Tag Archives: credit cards

Good Rental History Can Help Borrowers

January 14, 2012 jd

First-time home buyers planning to purchase a house later this year may have a better chance of qualifying for a mortgage if they have had a history of paying their rent on time.

Last year, credit-reporting agency Experian added a section to millions of credit reports showing on-time rent payments and raised the credit scores of many people. The company said that this year it would add in negative marks, including mentions of bounced checks or of tenants’ leaving before a lease was up.
Incorporating rental payments into credit scores could affect millions of people who have not established credit histories through credit cards, student loan repayments, and other credit sources.
Almost half of consumers considered “high-risk” experienced an increase of 100 points or more after their positive rental history was added, according to Experian’s rent bureau. Those with average or higher scores did not experience major movement.
Although it is still too early to show the effects of the new credit report, which began in December, the changes are intended to allow lenders and consumers to have greater transparency, according to Corelogic.
People who have lost their homes to foreclosure and are now leasing may be able to rebuild their credit histories by being responsible renters.
However, consumer groups and advocates are skeptical, noting that reports are sometimes riddled with mistakes and some landlord-tenant disputes may be difficult to capture in a credit report. Rent may not have been paid, for example, because the furnace was left unrepaired for months.

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Related articles

Are you a good tenant? It has value when getting a mortgage!! Read on … (jlorealtor.wordpress.com)
Rental History: Important for Qualifying for a Mortgage? (theevergreenscene.com)
Mortgages: Mortgages – A Good Rental History Can Help Borrowers (nytimes.com)
Tips for Improving Your Credit Score (ally.com)
Is Credit Reporting Going Too Far? (miami.cbslocal.com)

For all your real estate needs:
Call or email
John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Real Estate Broker
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE #00669941

Real Estate

Careful When You Show Your Home to Potential Buyers, Don’t Become A Crime Victim!

May 2, 2011 jd

Safety should always be a top concern for both real estate agents and home sellers. While holding an open house and allowing potential home buyers to tour the property is an effective means of selling a home, home sellers should be aware of the risks.

While most criminals will seek small items and anything they can fit into their pockets, sometimes these “buyers” are actually scoping the home for a future burglary.
According to a safety expert who has worked with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and other groups, first and foremost, people should trust their instincts, so if someone or something is making one uncomfortable, be extra alert and extremely careful.
If a potential buyer or unknown agent arrives at the house unexpectedly, the homeowner should tell him to call their agent to schedule an appointment.
Before allowing anyone to enter the house, all lights should be turned on and all blinds, shades, and curtains opened. Homes are safer for showing when someone outside can see inside.
In advance of an open house, homeowners should remove all valuables, including jewelry, artwork, and electronic equipment.
Additionally, money, mail, bank statements, credit cards and keys should never be kept lying around, or even in a drawer with easy access.
Prescription drugs should be kept in locked cabinets, to prevent anyone from stealing them or using the information on the label.
Professional burglars often linger in rooms, looking for items they can dispose of quickly. They also search for ways to get in and out, scouting possible escape routes and checking for security devices. Couples up to no good often split up so one can check out the house and its belongings, while the other keeps the agent and/or seller occupied.

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For all your real estate needs, call or email:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE# 00996641

Business

Banks Will Continue to Gouge Consumers in 2010

January 8, 2010 jd

By John O’Dell

So the banks with their greed got us into the housing mess. Yes, you can say, well it was the mortgage brokers or the real estate agents that did it. But no, the banks made the rules for the mortgage brokers. No documentation, low down payment, the test to get a mortgage was to put a mirror to the nose of a person and if there was steam on the glass, the bank approved the mortgage! They have the final say, you know, as to will they loan the money or not.

So what else can we expect of our friendly banks? Well how about them collecting $22.9 billion in penalty fees in 2009. That’s billions, not millions, in penalty fees, that doesn’t include the 18-30 percent interest they charge the consumer for use of credit cards. Checking account fees, late fees, fees for check cashing, ATM fees and the list goes on as they continue their relentless ways to come up with more ways to gouge the consumer.

You can expect the banks to bombard you with new fees and products in 2010 as they try to replace more than $50 billion in revenue wiped out by new rules that clamp down on certain business practices. (read predatory)

So far, the changes are mostly concentrated in checking accounts and credit cards. In addition to attaching new fees to old products, banks are introducing new types of accounts that they hope will reel in new customers and reduce their funding costs.

For plastic, the new rules go into effect in February as part of the Credit Card Act of 2009. The rules will limit some interest-rate increases, require more disclosure to customers and prohibit banks from raising interest rates on current balances unless a customer is at least 60 days behind in a payment.

Credit-card companies already have been racing to slip new fees and practices into customer contracts ahead of the law. Issuers are closing accounts, switching cards with fixed interest rates to variable rates and introducing cards that have an annual fee.

So the one thing you can expect from the banks, is that they will nickel and dime us to the tune of billions of dollars in 2010. What do you think?

John O’Dell is a licensed real estate broker and specializes in residential and land sales.