A bank won’t let a woman refinance her house without her husbands signature. The problem is that the woman and her husband separated after being married for just one year, and the current mortgage is in her name only. What should she do? Click to hear Lynnette’s advice.
I Can’t Refinance My House Without My Husband’s Signature. What Should I Do? Read More »
Q: I am a Single Woman Sharing a Mortgage with my Mother. I Purchased the House From her in 2004 to Prevent Her from Filing Bankruptcy and Losing her Home. We’ve Refinanced Twice and Now the Loan is Twice the Amount of What the House is Worth. My Credit is Not Great. I’m in Debt Minus the Loan on the House of About $15,000. The Bulk of That is a $10,000 Loan I Applied for an got (Surprisingly) While I was Unemployed. Isn’t That Called Predatory Lending. I Would Love to Leave Here and Find My Own Place But I Need to Get My Credit in Order. Some of My Debts are 5 Years Old. I Don’t Want to Pay These If I Really Shouldn’t. What’s the Best Thing to do? Also, Re: the $10,000 Loan, I Know I Should Not Have Applied for the Money But I was Desperate As Our Mortgage Was 3 Months In Arrears and In Danger of Being Foreclosed On. Is There a Way That I Could Get This Debt Removed as it was a Predatory Situation?
When You Owe More Than A Home Is Worth And Have Bad Credit Read More »
Your FICO credit scores – like all credit scores – are based on the underlying data and information that is contained in your credit files with the “Big 3” credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. According to Fair Isaac, the company that created the three-digit FICO scores (which range from 300 to 850 points), in order to have a FICO score generated for you, your credit history must contain at least three things:
How Do I Establish My First FICO Score? Read More »
If you’re already working, but need some extra cash, there are lots of ways to raise money. Here are a few of them.
How Can I Make Some Extra Cash, I am Living Paycheck to Paycheck Read More »
Question: I am 24 years old and my credit is not too spectacular. Most of the accounts on my credit reports are things I have done to myself, but the other half (and the most expensive portion of my debt) was done by an immediate family member who knows my social security number and has put cable, electric and telephones in my name and did not pay the bill. I don’t want to get my family member in trouble but I am not sure what to do?
What to Do if Your Credit Has Been Wrecked by a Family Member Read More »
Whenever you notice a mistake in your credit report, you should always dispute it – with the credit bureaus or the creditor that reported inaccurate information. Getting an error removed from your credit file usually takes about 30 days to be completed.
What’s the Fastest Way to Fix Errors in My Credit Report When I Apply for a Mortgage? Read More »
If you missed my interview on LX New York, I talked about how I paid off over $100,000 in credit card debt:
Zero Debt outlines 30 strategies I used to get out of debt, but here are a few highlights:
1) Put your debts in writing
Many people struggling with credit card debt have absolutely no idea exactly how much they owe. Instead they “guesstimate” about their total bills — and often they’re way off with their numbers. I made this mistake when I was in debt, and it allowed me to stay in denial (and in debt!) for far too long. It wasn’t until I took an honest about my predicament — by list all my bills in black and white, and putting everything in writing — that I got serious about knocking out the debt.
How to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt Read More »
Q: What advice do you give to tackle payday loans? I have two at the moment and I can not afford to pay them both at the same time. A: Unfortunately, millions of people get caught up in the cycle of payday loans each year — not realizing that many of these loans, when rolled over,
How Can I Get Rid of My Payday Loans Read More »
Anyone living in today’s society knows that it can be a drag to be turned down for credit. It’s no fun when your application for a car loan, a student loan, a mortgage, or even just a credit card is denied.
Learn how to boost your credit standing by knowing the ins and outs of how your score is determined by Fair Isaac Corp., the company that calculates your FICO credit score.
6 Ways to Help You Maximize Your Credit Score Read More »
To raise your credit scores, it’s always best to pay down debt, as opposed to shifting it around. However, for most people trying to boost their credit rating, it’s not always possible to instantly pay off all their credit card debt. So what can you do in that case? You can shift debt around in order to strategically lower your credit card utilization rate.
How to Lower Your Credit Utilization Read More »
In addition to your FICO credit scores, you should also get your Experian PLUS score. In recent years, consumers got all three FICO scores – based on their TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian reports. But as of 2009, you can now only get two FICO scores (based on what’s in your Equifax and TransUnion files). You can no longer get an Experian-based FICO score. So what should you do to get a score based on all three credit files? My recommendation is to get your third credit score directly from Experian via its www.creditexpert.com consumer website. This score is known as your Experian PLUS Score.
Do I Need My Plus Score or Just My FICO Score? Read More »
Under federal law, you can get your federal student loans canceled or discharged for many different circumstances.
Reasons for loan discharge:
Student Loan Cancellation Programs—Big Hassles, Even Bigger Payoff Read More »
If you missed my segment on ABC News NOW, I discussed the real reasons that you are unable to qualify for a mortgage.
1. You Can’t Properly Document Income
Explanation: You can have an 800 FICO score and $1 million in the bank, but if your tax records don’t show enough income, most banks will deny your loan.
The Real Reasons You Can’t Get a Mortgage Read More »
Maintaining a good credit rating while going through divorce can be very tricky. On the one hand, even if the two parties who are separating can agree on how assets and liabilities (like that mortgage) are supposed to be split, that does not mean that your creditors are bound to those terms. In fact, whatever deal you work out with your soon-to-be ex-spouse has no bearing whatsoever on your legal responsibility to repay debts for which you and he were both co-signers. In a nutshell, this means that if the two of you co-signed for credit cards, your house, a car note, or anything else, then your creditors can still legally come after either one of you for repayment.
How Can I Protect Myself and My Credit if My Ex Husband Does Not Pay the Mortgage? Read More »
If your FICO credit score falls between 760 and 850 points, you rate among the top tier of all consumers and have the cornerstone for what I call Perfect Credit. Getting a great FICO score, however, is just part of the achievement. Fair Isaac reports that, among consumers with credit scores of 760 or higher, only 1% risk defaulting on a debt. So having Perfect Credit also means being able to access a whole host of products and services—mortgages, automobiles, credit cards, business lines of credit, and personal loans—at the most favorable terms available in the marketplace. Once you snag that impressive credit score, and all the benefits it entails, does having Perfect Credit today mean you’ll have Perfect Credit tomorrow? Unfortunately the answer is “no.”
What Exactly Is Perfect Credit? Read More »
