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.
