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UK Residents UK Credit Cards - Loans US Residents Credit Cards Debt Consolidation Loans Auto-Mortgage-Equity Personal Loans Free Credit Reports Credit Repair   Administrative Add Us To Your Site Privacy Policy - Contact Learning Center Should I refinance my mortgage (home)? he answer we typically give is "it depends". It depends on what you hope to gain from the refinancing.  There are several reasons people refinance:  to gain a lower interest rate, to lower your monthly payments, to take "cash out" in order to pay debts, and cashing out for home improvements.  All of these are good reasons. However,  we caution those considering the cashout option to pay unsecured debt that you will be paying the unsecured debt with a secured loan. That is, if you default on the mortgage payment you could lose your home, if the bank forecloses.  If you know you are credit worthy and capable of making the payments, then you can save thousands of dollars by consolidating the higher interest debt at the low intrest rates offered through re financing. What are some tax benefits of owning my home?  In tax lingo, your principal residence is the place where you legally reside. It's typically the place where you spend most of your time, but several other factors are also relevant in determining your principal residence. Many of the tax benefits associated with home ownership apply mainly to your principal residence--different rules apply to second homes and investment properties. Here's what you need to know to make owning a home really pay off at tax time.  Read the complete article. What is considered qualifying income for a mortgage? Retirement, veterans benefits, social security income, alimony, child support, trust income, unemployment income, rental income, self employment, overtime, night differential, holiday pay, bonuses, and interest or divident income are all examples What are some of the loan-related closing costs? The following pertain to most buyers: Title insurance, two month's escrow (property tax, homeowners insurance, and PMI), down payment (minus earnest money), prorated loan interest, and first year home owner insurance. What are some loan programs that have leverege? Real estate leverge means to use a small portion of an asset to buy a larger asset. Some of these include Growing Equity Mortgage (GEM), Reverse Annuity Mortgages (RAM), Graduated Payment Mortgages (GPM), Biweekly Mortgages, and Bridge Loans (Bridging). How can I Repair my credit?  We are often asked "How can I fix my credit and how can I raise my credit score?" Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can dispute information in your credit file with the three Credit Bureaus and the creditor is required by law to verify the disputed information.  That which can't be verified within 30 days must be removed.  The best way to clean up your credit is to do it yourself.  Looking for the Best Mortgage Company? Shopping around for a home loan or best second mortgage lender will help you to get the best financing deal. A mortgage, whether it's a home purchase, a home mortgage refinancing, refinacing second mortgage loan, or a home equity loan, is a product, just like a car, so the price and terms may be negotiable. Answers to Your Questions About FICO® Scores What are credit scores?  How are credit scores calculated? How do lenders use my credit score to evalutate my credit worthiness?  Answers to many frequent questions concerning Fico credit scores written by the credit scoring experts at MyFico.com® Credit Tip:  Under certain circumstances, you are entitled to a free credit report.  Read our article on how to obtain your free credit history.  Identity theft is at an all time high and continues to grow.  Identity theft is causing terrible credit problems for millions of unsuspecting people each year.  Knowing what is in your credit file is the smartest way to stay ahead of the crooks who leach off of our society.  In our article, we explain when you are entitled to a free credit report and how to get it. Other Articles From the Learning Center   Credit Card Basics Mortgage Basics Choosing a Mortgage Refinancing Basics Home Equity Basics  Credit Report Basics Credit Repair Tips Divorce and Debt How To Establish Credit Interesting Tidbits Some of the Top misspelled Web Searches for January 1-15 bad crdit morgage loans mrgages mortage loans bad credit laons top personalloans morgages bad credut low intrest mortages mortage aplications badcreditloans badcredit mortages paydayloans highriskloans www. badcredit com mortgageloans Disclaimer:  CreditChampion.com is a directory of lenders. We try our best to keep the data and terms current. However, because of the changing financial market, along with the ever changing lender rules and guidelines, the bulleted highlights describing each lender may not always be up-to-date.  The lenders will be able to give you complete and accurate information regarding their services and terms once you get to their respective websites.  We are not responsible for lender decisions since we are simply a directory and are not involved in the lending process.  The information you submit in the online application is seen only by the lender and no one else.  Email Inquiries about your application should be submitted to the respective lender.  For additional information, please see our Privacy Policy.	Bookmark us now and visit us in the future!  We update mortgage rates weekly and continue to add content!  Visit the new, expanded Learning Center for answers to some of our frequently asked questions, consumer credit articles, mortgage and refinance tips, auto and home mortgage calculators, and loan amoritization calculators.  Credit Champion continues to grow.                 Press Release - February 1, 2005, in Yahoo! Finance - Options when you can't pay your taxes.  Mortgage News:  February 3, 2005 -  According to finance firm Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, home mortgage rates held steady this week. Rates are still extremely low, and this remains an excellent time to refinance. 2005 is expected to remain an excellent year for refinancing.   Current average rates around the US are now 5.63% for a 30-year fixed, 5.14% for 15 FRM, and 4.23% for ARMs. The next rate update is expected February 9.                    Credit Cards and Loans for People with Bad Credit Signature Loans to $10,000  Stop Foreclosure  Home Equity Loans Mortgage Loans - Refinance Behind on Mortgage Payment Business Credit Cards Car - Auto Loans Debt Consolidation Student Credit Cards for College $500 Overnight Loan - High Risk Loans Borrowing Options Explained California Refinance & California Mortgage - Several media sources report that the housing market in California continues to surge and that the housing market will remain strong over the next 12 to 18 months. According to the California Association of Realtors 'State of the Housing Market 2003' Report, 2003 was the best year on record. According to the C.A.R. (www.car.org/), the median price of a home in California in 2003 was $375,000.  First time buyers occupied 30% of the market, and tended to rely on savings or loans for down payments. Tax Tip: Use your home equity to pay your 2004 income taxes.  Many people pay their liability on credit cards or through a tax plan with the IRS.  However, you can save money by using a home equity line of credit (HELOC) financed at todays very low interest rates.  Furthermore, the interest you pay on a home equity line of credit is generally deductible on your federal income tax return if you itemize your deductions next year.  Home Loans - Mortgage Loans - If you are renting you may be throwing away so much money each month to pay someone else's equity.  Why not start building your own equity?  In many cases, your mortage payment will even be lower than your rent payment.  And at the interest rates that we have today, you will build equity in your best investment very quickly. Also, the interest paid on home mortgages provide a large tax deduction for those who itemize. Home Equity Loans - Equity loans (called home equity line of credit) differ from regular refinancing because they do not disturb the existing first mortgage. Addionally, they do not require the best of personal financial profiles. Since these loans are not sold to the secondary market, lenders can accept a higher risk. Therefore you can obtain a personal credit line even if you have less than perfect credit. If you have good to excellent credit, you may consider a 125 percent mortgage (personal credit line). These are 1st and 2nd morgages that total up to 125% of the property's market value. Auto Loans & Auto Refinancing - With MyAutoLoanFinder, you can quickly apply online for a new or used car or truck, or even a motorcycle loan. We will match you with high risk lenders who specialize in car loans, truck loans, motorcycle financing and rv loans...even for people with bad credit. Approval for these car loans is very quick. Check out or auto financing and auto refinance loans today. Credit Card Applications - If you have bad credit problems, you have probably had a difficult time obtaining an charge card or unsecured credit cards. It takes up to seven years to erase bad credit.  So the best way you can begin to build or rebuild credit is to obtain credit. This may sound like a contradiction, but there are lenders who will grant credit to high risk consumers. Once you have the credit card, your proper use is reported to the credit bureaus. Just try to keep your balance below 45% of the available credit limit. Checkout our list of unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit, and unsecured Visa credit card offers...some with instant approval, including internet catalog cards (so you can shop online), small businesses, merchant credit cards, and credit cards for college students.  PaydayLoans - Unsecured Loans - Do you need a high risk personal loan but have bad credit?  Did you know that you can cash your next paycheck online before you ever get it?  If you are running low on cash, you can actually borrow up to $500 until payday and get the funds within 24 hours. This is called a payroll loan or deferred deposit. Our lenders will wire $100, $200, $300, and up to $500 into your checking account overnight... with no credit check. No collateral and no cosigner for these unsecured personal loans for people with bad credit. If you complete a loan application now, you will usually get a response within 30 minutes. And in most cases, approval is guaranteed if you make at least $1000 a month.You can use your high risk pay day loans for any purpose: gifts, purchases, vacation, travel, wedding, car repair, emergency, holiday spending, taxes, pay bills, cover checks, groceries, utilities, insurance, or even pay rent. So what are you waiting for? Options for Eliminating Debt... How to Get Out of Debt Fast Obviously, the best option for someone with bad debt is to get a low-rate consolidation loan, and pay it off in three or four years. However, that is not as easy as it seems, especially if you have less than perfect credit. The problem is basic human nature. We tend to spend more than we make. Once you have accumulated a large amount of debt and then consolidate, you’re spending habits are not likely to change. So, you eventually end up deeper in debt a year or two later and still have the original debt loan to pay back. This tendency makes these loans high risk loans, and make true unsecured debt loans difficult to obtain. Therefore, we have outlined a few other traditional consolidation options below. Just keep in mind, that to truly improve your financial future, once you receive your loan, you need to make sure you are disciplined enough to stay debt free. You must change your spending habits. You must learn to live within your means. Home loans for debt consolidation: A popular way to consolidate debt is to use the equity in your home. If the home is worth more than you owe, then you have positive home equity. You can borrow against this equity. You can get a home equity line of credit (heloc), or refinance your current mortgage and get “cash out” to pay off the debt. The risk is real: you are consolidating unsecured debt with a secured one. That means, if you default on the loan you could have your house taken away since the home is the collateral. But, at today’s low interest rate using home equity to pay debt is a good option if you know you are capable of making the payments. If you feel that you might default on the home loan, you might be better off keeping the unsecured debt / credit card debt since the worst that could happen is the account will be turned over to collection and you may eventually be sued. But, unlike a home loan, nothing can be taken away from you and you can’t immediately lose your home. Also, consider the deceptive nature of using a home loan to pay off unsecured debt. You will lose the home equity that you could otherwise use as leverage to buy investment property. Rather, you are sucking the equity out to pay expenses. As suggested above, the key is to change your spending habits so that once the debt is paid, you can stay out of debt. Do not continue to live above your means and just build up more debt. If you know you have good payment habits and are capable of meeting the secured debt obligation, then you will save money in the long run by using home equity to pay off debt. Home Equity Loans…There are two types. Fixed amounts, and home equity lines of credit. Home equity lines of credit are similar to credit cards, allowing you to borrow up to a certain amount (proportional to the amount of equity in your home). You can pay lines of credit back with more flexibility. Home equity loans carry a low interest rate, so you will be paying much less in interest by eliminating debt this way. Also, the interest you do pay is usually tax-deductible if you itemize and they usually carry low or no closing costs. Home equity loans are easy to obtain if you have decent credit. Your mortgage payment history will be a key indicator for the lender. Mortgage Refinancing…This is a good idea right now, given very low interest rates. This is also a good way to tap into your home’s equity to pay off debt. A “cash out refinance” allows you to refinance your home mortgage, pay off the current loan, and take out additional cash to use as you like or to pay off bills. You may be able to borrow up to 90% of the value of your home in a cash out refi, especially if you have good credit and are not self employed (if you have a lower score and/or are self employed you may not be able to borrow quiet as much). Some advantages of refinancing include leverage and lower interest payments which allow for more cash flow monthly. Although you will generally pay higher closing costs (usually about 4% of the mortgage amount) than with home equity lines, we feel the advantages are far superior. Credit Tip: The key to getting out of debt is to cut your expenses and/or bring in more income. This may be obvious but consider how much you routinely spend relative to your income. If you are consistently living above your means, you will NEVER get out of debt and creditors will always be harassing you. Cut your expenses or get a raise! It’s that simple. If you pay off your bad debt then make sure you change your spending to live within your means. Debt Settlement and debt negotiation  Debt settlement is an option that is not well known to many people. There are companies that can help you accomplish this task, or you can do it yourself. Basically, you stop making payments on all your unsecured creditors. Instead, place the money that you would normally pay to your creditors into a savings account. After your debts go unpaid for several months they will typically be charged off by your lenders. At the same time, you are building up your savings account at which point the lenders will negotiate settlements on your debt, sometimes as low as 25% on the dollar, but usually in the 50% to 75% range. You can typically get out of debt in 12 to 36 months. The savings account you started will give you a head start on your settlement payments. You may have enough saved up to pay the entire amount. Or, as part of your settlement, you can negotiate a monthly payment amount. The settlement option will affect your credit negatively. Your debt will appear on your credit card as a settlement. Furthermore, your accounts will be closed and obtaining credit from the same banks / lenders in the future will be very difficult, if not impossible. But, despite these consequences, settlement and debt negotiation are still the best option. Filing bankruptcy For consumers in over their heads, filing bankruptcy is your last option. Every year, about 1.5 million American households file personal bankruptcy. With bankruptcy, certain types of debts can be completely eliminated or discharged. Debts that typically can be discharged include credit card, medical, auto, utilities, and rent. Debts that may not be canceled generally include child support, alimony, student loans, taxes, and court-ordered damages (for example, drunk driving settlements). Filing bankruptcy, needless to say has a number of drawbacks. First, bankruptcy appears on your credit report for up to ten years, so you will have a difficulty obtaining credit, especially in the years immediately following your filing. If you already have bad credit and major problems on your credit report, the damage has already been done. If you do file bankruptcy, getting credit in the future is still possible. You may be able to obtain a secured credit card, which requires you to deposit money in a back account equal to the credit limit on your credit card. Of course, you'll be better off without the temptation of any credit cards and better served with a debit card. But, your payment pattern on your secured credit card will be reported to the credit bureaus and most creditors will be willing to give you loans within a few years of your filing bankruptcy if you establish a good credit history. Almost all lenders ignore bankruptcy after five to seven years. For those of you who think there is no other option but to file, be sure to know what you are entitled to keep. In every state, you can retain certain property and assets when you file for bankruptcy. Most states, though, allow you to protect a certain amount of home equity. Additionally, you're allowed to retain some other types and amounts of personal property and assets. For example, most states allow you to retain household furnishings, clothing, pensions, and money in retirement accounts. So don't empty your retirement accounts or sell off personal possessions to pay debts unless you're absolutely sure that you won't be filing bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy is a very tough time so be sure that you searched every avenue out there as far as debt consolidation, home equity line of credit (HELOC), etc before you make your decision to file bankruptcy! Credit Tip:  Call your creditors and negotiate some of your terms on your account. The terms you can ask for are lower interest rates, stop late fees, eliminate over-the-limit charges, accept a partial payment in lieu of total amount due.  A myth is that credit card companies aren't willing to work with you. But they normally are if you just make an effort. Pick up the phone and show good intent to pay your obligation!  This effort goes a long ways toward protecting your good credit record. Credit Tip:  One way to improve your credit is to pay off debts. Lenders advise that keeping a high debt to income ratio will adversely affect your credit rating. You should lower your debt ratio to below 45%. That is, reduce your balance on all revolving credit accounts to below 45% of the available credit limits. This is one of the most effective ways to raise your credit score.   Stop Foreclosure - Foreclosures are at an all time high  If you are behind on your mortgage payments, and you are at risk of your home being foreclosed, we give you two great options. You can avoid bankruptcy by becoming current on your mortgage.   For residents of the United Kingdom, we now have personal loans UK and UK credit card applications with credit limits up to £20,000.  Featuring...the UK Accucard, as well as Capital One UK MasterCard.  We have also just added UK lenders of adverse credit mortgages, remortgages, and buy-to-let mortgages (adverse credit mortgages are often referred to as sub prime, non-standard, or non-status mortgage and remortgaging).  Some of our merchants will consider circumstances such as CCJ's (county court judgments), mortgage arrears, and self employed with no proof of income, and zero or negative equity. We recommend using credit cards that provide fraud detection with quick resolution.  A Few of our Most Frequently Asked Lending Questions What are often some incentives for taking out a mortgage?  They may include, but are not limited to no points, low closing costs, free appraisals, cash back, and waived processing fees. You will need to ask your lender about incentivized offers. Further more, you will often pay less each month than you do by renting or leasing.  What are some benefits of refinancing? By refinancing your home, you can take out extra cash from the home's equity and consolidate debt. You can pay for college education, pay medical bills, or pay off high interest credit card debt and other bills. Remember, you are paying much higher interest rates on credit cards than you will be on your home equiy loan. Purchase a new car. Yes...you can use your home's equity to purchase an automobile. This is actually a smart move if you are able to get a lower interest rate on your home equity loan than you can on an automobile loan. Home improvements. With your cash out refinancing, you can remodel your home, make repairs, or landscape your yard. Home improvement loans are very smart ways of using your home's equity to help increase your home's value. You may want to refinance your adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) to a fixed rate mortgage or a new ARM with better terms "I have got horrible credit Can I still qualify for a conventional mortgage?" Even if you feel like your credit is ruined, and have major credit glitches such as bankruptcy, charge offs, collection, repossessions (repos), poor mortgage credit history, excessive slow or late payments (past due payment), public record postings, excessive credit inquiries, rejections, bankruptsy, and/or foreclosure, borrowers can still qualify a mortgage. Rather than obtaining the funds from secondary markets (standard mortgages), a lower-rated loan called "subprime loans" is granted. Subprime means a category of loans made to borrowers with damaged credit. Keep in mind, the larger the down payment, the weaker your credit can be. Visit the Learning Center for more articles, FAQ, and consumer credit tips/advice! Copyright © 2001 - 2004. CreditChampion.com. All Rights Reserved.      Note: Credit Applications available for residents in: Europe - United Kingdom (BBC- Great Britain and Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales) Alaska Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Washington DC Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CN, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MN, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NE, NY, OH, OK, OR, PE, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY) Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Baltimore Boston Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Colorado Springs Columbus Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fort Worth Fresno Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Long Beach Los Angeles Memphis Mesa Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville Davidson New Orleans New York Oakland Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Portland Sacramento St. Louis San Antonio San Diego San Francisco San Jose Seattle Tucson Tulsa Virginia Beach Washington Wichita.  United States Citizenship is not required to qualify for a mortgage loan.  Resident Aliens must prove residency, however.