Finance: Debt Consolidation -- Choose Your Credit Counselor Carefully

Debt Consolidation -- Choose Your Credit Counselor Carefully

Written by Charles Essmeier

Continued from page 1
*Watch out for firms that want excessive fees up front. Be particularly wary of nonprofit agencies that ask for fees or “voluntary contributions” or nonprofit agencies that tell you that they cannot help you if you do not pay a fee upfront.
*Beware of firms that ask for a sizeable fee to obtain a copy of your credit report. Such agencies should be able to obtain your report at no charge, and you are entitled to one report per year for free. *Sometimes, bankruptcy is unavoidable. Watch out if repparttar

agency doesn’t mention bankruptcy at all, or if they change repparttar 135465

subject if you bring up repparttar 135466

topic. Debt consoldators cannot make any money on bankruptcy cases, but sometimes, that’s your only option.
*Shop around. Talk to several different agencies and compare what they tell you. Any agency that differs dramatically from what repparttar 135467

other agencies are telling you should probably be avoided.
*Check with your local Better Business Bureau, and ask if they’ve had any complaints about repparttar 135468

agency.
*Watch out for firms that offer quick solutions to your problems. You didn’t get into financial trouble overnight, and you won’t get out of financial trouble overnight. Any competent debt or credit counselor will know this and will undoubtedly tell you that working your way out of debt takes time.
*See if repparttar 135469

agency belongs to repparttar 135470

National Foundation for Credit Counseling or Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Many do.

By taking a few simple precautions before agreeing to work with a credit counselor, you may save yourself a lot of grief and a lot of money later.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com/ and http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net/

Bridging Finance Basics

Written by Darren Yates

Continued from page 1

The lender does not need to worry too much about default because repparttar borrower is required to put up collateral to secure repparttar 135414 loan. This can be in repparttar 135415 form of another piece of property, business machinery or inventory on hand. But rest assured repparttar 135416 lender will still thoroughly review repparttar 135417 credit history of repparttar 135418 applicant, repparttar 135419 business and any partners or others with an ownership interest to assess repparttar 135420 level of risk it is undertaking.

The interest rate assigned to repparttar 135421 bridge loan is based on several factors: repparttar 135422 anticipated risk associated with repparttar 135423 bridge loan, repparttar 135424 prevailing interest rates and a premium added by repparttar 135425 lender. Since bridge loans are short-term, generally not longer than two years, repparttar 135426 lender has only a short time to make money on repparttar 135427 deal. The profit is derived from repparttar 135428 interest rate.

Expect to pay a higher rate of interest for a bridge loan. And remember, repparttar 135429 monthly payments on a bridge loan generally will be for interest only. Expect to pay off repparttar 135430 bridge loan in full, usually as a one time balloon payment, as soon as repparttar 135431 property is sold.

In repparttar 135432 event that repparttar 135433 property is not sold before repparttar 135434 bridge loan matures, it can usually be converted to a conventional loan without paying a penalty. But it’s always a good idea to double check this before assuming.

Specialists in Commercial Bridging Finance Commercial Lifeline. Independent UK based Commercial Bridging Finance brokers.

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