Understandably, being in debt or at risk of foreclosure can be stressful. However, being arrogant or insolent with lenders can be a huge mistake. If a lender detects that you are playing games, or if you become threatening or childish, you could suddenly be hit with lawsuit and the full force of lender vengeance. You  … Read more

Paying back your IRS debt in installments is one of the best ways to pay off unresolved debts. For many, it is the best road out of stressful IRS negotiations and penalties. There are several types of installment agreements, depending on your level of indebtedness. Here are two types for people with debt 10,000 dollars  … Read more

The Fannie Mae program allows trouble homeowners to release their deed to the bank via the deed-in-lieu option and stay in their residence. For many, this may not sound like much of an option, but where there are few options besides foreclosure it may be preferable for a time. The reality is that a deed-in-lieu  … Read more

Like in the movies, debt settlement can be like a game of liars’ dice or chicken, where the protagonist and his adversary square off and it’s soon reduced to a matter of who blinks first. Debt settlement is subject to state and federal laws that protect the borrower from dangerous harassment. In some cases, borrowers  … Read more

The United States will feel deep reverberations from the housing and mortgages crisis for years to come. It’s not just the glut of houses on the market, but the new bad-credit borrowers—non-borrowers, rather—that mean more bad business for years to come. Foreclosure is, perhaps, the most damaging blow to a credit score, and can mean  … Read more

The IRS is the most rigid lender you have. Unlike ‘optional debt,’ everyone must pay their dues to the IRS, and the IRS takes tax debt and delinquency very seriously. And they should—hundreds of millions of people dutifully pay their taxes every year. Still, hard times can befall anyone, and an Offer in Compromise is  … Read more

Debt settlement is not a uniform process like bankruptcy. Instead, every lender will have different practices regarding delinquency and settlement. Lenders will not show enthusiasm to settle for so much as a penny less in most cases. Here are a few things you should know when trying to settle large, outstanding debt. Lenders’ internal rules  … Read more

A forbearance agreement might be thought of as a short-term loan modification. When you anticipate being unable to make your mortgage payments for a short period of time (6 months or less, on average) the bank may defer your payments. Those missed payments and interest will be tacked onto the principal of the loan until  … Read more

The short sale process is a headache, and as we regularly implore, you must have your house in perfect order or potential buyers will head for the hills. If a short sale isn’t an option, a deed-in-lieu is often superior to foreclosure. In a deed-in-lieu foreclosure, the lender agrees to release the borrower of his  … Read more

It is hard to overstate how far banks will go in the pursuit of solvency and profitability. You can hardly blame them—they are institutions that would perish if it weren’t for their unshakeable devotion to the bottom line, and the US economy wouldn’t be what it is today (in a manner of speaking). Here are  … Read more