Archive for the ‘IVA Support’ Category

When You Should Consider an IVA

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

If you are having debt management problems and need to pay back creditors that you owe then you’ve probably considered getting an IVA at some point. But this financial tool is not needed by everyone. So when is it that you should consider taking on an IVA?

What Is an IVA?
An IVA is also known as an Individual Voluntary Agreement. It is a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors that normally lasts five years. During the time of this agreement, you are expected to pay back a debt that you owe to the creditor by making installments that you can afford outside of reasonable living costs.
The IVA is something that must be set up by a licensed professional called an Insolvency Practitioner (IP). All unsecured debts that you owe must be declared into an IVA.

Do I Need an IVA?
So how do you know if it is time for you to consider an IVA? First, you want to look at whether you’re having financial difficulties that don’t allow you to repay a creditor on your own. Since the IVA is a formal proposal to settle your unsecured debt within a reasonable timeframe, it’s good to take this route if you know you can’t do it on your own.

One great reason to consider the IVA instead of paying back the debt without this proposal is that you get to freeze all interest and charges to 0 percent during this time. Also, creditors will be prohibited from demanding additional payments, making the repayment process easier for you.
Repaying your debts is always the responsible thing to do. So if you need help organizing your repayment plan and want to take advantage of having your interest and charges frozen then it may time to for you to consider creating an IVA.

This was a guest post by SeattleBankingRates.com, a site that provides daily updates on the latest Seattle mortgage rates, finance information and more.

What Can A Debt Collector Legally Do?

Friday, March 11th, 2011

If you are having credit problems, it is important to know what creditors and collection agencies may and may not do to collect debts.

The state Consumer Protection Act prohibits some debt collection practices. When dealing directly with you, creditors and collection agencies may not:

Call you more than twice for each debt in each 7 day period at home, or call you more than twice for each debt in each 30 day period at someplace other than your home.

Call you without identifying both the name of the creditor and the name of the person calling.

Call you at times other than your normal waking hours. If your waking hours are unknown, then the creditor or collector may only call between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Visit your home at times other than those mentioned above. A collector cannot visit more than once in any 30 day period for each debt, unless you give permission for additional visits.

Cause you to be charged for long distance calls (or other similar costs).

Call you at work if you requested that they not call. Your oral request is valid for only 10 days, unless you confirm it in writing within 7 days of making the request. Written request are valid until you write to the collector removing the restriction.

Contact you directly, if you have told the creditor or collection agency to only contact your attorney.

Falsely threaten to take legal action.

Use profane or obscene language.

Additionally, creditors and collection agencies may not

Tell anyone (including friends, neighbors, relatives, or employers) about your debt.

Send collection notices in a way that openly indicates or implies that you owe a debt (for example, using postcards or descriptive return addresses.)

Federal law provides some additional protections against debt collection agencies. (This law does not apply to creditors):

Collectors must verify your debt. Collectors must stop calling you if, within 30 days after you are first contacted, you send the agency a letter indicating that you do not owe the debt. They can only renew their collection activities if you are sent proof of the debt.

You may stop a debt collector from contacting you. Write a letter to the collector telling them to stop contacting you. Once the collection agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact. They also may contact you to inform you if they are going to take some specific action, such as suing you.

Unsecured Loans and Debt Consolidation

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Consolidating debt through an unsecured loan is one of the main purposes of unsecured loans. Especially for tenants and in general non-homeowners, eliminating debt by means of an unsecured loan is the most common way of doing it.

As debt keeps growing, bills keep pilling up; a solution to this financial menace needs to be found without delay. Default and Bankruptcy are not an uncommon result of financial troubles and their consequences are dreadful.
It is very difficult for someone who is in debt to repay with his own resources without generating more debt in the future. This is what is known as the vicious circle of debt. Unsecured loans are a great opportunity to avoid the effects of this situation while at the same time reducing debt in order to get debt-free in a short time.
When you obtain an unsecured loan, you can use the money to pay off credit card balances, services and medical bills, store cards, other outstanding loans, etc. Bear in mind that since you dont have to pay everything as soon as you receive the money, you can decide which debts are more onerous and cancel those first.

Unsecured loans do not require an asset to be used as guarantee for the loan; this is the main reason why tenants and non-homeowners qualify for these loans easily. It may seem as this type of loans have been especially designed for non-homeowners.
However, the truth is that homeowners usually get better deals, even for unsecured loans. This is due to the fact that the ownership of a property increases the overall credit of a person and thus, reduces the risk involved for the lender.
Should you decide to apply for a loan, be especially cautious about APR, prepayment penalties, repayment process and other fees and costs. Though you may think youre about to get a great deal because the rate is lower than every other loan, other fees may rise the overall cost of the loan and youll end up paying more than with those other options.

There are many banks and financial institutions providing unsecured loans. Everyday, more and more lenders arrive at the market of unsecured loans. The loan industry is growing and you should take advantage of this fact. Many options are available for those seeking an unsecured loan.
Youll soon find out that most lenders have their own online site with online applications to be filled in order to apply for a loan. You can also make use of loan quotes and compare rates and other conditions.

The wisest thing to do is to find an online company that offers a variety of lenders dealing with unsecured personal loans. There are few of these, but they present you with the possibility to access many lenders from a single site without having to find them all. Youll be able to obtain quotes from all of them and compare before making a decision.

Unscrupulous Agencies Hurt Public Image of Credit Repair Counseling

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Once considered a positive step for people seeking to repair their credit, credit repair counseling has suffered from reports of deceptive actions by unscrupulous agencies. Credit counselors who have misled clients and abused the system have given credit counseling a bad name. Many experts now advice consumers to take control of their own credit repair process. They recommend against sharing personal financial information with a credit repair company, noting that this information may be misused in the future.

Most consumers do not understand that credit repair agencies can assist with debt reduction; they can do little to improve your current credit rating. A credit counselor is supposed to negotiate with your creditors to reduce your monthly payments and your total debt. You then make one monthly payment to the agency, which is supposed to forward the necessary funds to each of your creditors. If your credit counselor does not forward those payments, or sends them late, you will find yourself deeper in debt while your credit rating sinks even lower.

Some agencies have taken steps to make clients believe their credit rating is improving. A credit counseling agency might send a letter to a credit reporting agency disputing a negative trade-line, and demanding its removal until an investigation is completed. When the entry is deleted, the credit counselor sends the client the cleaned up report claiming success. Unfortunately, when no further information is forthcoming, the negative item will return, making any credit rating increase temporary.

If the information on your credit report is correct, no agency will be able to help you have it removed. Negative information stays on your report for 7 years; bankruptcy for 10. If you have concerns about the information on your credit reports, your best plan is to address those concerns directly with the credit reporting agency in question.

Despite the horror stories, there are some reputable credit counseling agencies out there. If you are considering a credit repair agency, do your research. Find one that is affiliated with national associations and has received positive reviews from other clients and independent reviewers. You can trust a reliable agency to work to remove negative items that are genuine errors from your credit report; anything more is unrealistic.

Student Loan Debt Relief – School Loan Consolidation

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

In order to relieve some of the financial burden associated with furthering their educations, many students are opting to consolidate student loans at lower rates, and getting a longer period of time to repay the loans. The following paragraphs will answer some commonly asked questions about student loan consolidation, as well describe how loan consolidation can aid in debt relief.

What Is Student Loan Consolidation?

School loan consolidation is the act of combining your school loans into one loan in order to help manage your financial debt caused by college or trade school. When you consolidate student loans, you will only have one monthly payment to make, which is usually lower than your combined monthly payments of your unconsolidated student debt. This is possible because when you consolidate loans, you are generally offered a longer time period to repay the debt – sometimes up to 30 years. Many consider the lower payment a huge benefit, which it is, but consolidation can also cause you to pay more interest, over a greater length of time, than you would with your combined unconsolidated debt.

Student loan consolidation rates are generally lower than unconsolidated loan rates, and most often the student loan consolidation rate will be fixed. With unconsolidated loans, most commonly the interest rates are variable, which means they can change at any time, sometimes without much warning. With a fixed rate, the monthly interest will remain the same throughout the entire duration of your consolidated student loan.

What If I am Default on My Student Loan Payments?

If you are default in making your debt payments, you may still qualify for school loan consolidation. It is important to check with your loan holder, to ensure your defaulted loan has not been subject to wage garnishment. If your defaulted loan is subject to wage garnishment, you may not be able to consolidate.

How Can I Obtain More Information Regarding School Loan Consolidation?

There are many ways to obtain more information regarding this issue

by requesting it from the financial aid office at school
by requesting it from the holder of your original debt
by researching the internet

Information is usually available in any financial aid office of any learning institution. If you cannot get to your financial aid office, or if your financial aid office does not have the information you need, please request the information from the holder of your original debt, or search the internet for valuable information on student loan consolidation.

Shrink Interest Rate Personal Bad Credit Debt Consolidation

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Bad credit and debt consolidation, one is the problem and other is the solution. People take loans for the betterment of their present status but sometimes this exceeds their ability to handle the repayments which in turn gives rise to bad credit. A bad credit is that wound which hurts you for a long time. In simple words, it is very difficult to get over from a bad credit history. Personal bad credit debt consolidation is the best tool available these days to recover from bad credit and get a good credit.

Personal bad credit debt consolidation is basically consolidation of existing debts when you are facing the trouble of bad credit. Your credit score plays and important part while planning a debt consolidation. Although credit score is a common term these days but certain people are still unaware about what it exactly means. Credit score can be defined as the reflection of your financial encounters with debts in the past. Credit rating agencies such as Experian, Equifax and Transunion keeps an eye on your financial status throughout the year and assigns you a score which we call as a credit score.

Credit score is blessing in disguise for raising money when it is good, but when it is bad it can make life difficult for you. Improving your credit score is a tougher job and requires a good amount of time. It improves when you make timely payments and your debts are cleared. Personal bad credit debt consolidation is one such tool which really helps you in improving your credit score. Personal bad credit debt consolidation has following benefits attached to them:

Lowering your monthly payments.
Reduced overall rate of interest as you have to pay at single and lower rate of interest.
Waiver of late fees.
Elimination of calls for collection from lenders.
Avoid bankruptcy.
Single debt and single monthly payments.
Get freedom from debts faster.
Obtain a good credit

There are numerous consulting agencies in the market to advise you regarding debt consolidation. Counseling is also available on phone. You need to provide those following details to get their services:

Current financial status
State of residence
Amount of debt you are carrying with you
Equity in your home and length of residency
Balances on your credit cards

These agencies can arrange best debt consolidation loan deals for you at low interest rates. So lessen your interest payments to keep your budget unaffected with personal bad credit debt consolidation.

Seeking Help For A Debt Problem

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Being in debt can cause a lot of stress and many sleepless nights, in this article I give advice which I hope will prove to be of use and of benefit to people who have a debt problem.

One of the hardest things to do for people who are in debt is to actually admit to other people that they have this problem. This may be because they feel ashamed that they have not been able to manage their finances in a better way or because they think that people may see them as some sort of failure. They will want to explore all of the possible avenues of debt consolidation and other ways of going about reducing or eradicating their debt before they are willing to admit to their friends or family that they now find themselves with a debt problem.

In many cases the longer people who are in debt wait before plucking up the courage to ask for help and to admit to being in debt, the worse the situation will become. Ever increasing interest costs can easily wear people down and can lead to feelings of desperation, depression and even at the most extreme, suicide.

My advice would be to swallow your pride and to talk to either the closest members of your family or friends. When we are in this type of depression it is often very hard to think clearly and in a logical manner but by speaking to other people in for example our family, there is a good chance that we may be given some very useful advice. The people in question may well have had similar problems themselves in the past and could explain the way in which they managed to become clear of their debts.

A friend of mine found herself in a great deal of debt and eventually went and spoke to her mother and father about it. They were quite shocked but were pleased that she felt able to talk to them about it. My friends name is Emma and luckily for her, her parents were in a financial position to help her out. They decided to pay off all of Emma’s debts in order to stop all of the extra interest which she had to pay on top of the debt. They then worked out a long term repayment package which was at a rate that Emma could afford. They also made Emma promise that she would not wait before seeking help, if she ever found herself in the same position in the future.

Emma of course was very fortunate to have parents who were happy and able to help her in this way, however she still needed to have the courage to talk to them in the first place about her debt problems.

Personal Debt Relief

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Debt relief is the forgiveness or partial forgiveness of a debt. Other definitions have also been applied such as the slowing of a debt or the stopping of the interest on the debt as well. In terms of personal relief this has been seen to be an escalating problem over the last few years in many places around the world. This problem is by no means limited to the United States but it is prominently seen there as the figures correlate to the fact that the average American household has debt to as much as $19000 that is separate from their mortgage payments. This means that they can often have mortgage payments as well as this debt and that is an astronomical figure to deal with.

With the presence of such large debt loads it is no wonder that there are many problems being faced by individuals in the repayment of these loans. These individuals are continually burdened by the debt that they have and often see this debt increasing with interest rates. They are consumed by the debt and the mistake that is often undertaken is that they continue to create more debt to repay older debts. This can eventually lead to bankruptcy and much care must be followed when dealing with the issue of debt.

When you are in need of debt relief the impulse is to be persuaded into signing up with one of the debt consolidation firms on the market. This option may work for some but for many it can spell disaster for many. These companies that are private companies promote themselves as debt relief organizations use marketing ploys to persuade people to turn to them but do not offer the best personalized solutions to reducing debt. They are often interested in the consolidation of the loans by using the property that you have as security and making the loans into a mortgage repayment. Many a person has lost their home in this way.

When debt is a concern that is consuming you should first turn to a consumer’s association that provides advice before turning to the commercialized companies. They will more often than not have experience with the matter and be able to guide you to the better options for debt forgiveness. Their interest is not in getting you to use your home as security for a loan but in leading you to debt free living.

In addition to providing you with links to ways to debt relief and agreements with debt relief companies that are credible you will be taught what you are doing wrong by the provision of tips. You may even receive financial planning advice that can serve you well and avoid you getting yourself into the same situation again. This is important as most often the problem lies with the individual living above their means and the problem is not solved with debt relief and the person will soon go back into debt again.

Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Things To Consider

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

There are a few things to consider before you make the decision to apply for a personal debt consolidation loan. Youll want to make sure that that is your best option for your financial situation. After reviewing your options, if you still find that a personal debt consolidation is the best means of regaining fiscal control and health, there will be a few things to consider about the loan itself. Youll need to decide on a practical loan amount. Youll want to study fees, terms and rates to get the best loan possible.

The Right Option

Taking on a loan when you are already in debt is a serious matter, even if it is done as a step towards helping you of debt. Therefore, it is best to be sure it is the option best for your situation. You may want to consider a debt consolidation program, which helps by negotiating lower interest rates with your creditors, allowing more of your monthly payment to be applied to the principle of the loan. These types of services are available for a fee, but many choose to try to negotiate with creditors concerning interest themselves.

In some circumstances, however, a loan is the best option. There is value in simplifying your debts, particularly if feeling overwhelmed. It helps you to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Furthermore, in terms of interest, a loan may be the most practical route, particularly with high interest credit card debts. You may be able to negotiate a monthly payment amount that is more workable for you, which will increase your chance of being successful in paying it, each and every month.

The Best Loan

Once youve decided that a personal debt consolidation loan is your best option, there are a few more things to consider. First, youll want to consider the timing of the loan. Would waiting a little while give you enough time to pay off some of the smaller debts? That relates to another important choice how much to borrow. The best bet is to borrow as little as possible. Paying the smaller debts will help to reduce your overall loan.

Beware of lenders that encourage you to borrow more than you need or more than you should. That is a red flag, warning of a potentially unscrupulous lender. Do a bit of research to see what the common loan fees, rates, and terms are in your region for your particular financial situation. That will help you to avoid the predatory lenders that try to profit from others need or lack of experience.

Taking the time to consider things well will help you at every stage of the personal debt consolidation loan process. If, indeed, a loan of this nature is the best way for you to achieve your financial goals, the time you invest in choosing the right lender will pay off in the best rates, terms and fees possible for your individual situation.

Personal Debt Consolidation Loan 3 Benefits Of Debt Consolidation

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Personal Debt Consolidation Loan 3 Benefits Of Debt Consolidation

If you have never considered a personal debt consolidation loan, maybe nows the time. Each year, millions of people file bankruptcy as a means of eliminating their consumer debts. Although bankruptcy may seem like an easy fix to credit problems, the effects are long-term. Before taking drastic measures, explore other debt reduction options.

Understanding Debt Consolidation Loans

Debt consolidation loans are intended to help people manage their credit, and pay off debts sooner. Without consolidating debts, some people are able to reduce their debts. However, this long process takes several years. Instead of paying on a high interest credit card for ten or twenty years, it may be more beneficial to consolidate debts. This way, the balance in paid within a few years

Convenient and Lower Monthly Payments

The convenience of a debt consolidation loan is an attractive feature. If you are burden with several creditors, making payments to various lenders may be time consuming and frustrating. Furthermore, having too many creditors makes it easier to forget a payment.

Through debt consolidation, all your credit balances are combined into one loan. This alleviates submitting several payments each month. Rather, you make one payment to the debt consolidation lender.

Debt Consolidation lowers monthly debt payments by reducing interest rates. For example, if you have four high interest credit cards, minimum monthly payments for all four credit accounts may be around $200. However, if you consolidate the four balances and obtain an interest rate of 9 or 10 percent, monthly payments may be reduced up to 50 percent.

More Money Goes to Reducing the Principle

Many people are unable to reduce their credit card balances due to high interest rates. In some instances, the minimum payment is lower than the finance fees. Thus, the balance continually increases, even if you are not using the credit card.

By obtaining a lower interest rate, a large portion of your monthly payment is applied to the principle balance. If possible, attempt to secure a debt consolidation loan with an introductory zero percent interest rate.

Restores Credit Rating

If your credit score was suffering because of late payments or a exceeding credit limit, a debt consolidation may quickly improve credit score. A better credit rating will make you eligible for lower rates on home loans, auto loans, etc.