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Debt Management-The Controls Debt Consolidation Loans: Yes or No?
A multitude of small monthly payments can add up to very big trouble. Before you know how it happened, you can suddenly have more payments going out than you have income coming in every month.
You aren't alone. It happens to a lot of people.
On the upside of debt consolidation loans, all debt is included. In debt management agreements, only unsecured debt is considered (credit cards). But in a debt consolidation loan, all debt is considered...secured debt as well as unsecured debt.
On the downside of debt consolidation loans, these loans are almost always second mortgages. In a nutshell...you really are betting the farm (the house) that you can meet the monthly payments every month until the consolidation loan is paid off.
With debt management agreements, even if it comes to the point where you must declare bankruptcy, this is still unsecured debt. Courts can set it aside. When you make a debt consolidation loan in the form of a second mortgage, this debt that was once unsecured now becomes secured. If it comes to the point where you must declare bankruptcy, your home can be foreclosed upon to satisfy debtors.
This point should not be taken lightly. Your home and the equity that you are establishing in it is your largest single asset. The mortgage on your home is usually also your largest monthly payment.
The low monthly payment that is promised with a debt consolidation loan is not always because the interest rate is lower. Sometimes it is because the debt payments have been extended for many additional years instead. Second mortgages can be as long as 30 years, and remember that you have bet the house that you could make every single one of those payments in full and on time.
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Credit / Debt Management - Credit Repair Improve Credit Score and Pay Off Debt
| Debt Management and Credit Scores Debt Management and Home Equity Loans
Most consolidation loans are second mortgages, and second mortgages are home equity loans. When you buy a home, you usually make a fairly substantial down payment, so you start out with some equity in the home.
As the years go by and you make your monthly mortgage payments, you increase the equity that you have in the home; and when property values increase, your equity in the home increases. The equity that you have in your home represents the portion of the value of the home that actually belongs to you.
Many times when people find themselves in a financial bind, debt collectors calling and coming by, and the mailbox full of second, third, and final notices, they will look at the equity that they have accumulated in their homes and see it as a possible way out of a financial crisis. It is a possibility, of course, but it is one that needs to be well thought out before it is applied.
There are two kinds of debt. There is secured debt, which includes anything for which there is collateral. Your car is the collateral for the loan that you made to buy your car. Your house is the collateral that you used to buy your house. Your guitar and amplifier are the collateral that you used to get the loan to buy them. If you dont pay your secured loans, the lending institution can repossess the collateral that you used.
Unsecured debt is the other kind of debt. This is credit card debt. We are talking about all kinds of credit card debt. The store credit card that you used to buy your television set is unsecured debt. The television is not collateral for that loan. If you don't pay that loan, they will not repossess your television set. They can sue you for payment -- they probably won't, but they could.
When you make a second mortgage or consolidation loan, you are making all of your unsecured debt secured debt. You are using your house as the collateral. If you don't pay your second mortgage, your mortgage can be foreclosed upon and your house can be taken. |
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| Free Programs for Debt Management Debt Management: The Controls
Managing debt is very much like driving a car. When you drive a car, you must know where you are going, keep your hands on the steering wheel, your eyes on the road ahead, look behind you, and watch your speed. That is the way that you control a car, and controlling debt is done in the very same way.
Know where you are going: You and your spouse or significant other need to sit down and define your financial goals so that everybody knows what the destination is. With specific goals in mind, the route to achieving them will be easier to define.
Keep your hands on the steering wheel: The steering wheel of debt management is the family budget. A clear allotment of funds will keep your financial life on the road and going in the right direction.
Keep your eyes on the road ahead: To avoid accidents, you need to be prepared to stop or take evasive action when driving a car. The same is true of debt management. You need to save first and spend second.
Look behind you: We always learn more from the mistakes we have made in the past, and we can learn from the things that we did right as well. Remember where you have been so that you can better see where you are going. Gauging progress inspires us all to do better.
Watch your speed: You don't want to try to go too fast when achieving your financial goals. You need to live well today, as well. But you don't want to poke along in the slow lane, either. Set a speed and stay in control of that speed. Save on a regular basis so that your goals may be achieved...but enjoy the trip, too. |
Related Topics: Debt Consolidation Loans-Yes or No,
Free Programs for Debt Management, Planning for Debt Management
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