Debt Consolidation Blog

Archive for March, 2010

Salvaging My Credit
The Dollar Stretcher Blog
by Gary Foreman

I quit paying ALL of my CREDIT CARDS ACCOUNTS because I may have to file bankruptcy???!!! BUT I have several charge offs on my credit now!! What should I do? Pay the collection agency which I heard, was NOT the way to go!! Does a collection agency report to the credit report paid in full if you try and pay off the balance owed?? Or should I just file bankruptcy? PLEASE HELP!!!! Thank you!!!
B.

Sounds like B is freaking over her credit card bills. She’s right. She is in pretty deep. So panic might be the appropriate response!

Let’s dial down the emotional volume. We’ll begin by learning about credit scoring and then offer some possible alterantives for B.

The most widely used credit scoring system today is by Fair Isaac and Co. You’ll hear it referred to as your FICO score. Fair Isaac won’t reveal the formula they use, but they will say that 35% of your score is based on payment history.

That history includes reports by lenders of late payments and partial payments. B has lots of company. According to Fitch Ratings, 4.5% of all credit card accounts are 60 days late. That’s a lot of people on the edge of panic!

There are a couple of different ways that your debt can be described on your credit report. “Paid as agreed” is the best and means that you’ve kept up your share of the agreement with the credit card company. “Paid” means that you had problems, but did pay what was owed. “Settled” means that you came to an agreement with the lender for something less than the whole amount owed. “Charged off” means that the lender was unable to collect the money owed.

What has happened so far with B? She doesn’t say specifically, but we’ll make the assumption that this started when she couldn’t afford to make her monthly payments.

At that time she should have contacted her lenders or a credit counseling. Often they can work out a payment plan that’s affordable and will prevent further damage to your credit score. Either one of two national organizations can point you to an agency. The Assoc. of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (866-703-8787) or The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (800-388-2227)

Because B quit paying her bills the credit card companies hired a collection agency and charged off the account. That charge off shows on B’s credit report.

B has four options at this point. She can ignore the bills and make no attempt to repay or resolve the problem. Naturally her credit score will be badly damaged. She can expect to find it very difficult to borrow money for at least the next 7 years. She may also have some trouble renting an apartment or finding a job. Sometimes landlords and employers check credit scores.

The second option would be to contact a credit counseling agency. They may still be able to work out a payment plan. She would be required to pay back the amount she borrowed, but interest rates and fees would be lowered. At the end of the program her credit report would show those items as “paid.”

A third choice would be to negotiate directly with the lender or collection agency. If she pursues this any contact should be in writing. Refuse to negotiate by phone. The lender may be willing to accept less than the amount owed. In that case her credit report would show the account as “settled.”

Her final option is bankruptcy. That would discharge her debts. But, B may be required to give up her home or car to help pay creditors. Accounts included in the bankruptcy will show that way on her credit report for 10 years. But, that might not be all bad. Chances are that most of them were already late.

There are pluses for your credit score if you declare bankruptcy. Because debts are discharged in bankrupty, the amount you owe drops dramatically (another ingredient of your score).

Also, if you declare bankruptcy, your FICO score will be determined by comparing you to other people who have filed bankruptcy. That could help you to score higher.

What should B do? That will depend on how much she owes, her ability to repay it and what the lender is willing to accept. Her best bet is to start with a credit counseling agency. If they can’t work out a program B will be left to choose between negotiating with the collection agency and declaring bankruptcy.

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Gary

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Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com website and various enewsletters. Visit the site for more info on charge offs.

The Dollar Stretcher Blog
by Gary Foreman
I would like to open a thrift store either in NY or GA. How does this work and in your opinion, is this a good business? Also, are thrift stores considered not-for-profit??? And why do some thrift stores give write off for donated items and others do not?
Arlene
A tough economy has triggered an interest in thrift stores. Right now everyone loves a bargain! So Arlene asks a good question. Is this a good business to enter?

We’ll begin by getting a better understanding of thrift stores.

Arlene points us to the first important distinction. Some are non-profit while others are not. What’s the difference? The non-profit stores exist to raise money for a non-profit charitable organization (think Salvation Army or Goodwill). Typically the stores are owned and run by the charitable organization. Employees can be paid for their work, but many volunteer because they believe in the charity.

Because the store is a charitable operation people can donate goods and take a tax deduction for the value of their donation. So most (if not all) of the product that the non-profit thrift stores sell doesn’t cost them anything. Consequently, after paying rent and utilities, much of their sales dollars benefits the charity.

The other type of store (and presumably the kind that Arlene is contemplating) is a for profit store. In this case no charity is involved. The store is run like any other business. Profits belong to the owner and they’ll pay taxes on them.

But that also means that people won’t get a deduction for donated goods. So for profit stores have to buy much (all?) of their inventory. It also means that they labor is more expensive.

So should Arlene open a thrift store? We can’t answer that for her, but we can tell her how to answer it for herself.

Begin by setting up a business budget. Estimate what your first year expenses will be. Start with the store itself. How much will it cost to rent? How much will you spend setting up displays and outside signs. Is anything required to bring the store up to building codes? Don’t forget utilities and deposits. Insurance? Any permits or local business licenses?

Add in the labor costs. Even if Arlene is the only employee, she’ll want to pay herself (after all that is the idea here!). And, when she does, she’ll be responsible for Social Security taxes. Depending on her state she might also be on the hook for worker’s comp, other insurance or state/local taxes.

At this point Arlene will have an idea of her expenses. Next she’ll estimate how high her sales will need to be to break even. For illustration we’ll make some assumptions. Let’s say that what she buys for $1 she can sell for $4 (this is an important estimate so give it proper thought). If her expenses and salary total $40,000, she’d need to sell $53,333 worth of merchandise ($40,000 divided by the profit margin of .75 or 3 divided by 4).

Bottom line, that’s a lot of product for Arlene to sell. And, it might explain why there are so few thrift stores that are not affiliated with a charity.

But, all is not lost! There are ways for Arlene to get into the resale business with much less financial exposure.

The one most similar to opening a thrift store would be to rent space in a flea market. Instead of being responsible for a whole building, you only rent a small space within the building. That dramatically reduces expenses and increases Arlene’s chances for profitability.

A second alternative would be to hold regular garage sales. That way she has no overhead. Any mark-up on products sold goes into her pocket. One caution. Some towns have laws limiting the number of sales you can have in a year. You’ll also want to consider your neighbors.

A final alternative is to set up an online store, perhaps on eBay.com. It costs almost nothing to get started. And, it has one advantage over a ‘real’ store. The internet attracts buyers from all over. So you can specialize if you want. Many online sellers only do old books, records, vintage clothing or collectibles. Generally these items draw higher prices than most thrift store merchandise.

So what should Arlene do? Walking through the steps needed to estimate the expenses and income should give her fairly clear idea. Fortunately, it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. She has can select the best way to get started.
Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Gary

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Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com <a href=”http://www.TheDollarStretcher.com” target=”_blank”>website</a>  and various enewsletters including Financial Independence. <a href=”http://www.stretcher.com/subscribe/subscribeFI.cfm” target=”_blank”> Financial Independence</a> is designed to walk step-by-step with you as you take control of your finances and achieve financial freedom! For more info on <a href=”http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03sep15a.cfm” target=”_blank”>how to start a home business</a>.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice

During the present recession, many people across the nation had lost the job as a result the unemployment is on its peak ever before. To help people who are unemployed, US congress had cape up with unemployment benefits.

The condition of New Yorkers is worse as they hit pretty hard by the current economic climate as a result unemployment levels had raised. For this reason the New York state has been chosen under the 2009 stimulus package.

To help the unemployed New Yorkers, federal government came up with unemployment benefits as mentioned bellow:

First, there is regular unemployment benefits available which are available regardless of the economy for 26 weeks.

Second, 33 week unemployment benefits called Emergency Unemployment Compensation that is formatted for 20 weeks and then followed by 13 weeks segment. These benefits are also paid similar to regular unemployment benefits in the form of direct deposit or check.

In order to receive such unemployment benefits, workers must qualify for it and those are any worker must have worked at least for one year period and earned wages for that time and determined to be unemployed with no fault of your own. You may disqualify from the benefits if any one is the reason for you to become unemployed.

Fired for misconduct

• Involved in labour dispute
• Left to get married
• Resigned due to illness

If you do not meet any of the above mentioned then you can apply for the unemployment benefits if you are fired. The unemployment benefits are like:

One will receive regular benefits of unemployment for a maximum of 26 months in most of the states of US but in case if the nation is suffering from high unemployment levels then they may extend for few weeks. In any state the compensation may be half of your states average weekly earnings. One must remember that these benefits are subject to federal income tax. So, one must make sure to report these benefits in your federal income tax return.

But recent reports shows that, nearly 575,000 New Yorkers who have been out of work are about to run out of there 26 unemployment benefits. For this reason New York state department of labour appealing the U.S. congress to extend the benefit for workers.

They also said that, if they did not extend, nearly 5 million people across America will become lose their unemployment benefits. This will become worse when the job hole is still deep with unemployment rate is at 9 percent and without this extension more than 85,000 New Yorkers could lose their unemployment benefits by the end of March and 356,000 becoming ineligible by the end of June.

For this reason, the department of labour encourages workers who are about to lose their unemployment benefits keep checking at one stop centres, that help you in finding jobs. To check if you qualify for the unemployment benefits visit www.gouveneurtimes.com and apply for aid if you are unemployed.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice

There are countless people stuck with credit card debt.  What started as strictly emergencies became everyday purchases. If you have more credit card debt than you can handle, there are a variety of options available to you. Here is a step by step guide for how to deal with credit card debt:

       Find out where you are. The most important part of tackling your credit card debt is knowing exactly how much of it you have.  Open those bills, and check your online statements.  Tally up your totals and look at the big, scary numbers.  You simply can’t take care of a problem without knowing how big it is.

       Examine how you got here.  Look over your purchase history.  Are you using your credit card for purchases that are realistic?  Remember that unless you pay off your credit card each month, you are paying interest on any and all purchases.  That means the $45 dinner and drinks tab from 4 months ago is now over $70.  If you had paid cash that night, you would have saved $25.  Look at what you are spending your money on and what you could live without.  Did you need a new sweater or television last month? 

       Make a plan. A budget is not a scary thing.  It is not even all that complicated.  Just pull out a blank piece of paper and make two columns.  Fill out one column for money coming in, one for money going out.  Living within your means is the only way to get out of debt. After you see what you have been spending your money on, you will have a realistic view of how much you typically spend on certain items.  Consider things you can get rid of while working off your debt. 

       Tackling your debt. This can seem overwhelming at first, but with some careful thought the whole process can be quite manageable.  After you listed everything in your budget, look at what money you have left over.  Look at which credit cards or loans have the highest interest rate.  After you have paid the minimum on each loan, use the extra cash toward your highest interest loan.  This is likely a credit card.  If you have defaulted on payments in the past, this could be up to 32%.  You can also consider transferring your credit to a lower interest card but make sure to read your credit card agreement.  This is not always allowed.

       Get Help. With so many people in debt these days, there are plenty of agencies out there willing to help.  Always make sure to research any business with the Better Business Bureau before handing over any money.  Scams are rampant, and especially with the current credit crisis, it is easy to turn to the wrong business.  Protect yourself, but don’t miss out on an opportunity to slash your debt.

       Hopefully this will be a lesson you take with you the rest of your life.  Living beyond your means is not healthy and can cause you many unwanted results.  Nobody likes harassing phone calls and nobody likes living without.  Consider a part time job for increased revenue or taking up a cheap hobby while you are working off your debt.  Having excess credit card debt is sometimes a necessary evil, but most of the time it is unnecessary.  As you are working off your debt consider paying for everything in cash.  Wait until you know you can use your credit cards responsibly, until then keep them in a cabinet or in the freezer!

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.

Already defaulted on debt and facing credit problems. Don’t worry in the resent economy many people are facing the same situation. If you are in such situation and have been for a long time not paying monthly repayments on time then you might have been in a position where debt collection agencies calling you for debt payments. This is the case because your creditors will turn your case over to collection agencies.

If this is the case then to protect you from collection agencies harassment, you need to know your rights against the collection methods. Here are those which your collection agencies are not supposed to do:

You collection agencies are never allowed to call at your work place. If they are doing then you can fight back against them.

• They are not allowed to call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. even at your home.
• They are never allowed to address you in an abrasive manner or speak to you rudely or harass you.
• Never make misleading statements that threaten you or add any unauthorised charges.
• They are not permitted to call you friends and family members and discuss your debt with them and try to collect it from them.

If you collection agencies is doing any of the above mentioned, then tell your collection agency to stop harassing you. In any circumstance if they continue to do so then make sure to take their name and address and report to better business bureau or federal trade commission or any state’s attorney office.

Before taking the complaint to legal offices, make sure to record the conversation over phone that you are making a request to collection agencies that they are acting against the law and request them to stop doing so. You can also make this request in written to collection agencies by taking their name and address. This can also help in showing a proof of your request to collection agencies. If they continue to do so even after making request then you must take the issue to legal authority that is dealing with this law.

You can know you right better by referring the fair debt collection practices act. It was instated to help the consumers who are facing financial hardship and unable to repay the debt even if they want to clear it. This law was brought into action by federal government that states they you can demand the collection agencies to stop contacting you, except to inform you that collection efforts were ended and unfruitful and the creditor will start taking against you and may sue you to court.

However you can not stop creditor calling you directly for collecting your debt because the fair debt collection practices act will not stop the direct creditor asking you to pay the debt that you owed to him. Therefore before acting make sure to know whether the direct creditor or collection agency is calling you.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice

As a part of life, every person will take credit to fulfil their needs and wants. If you are not able to repay the debt on time, then it may ruin your credit score. If you are in such situation don’t worry, it is not the end of your financial life.

Even if you have bad credit, you can manage to obtain credit for buying home, cars or any other asset or appliances. There are many lenders like sub prime lenders, car loan lenders out there who deal with bad credit history as a part of their business and are genuine in providing there service. But there are few lenders who involve themselves in scams and take advantage of the people with bad credit history.

For this reason you must be careful enough when dealing with lender while having bad credit history because you will have less option compared to one who maintains good credit score. Having bad credit history and applying for mortgage loan or any kind of loan meaning you are going to pay higher interest and higher fee compared to borrower with good credit ratings.

There are many mortgage lenders for borrowers in Michigan with bad credit. They are:

Countrywide home loans: this mortgage lender offers mortgage loans to all type of credit history borrowers. They have many programs to choose from.

Eileen mortgage funding Inc: with this mortgage lender in Michigan you can manage to attain best mortgage rates even if you have bad credit.

Family first mortgage: this mortgage lender in Michigan offers mortgage loans for both people with good and bad credit also.

There are different types of bad credit mortgage loans available in the mortgage markets. One is 100 percent financing option where only one lender will offer you total loan, which is very easier option for you to handle your finance. But not all lenders will offer this type of loan. The other option includes 80/20 financing, where your mortgage is financed with two loans. These two loans can be offered by one lender only. This financing option is more common but it may involve some negotiation with lenders.

You might be thinking that having bad credit, how it might be possible. This might not be possible in normal case but during the present housing market, especially in the state of Michigan, which has so many foreclosed properties, government and banks are making it easier to get mortgage loans even if you have bad credit.

For getting approved by the mortgage lenders or any other type of lender, the main thing you should be concerned about is your ability to repay the loan. Remember that any thing you borrow must be paid back with interest. One thing that may prevent you from getting the loan is federal law because it restricts the lender to lend you if you can not afford monthly repayments.

If you can afford to monthly repayments then you must prove to your lenders your monthly income there by manage to get credit and start rebuilding your credit.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice

I have been investing in foreclosures in California for last couple of years and successfully closed few deals in profit. I have been encountering questions from many forthcoming investors regarding the how to go about while bidding at foreclosure auction in California. For this reason I came up with this post about foreclosure investing guide.

Home owner faces foreclosure when he falls behind the mortgage payments to bank or lender who in turn tries to sell your property to recover his amount which you owe him usually at auction. Many look forward to take this opportunity of buying properties at foreclosure because of the substantial cost savings compared to one that is sold privately by home owner. One can manage to save with purchasing foreclosure properties as the bank or lender will only try to recoup the amount what is actually owed, which is significantly less that actual worth of the property. Hence determining the bid price at foreclosure requires much more research and knowledge of the local rates and state laws to make a good investment.

Here is the process to go through when you are looking to purchase the property through foreclosure process.

First, one should learn the foreclosure laws in your state to make yourself aware of the things involved. Almost all states require that the list of foreclosures is to be advertised well before certain time and that include the minimum amount for bidding.

Second, visit the foreclosure sales and know the process of bidding before you start to precede bidding. Generally, the foreclosures are listed at the courthouse located where the foreclosed property is present. These listings are also published in the newspapers.

To bid on the foreclosure auction, research the market value of the property which you are looking to buy. To know the market value of the property that is listed at foreclosure is by comparing the foreclosed property with other property in the neighbourhood where the foreclosed property is located. This way can help you a lot in determining the amount to bid.

Find out the minimum amount for bid if it is not provided at the time of listing. You can get this by contacting the individual listed in foreclosures. Then start researching the title of the property to find out if it is not subject to any second and third mortgages, taxes and lines against the property listed out for foreclosure or any other factors that might prevent the transfer of the property after buying the home.

Next, visit the property to examine the physical condition of the property and find out any physical or structural problems that might lead to additional expenses beyond what you actually bid at foreclosure auction. Make sure to find out all the necessary improvements and estimate all the additional expenses to repair the property and add that figure to minimum bid price. After doing so if you find that property after attaining at a total cost of the home to be feasible then go ahead and bid the foreclosure.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.

When a Oregon home owner facing foreclosure, he might be already in financial hardship and fall behind the mortgage payments for at least six month. If such is the financial position then it may be hard to hire a lawyer to defend the foreclosure process.

If you are facing such situation then you are at the right place as in this article I am going to explain you how to defend the foreclosure when you are facing it. My intention to take this article to you is not only help the home owners but also communities. Yes, we all are going to loss in any way when our communities lose home owners.

Before you know how to defend foreclosure process, it is important to know actual foreclosure process. Here is how the Oregon foreclosure process step by step.

In Oregon, the foreclosure process starts at the moment the notice of default is recorded under ORS 86.735 and advertisement for sale is issued as provided in ORS 86.740 to 86.755. After recording the notice of default and at least 120 days before the day of sale, the notice of sale should be served to home owner or any grantor facing the foreclosure.

If the trustee fails to give notice according to rule mentioned above then he posses the right to file a case against the trustee in the circuit court where the real property is located about the notice of sale is not served to him as required by ORS 86.740 and 86.750 saying that the omitted person could have cured the default under ORS 86.753 and sustained the damages that resulted the loss of property as a result such person had loss the opportunity to cure the default.

After the auction date is set, publication of sale is to be done in such a way that published once a week for 4 weeks where the last publication is no sooner than 20 days before the sale. Before the sale the trustee must submit the affidavits of the completed service and publication to prove the publication.

With in the period of 120 days time given after the foreclosure notice is given to home owner, there are many things that can happen. For example: the foreclosure auction may be postponed to another 180 days before the process restart or the defaulter may cure the loan or brought to current with no acceleration.

If you being a home owner facing a foreclosure feel that you have been treated unfairly, fight back. You can do this by following a produce the note strategy. In any state in US, you can sue the foreclosure by produce a note strategy. There are two types of foreclosure, non-judicial and judicial. Even if you foreclosure is non judicial you can ask the entity foreclosing your property to produce the note that you owe debt to them. It works because there is only one paper regarding your mortgage on which you had signed. If you don’t do this then you simply allow the foreclosure process to process and loss the home.

You can also defend the foreclosure process if any of the steps mentioned above were not followed and not served you with required notices well before the foreclosure process begins.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.

Buying a home itself is a long and complicated process and even more if you are buying a foreclosure home as the foreclosure process can be very complex. Many think that buying a home through foreclosure is almost finished once your submitted offer is accepted. But before submitting the purchase offer and after it there are many other steps that any prospective home buyer must take action to successfully complete the process. If you are one who is looking to purchase home then you are at the right place as this article will guide you through a series of steps to be followed in Texas during purchase of home.

Before submitting a purchase offer, you must find out different offers at place you are looking to invest and find a right one for you. Once submitted, after several counter offers your purchase offer may be accepted. Accepting offer is not the final step in your buying a home but thereafter, post buying actions should be taken care off in order to smooth the home buying process.

First step after your purchase offer at foreclosure is accepted is getting appraisal done. This is most important because in most cases, the lender will only loan you 80 to 90 percent of the home value where the remaining 10 percent must be arranged by the buyer itself which is called as down payment.

To perform this action, one must approach a licensed real estate appraiser but in most cases, the lender wish to use his own real estate appraiser in such case you will not have any option to choose the real estate appraiser. In the process of appraisal, the appraiser will assess the property with help of different set of criteria to arrive at value of the property. In fact the figure at which the appraiser arrived at is the opinion of the appraiser. In simple words it is the value of the property according to him but it is mostly considerable when dealing with lender for home loan.

In case the appraised value of the property is less than your purchase offer, then it is up to you to make use of the Texas home loan lender or move to other home loan issuer. If you decided to go with loan issuer, bank will still loan you, but only a percentage of the appraised amount, where the remaining amount has to be arranged by the buyer itself.

If you are unable to meet the remaining balance amount then you can decide to lapse the purchase agreement with the foreclosure seller. In case the purchase agreement is lapsed only because of the apprised value does not meet the purchase price then the buyer money will be returned back. Then you can start looking for the new offer that suits your need.

Hence, one must remember to include the appraisal condition in the purchase agreement as in such conditions mentioned above will you can make or break the deal depending on the appraised conditions.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.

The Foreclosure Rental Trap
The Dollar Stretcher Blog
by Gary Foreman
A record 2.8 million U.S. properties began the foreclosure process in 2009 (according to ForeclosurePulse.com). It appears that there’s no end in sight. And, while the focus has been on families losing their residence, there’s a subplot that’s gone largely unnoticed. Innocent renters are often hurt when banks foreclose on their landlords.

Nationwide it’s estimated that about one third of properties that are being foreclosed are not owner occupied. And, while some of those are second homes, many are rentals. It’s probably pretty safe to say that at between 25 and 30% of foreclosures are occupied by a renter. So about 750,000 renters were in foreclosed units last year.

What does foreclosure mean to the renter? If the bank forecloses on your landlord they take over the property. Their goal is to protect their financial interest. Sometimes that hurts the renter.

Historically, banks wanted the owner to vacate a foreclosed property. That meant the renter, too. So even renters who had leases were suddenly being thrown into the street. Without any legal recourse.

In May, 2009 the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act” became law. The main part of the law guaranteed that tennants could stay until their lease was up. Those on a month-to-month get 90 days.

Today, in part because of the law and in part because it’s bad business to chase away paying renters, banks are allowing more tenants to stay in foreclosed properties. Often they’ll use a management company. Some managers are more responsive to renter needs than others.

So what can a renter for protection? Unfortunately, even with the new law, their options are fairly limited.

It’s hard for a renter to determine if his current or potential landlord is in financial trouble. There is one website <RentalForeclosure.com> that can check an address for you. It’s not 100% certain. They only report what their records show. But, you’ll want to avoid any properties on their list.

In some counties, court records are available online. Checking your county’s website can be a real eye-opener. You can check your landlord by name (or by company name). Look for any pattern that shows financial problems. Make sure you look for liens and mortgages against the property you rent.

If the bank does notify you that your landlord is being foreclosed, contact the local housing agency. They’ll be in the best position to tell you which local, state and federal laws apply to your situation. Among other things you’ll need to know who should get your rent checks and who to call for a leaky faucet.

As a tenant you can sue the former landlord for lost deposits and rent. But the small claims process can take months. Plus you’re trying to get money from someone in foreclosure. The odds of getting your money back are pretty long.

The trickiest time for a renter is when the landlord expects to be foreclosed. Some will collect rent and make no effort to make their mortgage payment. They’ll also avoid doing any maintainence. This can go on for months. That’s why it’s a bad idea to prepay your rent in this economy. If you have next month’s rent available, better to put it into an insured savings account until the rent is due.

If you’re looking for a rental, beware of landlords who seem overly anxious to get you into their unit. Some are attempting to use renters’ first/last/deposit to keep themselves afloat financially. Reputable landlords will check your credit and references. Failure to do so could be a sign that they’re just after your deposit. Time to run!

Bottom line? It’s important for a renter to check out the landlord. The tools aren’t particularly good, but they can help you avoid some obvious problems. And, if you do find that your landlord is in foreclosure contact the bank and housing agencies to see what steps you need to take to protect yourself.

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!
Gary

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Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com website <www.TheDollarStretcher.com> and various enewsletters including Financial Independence <http://www.stretcher.com/subscribe/subscribeFI.cfm> Financial Independence is designed to walk step-by-step with you as you take control of your finances and achieve financial freedom! Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.