IVAs- aren’t they just more formal debt management plans?

26 February 2010

Dealing with debt can be a stressful experience – especially if your debts have become unmanageable. If this is the case for you, it is important that you find the right way to deal with those debts.

There are several debt solutions available, each of which is designed to help people in different situations, and each of which has its pros and cons.

For borrowers who simply can’t afford to keep up with payments towards their unsecured debts, two of the most common debt solutions are IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) and debt management plans.


What’s the difference between an IVA and a debt management plan?

IVA:
An IVA is a formal debt solution – a legally binding agreement between you and your unsecured creditors. If you can agree on the terms, you will commit to repaying as much of the debt as you can afford over a set time period, and they will agree to write off the rest at the end of the IVA (as long as you’ve fulfilled your side of the agreement).

One of the benefits of an IVA is that because it’s a formal debt solution, your creditors can’t decide to opt out once the agreement has begun. You will know the terms of the agreement from start to finish, and can rest assured that your payments will fit around your other essential costs (mortgage/rent payments, utility bills, food, etc.).

However, there are drawbacks to an IVA. For example, entering an IVA will show up on your credit report (it’s a form of insolvency, after all), and will stay there for six years. This will affect your ability to obtain further credit for this time. What’s more, if you’re a homeowner, you may be required to release some of the equity in your property during the final year of the agreement – this will be used to repay more of your debt.

In most cases, an IVA would not be suitable for you if you could not commit to making regular payments.

Debt management plan:
A debt management plan is an informal agreement between you and your unsecured creditors, in which you will make reduced monthly payments towards your debts, based on an amount you can afford to pay each month without taking up funds you need for your other essential costs.

It is important to note that by arranging to repay your debt in smaller amounts (i.e. more slowly), you will be in debt for longer, and may end up repaying more overall due to interest – although your creditors may agree to freeze interest.

You can, if you want to, arrange a debt management plan by negotiating with your creditors on your own, but because of the volume of work involved, many people prefer the convenience of letting a professional debt management company negotiate with their creditors on their behalf.

Your creditors are not obliged to agree to the terms of the debt management plan, and once the plan has started, they will usually only be committed to it for a set period of time, after which they’ll decide whether it makes sense to continue with the agreement.

So a debt management plan may offer less certainty than an IVA, but it will have a smaller impact on your credit report – you may be defaulting on your original agreements, but you’re not entering insolvency.

Commercial Mortgage Benefits

25 February 2010

A commercial mortgage is similar to a residential mortgage in many ways. The basic difference comes in the fast that commercial mortgages are used to buy commercial properties rather than domestic houses. You can purchase hotels, restaurants, shops and other commercial properties using such type of loans. You can also use these loans for refinancing. People find it an ideal way to develop a business by flexible and affordable financing solutions offered by commercial mortgages.


Since commercial loans are meant for business real estate, the collateral are business buildings rather than residential property. Consequently, such loans are generally closed by businesses and not individuals. Thus borrowers have to present with solid creditworthiness to receive such substantial loans. Commercial mortgages vary greatly in different regions in terms of length of loan, length of time allowed and so on. However the most pronounced variation comes in the interest rates, which are generally established by the local market. Such loans are very difficult to get as the credit given is solely decided by the lender. This always depends on the borrower’s credit history. The interested rates are also high in such loans.

To get the best out of your commercial mortgages, you have to judge the right mortgage rates at the time of taking and the time for repayment. There are basically two types of mortgage rates available to you in the market – fixed rate mortgage and variable rate mortgage. To take the advice of a specialist mortgage lender is the best option you have. This is because only he can guide you to the right source of mortgage loan considering your present financial situation. He will help you decide which one of the mortgage rates is best suitable for you.

On the other hand if you already have purchased a property for your business but have not enough capital to grow your business, the best option is to go for a refinancing or remortgaging the loan. This will help you to build up a capital which you can use to grow your existing business. Remortgaging a previous loan will also lower down your interest rates of your previous loan and help you in the repayment ease. Another way that you can raise fund is to arrange an equity line where the lender may lend the borrower the difference amount of the current value of the borrower’s commercial property and the amount that the borrower owes on the current mortgage.

Commercial mortgages have many advantages over a business loan. Unlike business loans which have a short repayment time, commercial loans have an elongated time generally varying over 15 – 25 years. In most circumstances, the proceeds of the loan are not considered to be taxable income and so the interests are tax deductible. There are a number of lenders available in the current market. You can search them online and get the quotes also from different lenders online. After this you can compare the various quotes of different lenders and choose the best quote lender from among the list.

How can you stay away from credit repair scams

15 February 2010

How can you stay away from credit repair scams?

Credit score is very important when you want to get a loan to buy a house or a car or any other kind of loans. Your credit score actually shows your credit worthiness. We all know that the better credit score we have, the better rates and terms will be offered to us to get the loan but the problem is many of us do not have a credit score more than 700 or 680. So sometimes we opt for credit repair service from a credit repairing company. But most of the companies charges huge fees and still we do not find real boost in the credit score. These nothing but loosing your hard earn money through the credit repair scam.

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What should you do to protect yourself from credit repair scams?

  • You should not depend on a company which asks you not to contact with credit bureaus.
  • Check out whether your company gives you a copy of Consumer Rights.
  • The company should be listed with Better Business Bureau. Otherwise do not opt that company.
  • If any company says that they will create a new Social security number then better don’t trust that company because creating a new social security number is not at all possible.
  • The credit repair company should give you a copy of the contract before you sign it. If they do not give it, there must be something fishy about it.
  • Do not send the payments before you get the service.

Even if you choose a credit repair company, then you should better choose a company that is well-known and have good reputation in the market. You can check out if there is any Rip off reports against that particular company.

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Don’t Try this at Home “Credit Card Prank”

29 January 2010

How many credit card pranks are there, really?  The most popular credit card prank out there right now goes to John Hargrove, who will probably end up applying for a trademark for the phrase, “Credit Card Prank.” As documented on the zug.com website, Hargrove has gone through numerous attempts at getting his charge denied based on his signature not matching the signature on the back of his personal credit card.  So far, he has not seemed to suffer negatively from this.

You could do this at home but the title of this article specifically warns you “don’t try this at home.”  In theory, what you could do is:

  • sign your name with different handwriting as what’s on the back of your credit card
  • scribble an intelligible signature
  • sign somebody else’s name
  • write a message instead of a name
  • draw instead of writing your name

According to Hargrove, all of his charges went through.  What should you do if you are confronted with a signature that looks nothing like the one on the back of your card?

  • Tell the clerk that you were drunk or sober (i.e. had the shakes) when you originally signed the card.  If the clerk has watched “Leaving Las Vegas” then he or she would probably understand.
  • Tell the clerk that you have some degenerative nerve disease that is making handwriting a more difficult task for you.  Eventually, your dog will need push you around in a wheelchair; you will need to type messages out with a chopstick in your mouth.
  • Tell the clerk you have had that card forever, like before you actually settled on a handwriting style. Remind them how everybody wrote back in grade school versus after graduating high school.  You were a late bloomer.
  • Pretend you have had another hand cramp.  Wait for it to pass and then sign the receipt again in the correct manner.

If none of these outs work for you, do not say that I did not warn you not to try this credit card prank at home.

Another type of credit card prank that comes to my mind that would probably be just as funny but would have minimal risk to your own legal status would be to call in the card of a acquaintance as lost or stolen.  Preferably do this right after you join him or her for dinner out.  But only do this if you are certain that he or she has access to cash with which they can pay for dinner. Otherwise, you might be stuck with the bill.

Fico Credit Score 560 Home Mortgage Loans

21 January 2010

Fico Credit Score 560 Home Mortgage Loans:

Someone ask that his credit score is as below as 560; so can he be able to get a mortgage loan. Now 560 is not considered as a very good credit score and the lender will like to see a better credit score for sure but that does not mean that with 560 credit score you will not be approved for a mortgage loan. The thing is that the interest rate will be higher and you will not be able to avail the best of the terms on the market as your credit score is not too good.
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Lenders mainly check the credit score or rather the credit history to find out that whether the buyer can actually afford to pay off the mortgage loan. The better your credit score is the better chance for you to get a loan with better rates and terms in the market.

It is not really a very good idea to go for a mortgage loan if the credit score is not too good unless and until it is absolutely necessary. Buying a dream home is the biggest investment for most of us. So it is better to improve the credit score and save a handsome amount of money for the down payment and other necessary costs to get a mortgage and then go for a mortgage loan but as it is already said that a bad credit score does not means that you will not be able to get the mortgage loan. If you search in the market you can certainly be able to find some lenders who are giving you loan even though your credit score is really good.

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