Does anyone have any information or experience with Short Sales?
We are in a situation with our mortgage and it's one of those goofy ARMs that are maturing soon. We have $ in our budget to compensate for the increase so we're fine there but we've decided to list the house in hopes of moving.
We have our house listed for sale, and it's listed as a 'short sale'. My question is – has anyone done this type of transaction before? Any feedback/input you have would be very helpful. Our real estate agent has been very helpful but I'm somewhat uneasy, mainly from the credit prospective, and haven't been able to find a lot of information online. I sincerely appreciate the help!
I have a lot of experience with short sales. I currently work as a few Realtors right hand person to get them approved by the bank.
Do you know if your realtor has submitted a short sale package to the bank yet?
Just let me know what questions you have and I will do my best to answer them.
I am trying to find out more information on using the envelope system for budgeting. I would appreciate any information or suggestions you might have.
The envelope system is very easy to use and it's saved us a good deal of money. Everyone is different but here's how we do it.
We use literal envelopes though some people use separate bank accounts or software that separates money into categories. Into our envelopes, labeled "food", "gas", "laundry", and "entertainment" we put a set amount of cash every time I get paid. We also have envelopes for DH's business and money that comes into his business funds those. It's kept in the envelope until there's enough to cover the bill/expense then it gets deposited into the checking account and a check is written for that bill/expense.
I get paid every two weeks so when I get paid I put $100 for food, $25 for laundry, etc into the appropriate envelope. When the money in that envelope is gone, there's no more spending in that category until the next pay period.
A lot of people move money around in their envelopes to cover a shortage here or an overage there but we don't. We just use what's there and no more.
Speaking of the envelope system, does anyone use mvelopes.com?
I do and like it once i learned how to use it.
Most borrowers know a late payment or high outstanding balance can hurt their credit. But what about frequenting a massage parlor, retreading a tire, or visiting a marriage counselor? Such activities count, too, according to a suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in federal court in Atlanta on June 10 against card issuer Atlanticus Holdings Corporation.
Has anyone ever heard of a bank taking an account that is charged off and included in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and selling that account to someone else. I have the discharge papers – so if someone were to come after me for one of these accounts I could prove that it was discharged. So…I do not understand why someone would buy one of these accounts. Please let me know if you have had any experience with this.
Actually, this has happened to me. Most people don't really understand that they don't have to pay off an account that was discharged so it's a good gamble for a mean collection agency. These accounts don't cost them much to buy, and so if they convince some consumer to pay them, it's a good deal.
I've only had one collection agency try to do this to me, but at least two, maybe three, of these old accounts have reappeared on my credit report with new last reported dates and facetious information. My BK is about to hit the 10-yr mark, so I'm actually expecting many of them to reappear. It's frustrating for sure because I have to keep disputing with the credit reporting agencies and everyone knows how diligent they are about getting my accounts right. Ha. I saved myself only by getting 5000 dollar loan and using it to pay all my bills. What a relief!
I have bad credit. I am working with a debt settlement company, and giving them what I can afford each month, and when enough funds accumulate, they pay off a creditor. I have been on it for over two years, and have only settled one debt…. and I owe $48,000 in student loans, but those loans are currently in forbearance and are not in arrears.
But that isn't my question. I am considering getting married and don't want my husband to have any problems with his excellent credit due to my bad credit….does anyone know if there are options to protect him that we could put in a pre-nuptial agreement? He is also a property owner, and he is fine with sharing the property with me. Does anyone know if Nolo Press offers a do it yourself pre nupt? We live in Calfornia. If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing, please let me know.
One creditor has offered me a payment settlement of about 60% of what I owe. I would pay it off in 3 months. My question is: what does accepting a settlement for less than I owe do to my FICO score?
While I aim to get debt free eventually so I can ignore the "I love debt" score, right now I have to care about that score because I desperately need to refinance my mortgage as soon as possible.
I also know that a successfully completed settlement plan would be better for my score than if I were to hold on to the debt and risk more late payments. But I'd still like to know what relative effect accepting a debt settlement from a creditor would have on my FICO score.
Many thanks! This blog has been a saving grace!
I think you agree to the settlement (in writing) with the clause that they will report this as "paid in full / paid as agreed" on your credit. You need that in writing with their signature as well.
I have sent these, but am on first year of debt repayment / settlement, so I don't know what effect it will have on our credit until I pull another free report next year. But this is what I have read in books and seen on a few websites. Can't hurt to ask, right?
In my case, this is a fairly old debt. It's a Visa card I had a $2,000 balance on. It was closed after I made several late payments. I was trying to pay it off in full, but was barely keeping up with minimum payments. And then because of the spike in interest, and then late payment fees, etc., over a period of time, the balance was just not going down. After a few years, I figured I'd paid that $2,000 off at least double. Then I unintentionally went 4 months delinquent … and that's when they called me and offered me a lump sum deal.
Steven, you are doing exactly the right things. Send your response to the suit – to the courts and to the filing attorney. Then, show up on your scheduled court date. Take your documents and all your proof of income, etc. Just explain your situation to the judge as you have here. They are usually very willing to work with you if you show them that you are serious about paying the debt. They may set up a deduction (garnishment) from your wages or they could defer your case for, I believe, six months. The important thing is just what you said you're doing – don't hold anything back. Be open and honest with them.
My hubby and I have been in your shoes and it's a scary place to be. But, it will work itself out. Good luck!
I totally understand not wanting to do bankruptcy but sometimes you have to do things to get what you need. We did not want to but we went to our Pastor and asked what our Pastor thought since she hears from God alot better than we do at this point.
We were 70,000 in debt and are now in the middle of it. Not sure what will happen and by that I mean a 13 or 7.
Make sure you have a good attorney and claim this your year of JUBILEE!! Stress will hurt you, your body, sleep. etc. Trust me about that.
a) anything from a collection company has to come in writing with signatures…. (but you already know that).
Wait until they return it signed before you send them a copy of the letter with your signature and a money order.
I would recommend ordering a copy of your credit report from the credit bureau. From my uderstanding if you apply for credit and get turned down, you will get the turn down letter from the company you applied with it will have the credit bureau they obtained your credit report from. You can then call the credit bureau's number on the letter and get a free report.
Once you receive the report, review it and look for the account(s) they are referring to. If it is on your report, contact the collection agencies and ask them to provide documentation for the debt. Once you receive the documentation, if you have the bank statement, receipt or cleared check to prove proof of payment. They then have no other choice but to update it paid. You can also contact the credit reporting agency and provide documentation to have it upated on your credit report. A form will come with your credit report for disputes. Another good thing to do is contact your state's attorney general's office about this, they might be able to help provide some type of advice on what to do.
About 8 years ago I had fallen behind on a store credit card from a major retailer. I would get call at home asking me to make payments, which I did. My payments were slow, but I was trying to settle this debt. One Saturday a credit rep from this company who I had worked with before, (he had set up a payment plan previously)called me at home called me and told me that the company was about to take legal action on my account. My balance was about 3500.00 at the time and the account had no line of credit. I had told him that I could continue to make my payments, and offered to pay 1 minth in advance so my payments would not be late.
He offered me a settlement/pay off arrangement. I was told that if I paid something likr 1978.65(not the exact amount)the company would write off the balance, because what I was payming at that time was interest and fees on the accont. He really pushed this as my last option to avoid paying court cost, attorneys fees, ect that would basically triple my debt. He gave me a window of two days to send my payment. I paniced and scraped the money together and made the payment. The next month I received a bill but did not look at it (my mistake) because I had at that point three accounts that were paid in full that I continued to receive a monthly statement for.
Well 4 months later this company called and told me that my account was seriously past due. I told the lady that the account had beed settled and she said she was unaware of that but she would research the claim. Three months after that, I got another call from a different lady who was askin for a payment. I explained the situation to her, and she informed me that the account had been researched and no settlement offer was ever made. She did see my payment, which she stated was odd, because I always paid in $10.00 increments, my apyment was always received in the latter part of the month and this was within the first week of the month. We talked for almost an hour, with me insisting that I had accepted a settlement offer and her stating that I still owed a debt.
She took my number and called me back a few hours later. She stated that the individual who called me to make the settlement offer was no longer employed with the company because of some of the tactics he used to make collections. She state that she believed that I had acted in good faith but that no valid offer had existed. She informed me that a true settlement offer involved the debtor signing some form of agreement prior to remitting payment. She stated that although she empathised with me, I was still legally responsible for this debt. She then set up another payment plan which I refused to accept, but I told her to send the next bill.
I consulted an attorney, who advised me to make the next payment and that he would look into the case. (mistake #2) Yup, the attorney did nothing, dispite the advertised free consultation and analysis. When I called back, after I made the payment he advised me to seek help from the local law school clinic. I wrote to my credit bureau, but never saw anything in the report. I made some payments, but then I stopped receiving bills. Next thing I knew, my account had been sold to a collection agency. They were demanding a payment of 2500 or two payments totaling 3000, or they would take me to court.
I argued with them about the validity of the debt, only to hear nothing else until 4 months later when another collection agency called me. According to my credit report this debt will stay on my account another 2 years, and there have been atleast 6 collection agencies who have contacted me over the years. Is there anything I can do at this point. I see where I made each mistake so now I need to know how to go from this point on. Any suggestions will be appreciated.