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Choosing The Right Credit Card
They come day after day after day. Sometimes two, three, or four at a time. Credit card offers. The credit card industry is highly competitive and banks and other financial institutions are constantly sending out mass mailings in an attempt to lure...
Credit Enhancements: Seven Tips For Enhancing Business Credit Transactions
What are the avenues available to businesses with weak credit profiles or to companies pursuing credit transactions that are perceived as too risky by credit providers? Many companies apply for credit at banks, finance companies or equipment leasing...
Home Equity Loan or Home Equity Line of Credit – Which is right for you?
The most common type of home equity loan is the term loan. This loan is set for a fixed amount of time, anywhere from five to fifteen years. Such loans are typically granted for up to 80% of the value of the home, but some lenders will lend up to...
How To Get Out Of Credit Card Debt Much Faster & Save Lots Of Money - Without Filing For Bankruptcy!
The most important lesson I learned about getting out of debt is that you'll NEVER get out of debt playing by the rules of your creditors. No matter what they say, they really don't want you to get out of debt.
After all, the longer it takes you...
What Is Credit and How Does It Work?
Credit is a prettier word for debt. When you obtain credit you are borrowing money, or getting the right to access money (like a credit card, for example), and you agree to pay back the person or company that loaned you that money. In these type...
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Credit Cards and Home Equity Loans – Read the Fine Print
These days, everyone’s lives are burdened with paperwork. With newspapers, magazines, bills, junk mail, and who-knows-what taking up space in their day, few people have time to look at every piece of paper that comes their way. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more necessary to carefully examine bills and contracts, as various penalties are finding their way into the fine print of credit card bills, home equity loan and mortgage contracts. It truly pays to take the time to read the fine print in these documents.
Up to one third of major credit card issuers now include a “universal default clause” in their credit card terms. The UDC allows the credit card company to raise the interest rate on the account if the cardholder pays his or her bills late. This can apply even if the credit card bill is paid on time! It is important to find out if your credit card terms include a UDC, as your interest rate could be affected by whether or not you pay your telephone bill on time. This is just one of many ways that credit card companies are increasing their profits, but it isn’t one that they’re willing to advertise. When a letter comes in the mail from your credit card company that says “change in your credit card terms” or something like it, make sure that you read it. Failure to do so could raise the interest rate on your credit card substantially.
Another “fine print” issue that has been turning up recently is the prepayment penalty that is now being attached to up to half of all mortgages and home equity loans. The
volatile nature of interest rates in the lending market has inspired many homeowners to repeatedly refinance their homes in the last few years. Lenders often hold a mortgage for only a few months before the borrower finds a lower rate and refinances, paying off the original loan. In order to “protect” the profits from lending the money, up to half of all lenders are now requiring a substantial penalty if the loan is paid off prior to a specified date. These fees can amount to several thousand dollars on a primary mortgage and several hundred dollars on a home equity loan. Most borrowers would not be pleased to go through the process of refinancing their home, only to find out at closing that they owed a penalty of five thousand dollars. Instead, be sure to read the fine print in your mortgage or home equity loan documents before you sign them.
As the lending and credit markets become more and more competitive, lenders are doing more and more to increase their profits. They are not necessarily doing so in obvious ways, however, so it is always in your best interests to read any document carefully before you sign. Your failure to do so could cost you quite a bit of money.
About the Author
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding home equity loans.
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| AnnualCreditReport |
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| Springboard - Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management |
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| Credit referencing and consumer targeting for the USA and other countries. |
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| National Credit Union Administration - Home Page |
| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
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| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| Credit (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| The National Foundation for Credit Counseling |
| DebtAdvice.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit ... |
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| FreeCreditReport.com | Free Credit Report and Credit Score Online ... |
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| The Credit Card Prank |
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| Credit magazine, corporate bonds, derivatives, structured credit ... |
| Credit magazine provides information on the international credit markets for credit investors, issuers and market professionals. |
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| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
| www.cuna.org |
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| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
| credit.about.com |
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