Beware Of Predatory Lenders

Jeanette Joy Fisher

In November 2005, Montgomery County, Maryland’s county council enacted legislation to expand the categories of discriminatory lending activities associated with discriminatory housing practices and increased the maximum fine for such activities from $5,000 to $500,000. The council sited practices such as charging inordinate amounts for prepayment penalties, points, and fees; steering borrowers toward more expensive mortgages; and refinancing existing mortgages with new ones that borrowers won’t be able to repay based on their income or credit.

Predatory lenders typically target what’s known as the nonprime mortgage market, where people with blemished credit records try to borrow money for homes in less desirable neighborhoods, which means that it’s often minority groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos, who are the victims of predatory lending practices.

However, February 2006, the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), challenged the ruling, contending that only the state has the power to enact legislation regarding mortgage lending practices–although the AFSA went on record as opposing discriminatory and abusive lending practices. The new law was supposed to take effect the second week in March, but mortgage lender lawyers persuaded a judge to delay the new law, pending a hearing. So it’s yet to be determined if the Montgomery County law will remain on the books.

Regardless of the outcome in Montgomery County, however, predatory lending practices are illegal in most states. The Center for Responsible Lending describes a number of such practices on their website. Some of them include loan flipping, in which the borrower is forced to refinance a loan, sometimes several times, solely for the purpose of generating new fees for the lending institution. Another common practice is insisting that borrowers also purchase such things as credit life insurance or other products–again, primarily designed to generate more income for the lender.

The bottom line is that there are lending institutions that make a great deal of money by charging extra fees to those borrowers who can least afford them, thereby either depriving those borrowers of the American dream of home ownership or, worse yet, setting them up for eventual foreclosure.

As the real estate market slows down and interest rates creep up, it’s more important than ever to become a knowledgeable consumer. Learn the basics of mortgage lending, so you’ll know when you’re being charged too much for a loan or for things you don’t need. Shop around to see what’s available, and then make sure you’re comfortable with your loan payment, because you’ll be paying that amount for many years.

Is a Loan the Way To Go?

In the society in which we live, we all see from day to day people who have possessions which we would like to own for ourselves. Unfortunately, budgetary concerns make this impossible, in some cases. To overcome this situation, more and more people are looking at taking out personal loans as a way of raising the money to fund their purchases. Of course, there are other reasons for taking out loans. Some people take them for business purposes – in order to raise the capital for an acquisition. Others, indeed, will take out loans to consolidate their debts into one big debt with more favorable repayment terms.

Whatever the reason for taking out a loan, it is important to bear in mind that repayments will stay at the same level for the duration of the account. It is important, then, to be completely sure that the amount you pay to a loan will be covered for the life of the loan. Many loans have attached insurance policies (the cost of which is attached to the balance) and if you are unable to work through ill health these can cover the monthly payment. However, you should read the small print on the terms of the insurance policy, because many insurance companies will try everything they can to avoid paying out.

If you are unsure that you will be able to keep up payments, it is essential that you look for other ways to raise the capital you need. As well as seriously infringing upon your daily solvency, poor credit history will affect your ability to get credit in the future.

Is Life Fantastic With Plastic?

We in society have become used to using plastic cards to pay for our purchases, because it promises convenience, speed and reassurance about our situation. While today we may not have the money to pay for that stereo or that holiday, a quick call to a bank can be all it takes to allow you to make the purchase one day and worry about paying it off in the future. When used correctly, credit cards can be beneficial for the user, as they allow a situation where you can control the cost of living. They are, it should be said, best used as a kind of progressive weapon against delays. The problem comes when one is used as a shield against debt. The thing they simply fail to offer is thinking time.

With a credit card, you can make a purchase and not have to worry about the money not being there. It is there, it just isn’t yours. As long as you can replenish that money within a suitable time period, no-one will get angry. However, there is no way of the vendor knowing that you will be in a bad position to actually pay for the purchase, and indeed they have no reason to care. It is the bank who will have something to say about it when you fail to make payments that they were expecting you to make. And the thing about that is that banks have a way of making their displeasure very clear indeed.

Where The Banks Have Gone Wrong

It would be very simplistic to place the blame for the global financial crisis at the door of one financial sector, or at the feet of any organisation operating within that sector. The reason why the finances of so many major countries are now unstable cannot be pinned down to one thing, but part of it is certainly attributable to unwise lending by banks and other financial institutions. While it could not securely be argued that this was what caused the financial crashes we have seen, there is no doubt that it hasn’t helped.

Quite apart from anything else, there is a sense that risky lending looked like a good idea for the banks and risky borrowing looked like a great idea for the customers up until very recently. For the banks, the idea was that the risks would bear greater rewards as money made more money and for the customers it seemed to be a case of all their Christmases coming at once. As it turned out, there were big warning signs that everyone ignored – leading to the banks having tons of bad debt on their books and the customers being hamstrung in a place where they suddenly had greatly reduced means and a raft of payments to meet.

There are other reasons for this crash, of course, and no-one would try to deny this. But the upshot for most of us is that banks will not be so free with their money, so borrowing from now on has to be extra diligent.

Irresponsible Lending, Spending and Borrowing

One of the major criticisms of banks which emerged as the extent of the global credit crisis became clear to everyone was that they lent money irresponsibly to too many people. Most of us, if offered the chance to have a spending pot of more money than we earn in a month, would be sorely tempted. And maybe that is the problem. There are those who argue that credit should only be given to those who can show they don’t need it. While this is a tad harsh (short term borrowing can be a responsible solution in some cases), it might at least be argued that credit should only ever be given to those who have never abused it in the past.

Part of the problem is that banks saw fit to speculate on the continuing boom in the global economy and felt that by lending to people who were looking to become upwardly socially mobile they could cash in on those people being successful. However, for some potential borrowers it became clear that banks were taking risks and lending to people who had little hope of comfortably repaying the debt. Knowing that some contingency has to exist for these eventualities, people took advantage of this profligacy to take out big loans and enjoy a short-lived period of financial windfall – knowing that even when the money ran out they would simply be back to living the life they led before. Banks seem to be learning the lesson – but look at what it took for that to happen.

Can You Get Credit?

One thing that has been made very clear to people over the last few years is that taking out credit comes with some risks attached. If you are borrowing either on a credit card or a loan, it really is not advisable to borrow “as much as you can”, when the amount that you can borrow tends to be dictated by the bank or institution from which you borrow it. There is some link between your monthly income and your credit rating, and the amount that the banks will lend to you. However it does not seem to apply in the same way with all banks.

Most people who have worked in credit control will tell you of an account they saw which showed a customer defaulting on a credit card where their credit limit was pretty huge and their monthly salary was comparatively small. Due to the limitations of the process used to judge some bank’s credit limit provisions sometimes there will be excessive money lent to people who give in to the temptation to spend it even knowing that they cannot afford to pay it back.

Alternatively if you have not shown a good history of paying back credit when you get it, you run the risk of either not getting credit or getting it in woefully short amounts. Depending on your reasons for needing the credit in the first place this may not matter so much – indeed it may be good news – but it is still something to be aware of.

How Times And Views Have Changed

There was a time when to talk of having debts was like openly admitting that you liked to pull the wings off flies. People simply would not confess to having debt, even if it turned out that they did have debts, and quite substantial ones at that. Now, it really doesn’t seem that way. Debt is seen as an accepted hazard and a fact of life by many people – and there have been some good outcomes to that, with many responsible people on lower incomes able to spread the cost of necessary outlays. The problem comes when the debt cannot be managed.

It might be more beneficial for everyone if we started to differentiate more between kinds of debt. Rather than assuming that all debt was bad, if we could all tell the difference between unmanageable and manageable debt, necessary and unnecessary debt, then we would be able to judge when debt was an acceptable step, when it was the best option, and put together some ideas on how to stop people getting into damaging, excessive debts of the kind which can blight a life.

It would not be true to say that the present-day prevailing view on debt was the right one. Nor would it be right to say that the old-fashioned attitude was strictly fair or correct. What we can hopefully all agree on is that debt awareness is more important than anything, and that we should all learn to apply the common sense that none of us are shy of handing out to everyone else.

What Does Debt Mean To You?

The very word “debt” is enough to bring fear to a great number of people, suggesting as it does a range of worries from being unable to make mortgage payments, keep a car on the road, take holidays and even, for some people, to eat three good meals daily. There are of course several different kinds of debt, and it is not necessarily a given that debt will always lead to financial meltdown. The key thing to remember is that debt should always be manageable. There are many of us who have a certain amount of debt, but make sure that it is covered. Taking out debt to pay for something you want and assuming that “something will come along” to pay for it is not a plan that will work.

Managed debt can be a life saver, and people who know how to manage their debt give themselves a lot more options than those who do not. There are ways and means of making sure that your financial position is protected, but being able to count on those ways and means demands that you will be ready to pay close attention to your incomings and outgoings at all times. If you are assured of money being available to make payments on a credit arrangement – for the duration of that arrangement and not just for the foreseeable future – then you are not doing yourself any harm by borrowing. It is just a way of spreading the cost.

But for too many people, the issue of debt is that it is unmanageable, or manageable up to a point. But what if you lose your job or your hours are cut back? What is you or a family member falls ill? Then it stops being manageable, and you need an alternative.

How Debt Can Ruin Your Life

Most of us, at one time or another, have looked at an item and thought “That would make my life so much better – now if only I had the money to buy it”. Credit is the solution used by many people in this dilemma. In many ways, it is as though a bank were saying to the person “No problem, you can have that item. I’ll pay for it now, and you can pay me back over time”. In this, the bank is acting as the generous friend who reassures you that you can have what you want without needing to worry unduly about how you’re paying for it. The major problem with that is that banks need to make their money back, and are not your friends.

A friend would, in most cases, be willing to forego some of the money if you really couldn’t pay it back. They would understand your good intentions and would know that some day you would do them a favor for which they would be thankful. Banks do not – and cannot – operate in this way, as their business relies on being strict with how they control credit. They cannot afford to be your friend. So when you borrow money from a bank and cannot pay it back, suddenly you are on your own.

For this reason it makes sense to be very careful when borrowing from a bank. It really makes sense to be careful with any borrowing – no-one likes letting a friend down. But when banks are involved, being in debt can be a very lonely experience.

The Risks of Living On Credit

It is always difficult to live frugally when all around you seem to have more possessions, more money and simply more fun. There are few people in the world who do not enjoy having new, enjoyable possessions which can make life easier, more varied and overall just more fun. The risk of seeing life in this way is that it can make people go to extreme lengths to keep up. No small amount of the financial turmoil that is seen on an individual basis very frequently happens for this very reason. When people around you always seem to have the best clothes and gadgets, and be enjoying life more, there is a real chance that they are living beyond their real means.

Spending money is fine, as long as there is money there to spend. Otherwise, it needs to be considered long and hard in the context of your situation. If you are making a purchase on a credit card, ask yourself if you can afford to make the payment that is required at the end of the month (or whenever your payment cycle places the due date). If it is a matter of making the purchase now and worrying about how you will pay for it later, it is really a good idea to refrain.

Think of it like this: credit cards make it easier to spend money, but that money is not technically yours. Spending money that you need to pay back, and not having the means to pay it back, is like trying to outrun a hungry lion. The credit card may act as a vehicle to escape the lion, but sooner or later you run out of fuel.

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