender. Instead, insist upon a full credit investigation and a pre-approval letter or certificate from a lender willing to make your loan, subject to reasonable terms such as appraisal of the house or condo you decide to buy.

Conclusion
Even if you have less than perfect credit, one way or another, you can probably buy a house or condo. Your first "starter home" probably won't be your "dream home." But it will start you on the road to building home equity rather than constructing a pile of worthless rent receipts.

Get more real estate articles from Inman News

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

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Saturday, September 17, 2005

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Saturday, September 03, 2005

GAS AND CONSUMER OUTRAGE

> Please read this and join with us! The price for regular unleaded gasoline in my town is $3.45 per gallon, and it is estimated to reach over $5.00 by the end of the summer!!!
> With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers NEED to
> take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is
> if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing his or her gas! And we
> can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. We can't just stop buying gas, but we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices!!! If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

SPREAD THE WORD to everyone!!!

> But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and
> Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, don't whimp (sic) out on
> me at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach
> millions of people!! I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each
> of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send
> it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the
> message reaches the sixth ! generation of people, we will have reached over
> THREE MILLION consumers!If those three million get excited and pass this on
> to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it
> goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
> Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY
> gasoline from EXXON and MOBIL. That's all. (If you don't understand how we
> can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people....
> well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am... so trust
> me on this one.)
> How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten
> more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could
> conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you didn't
> think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can
> make a difference.
> If this makes sense to you, please pass this messa! ge on.
> PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP
> THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK
>
>
>
>
> WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE??????

Fwd: Fwd: > also, don't buy gas on sept 10th!!!

spread the word to everyone!!!

Very cheap WATER FILTERS - Consider It!

A Bangladeshi professor has developed a cheap water filter that could save the lives of millions of people in the developing world who currently drink water filled with dangerously high levels of arsenic.

Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater in many parts of the world, with the World Health Organization estimating that as many as 80 million people could be affected by arsenic poisoning. But water filtering systems used in the developed world are often out of reach of developing country's budgets and expertise.

Enter Prof. Fakhrul Islam who invented a water filter that costs only $3 and can effectively filter arsenic out of water. The filter is a mixture of crushed bricks and ferrous sulphate that are heated. In tests by the United Nations, the filter led to a 20-fold decrease in the amount of arsenic in water.

The United Nations plans to give away the filter in villages across Bangladesh, and it could find applications in other countries with groundwater arsenic problems.

Sources:

Water filter set to save lives. Alistair Lawson, The BBC, July 14, 2002.

New water filter to combat arsenic and lead poisoning. Navakal.Com, July 14, 2002.

Life saving water filter good news for millions of Bangladeshi. Scientic News, August 2002.

Sources:

Water filter set to save lives. Alistair Lawson, The BBC, July 14, 2002.

New water filter to combat arsenic and lead poisoning. Navakal.Com, July 14, 2002.

Life saving water filter good news for millions of Bangladeshi. Scientic News, August 2002.

Considered This

Thursday, September 29, 2005

MONEY TILL PAYDAY