http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress Debt Management, mortgage and credit news - a blog for the average consumer. Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:37:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Like "payday" loans, in which you borrow against your next paycheck, car "title" loans, in which you borrow money against you car's title, can get you into a never ending downward spiral.  In this case you can end up losing your car. The Wall Street Journal reported on ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/07/24/auto-title-loans-can-cost-you-your-car/ You see "free credit score" ads all over, including on this site, but they aren't really free.   You can get free credit reports once a year, and there are even two sites we know of that will estimate your credit score without charging you, but most of the time when ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/07/01/free-credit-score-not-so-free/ There is a way to take advantage of your mortgage lender's incompetence and inefficiency.  All you have to do is decide that you are willing to let your lender foreclose on your house, and stop paying your mortgage.  You can then use the money you would have ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/06/07/pay-your-debts-through-foreclosure/ One of the constant complaints from borrowers with mortgage issues is that the lenders will not negotiate with them in any reasonable way.  They stall and ignore, and demand more and more copies of paperwork. Well times just changed.  As of June 1, bankruptcy judges can force lenders ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/06/01/mortgage-modification-can-be-forced-through-new-rules/ The administration's mortgage modification program is a little over one-year old.  It has helped roughly 228,000 people get five-year reductions in mortgage payments, and another 781,000 are in the trial period.  The goal is to help four million borrowers by the end of 2012. The program is designed ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/05/10/mortgage-payment-reductions-often-not-enough/ An ABC news investigative report exposes how debt management companies are taking advantage of consumers trying to deal with their debt: Click Here to Report on Misleading Debt Settlement Companies. These debt settlement firms are the ones you usually see advertising on TV.  They make all sorts of claims in offering ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/04/23/debt-settlement-companies-are-scamming-you/ Lenders are forcing foreclosures rather than making principle reductions: Congressman Barney Frank, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee has argued quite persuasively that the only way we are going to end the problem of unaffordable mortgages is to "cram down" the principle.  He wrote to four big ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/04/14/best-mortgage-debt-solutions-being-resisted/ A "short sale" occurs when the homeowner sells their home at current market value and the lender agrees to accept that amount in full payment of a home mortgage that is typically much higher than the sales price.  Usually a short sale is done to avoid foreclosure, ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/04/07/short-sales-get-boost-with-new-rules-from-administration/ If you cut through all the complicated qualifications and regulations for the administration's mortgage modification and foreclosure prevention programs, there is one number at the center of everything.  If you understand this number and how it is used, then you will have a real leg up ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/03/30/mortgage-modification-do-you-qualify/ Since the beginning of this housing crisis many observers have argued that it will never be solved until lenders were willing -- or were forced -- to "cram down" the principle on the mortgages to bring them closer to the current value of the house.   In my opinion, the best ... http://www.askjackaboutdebt.com/wordpress/2010/03/29/foreclosure-prevention-program-adds-cram-downs-and-other-features-to-help-homeowners/