Finance Book

If you need help with debt at the moment then one of the solutions that you might consider could be a debt management plan.

These are now big business and some companies have tens of thousands of clients on their books. It is estimated that in 2009, 330,000 people will have a formal debt management plan with a professional company. Many hundreds of thousands more will be doing their own temporary plans with their lenders, some offering as little as £1 a month.

A professional debt management plan is run by a company with a Consumer Credit Licence. A company should not offer debt advice without such a licence.

As a professional business the usual debt company will also levy a fee for its services. Typically you can expect to pay your first monthly payment as a set up fee and then about 15% of each subsequent monthly payment as a management fee which helps pay for the work that is done on your behalf each month.

For their money the debt management company will undertake a full income and expenditure analysis with you. This is to ascertain how much disposable income you have. It is the disposable income which will form the basis of the offer that you make to your creditors.

It is the debt management company’s skill and relationship with your creditors which gives you the opportunity to have your offer of payment accepted. If the creditors are happy that you are making a reasonable offer based upon the cash that you have available, they will be happy to accept reduced monthly payments on the understanding that these will be made every month on time.

They will do this as they will not have to chase you each month for payments of varying amounts and therefore the costs of managing your account falls considerably.

Once your payment amount is set, you will set up a direct debit with the debt management company and when the money comes in to them, they deduct their fee and send the balance, pro rata to your creditors.

As long as payments are made each month the creditor will usually be happy to freeze interest and charges.

If you feel that you would benefit from talking to someone about debt management, a quick search of the internet should reveal plenty of companies to talk to.   

By: Steve P Thatcher

If you’re hugely in debt, you are definitely looking for a way to manage your debt. This is possible either through self-help efforts or by getting some help from a trained expert from a debt reduction management company. It’s all up to you how you help yourself, but you should follow some advice from books, magazines and other sources if you want to reduce your debt and financial burden.

So, would you like to manage your debt? Here’s how.

1. Debt consolidation.
Debt consolidation is one of the solutions for you if you want to make paying your debt easier. While it does not change how much you owe – so for example, if you owe something like $40,000 to some lenders, you will still need to pay that much but this time, you will only have one lender to pay – you will get to pay much smaller rates, making it easier to pay off your debt.

2. Cut back on expenses, and make more money as much as possible.
This means many things. This means lowering your spending on things that are not needed or can be replaced with cheaper alternatives to help you save money. For example, stop unneeded subscriptions to magazines and cable. Stop buying new stuff every time. Stop using your credit cards when you go out. Stop eating out every lunch time. The money you save from doing these will go towards your debt payment and will help in your debt elimination efforts.

On the other hand, make more money as much as possible to increase your monthly payment. This is possible by having a secondary job or a business which can increase the amount you pay for your debt and at the same time, you should keep paying off your debt and not incur any more.

3. Set up a payment plan with your creditors.
Arrange a payment plan with your creditors so it will be easier for you to pay off your debt. Just explain first if you will do this, that your situation is only temporary and you are going to follow your agreement. When you pay off your debt, you should remember that you have rights, too, and there is a law that protects you from debt collectors. The Fair Debt Collection Practices prohibits debt collectors from calling the debtor before 8 am, after 9 pm, and when they know that your employer does not approve of their calls. It protects debtors from harassment. Also, they should honor your written request telling them to stop harassing you.

4. Avoid defaults and foreclosures
Most car loan agreements allow creditors to repossess your car if you’re on default. If you want to get it back, you need to pay the available balance as well as the towing and storage costs. So if a default is highly possible, sell the car right away and pay off the loan from the profit you made instead of being on default, which is worse, because it will be marked on your credit report.

On the other hand, you should also avoid foreclosure if you are paying off your mortgage loan. If you can’t pay off your home loan, you can solve this problem by talking to your lender and see if he will agree to another payment plan with you. A lot of lenders are willing to suspend your payment schedule or set up a longer payment term. But if that’s not possible, you may try contacting a housing counseling agency. Some of them offer free assistance to anyone who has problems paying off their mortgage loans.

5. Use the service of a debt help settlement company.
A debt help settlement company is there for those who are too overwhelmed by their large debt problems. You will need their help if you:

a. avoid calls and mails from debt collectors because you want to avoid their harassment
b. you don’t want to go out because you feel bad about your financial state
c. you just don’t know exactly how to pay off your mounting debt that seems so big you can’t do it on your own

You should first do some snooping before you give your financial information to a debt reduction management company. But you should prepare, though, to follow their advice, because your debt help counselor will follow up on you to make sure you help yourself and reduce your debt.

There are many other advice regarding debt management and settlement. Visit my blog for more tips on personal finance.

By: Marie Roxas

Establishing credit and wisely managing your credit becomes easier when you know how. You’ll feel empowered by taking knowledgeable steps towards good credit, and you’ll be on your way to purchasing real estate and greater financial freedom.

If you plan to finance real estate, either as a home buyer or an investor, avoiding these common credit mistakes will help you with your credit score and save you money in loan costs.

14 Common Credit Mistakes

1. Using expensive or undesirable types of credit costs too much and is negatively scored.

2. Accumulating too many lines of credit or too many credit cards causes credit report remarks like “too much consumer credit.”

3. Only paying the minimum due keeps balances too high.

4. Being maxed out on any credit card or line of credit causes deep drops in scores.

5. Taking cash advances costs higher interest and extra fees.

6. Exceeding limit and having to pay over-limit fees is a negative with creditors and causes “high proportional amounts owed” remarks on credit reports and subtracts credit score points.

7. Paying a day or more late causes unnecessary late fees and often increases interest rates.

8. Charging more than you can afford causes a snowball effect of amassing debt with no easy way to pay it off.

9. Letting someone else use your credit, such as co-signing a loan, raises your debt-to-income ratio and possibly adds “too many consumer accounts” on your credit report, which lowers your score.

10. Ignoring credit problems causes unnecessary negative impact. Talk to creditors before being late and make arrangements. This action heads off negative reporting to credit bureaus.

11. Failure to report address changes to creditors causes misplaced bills and late payments.

12. Using partial name, different names, initials instead of whole name, or forgetting Sr. or Jr. causes mix-ups. Use your full legal name to protect you from confusion with similarly named borrowers.

13. Failure to report name changes to creditors also causes confusion.

14. Not checking credit report frequently is one of the most common mistakes consumers make.

You can buy real estate with poor credit, but you will save thousands in loan costs if you maintain good credit. A bad credit report leaves home buyers with sub-prime loans which have higher point charges, prepayment penalties, and higher interest charges, which therefore cost more money.

For instance, a mortgage loan of $150,000, 30-year, fixed interest rate of about 5.72 percent costs around $870 a month. Poor credit scores raise the interest rate over 9 percent and the payments over $1,200.

As you see from these payment differences, good credit means that you can finance a more expensive house with the same income, or save $330 each month.

Credit Requirements for Mortgages

Credit needed to buy real estate is not the same as good credit. Besides your credit score, mortgage lenders consider your debt-to-income ratio and other credit matters, unlike other credit grantors. Your debt-to-income ratio is the comparison of mortgage payment, including taxes, interest, and insurance to your total gross monthly income. Real estate lenders also consider your employment qualifications and your overall debt ratios. Understanding the difference between good credit and the credit needed to obtain real estate financing helps you buy houses!

Avoiding credit mistakes helps you get strong credit and keeps your credit scores up.

Copyright © 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher