After weeks of rumors and speculation, it finally happened – Washington Mutual fell and was promptly purchased by financial giant J.P Morgan. Market Watch reports: “Late Thursday, J.P. Morgan announced an agreement to buy WaMu’s banking subsidiary after the nation’s largest thrift was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In a presentation on its [...] [...more]
Under the federal Truth in Lending Act, the HELOC consumer is granted certain rights. Most importantly, you have the right to be given information about your HELOC before agreeing to the loan or paying any fees. You also have the right to cancel your home equity line of credit within a specified time frame. Read [...] [...more]
Over the past couple months, I’ve posted quite a bit about Regulation Z and home equity lender’s responsibilities. HELOC lenders can freeze clients’ credit lines. But, they cannot do so without proper legal cause. The Washington Post recently reports: “This summer, both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Thrift Supervision issued guidance [...] [...more]
An entire generation is now suffering the consequences of too many home equity line of credit withdrawals. During the housing boom, many in the 50+ crowd took out HELOCs and spent the money on home improvement projects, college tuition for the kids, and shopping sprees. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College director recently [...] [...more]
Many financial analysts speculated that the government would slash the Federal Funds Rate earlier today. But, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues voted unanimously to keep rates the same (2.0%). A federal rate cut would have resulted in lower interest rates on most home equity lines of credit. Almost all U.S.-based HELOC rates [...] [...more]
There has been a lot of finger pointing lately. Home equity borrowers are defaulting, lines are being frozen, and over 70% of lenders are reporting tougher standards for new HELOC borrowers. Who’s to blame? According to the Washington Times, it depends on who you ask: “Why the sudden stiffening of HELOCs? It’s the economy, banks [...] [...more]
Homeowners have two major home equity borrowing options: the home equity loan and the home equity line of credit (HELOC). Both options allow homeowners to take out a loan based on the existing equity in their properties. In both cases, the property is used as collateral and may be foreclosed upon should the borrower default [...] [...more]
If you are using over 40% of your available credit, paying off your credit cards with a home equity line of credit may improve your credit score. However, there are some risks involved. Applying and opening a home equity line of credit will give your credit score a ding. However, you may be able to [...] [...more]
Washington Mutual got a new CEO this week – a leader that is now faced with cleaning up a messy portfolio of non-performing mortgages and clients walking away from their debt. On the top of the heap is a whopping $60 billion in home equity loans (including home equity lines of credit). WaMu has already [...] [...more]
In August, I warned readers of the dangers of participating in REX agreements and similar equity sharing programs. Basically, these new lenders will give you cash upfront for a share of your home’s appreciating equity. It can be a tempting prospect, but it is an easy way to lose a lot of money a few [...] [...more]
