Credit Scores

New Jersey Borrowers Will Pay Much More With Lower Credit Scores

Lower credit scores create a heavy financial burden on New Jersey borrowers.  There’s nothing new about that.  But, after the downturn in our economy, the impact is much more consequential.   Take a peak at the tables below to see the differences in monthly payments with various credit scores. (Note that the interest rates shown are only to [...]

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Caution: That Loan Modification Can Hurt Your Credit Score

Mildred, a homeowner who had recently applied for a New Jersey loan modification, was stunned to find that her near-perfect credit score of 735 fell by 110 points after getting a trial mortgage modification approved by her lender. The score drop occurred despite never having any late payments and all trial payments had been made on time. Nothing unique here.  I [...]

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Another New Lender Change – Beware of Credit Inquiries Between Application and Closing

Effective immediately, before your loan closes, your credit report will be pulled again.  Not to check your score necessarily, but to see if you applied for and obtained credit elsewhere while your loan was in the application and underwriting process.  It could be for a credit card, an auto loan, insurance . . . anything.  [...]

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Higher Credit Scores Will Get You a Lower Rate: Raise Scores With a Secured Visa Credit Card

Having a high credit score means more today than I can ever remember.  Your chances of getting credit with a score under 620 is virtually impossible. Just 3 years ago, almost anyone could buy a home and get a mortgage with a 560 score. And, you could have done it with zero down. But unless you [...]

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Did You Know? It is 100% Perfectly Legal to “Repair” Your Credit – And You Should

Repairing your credit with the credit bureau is definitely your right and it is completely legal.   In reality, “credit repair” may be a poor description.   Who knows where the term originated.   What consumers are really doing is making certain the credit bureau reports accurate information about their debt management.  Credit bureaus cannot report information that [...]

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12 “Must Know” Tips For New Home Buyers in New Jersey

For most people, buying a home is the biggest financial investment they will make in a lifetime.  Many homebuyers get involved in the process without knowing all the facts and without knowing how all the various pieces fit together.   Frankly, qualifying for the mortgage may be the simplest piece of the puzzle, yet it’s where home buyers place [...]

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Keeping Your Credit Score High While Shopping for a Mortgage in New Jersey

There is a HUGE misunderstanding among MOST mortgage shoppers that whenever a mortgage lender in New Jersey pulls their credit, the score will drop.  Therefore, the borrower decides they have no choice but to shop for a mortgage without the lender seeing their credit at all, or by telling the lender what they believe their [...]

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Why New Jersey Borrowers Might NOT Get That Low Advertised Mortgage Rate

Okay.  So you’re thinking to yourself, “I called that lender because they advertised rates that were so low, but I didn’t get the rate.”  Why not? The answer is relatively simple though some lenders don’t take the time to thoroughly explain it.  Mortgage rates are low, but only if the borrower “qualifies” for that low [...]

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Mortgage Loan Modifications Can Be Lethal to Credit Scores

Literally thousands of homeowners are anxiously awaiting or applying for a mortgage modification.  What many fail to realize is that these modifications can devastate one’s credit score while the modification moves through the trial period. The trial period is the time during which the homeowner will make the modified payment that was pre-established by the lender.  [...]

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Your Credit Report May Be Under Surveillance as November 30 Approaches

Are you trying to close your mortgage loan before November 30, 2009 to qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit? Did your mortgage consultant warn you about your credit and your credit score?  You can bet your loan that lenders will pull your credit report again before you close that loan.  If anything [...]

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Avoid Identity Theft by Keeping Watch on Your Credit and Personal Info

Identity theft seems to grow geometrically by the day.  Much of the problem with identity theft is caused by all the various requests for our personal information that are supposedly going to protect us from fraud.   So let’s get this straight.   Company A wants to look at and copy all my information to be certain [...]

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Falling Home Prices Spell Disaster For Sellers and Those Wanting to Refinance

There’s no shortage of sellers trying to hold out for a higher sale price for their home. Likewise, there is no shortage of those wanting to refinance opting to hold out for the fathom “lowest of lowest” interest rates. Take this example:  A home for sale at 6 Douglas Lane, Lumberton, NJ lost approximately $11,000 [...]

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