Desperately need help, cosigned mortgage for in-laws and they are at risk of losing it

Mar 162011
 

Wife and I cosigned a mortgage for her parents to keep them from losing an old farm house.  Since then, they have been late on 59 of 96 payments and are now always 2 months behind.  It wasn’t until 2 months ago that they talked to Flagstar about a modification that these lates hit our personal credit report.  Now we show 24 months of late payments and are worried they are near a foreclosure.   We’ve tried as hard as we could to help them but are finally, after a decade of trying, pregnant and we must start to protect ourselves.  Would love to hear any advice or paths we could take.

 

Two Questions:

1)  Our credit score dropped about 50 points from the late payments, I wondered if it will stop there, as it is tracking 24 months, or if every month it will continue to drop more??

2)  If the foreclosure process starts with the bank (i believe we have 12 months because it is a farm), when will my credit take the hit?  At the end of the process, which would give me time to find a quick buyer at as low a price as possible?  Or does it hurt my credit immediately and continue to worsen until the end?

 

We just need to get out of this and get our peace of mind back.

We think we have to take them to court and put it into recievership, but if we do they will stop paying immediately and we cannot afford the payment.  They will quickly go over 3 months late and beyond.  So I’m afraid to act at all.  If the real damage, depending on question 1 and 2 above, is a year down the road.  We can act now and get it over with as quickly as possible.

By the way, they do not live in this house but just love owning it and do not want to let it go.  They will not willingly help us out of this situation.

 

Thank you all so much.

Unemployment opinion please?

Mar 062011
 

Hi Neighborhood,

 

I am wondering if anyone out there thinks there needs to be a reformation of the Unemployment Security System. The reason for this is the fact that we are not given a choice about having regularly appointed withdrawals from our paychecks from the time we begin to work.

It was intended to be a stop gap to help citizens in time of unexpected disconnect from work, to assist until new employment would be found. I would like to draw a comparison, and ask your opinion.

 

Well over 20 years ago, car insurance was made mandatory, (as in we cannot drive legally without it). We are obligated without choice to pay into a “shared risk” system, to protect us and the other involved persons in the case of an accident. It all sounds wonderful and even noble in some ways. But I ask you—what happens when you HAVE an accident? Does anyone come rushing to your aide, or do you have to fill out reams of paperwork, sweat bullets wondering if you will be charged for something that was not your fault, or worse that your accident is deemed unworthy of help when you are at fault, and that in any case your rates will be raised with or without cause at whatever time frame and reason the applicable insurance company can come up with? Is it not even more interesting to note that those long years ago, as soon as car insurance was made law, the cost of it skyrocketed out of all sane reasoning? That in particular reminds me of the fact that we the taxpayers are shelling out 53 Billion dollars per year in royalties to gasoline companies (C-Span-Friday 3-04), which is on top of the perfectly adequate money they are already making!

 

I don’t think I could cover someone else’s costs in the case of a car accident on my own with savings, so insurance would be necessary for me, but after INVESTING so heavily, I find it repugnant to be censured and used like some endless source of revenue, as I CAN’T afford to cover these things myself. Thank heaven I haven’t had an accident of the auto nature for a very long time.

 

But to get back to unemployment compensation, how different is it? What reasoning can anyone use to jack money from our paychecks from the time we are still kids just beginning to work, and then make us beg for the money we invested at the most vulnerable times in our lives? It is not like we ask for more than we paid in, unless we receive an extension. That is already calculated to the exact penny by Uncle Sam. Why should we have to appeal to anyone for money taken from our own pay, and shelled out to those who are considered more worthy of OUR earnings? If our tax dollars pay to run the system, there are no losses incurred to it from its support structure except the job losses themselves, and not everyone who invests is going to lose their job. So what’s the deal? I would prefer not to be upset by this, and just sublimate it somehow, but many are in a financial mess because of job loss, and now find that they can’t get or have to “pay back” their own benefits without current employment. If it was to help with future job loss, it might be profitable in a way, but some are close to retirement and not likely to find new employment. How applicable would that be? The paperwork involved is, well, a job in itself. I believe it would be better to use the money taken out of our pay for personal bank savings on our own, with interest added in case of job loss in the future, from the beginning, instead of having money funneled away from our labor, which we probably will not be able to use without going through a sometimes demeaning and further laborious process. In other words, do you think that Unemployment Security is not a cost effective method to cover stress and monetary failure FOR THE CITIZENS who pay for it? I would also like to know if that money is used for any other purpose than for unemployed individuals. The information on that seems not clearly evident to me. Exactly how does this service benefit EVERYONE who pays for it, either at times of unemployment or at retirement? Is the money transferred into Social Security retirement benefits when each of us becomes too old to work? What does it feed when we die, anything we are made aware of? If you have any information in this regard, please post it? If this is not a cost efficient system for the American citizen, then it is time long past due for the American citizen to put an end to it, by public petition and vote. After all, we don’t go around losing jobs for other people, and should not be penalized as though we did, if the insurance can’t or won’t benefit all who are billed. This process also adds to the burden of the nation’s employers in the reporting and extracting of the funds involved to be sent to the government. These benefits are not “entitlements”. They are a debt that should be paid TO US in time of need, and if deemed in any other light should be ended, the monies involved being returned to the applicable citizens or their families after death. We are all too strapped to have our hard earned dollars be filched right out of our paychecks for any other purpose, and especially without the possibility of gaining interest for our personal use. Do you suppose that Unemployment Security invests it, and wonder what is done with the possible proceeds from the possible investment? Where IS our money going?

 

I feel so accomplished.. yet still have a long road to travel!

Feb 172011
 

So I officially have all the baddies on my credit reports either Paid in full, Paid in settlement,  or deleted entirely.  On Equifax, which was my lowest score, in June I started with a 441 score and as of yesterday I’m to 554.  Trans Union was originally 481 and when pulled by a lender last week (morgage) was 583.  My last Experian mortgage pulled score was 604 back in November.  I’ve been sending GW letters to the last couple of collections that remain (though are paid with a 0 balance) with no success, but it won’t hurt to keep mailing the letter  right? lol.

 

My goal is to purchase a house this fall. 

 

What I have left on my reports are:  2 student loans (one with a $700 balance that i can probably pay off in 2 payments if I knuckle down, the other a 10K balance),  a new auto loan, a secured cc from capital one (500 limit that is paid off each mo) and an unsecured card with Household (300 limit also paid in full each mo).  A personal loan for 2K that will be paid off next year and finally a revolving account that is affiliated with a stupid vacation network (similar to time share) that has a $4100 bal (original CL on it was like 5200)–this item is listed as negative because i had a 30 day late in 2009 and they will not GW it. 

 

So the downer is that the auto loan and the 2 cc’s are fairly new.  I recognize that i’ll need a good pay history before they will even come into play..  but does anyone know generally how long that would be?

 

I have 2 bankruptcies (yes i was THAT bad back in the day) one will fall off this August, the other next Spring..   think either of those falling off will have that much of an impact after all this time?

 

And here are the questions I have for the next course of action:

 

Should I strive to pay off some of these good accounts? Specifically the smaller SL and the Personal loan.. they’ve never had late payments but aren’t that old either (not quite a year old) or should I just continue to pay as usual (maybe just a bit more) until it hits a certain  age and then pay them off?

 

I was once told by a gal that if you have a loan and paid it off w/in a year, they don’t really see that as a positive becuase there isn’t a good “history”.  I have good AAoA because that big student loan was taken out back in 2002 and was defered and paid via my chapter 13.. so its a good account now because the lates from back before my bankruptcy fell off due to their age.. 

 

I need to save for a downpayment for this house thing so i would prefer just to pay as usual, especially to get a better “payment history” record..  but i don’t want my debt to income ratio be the big thing holding me back now either.  (i’m at 95% on installment and 75% revolving).

 

Whats more important, getting the balances down, paid off, or paying them on time for an x amount of time? 

 

Input? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Validation

Feb 142011
 

I asked for a DV from Amsher Receivables and they never responded,so I filed a complaint with the BBB and Amsher’s response was that they want  me to verify my social and other personal information to see if it matches what they have on file.This does not sound legal to me.What should my response be?

Judgment included in BK – how’s it supposed to be reported?

Feb 122011
 

Hi,

 

I’m curious about how a judgment that was IIB is supposed to be reported after discharge.

 

With Experian, I got lucky and they removed it completely.

Equifax reports it as SATISFIED and with a $0 liability.

 

Now – here’s my problem:

 

TransUnion reports it as “Civil Judgment in Bankruptcy” and is reporting a liability of $25,000.:smileymad:

 

I thought the discharge meant that my personal liability was gone – why is this still reported? If IIB-accounts need to be reported as $0 balance – shouldn’t that apply to judgments as well?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

High Gas Prices Hurting Consumer Sentiment

Feb 092011
 

We all know who got blamed last time………who should we blame this time?  I hope this doesn’t derail the recovery and send us into a double dip…..which may be good when you are talking about ice cream….but not whne you are discussing the economy.  High gas prices could also really put a dent in the sales of those big SUV’s.

 

 

ABC News Consumer Comfort Index
A weekly update of consumer sentiment, with public ratings of the national economy, personal finances and the buying climate
 
Rising Gas Prices Slam Consumer Sentiment

02/08/2011 4:45 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/consumer_confidence/2011/02/rising-gas-prices-slam-consumer-sentiment.html

 

Soaring gasoline prices slammed consumer sentiment into reverse this week, threatening the slow recovery in economic views that’s been under way.

With gas now at record high for a February in Energy Department data back to 1990, the weekly Consumer Comfort Index dropped by an unusually steep 5 points to -46 on its scale of -100 to +100. It’s dropped that far only 36 times in more than 1,300 weeks of ongoing polling since late 1985; this shift erases an equally unusual 5-point gain in early January.

It’s likely no coincidence that the change in sentiment follows the federal government’s report yesterday that gas has jumped to an average $3.13 a gallon, up steadily from $2.74 six months ago, $2.65 a year ago and $1.89 two years ago this month. 

The portent is not a good one. Gas prices tend to drop in winter, when demand is down, and rise in summer, when more Americans hit the road. Gas last approached this wintertime level in February 2008 – on its way to a record high of $4.11 the following July.

 

The index, produced by Langer Research Associates, is based on Americans’ ratings of their personal finances, the buying climate and the national economy. Positive ratings of the buying climate and the economy took 3-point hits this week; 43 percent rate their finances positively and 25 percent call it a good time to buy, compared with long-term averages of 56 and 37 percent, respectively. Just 13 percent rate the national economy positively, 24 points below its average.

After reaching -40 Jan. 9, the CCI is now at its low for the year, and its lowest since Nov. 21. It averaged -46 in 2010 and -48 in 2009; those compare with a lifetime average of -14 and a best-year +29 in 2000. Its single best week was +38 in January 2000; its worst, -54 in December 2008 and again in January 2009.

Among groups, the index dropped most sharply this week among singles, young adults – and among the wealthiest Americans, sliding into the negative zone in this customarily more positive group. They may be regretting those gas-guzzling SUVs.

Unauthorized Inquiries?

Jan 242011
 

I pulled my CRs and noticed that there are inquiries from AmEx & Citi. I did not apply for anything from these lenders and its showing as a Hard Pull. What should I do? If writing them an inquiry removal letter is the way to go, how much personal information should I include? Its quite obvious that they have some of my personal information already.

Getting rid of this judgment…

Jan 192011
 

So I went to college in Vermont and worked for a year there in 2005.  I had taken an auto loan and a personal loan out with a local Vermont credit union.  After a year I moved back to my home state of Maine in 2006 and stupidly let my personal loan default…  Dumb, I know…  Come July of 2006 I received a court judgment (summons I think its called…) that I owed $547 to the plaintiff, now $607 in small claims court.  Scared for my life that it went to court, (lived an innocent life until then) I consented and set up a payment plan for $200 a month to pay off the balance and did so.  Do you guys think if I sent the credit union a GW letter they’d be able to remove this or will I have to send one to the court? Are there any other options?  I don’t even know if its even a possiblity to have this removed but I’m willing to try anything since it’s killing my credit report/scores.

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