swoosh

Thanks to you both!!

Hi All ... Sorry, I posted this yesterday in the Foreclosures section, so obviously didn't get any responses (and maybe it should even be in the Credit section, but I'll start here). I've just come into a lump sum of money enough to pay off all of my credit cards and some of my DH's. Since we want to try for a refi on our house in May or June (we want to wait to have a bit more equity paid) ... I thought it might be a good time to pull our FICO scores (on FICO.com, so they're NOT FAKO's), and also I know it's a good idea to periodically check them out to protect yourself against identity theft. I also wanted to see what the scores were now as opposed to a couple of months from now when I no longer have any balances on my cards (YAY). I haven't been on CB for quite awhile now (thanks to everyone who helped when I was), but here are my questions. I noticed that on MY Equifax report, our first mortgage is reported twice (and it's around $232K), so it's not a small amount. The only difference was the status date on one was November 2013 and the other was December 2013, so the two amounts were not quite equal. I would imagine getting one of these off is going to boost my score (I hope), not to mention it shouldn't be on there twice to begin with. Any advice? Do I send a letter to Equifax, or contact my mortgage company? Then when I pulled DH's reports, his Equifax was fine (so it only showed up once on his); however, on his TU report, our second mortgage was reporting twice (like our first mortgage on my EQ). Again, should I send a letter to Transunion or contact our credit union who holds the second mortgage? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Swoosh

Hi All, I've just come into a lump sum of money enough to pay off all of my credit cards and some of my DH's. Since we want to try for a refi on our house in May or June (we want to wait to have a bit more equity paid) ... I thought it might be a good time to pull our FICO scores (on FICO.com, so they're NOT FAKO's), and also I know it's a good idea to periodically check them out to protect yourself against identity theft. I also wanted to see what the scores were now as opposed to a couple of months from now when I no longer have any balances on my cards (YAY). I haven't been on CB for quite awhile now (thanks to everyone who helped when I was), but here are my questions. I noticed that on MY Equifax report, our first mortgage is reported twice (and it's around $232K), so it's not a small amount. The only difference was the status date on one was November 2013 and the other was December 2013, so the two amounts were not quite equal. I would imagine getting one of these off is going to boost my score (I hope), not to mention it shouldn't be on there twice to begin with. Any advice? Do I send a letter to Equifax, or contact my mortgage company? Then when I pulled DH's reports, his Equifax was fine (so it only showed up once on his); however, on his TU report, our second mortgage was reporting twice (like our first mortgage on my EQ). Again, should I send a letter to Transunion or contact our credit union who holds the second mortgage? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Swoosh

Need some advice here and I'll admit our head wasn't in the game on this one because our cat (only 6 years old) was in emergency intensive care the day AFTER we negotiated to trade in my current car for a new Suburu. I felt like we made a decent deal, but we didn't go back to pick up the car until Monday (deal made too late in the day Saturday to do financing). Mid-day Monday I get a call from Finance Mgr. to call him back as we may have some "issues." I called him back, and he asked if we had any "extra" income that wasn't already stated on the credit appl. I told him that yes, my husband had an additional $4,600 for a board that he sits on, but that I had already included that on the credit application we filled out on Saturday. I said, are we having a problem? And he said that potentially we were. Then he called me back about 15-20 minutes to say "Great news, you're all approved and you can come in to pick up your car tonight." I called him back to find out what the rate was (5.9%) and he also said it's great because we could stick with Chase Bank (who our other car was financed through--the car we were trading in at 0% interest). Meanwhile, our cat went into intensive care (long story) on that Sunday, so I'm sure both of us had so much on our plate with that and the added expense, that when we finally got to the Finance Manager's office, we ended up getting the GAP coverage (found out from our insurance guy we don't need it), the Maintenance Package ($911) which they said if we didn't take it, and my husband did maintenance on the car, it would void the manufacturer's warranty (found out today that is not true). And we took the Extended Service Warranty ($1,360). Seriously, we've never done this before, but with all the chaos, we just wanted to get out of the office and have it be done. We had to go visit our cat at the ER. So fast forward to my DH sending me roses for VD on Wednesday, and Friday night I wanted to bring them home from work (so they wouldn't die at my office over the weekend), and I double boxed them (still in the vase) and put them in the back of my car (leather seats that we "supposedly" had Trident coating put on--exterior AND interior to the tune of $633 also.) By the time I got home just a bit of water had seeped out of the bottom of the box onto my back leather seat. Seriously it should have just bubbled up on top of the seat had we truly had Trident on the seats, but a big water mark was left on the seat along with some rippling, telling us that they never truly put the Trident on the interior of the car at all. Talked to someone today (a friend) that's a finance manager, who informed me that we got ripped off by all the extras, and could ask to get them removed, but really we'd still be paying the same payment as the lien is already on the car. He also advised me to ask what the buy rate and yield spread premium were on our deal (in writing--which is something, in hindsight, we should have done BEFORE we financed). We were told, today, the buy rate was 4.9% and they only marked the car up 1%. After all the other BS we've been told so far, not sure what to believe on that (and they won't put it in writing). We're planning to take the car back to the dealership tonight to have them look at the water spot and also talk to the GM (who DH talked to on the phone this afternoon), but he also told DH that when they pulled our scores, that my TU Classic Auto #4 score was only 590. I just purchased My Fico TU score today and it's 645 (it's generally higher than that, but I have had a few inquiries lately and also a new credit card with Citibank. My first question is this ... what is the difference between the 645 that I pulled/bought in My Fico and the score that they're referring to? It's always been our experience in the past that the dealer's scores were ALWAYS higher than what we could purchase on-line. I always thought that was because they really wanted to sell you a car, so if their scores were higher, it would make their financing process easier. They have basically agreed to take all the "extras" out (GAP, the Maintenance package, the Service Warranty, etc.), but I think the only way we're actually going to SEE that money is by refinancing the car. I did have a dealer do this for us a few years ago (because they deliberately left my name off the title and financing and just had my husband's on as he had better credit at the time). So I know it can be done. At that time they had to go to a different bank and the rate changed also. But I want to get someone's take on what they're SAYING my 590 is compared to the 645 that I pulled today. BTW, we also did NOT receive disclosure of our scores or any other financing information other than the 1 form we signed with the 5.9% rate on it and it said what our payments would be. Any good advice before we go back to the dealer tonight would be great!! THANKS EVERYONE!! This has been painful!

Yes, I forgot that with a Chapter 13 it wouldn't wipe out a deficiency (if there is one, which there probably would be). They are both going to see a RE attorney as we speak. I'll know more this afternoon (they are 2 hours behind us in time). Thanks for the information so far, it's all very helpful!

Doodle, thanks again! I just shared your response with my daughter. I'll let her mull it over before she sees the attorney tomorrow AM. They get a 1 hour consultation (it's not free), and I told her that if they don't like the attorney or he can't help them (I've come across that in my own personal experience recently when we had a dispute with a contractor we hired), then find another attorney. Spending a few hundred dollars on one or two consultations to see where they're at is well worth it. Hoping that the attorney will also be able to respond to their court document (I told her that she may have to retain him/her for that, not sure), and also that the attorney might be able to find out if Wells Fargo has already posted their house for sale in the local papers (as the link stated they can do in a non-judicial state). One more question (and I know DD is avoiding BK at all costs) ... if the foreclosure is "imminent," can they still file bankruptcy (probably would do a Ch. 13 as they do have the means to pay their other bills and don't want the BK on their credit for 10 years as opposed to 7). Meaning this ... would a bankruptcy "wipe out" any deficiency from a foreclosure if they cannot stop the foreclosure from happening? I guess I'm just thinking worst case scenario (I'm a classic worrying mother). Thanks again!

Doodle, thanks again! I just shared your response with my daughter. I'll let her mull it over before she sees the attorney tomorrow AM. They get a 1 hour consultation (it's not free), and I told her that if they don't like the attorney or he can't help them (I've come across that in my own personal experience recently when we had a dispute with a contractor we hired), then find another attorney. Spending a few hundred dollars on one or two consultations to see where they're at is well worth it. Hoping that the attorney will also be able to respond to their court document (I told her that she may have to retain him/her for that, not sure), and also that the attorney might be able to find out if Wells Fargo has already posted their house for sale in the local papers (as the link stated they can do in a non-judicial state). One more question (and I know DD is avoiding BK at all costs) ... if the foreclosure is "imminent," can they still file bankruptcy (probably would do a Ch. 13 as they do have the means to pay their other bills and don't want the BK on their credit for 10 years as opposed to 7). Meaning this ... would a bankruptcy "wipe out" any deficiency from a foreclosure if they cannot stop the foreclosure from happening? I guess I'm just thinking worst case scenario (I'm a classic worrying mother). Thanks again!

Thanks Doodle, sorry to hear what your situation is, but I appreciate your response. I did also post in the Foreclosure/Loan Mod section, but no responses there yet either. Here's a couple of things that I'm advising her to do ASAP from my limited knowledge. Go in to see a real estate attorney near where she lives (she has an appointment for 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, thankfully). Secondly, since they have a VA loan, they may just have a chance of getting help from the VA. First her load mod guy is trying to get an extension to stall the foreclosure, and when she called the VA today (for the first time ... they said they had NOT heard anything from Wells Fargo since June, which is when their current loan mod guy "took over" their file) ... the lady at the VA said if they didn't get an extension by 10/14 my DD is to call her back and the VA will GET THEM an extension (to stop the foreclosure). I'm just trying to help her buy some time as it's quite likely (since they're a year behind in their payments) that they will do a short sale (if they still can). That's what I'm hoping the RE attorney can advise them on tomorrow (or any other options they have at this point). And the AZ laws (as you said). They need professional help, and for whatever strange reason my SIL is resisting seeing an attorney and only wants to wait to hear about the loan modification answer. Well since they were served with the foreclosure notice in late July with an October 16 date on it, they have NO TIME TO WAIT ANY LONGER!!! That's what I've been trying to impart on her. And today was the first time that she called the VA (at my insistence, after I read they could help them on the internet last night). Still wish DD had told me all of this sooner, but it's water under the bridge now. So we'll go through this together and learn ...

I am reposting this topic here (had it over in the Mortgage forum, but haven't received any responses ... maybe it's more appropriate here). Anyways, OK guys, I really need some advice here, and I'm totally out of my element. When fixing my own credit some years back I never owned any property so never had to worry about a loan mod, short sale or foreclosure. I was just always renting. Anyways, my DD called me yesterday to tell me (and I'm the first person she's confided in) that she and her husband (he had some job difficulties a year ago about not receiving some of his commission pay where he worked) got behind on their mortgage. He also had an unexpected stay in the ICU in late May (fortunately totally recovered), but he also didn't get paid from work when he was off. They built their house in 12/10, Wells Fargo VA loan (he's also in the Ntl. Guard). DD has been TRYING to work with Wells Fargo for over a year (since July 2011) to get a loan modification; I was shocked to find out they have not made a house payment since then. I truly wish she had felt she could have come to me or her Dad (we're divorced) to ask for some advice or help. Anyways, you know the loan mods take forever. WF told her yesterday she might hear something Monday. Waiting to see if my SIL's new job is a high enough income to qualify (she's a stay at home Mom). He's in same job field ... left former employer when they were not paying him his commissions (this is what I've been told) ... I really don't think I know the whole story, yet. Meanwhile, to further complicate things, DD has been telling us for months (since our grandson was born a year ago) that she hates where they moved to (they live in AZ, we live in WI), and has been wanting to move back up here ASAP. I guess part of that's really true, as she comes back to visit all the time. I was wondering how she could afford the constant flights back and forth every few months, but if they're not paying on the house, guess that explains it. So she's been talking with realtor that sold the house to them (BTW, it's probably very saleable ... it's new, beautiful, and shows like a model); however, as they didn't put much down on it to begin with, and they're a year behind on payments, they're going to be delinquent at the sale, I'm sure. Not sure where to start in advising her. She DID just get served with foreclosure papers from WF (for a date later in October) but has been told that would get pushed out if they put their house up for short sale. My big question here is can they STOP the foreclosure if they do the short sale, and what do they do about the deficiency. I've read that you can sometimes work with the lender to make an arrangement where the deficiency is wiped out at the house sale and the lender just accepts what the house sells for. Not sure how that works. Also, given they have not paid on the house in over a year, I'm sure normal "rules" about when they can buy another house are going to be different (and I'm sure the only advice I should give her now if they're really going to move back here, which I think they're probably going to do in the end), is to live within their means and rent for awhile. They're both in their early 20's ... so very young, and the little guy will never remember any of this. That's the good thing. Ironically, before moving to PHX, she worked as a paralegal for a BK law firm during college, so I believe she's up on the laws, but right now I think she's so stressed out trying to figure this all out, and she was holding out alot of hope at first over the loan mod, that things just dragged on WAY too long. Also not sure if they should be talking with a RE attorney (or even BK attorney) at this point? I'm sure her realtor means while, but hey, I also know she just wants to sell their house and make a commission. That's not necessarily in their best interest, and it's already wasted alot of time by my DD just talking to her, and not a "professional." ANY advice or words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks much (as always)!!

OK guys, I really need some advice here, and I'm totally out of my element. When fixing my own credit some years back I never owned any property so never had to worry about a loan mod, short sale or foreclosure. I was just always renting. Anyways, my DD called me yesterday to tell me (and I'm the first person she's confided in) that she and her husband (he had some job difficulties a year ago about not receiving some of his commission pay where he worked) got behind on their mortgage. He also had an unexpected stay in the ICU in late May (fortunately totally recovered), but he also didn't get paid from work when he was off. They built their house in 12/10, Wells Fargo VA loan (he's also in the Ntl. Guard). DD has been TRYING to work with Wells Fargo for over a year (since July 2011) to get a loan modification; I was shocked to find out they have not made a house payment since then. I truly wish she had felt she could have come to me or her Dad (we're divorced) to ask for some advice or help. Anyways, you know the loan mods take forever. WF told her yesterday she might hear something Monday. Waiting to see if my SIL's new job is a high enough income to qualify (she's a stay at home Mom). He's in same job field ... left former employer when they were not paying him his commissions (this is what I've been told) ... I really don't think I know the whole story, yet. Meanwhile, to further complicate things, DD has been telling us for months (since our grandson was born a year ago) that she hates where they moved to (they live in AZ, we live in WI), and has been wanting to move back up here ASAP. I guess part of that's really true, as she comes back to visit all the time. I was wondering how she could afford the constant flights back and forth every few months, but if they're not paying on the house, guess that explains it. So she's been talking with realtor that sold the house to them (BTW, it's probably very saleable ... it's new, beautiful, and shows like a model); however, as they didn't put much down on it to begin with, and they're a year behind on payments, they're going to be delinquent at the sale, I'm sure. Not sure where to start in advising her. She DID just get served with foreclosure papers from WF (for a date later in October) but has been told that would get pushed out if they put their house up for short sale. My big question here is can they STOP the foreclosure if they do the short sale, and what do they do about the deficiency. I've read that you can sometimes work with the lender to make an arrangement where the deficiency is wiped out at the house sale and the lender just accepts what the house sells for. Not sure how that works. Also, given they have not paid on the house in over a year, I'm sure normal "rules" about when they can buy another house are going to be different (and I'm sure the only advice I should give her now if they're really going to move back here, which I think they're probably going to do in the end), is to live within their means and rent for awhile. They're both in their early 20's ... so very young, and the little guy will never remember any of this. That's the good thing. Ironically, before moving to PHX, she worked as a paralegal for a BK law firm during college, so I believe she's up on the laws, but right now I think she's so stressed out trying to figure this all out, and she was holding out alot of hope at first over the loan mod, that things just dragged on WAY too long. Also not sure if they should be talking with a RE attorney (or even BK attorney) at this point? I'm sure her realtor means while, but hey, I also know she just wants to sell their house and make a commission. That's not necessarily in their best interest, and it's already wasted alot of time by my DD just talking to her, and not a "professional." ANY advice or words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks much (as always)!!

Hey, thanks for the replies as always. My credit union lender called me back late yesterday (after I posted) and told me that she checked with her underwriter and found out that Fannie Mae had made a recent change that now does NOT count our 401K loan towards DTI (she wasn't aware of that when she gave me her original answer). Given the fact that my loan payment is $206/month, it would have made a HUGE difference in our DTI. Now, it makes a HUGE difference in that we should easily qualify. If our property appraises at 80% LTV or below (hard to say ... we are very close and we added a rec room, bedroom and full bath last winter that we sunk a bunch of money into ... I know we won't get what we spent back on the value, but hoping at least $10-$15K of that will add value on our appraisal). Anyways, our credit union will go up to 85% LTV which is nice, because then we should easily appraise high enough. Of course we'll need PMI if we're between the 80-85%, but being told it'll only be around $99/month. Also, because our first mortgage is currently declining pretty rapidly because of our low interest rate, if we get both mortgages wrapped into something around 3% for a 15 year (my hope), even if we have to pay PMI, it won't be for long. It was the thought of PMI together with my 401K loan that might have killed the deal. Now it's looking pretty likely that we'll be able to do this in the next couple of weeks. Only waiting for about 4 credit cards we just paid off to show as $0 on my reports. Since I have the lower score now (679 middle) ... mine is the one we need to boost a bit. Thanks again and wish us luck!!

Hi, Hoping one of the mortgage experts here can answer this. I've had varying answers from several lenders we have contacted to try to do a refinance (15 year) of our first mortgage and our HELOC into one loan (still a 15 year). We're not in a terrible situation on the first (3.875%) but for now, our HELOC is at 6% fixed through 4/14, and then it becomes a variable percentage loan. With rates being what they are now, we'd like to take advantage and refinance. I guess this is considered a "cash-out" refinance. In any event, we've been paying down a bunch of debt to get our DTI where it needs to be (that's really been the ONLY thing holding us back--some high balances on our CC's) and also we were waiting until my DH hit the 2 year mark on his PT job (which will be 10/11), so now we're good there too (so the lender can consider that income). Anyways, I have a 401K loan (taken out a little over a year ago) with my employer, and I've gotten varying answers from 2 different lenders on whether it will count towards our DTI. One tells me it absolutely will not. However, with her, we might be close to being 80% LTV, and if we are over 80% with a cash-out with this lender, we cannot do PMI. We're going to be close to 80% (hopefully under) but of course will not know until we pull the trigger and actually have our house appraised. The other lender will go up to 85% LTV AND do minimal PMI if we need it (they're a credit union where our HELOC is at), BUT they DO take the 401K into consideration towards DTI (at least that's what she told me last week). I was just reading on the internet on some Fannie Mae guidelines which said that "In general, the payments are not taken into consideration for your DTI. According to Fannie Mae's selling guide, as long as you provide the appropriate documentation to the lender, the 401-k loan is considered a contingent liability and not counted in your monthly debt obligation. (The reasoning is that you can pay off the loan at any time. The lender is already counting your 401-k asset based on the reduced value of paying off the loan, taxes and penalties)." I have read this in several places on the internet. If this is really true, then we would be SO very close in doing this with our credit union (perhaps she was wrong??). Anyways, can one of the experts here (Brian??) answer this? As always, all opinions greatly appreciated!!

Oh, I didn't see Dallas Loan Guy's question. He is a Mail Courier 2 days a week (works about 9 hours/day on each day driving 175 miles and stops at every XYZ Realty in southeastern Wisconsin). It IS very stable (and XYZ--not the real name--is about the best known realty company in our state). And he did get a raise after he was there 1 year, so I suspect he will get another raise at 2 years (it's a very reputable company). Not that that helps with our dilemma if we do need to wait the 24 months. BTW, his pension is from being a police officer for 34 years ... he works now because he wants to (it's a social thing, and it's exercise), so he loves it. I don't think he'll be quitting any time soon either. And my income is very stable also (10 years on my job). Again, appreciate the answers ... we're just SO wanting to get in with the good rates right now.

Thanks Brian ... guess waiting a few more months won't kill us (hopefully the rates will stay down)!! Have a great weekend!

Brian B (or someone) ... Just really trying to get an answer to my initial question ... if we do a refi of our first mortgage and our HELOC as we're hoping, do we "really" have to wait until my husband's part-time job is 24 months (which will be in early October of this year)? Right now he has a little over 18 months on that job, and it's very stable. This would be for a conventional, Fannie Mae mortgage (Not FHA). Also, when we first applied at our credit union (where we HELOC), she thought she could "make a good case" for that job as part of our income due to the fact that he is retired and has a really good pension. So technically this is not a second job, it's just a first PT job. But we DO need that income to qualify, that's why I'm asking. Worst case, we could wait until October. Thanks for any answers!!