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Debt Management Wiggle Room Debt Consolidation Loans and Debt Management
Debt consolidation loans are secured loans. A secured loan is one in which the borrower uses something that he owns as collateral for a loan. The borrower will then use the proceeds from a debt consolidation loan to pay off other loans.
Loans are called by many different names, but basically there are two types of loans. There are secured loans as was discussed above, and then there are unsecured loans. If a borrower defaults on a secured loan, the loaning institution can take possession of the collateral and sell it at auction in order to satisfy the debt.
An unsecured loan does not have any collateral attached to it. If the loan isn't paid, the only recourse that the lender has is to sue the borrower to try to recoup his loss.
Not always, but most often a debt consolidation loan is a second mortgage on a primary residence. The reason is that for most people, the equity that they have established in their home is their largest single asset. Equity is the difference between what is owed on the home and the balance of the mortgage. Fair market value is also considered. If the value of the property has increased since the original mortgage agreement was made, then that appreciation in value is also considered equity.
Being granted a debt consolidation loan is very much like the process that was required to get a first mortgage. Your equity in your home is the collateral that you are using to get a second mortgage. The payment that you will be required to make each month is also a payment on your home just like the first mortgage.
The interest rates for a second mortgage will be much less than the interest rates that you are paying on credit cards, but the length of the loan will likely be greater.
See Also:
Student Loan Debt Consolidation
| Debt Management Wiggle Room Debt Management and Family Crisis
A family crisis can be caused by many things. A job that was thought to be secure can be lost. Sickness and accidents can happen. An older parent can require care.
Lots of things can happen that are beyond your control, and certainly not your fault, but that can put you in a financial bind.
A decrease in income has the same effect as an increase in out-go. There is the inevitable shortfall. Maybe the shortfall is temporary and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel and you really can't say just how long this financial crisis is going to last.
What you can do to get yourself and your family through a really rough spot financially will depend greatly upon how you have handled your finances before. If you have always paid your bills on time and in full each and every month you will find that your creditors are going to be more than willing to work with you and actually help you survive your crisis.
The first thing to do is to contact each creditor yourself. This should preferably be done before the first payment is late. Explain the situation and you will likely find that your creditors will allow you to just make interest payments only and that it will not do any harm to your credit score. This is the first and best option.
If your family crisis is going to continue for more than a few months, then you may need to seek some relief through a consumer counseling agency or through a debt management company. You might even consider the possibility of a debt consolidation loan.
Whatever course of action that you choose, it is far better for you to initiate it and to do so as early as possible before any damage is done to your credit score. |
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| Debt Management Is a Good Thing Debt Management: Getting the Picture
We all have albums (or shoeboxes) filled with photographs. They collectively make up the story of our lives. Photographs are little moments frozen in time that we can look at and recall whole days, weeks, or months of the good times of our lives.
I say good times because we don't take pictures of the bad times. We all enjoy going through those photographs and revisiting happy times of the past.
If we could take snapshots of our financial lives in the same way that we take snapshots of friends, relatives, and the happy moments in our lives, maybe it would help us to remember financial good times as well. It would be nice to remember what we did that was right so that we could avoid making mistakes today and tomorrow, wouldn't it?
If you could look at a photograph of your checkbook that was taken BCC (Before Credit Cards), you would see a balance that you felt so good about. Maybe it wasn't a really big balance, but it was a balance, nevertheless, and it was there after you had paid every debt that you owed. You had money left over...remember that?
It would be nice to see a picture of your savings account, too.
You can make new memories of positive checking account balances and savings account balances once you get control of your out-of-control debts. The way to do that is to just bite the bullet, so to speak, and seek professional help.
Choose a consumer credit counselor and let him or her help you to get your financial life back on the right track so that you can again experience the good financial times that you once had. There isn't a shortcut, and the trip back may not be painless, but it can be accomplished. |
Related Topics: Good Debt Management Advice,
Debt Management Makes a Comeback, Debt Consolidation Loans and Debt Management
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