Here’s the latest situation that’s come across my desk, but with a year-end twist. Q. Our basic question concerns phone calls we have received towards the end of this year from several credit card companies stating that they are going to write off our balances as bad debt at the end of this year (for [...]
Entries from December 31st, 2009
Year-End Creditor Write Offs May Hasten Debts into Collection
December 31st, 2009 · No Comments · Credit Counselor Front Lines, Debt Collection
Tags: bad debt·collections·Credit card debt·creditor·debt·Debt Settlement·Original Creditor·write off balances·write-offs·year-end
Down Payment Requirements for Some Conventional Loans Being Relaxed
December 30th, 2009 · No Comments · Banking, Mortgages, Real Estate
Finally, some news indicating that potential home buyers may soon have slightly fewer obstacles to overcome to get into a new home. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal gives examples of several mortgage insurers, MGIC Insurance Corp and Genworth Financial, both of which have made the decision to loosen restrictions for down payments in specific [...]
Tags: convention financing·down payment requirements·FHA·mortgage insurers·Mortgages·private mortgage lenders·Real Estate
Using Prepaid Credit Cards to Budget Expenses
December 28th, 2009 · 5 Comments · Budgeting, Credit Cards
New Year’s Day is just around the corner – is one of your resolutions sticking to a budget? Prepaid cards may be a helpful tool. We’ve previously blogged about prepaid cards being the choice for many without the credit to get a credit card or even a checking account. Prepaid cards seem to be gaining [...]
Tags: Budgeting·cost comparison·Credit card debt·credit card interest·Credit Cards·Fees·Good Credit·managing your money·prepaid cards
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Rise Upward
December 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Mortgages, Real Estate
The combination of low mortgage rates, tax incentives and plenty of inventory to choose from seems to be working to stimulate home sales, according to the latest figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The numbers for existing home sales (which includes single-family, condominiums, townhomes and co-ops) for the month of November were [...]
Tags: First time homebuyer tax credit·home sale statistics·home sales·housing market·Real Estate·Real Estate Market
