Some lenders will require that you discontinue and close out your account with a credit counseling company, also known as a debt consolidation or debt relief company, in order to obtain a mortgage loan with them. Credit counseling is viewed as almost as the equivalent of bankruptcy by many lenders and just like most lenders will require bankruptcies to be discharged before providing borrowers with a mortgage loan, lenders will usually require the same for clients in credit counseling services.

Many states now require people to attend consumer credit counseling prior to filing for bankruptcy. This means that many lenders will view a consumer credit counseling account the same as they would a bankruptcy.

Don you just hope the problem of errors on your credit history will disappear, then be prepared to wait a long time. Credit information can remain on your report for as long as seven years and up to ten years in cases of bankruptcy.

Credit counseling consolidates your debts into one debt so that you can make one monthly payment, which generally is lower than how much money you are currently paying on your debts. Consumer credit counseling companies supposedly negotiate lower interest rates, lower payoffs, and lower monthly payments from your creditors in return for a small fee themselves that they usually work into your total monthly payment. Consumer credit counseling agencies are supposed to be looking out for your best interest and non-profit companies; however they do not always help consumers as much as they state they are helping. Many lenders will not lend to someone in consumer credit counseling and other lenders may require that you first quit the consumer credit counseling plan in order to obtain financing. Credit counseling is viewed by many lenders the equivalent of bankruptcy and treat consumers in the counseling service with the same underwriting guidelines as those who have had a bankruptcy.

Why would anyone want to obtain a secure credit card? Many people who are trying to rebuild their credit, either after a bankruptcy or an extended period of derogatory credit, should consider obtaining a secured credit card to two in order to help them improve their credit rating. By obtaining a secured credit card you can reestablish your credit history and work on improving your credit enough so that you can once again begin qualifying for the best rates and premiums for all of your financing needs.

Some mortgage lenders will look at a consumer credit counseling program the same as a bankruptcy. This will reduce the available ltv on a home loan and affect interest rates as well.

This special report will show you how you can own a home with very little money down and get low interest rates even if you have had a bankruptcy or less than perfect credit this may sound too good to be true but I encourage you to read all of this report before you make up your mind. Home ownership is one of the key ingredients to building wealth in this country. Take any 100 people at retirement age and here is what you will find.1 in 4 will be wealthy and financially secure 5 will still be working to make ends meet 36 will be dead54 will be dependent upon family or charity for their support by owning your own home you can start to build equity and create wealth. You will also no longer need to put up with noisy neighbors and landlords who don’t fix things and keep raising your rent. But what if I have had a bankruptcy or other credit problems let me make something very clear here, you do not have to put down a lot of money or pay high rates even if you have had a bankruptcy or other credit issues. Bankruptcies are at an all time high. These occur for many different reasons: 1. Divorce 2. Business failure 3. Job layoff 4. Loss of income for work injury 5. Illness 6. Death in the family I recently had a client come in who had filed a bankruptcy and was discharged one year ago. During our meeting she explained to me that she and her husband separated and he was obligated to pay her child support. During their marriage they had made bills which they were able to pay with both incomes. Now, they were separated and she was left with the bills to pay on her income alone. To make matters worse for her, he didn’t pay the child support he was ordered to pay. She was left with no choice but to file bankruptcy there are several major myths that buyers, realtors and even some lenders have about working with buyers who had a bankruptcy or less than perfect credit myth: you have to wait 7-10 years after a bankruptcy before you can get a home reality: since there are two different types of bankruptcy filings, lets look at each one separately chapter 7: you may be eligible for a mortgage two years from the date of discharge. However, if your bankruptcy was due to a situation beyond your control and you have re-established good credit, you may be eligible after only one year from the date of discharge chapter 13: you may be eligible after making 12 on-time payments. Also, you must get a letter from the trustee of the court that purchasing a home will not interfere with your chapter 13 repayment plan myth: I don’t have a lot of money to put down. Reality: if you are able to meet the standards I just mentioned, your down payment will be two %. If you are a veteran you may be able to obtain a mortgage with 0 down. Myth: I will have to pay rates so high that I wont be able to afford it. Reality: we currently offer single digit low interest rates. Currently rates are at the lowest level in almost 30 years. It is a perfect time to buy a home with an affordable payment. So what do I do next you may have heard the term pre-approved or pre-qualified. In the real-estate industry we do things a little backwards. Here is a very common scenario. You the buyer decide you want to move. You call a realtor and start looking for a home. Finally, you find the home of your dreams and your offer is accepted by the seller. Of course you will want to do a home inspection to make sure there is nothing wrong with your new home. The cost of a home inspection is generally $200-$300 and is paid at the time the inspection is done. Next, you will need to go to a lender and get a mortgage. At the mortgage application you will need to pay approximately $469 for an appraisal and credit report. After three or 4 weeks you will learn if your loan has been approved if your loan was rejected you have now lost almost $1000.00 because the fees you paid are not refundable if your loan is rejected. But there is a solution: you can get pre-approved before you even go looking for a home. By being pre-approved you will know that your loan is already waiting for you and all you have to do is find your perfect home. You will also know how much you need to buy the home and what your monthly payment will be. What will I need to do to get pre-approved if you have had a bankruptcy or other credit issue, we will need to know why it happened and why you believe it won t happen again in the future. We will also need to show proof that it was beyond your control and you had no other choice here are some ideas: for spousal abuse, provide police reports for medical bills, get an ex-parte order if you had a work injury, provide proof of workers compensation, a doctor or employer note, or a letter from workers compensation attorney stating the date your first benefit was received and amount for job loss, provide proof of dismissal, a lay-off notice, or unemployment office records for a business failure, provide tax returns for a most recent year if self-employed, and proof that you are no longer self-employed, such as current pay stubs and job verification for a divorce (divorce itself is not an acceptable separation agreement reason for bankruptcy; however, if debts were divorce decree incurred with two incomes and now only one, bring w-2 s or 1040 for most recent year filing jointly pays, it can be a compensating factor) for not receiving child support, bring a court order for child support and a printout from child support enforcement office showing history and arrearage your next step is to call and schedule a free one hour consultation and get the process started during this meeting we will discuss the mortgage programs that will best meet your needs. We will also try to make this program fit your needs and comfort level for a monthly payment and the amount you want to use to purchase your new home. Also during this meeting we will run a full credit report. This is an extremely important part of the process. You may have heard horror stories about people who bought a home, applied for a mortgage and were told by their lender everything looked good. Three weeks later, their loan was denied because some bad credit showed up, that was not on the credit report during the first meeting why we wont let this happen to you there are three major credit reporting agencies in the united states: Equifax, trw and cbi. When a lender runs a free preliminary credit report for you they will run one of the three agencies listed above. The problem is that not every creditor will report to the same credit agency. For example, your visa card may report to cbi; your store charge card may report to Equifax; and your credit union may report to trw.during our meeting, we will want to run a full three agency credit report. This will allow you to know exactly what will be on your credit record. This is the same report that could be used when you purchase your home, so you may not need to pay for it again. If you have had a bankruptcy or other credit issue it is very common to have bills show up on your credit report as past due or behind, even if they were included in your bankruptcy or paid off in full. By having a full credit report, these errors can be corrected so you can get approved faster call now to schedule one hour free consultation

There are many notations on credit reports that serve as red flags for lenders and lower scores. Here are a few: late mortgage – over 30 days past due on mortgage or documented rent within the past 12 months, or an account that is currently past due30-60 day late – many minor late payments are not documented or reported to creditors. However, if a mortgage payment is a month or two late the creditors view it as a potentially serious problem on the horizon worthy or documenting officially over 60 day late (90 day late) – this is often interpreted as an unwillingness on the borrowers part to pay or reconcile or negotiate a debt and serious action begins to take place. Collection action – if a payment of any sort that is issued with an invoice is not paid within a reasonable amount of time, the establishment responsible for collecting that payment can forward the invoice to a collection agency, and credit scores are reported delinquent on a monthly basis until the account is paid in full or a pay off is negotiated. Charge off – if an account is in collection for an extended period of time and the collection agency gives up on collecting it, the account will be charged off, however, it will continue to have a negative impact on credit issuing for up to 7 years judgement – a collection that has been forwarded to a small claim, circuit, or district court. In the case of a judgement assets and wages can be seized to make payment tax lien – similar to a judgement, however tax liens are handled by the federal government and seizure of wages and assets are far easier for them to obtain, thus branding this tag as quite serious and harmful to credit consumer credit counseling- a borrower enters a repayment agreement with a credit counseling agency and the account will them show up on a report as a cccs account until it reaches 0 balance. There are also notes that can be applied to credit report in the different bankruptcy cases.

Your payment history is the easiest factor to explain: pay your bills on time and in full. Late payments, judgments, collection accounts, and bankruptcy filings will all have a negative impact on your score.

If your credit card balances are high, and you are considering bankruptcy, you should negotiate your credit balance with the card company. Usually they will waive some interest and fees to have a lump sum payment. You can also hire a debt consolidation company to do this for you.