SIGNS OF CREDIT TROUBLE

Howard Dvorkin, president of the nonprofit Consolidated Credit Counseling Services Inc., said juggling payments is one of the "leading indicators" that a consumer is in trouble. Other telltale signs are:

• Making minimum payments month after month.

• Taking cash advances on one credit card to make the minimum payments on others.

• Delay sending or being late with important payments, such as the monthly mortgage.

• Putting off necessary activities, such as doctors' appointments.

Getting a Mortgage with Bad Credit

Having bad credit is not the end of the world and it's not impossible to get a loan. Generally, credit scores below 600 are considered sub-prime and the lower your credit score, the harder it will be for you to secure a mortgage.

A mortgage is a secured loan, meaning you put up your house as collateral. Therefore, if you fail to pay off your loan, the lender has the right to foreclose on your property. So as we said before, it may be more difficult but not impossible to get a mortgage if you have bad credit.

Statistically speaking, those with a lower credit score are more likely to default on their loans. To offset the risk, lenders will charge you a higher interest rate and limit the amount of credit you can borrow (because the higher your interest rate, the higher your payments, which means you have less ability to pay back a higher loan amount). Lenders may also charge higher late payment fees.

'YOU'RE PRE-APPROVED' To Get Deeper in Debt

It is somewhat humorous to hear all of the news about the Fed raising interest rates in order to curb inflation. After all almost the entire rise in prices are due predominately to one item, oil. My question is, “how are consumers paying for higher priced items?” Where does the money come from to pay for the high cost gas and oil related products while at the same time paying the mortgage, buying food, clothes, medicines, and all of the other basic living expenses?
This past week I, and probably millions of others, received some interesting items in the mail. Credit card checks for 3, 4 and 7,000 dollars. All I had to do was sign them and take them to the bank to get cash “to pay off loans, consolidate debt, take a vacation, or for any purpose I chose.” The interest rates on these checks were between 19.9% and 21.9%