Meli Gerogianis, e-PRO

Is debt beginning to weigh you down? Keeping secrets about your spending habits and being afraid to admit even to yourself what you spend is one warning sign of too much debt. Here are a few more:

• Minimum payment = Big problem. Making only the minimum payment on revolving credit accounts can increase the amount of interest you eventually pay. Paying off balances in a timelier manner can save on the amount of interest paid long term.
• Maxed out. Those who are near the limit with credit cards or making payments then charging back up to the same balance from the previous month could be headed for trouble. Pay cash for items when possible, and work toward paying down your balances.
• Help, I don't have an emergency fund! If a flood could wash you away both physically and financially, you may be in over your head. Excessive debt is often a deterrent to saving for a rainy day or retirement.

I hope some of this helps you and your clients. We are living in hard economic times with lost jobs, housing issues, financial losses and government changes... We need to become financially responsible and see ourselves thru these difficult times. So, plan ahead, spend carefully and responsibly, and save for the "rainy day" like Grandma' used to say!

You've noticed a pattern - every time your heater cycles on to warm up your home, a musty odor invades. What can you do to improve the quality of the air you breathe? The US Environmental Protection Agency offers this advice for removing indoor pollutants that affect air quality:

Air Filters - A wide variety of air filters are available, ranging from table-top models to whole-house systems. The efficiency of these systems, which clean pollutants from the air, is largely dependent on the size of the system and the type of pollutant.

Source Control - Sometimes ti's possible to remove or reduce the source of pollution. If your gas oven, for example, seems to be giving off an unpleasant odor while in use, consult the owner's manual for information about adjusting the unit so emissions are decreased.

Ventilation Improvements - One way to lower levels of indoor air pollution is to increase the flow of outdoor air into your home. During the fall season, try operating a window fan in an open window to bring fresh air inside.

Grow Green Air Cleaners - Some studies have found that houseplants reduce levels of pollutants in homes. NASA discovered that plants could remove volatile chemicals from the air inside sealed test chambers. Ferns, peace lilies, gerber daisies, orchids and spider plants are among the plants shown to improve air quality.

Remember when the most frequently asked holiday question was if you had finished your shopping? In today's busy world, someone is just as likely to ask if you are an online shopper. Not surprisingly, many people do shop online. Here are some tips to make your internet shopping secure.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, your best bet for secure online shopping is to use a credit card to pay. By doing so, if the purchase is not received or is defective, you can usually seek a credit from the card issuer. Another benefit? If your credit card information is stolen, there is typically a set maximum liability for you.

Here are a few other tips:

• Use a secure internet connection. - To verify that the website you are using is secure, look for an unbroken key or closed lock in the bottom of the browser window. When making a purchase, look for "https" in the URL address the "s" stands for "secure"
• Keep paper trail - Print and keep records of all online transactions, including any e-mails sent or received about the purchase
• Do not e-mail financial information - Only give out credit card or checking account information through a secure website.
• Secure your own computer - Install antivirus and anti-spyware software and a firewall to protect the information stored on your computer.

This morning I was one of many realtors in the area that received this e-mail. Please, read as you might be one to have received it too, or will be getting it in the future!

Subject: Credit Repair-Let's Partner

I am interested in networking with you in regards to declined applicants not being approved for financing due to credit challenges. We are a full credit repair/restoration company and we are having great success in deleting late payments, charge-offs, foreclosures, collections, bankruptcies, etc.

We turn our clients around in 30-90 days with a 100% money back guarantee on our services. We also help individuals establish new credit with unsecured trade lines. Based on our reputation with the lenders, our clients are guaranteed for approval of $7,500 which is helping to increase scores significantly in itself. Ask for the link to our interactive & references also see the attached deletions of BKS, TAX LIENS and before and after to see how effective we are. Give us a call today xxx-xxx-xxxx

We've remove thousands of negative items from our client's credit reports. Over 80% of Americans have at least one or two negative items on their credit report, and unfortunately, just a fraction of those people are even aware that credit repair is a legal option. By utilizing the rights provided by state and federal law, we've removed thousands of negative items from consumer's credit reports. Items we've commonly deleted:

• LATE PAYMENTS
• SHORT SALES
• CHARGE-OFFS
• FORECLOSURES
• TAX LIENS
• COLLECTIONS
• JUDGMENTS
• REPOSSESSIONS
• STUDENT LOANS
• BANKRUPTCY
• INQUIRIES
• ADDING NEW TRADE LINES

You name it, We delete it. Give us a call if you or your clients are dealing with these issues xxx-xxx-xxxx

FACT: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it is your legal right as a consumer to have your credit report improved.

FACT: Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), it is your legal right to put an end to all of the harassing phone calls from creditors and collection agencies.

Creditors and credit reporting agencies have spent millions convincing Americans that credit repair is not possible. Don't be a victim any longer. Millions of Americans are under the impression that the credit reporting agencies are part of the government, when in fact the credit reporting agencies are not government related. Credit reporting agencies are privately owned companies that make their money by collecting information about you and selling it to others.

Fortunately, Congress has passed a collection of laws called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) which regulates the actions of the credit reporting agencies. Before anything may be added onto your credit report, the credit reporting agencies must ensure that:

1) the information meets all legal reporting requirements,
2) the information was properly verified as accurate and complete, and
3) the information does not violate any FCRA or FACT Act laws,

There are more than 320 federal credit reporting laws, and it is highly common that unsubstantiated information is aded to credit reports without proper verification. A recent study from the United States Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) has documented that a staggering 79% of all credit reports do not meet full legal compliance.
Note: This means that most negatives can be removed from the credit report because of improper filing.

Chances are your clients and your personal credit report is a part of the 79%. Let us restore your buying power buy making the America dream of home ownership come true. Give us a call today and allow us to restore your economic power.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is your industry regulated by the state or federal government? Our Industry is regulated by the FTC and we use the statutes of the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) to improve our customers credit.

What is the success rate? How is success determined and measured? Success is measured in a variety of ways: number of deletions, percentage of deletions, score improvement, public record deletions such as bankruptcies, tax liens, etc. Success is determined by improvement in score and deletions as reported by the credit bureaus to the consumer. Also, keep in mind that we not only delete derogatory information but we also guide our customers through the process of obtaining significant lines of unsecured credit, up to $7,500.00. Ask me more about the new credit lines for clients who have a high debt-to-income ratio or no credit at all.

What is the average time frame to make a significant impact? Customers typically start seeing an improvement in their scores within 30 days if they follow our advice and pay all current financial obligations on time and open their unsecured lines of credit. The average customer is going back to their mortgage company in about two to three months for loan approval.

Can you please explain soft and hard deletes as it relates to the cycle? What can one expect? Most consumers are under the false impression that credit bureaus can arbitrarily re-insert deleted items. This is false. Credit bureaus and creditors must notify the consumer within 5 business days of reinsertion if they do not do so the consumer may levy a $1000 fine on each bureau and each creditor. We've never seen a 5 day notice .

We look forward to your call xxx-xxx-xxxx

I replied back to the e-mail and threatened to report them. They had the nerve to call me and tell me that I was ignorant and missinformed and I didn't understand the loopholes of the law. For any of you that are curious to know the real truth of what the law says, visit the Federal Trade Commission's website, consumer's help page at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre13.shtm

Here is just a small paragraph from the Federal Trading Commissions website: "No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no charge for this. Everything a credit repair clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or no cost."

Also, if any of your clients with credit problems has been contacted by any of these companies, let them know that the FTC specifically states: "SCAMS. Everyday, companies nationwide appeal to consumers with poor credit histories. They promise, for a fee, to clean up your credit report so you can get a car loan, a home mortgage, insurance, or even a job. The truth is, they can't deliver. After you pay them hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees, these companies do nothing to improve your credit report; most simply vanish with your money."

These companies are mushrooming ever more taking advantage of the tough economic situation we're in and the increased number of families facing challenges and declining credit scores! Please, help educate your clients and don't let them fall for these scams! What a shame!

Anybody has any doubts about what the banks and their politicians knew or didn't know? Read this article. Please, notice the date it was published! They knew this was coming as far back as 1999!!! Yet, they did NOTHING to stop it!!!

Monday, October 13, 2008
Business

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.

Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.

Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.

In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.

Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.

In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.

The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.


Anybody has any doubts about what happened, when, where, why? I think deep inside we knew it all along! What a shame!

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