Options For Creditor Disputes – Mortgage By Randy Newsletter – Jan 2010

Mortgage by Randymonthly update to our clients, colleagues, family & friends
By: Randy Mitchelson, January 2010
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In Issue 22 We Touch On:
Florida Condo Rules
Appliance Rebates
Options For Creditor Disputes

 

As I ponder the decade that has passed I realized something neat.  When the decade began I was in the financial and mortgage industry and at the end of the decade I am still here in the same field. Although I have had worked with six (yikes!) different international, regional and local companies in the past ten years, I am still fulfilling my career interests, just in different ways.

Part of the reason for this comes from the encouragement and support I receive from you.  Readers of this newsletter are family, friends, clients, colleagues, peers.  Without your loyalty and input, I would probably be back to my first “real” job of stocking shelves at a supermarket.  2010 will be a tremendous year – partly because I choose it to be – and partly because I know that collectively we will all continue to prosper.  There will be bumps in the road and sad news along the way but all in all our culture of each generation leaving behind a better life for those that come after will continue to propagate. 

The current newsletter and all prior newsletters are archived at the Mortgage by Randy blog. Bookmark it and share with your friends and family.  You can make your own comments and feedback as well.  Time for the news…

Mortgage Market: Help Is Coming – Florida Condos May Be Easier To Finance
Florida’s condo market has been particularly hard hit by the housing downturn. During the boom, condos were overbuilt and apartment complexes rushed to convert their properties to condos to cash in on the buying frenzy.  Those projects still in development or newly completed when the bubble burst are now mostly vacant.  Lending criteria for condos has become so tight that most transactions are with cash buyers.  Help is on the way from Fannie Mae, the quasi-government institution charged with buying mortgages from lenders to stimulate liquidity in the market.

 

A team of six Fannie Mae assessors in Florida will review hundreds of condo properties across the state that do not currently meet Fannie Mae eligibility guidelines and will review requirements like occupancy rates and financial stability. These are projects where the homeowners association is run by actual owners rather than developers. Existing projects deemed eligible will be listed on www.eFannieMae.com as project reviews are completed. Qualified borrowers wishing to purchase units in these projects will be eligible for financing. 

Although this is a good step, it is not an ultimate solution to the condo inventory problem.  Banks still control the loan dollars and the criteria under which they will lend.  Consumer with large downpayments and strong credit profiles will certainly be able to get a condo mortgage but many buyers will find that banks are still gun shy to invest loan dollars in these types of properties.

Personal Credit: How To Submit Credit Report Disputes To A Creditor
Trying to communicate with one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, TransUnion or Equifax) can be time consuming and frustrating, especially when you are trying to get inaccurate information removed. Another option available to consumers is to dispute inaccurate information directly with the creditor (the company that reported the information to the credit reporting agency).  Examples of creditors would be credit card issuers like Capital One, mobile phone companies like Verizon, and medical offices.

 

Instant disputes of negative items are available through Score Assist, a service that makes it easier for consumers to submit disputes directly with creditors.  A free trial is available to Mortgage By Randy readers (full disclosure: my company is compensated for referrals of new customers). Benefits of this convenient, subscription based service include:

-saves time
-avoids inconvenience of typing dispute letters
-saves expense of mailing letters via registered or priority mail
-eliminates manual tracking of the number of days the creditor is taking to respond

Mailing your own disputes remains an option. Written disputes can be submitted on your own if you are willing to invest the time.  Email me for a template of a Creditor Dispute Letter. Some people feel that it is worth the small expense to use an online service like Score Assist to submit and track creditor disputes at the click of a button.

 

After your disputes are submitted, remember that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects consumers and their credit.  The law mandates that creditors respond to disputes within 30 days.  Score Assist makes it easy to track the dates when all your disputes were submitted.  If any disputes not resolved within 30 days (unless one 15 day extension is requested by creditor), FCRA allows consumers to request that credit bureaus remove the contested information from your report.

Economy & Financial Insights: 2010 Version Of Cash4Clunkers – Appliance Rebates
In the coming months you may be eligible to receive rebates from your state or territory for the purchase of new ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances. These rebates are being funded with $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under this program, eligible consumers can receive rebates to purchase new energy-efficient appliances when they replace used appliances.

 

Each state and territory will choose dollar amounts for the products selected. Amounts could range from $50 to $250, depending upon the product being purchased, the purchase price, and other potential market factors. Each state will decide if consumers will be eligible for more than one rebate when purchasing appliances covered in the program.

For full details and to find out what the plan is in the state that you live in, visit the Department of Energy.

Question of the Month: How Much Does Title Insurance Cost?
Title insurance is not for the homeowner.  The insurance is for the mortgage lender (bank), but you get to pay for it on their behalf.  A good estimate for title insurance is $5.00 – $5.75 per each thousand dollars borrowed.  For example, a $250,000 mortgage may require a title insurance policy in the amount of $1,325.  When it comes to fees for title work on a mortgage there are several fees to be aware of.  A title insurance policy is just one of them.  Other typical title related fees include: settlement/closing fee ($300), title search fee ($35), title exam fee ($75), endorsements and messenger fees ($35).  In addition, a homebuyer should always purchase an owner’s title policy.  The cost is negligible when factored in to the overall cost of a mortgage and provides you, the property owner, proper insurance protection in the event that the title company makes a mistake or if there is ever a future claim against the property you are purchasing.

Giving Back: Supporting Our Communities – National Kidney Foundation
I recently had the opportunity to interact with the National Kidney Foundation.  I learned a lot of surprising information.  For example, did you know that if you donate a kidney that the surgical procedure is only invasive to the point where on average you may miss about a week of work?  Medicine has come a long way.  The sad news is that nearly 83,000 people are waiting for a kidney right now!

 

The first step to learn if you are eligible to donate a kidney is to take a confidential telephone questionnaire.  If you successfully pass that stage, then the next step is to visit a local clinic or lab to have some blood drawn for testing.  The kidney foundation covers all expenses of this.  That’s it!  It is very little time investment to know the big answer whether you are eligible to save a life with your kidney.  Although there may not be someone in your life today that is in need of a kidney you never know what tomorrow will bring.  Having the test now will save some time later in the event of an emergency.  Check out this brief video on YouTube where a friend of mine, Herb Knoll, quizzes holiday shoppers at Wal*Mart about donating kidneys.

Need volunteers? Do you have a fundraising event upcoming?   Do you have a personal web site where you are raising donations for your cause?  Submit the information to randy@mortgagebyrandy.com by the 5th day of each month and we will do our best to include your information in the next issue.

Off to Vegas this week for a tradeshow and then looking forward to welcoming my parents to Florida as they embark upon their first year of being snowbirds. Yankee spring training tickets are on sale so my March social calendar is booking fast. Virginia and Colorado are already on the 2010 Mitchelson travel schedule as we plan to celebrate some significant family milestones.

Randy
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Mortgage by Randy newsletter, Copyright 2009 Randy Mitchelson.  All Rights Reserved.

 

Randy Mitchelson is a licensed mortgage professional. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. All material represents the opinions of Randy Mitchelson.  Recommendations may change and readers are urged to check with their financial advisors before making any decisions. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Mitchelson can be reached at 239-851-6738.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print as long as the following is included:

 

Randy Mitchelson, of Estero, Florida, is a business professional, entrepreneur and author with over 15 years experience in financial services.  Mitchelson has served in leadership roles for Global & Fortune 500 firms like Bank of America, KeyBank and CIBC.

As a member of National Association of Mortgage Brokers, Randy has earned the Lending Integrity Seal of Approval.  He educates both individuals and groups about credit scoring by conducting personalized credit report reviews, action plans and one on one consultations. He is author of the free monthly newsletter, Mortgage by Randy as well as the Daily Dollar newsletter. A licensed mortgage professional, Mitchelson also founded Trinity Home Financing, LLC.

He is owner of Estero, Florida based National Web Leads, LLC, an internet lead generation service matching consumers with lenders for auto, cash advance and other financial products.   Through its network of partners, National Web Leads delivers innovative Web 2.0 performance marketing solutions to advertisers and affiliate marketers.

Mitchelson earned his BS and MBA at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.  He is a founding member and Finance Chairman of the Southwest Florida Regional Technology Partnership Inc. and Vice President for the Michelle’s Angels Foundation Inc.  He is married to Susan, a Pharmacy Supervisor in the Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, Florida.