Debt Problems? Read this if you're thinking of bankruptcy

By Phillip Evans

25 per cent of the UK adult population are saying their financially out of control with a major number, around one million three hundred thousand people, admitting their finances are entirely unmanageable, a report by the insurer AXA says.

The report suggests that over 3.7 million people are reported to be struggling to cope with mounting credit card bills and just over a million people have borrowed too much money and are now struggling to keep up their repayments.

Half a million home owners have been threatened with a bailiff or eviction and personal county court judgements CCJs has increased in quarter 3 to their highest level since the start of 2007

In England and Wales CCJs rose by 17.4 per cent year on year to 223,519, their highest level since the first quarter of 2007, according to figures published by the Registry Trust, the public interest company which manages the register of judgements, orders and fines on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. This represents an increase of 24.8 per cent from the second quarter of 2008.

Individual insolvencies in England and Wales increased to 27,087 in the third quarter of 2008, up 8.8 per cent from 24,893 in the previous quarter.

17,341 people went bankrupt, which has shot up 12.1 per cent from 15,463 in the second quarter of the year, and 9,746 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), which is up 3.3 per cent from the three months before.

The sharp rise in corporate and individual insolvencies merely reflects the treacherous economic conditions people and businesses continue to face through this deteriorating recessionary backdrop; making an even sharper rise in both business and personal insolvencies look inevitable in the coming quarters of 2009.

It was hoped that the SIVA, planned for release in early 2009 would help with some of the debt burden, however, the Insolvency Service has just abandoned the concept.

For consumers with debts up to 75,000 a SIVA, being the simplified IVA and would have only required that a simple majority of your creditors to accept the proposal for insolvency, was planned for April 2009.

UK Home Owners unable to consolidate their debts using equity and are not wishing to go bankrupt have for the time being limited options between an IVA and a Debt Management Program.

About the Author:

Enable Finance Ltd offer a FREE private and confidential debt management advice service to ensure our customers don't sink in debt. For our Business clients Enable Finance has a dedicated business recovery unit if your business is facing debt problems.

Personal Loans Are Great For Fast Cash

By Trinity Davidson

Getting a small loan is sometimes a necessity. The timing of medical emergencies and other unexpected bills can sometimes get in the way. These unexpected expenses can make like complicated, especially if they fall in certain times of the year like the holidays, or around birthdays for that matter. Often, getting a personal loan can really help.

If you need less than $1,000 to cover your unexpected expenses, you may want to think about securing a payday loan. This can help you to float until your next paycheck and will get your expenses covered.

If you decide to take out a payday type personal loan, make sure to not borrow more than you can immediately pay back with your next check. This will help you to avoid expensive fees that could further cripple your finances.

For those of you that need to borrow more than $1,000, you may need to find a different type of loan. Some lenders offer car title loans or you could go to a bank to get a home equity loan. Understand that your home or car would be on the line.

Taking out a loan on your car or home could have consequences, so make sure that you understand how it all works. Failing to make your payments would inevitably force the bank to seize your asset which means you would lose your home or car.

Most payday type lenders will loan you money for a few weeks to a month. Banks will allow you to pay back the money over the next few years. Either way, be smart and you'll be well on your way to securing the funds that you need.

About the Author:

Trinity teaches individuals about how to find a personal loan and about many types of student loans for people with bad credit.

Reverse Mortgage Rates Take Leap Up In Coming Days

By Spikoliolio Vanrock

When seniors decide to go with a reverse mortgage, the majority pick the credit-line option. There are several motives for this, but we'll tackle that another time.

What I'm referring to here is the fact that this week, the margins charged by reverse mortgage lenders nationwide will increase a half percent or more.

What the heck is a margin? I was getting to that. The margin is the profit built into the loan by the bank and those that would put their money into mortgage backed securities.

The line of credit based on the constant maturity treasury index is what almost all borrowers of a reverse mortgages were using if the went forward with a reverse mortgage with a line of credit.

The treasury index read .40 percent seven days ago, and the margin the mortgage companies charged was 1.75 percent. To find the actual rate of interest for the loan just combine these two numbers, which would equal 2.15 percent.

Fannie Mae (the organization who secures secondary loans) has now forewarned that the bank's margin will increase at least a half percent.

The effects on borrowers will be fairly limited. We've had the good fortune of rates being so low they are below the FHA floor rate which determines how much money a borrower may cash out.

How much a senior is loaned and interest go hand in hand. A loan will be higher if the interest is lower. It goes the other way as well until the ground FHA rate is reached. Then any interest rate less than that rate will not make the loan higher.

We are luckily a good bit under the floor FHA rate, and the margin going up will not throw seniors above it. So if you were given a loan quote last week, it is still okay to go by that.

What will happen is the equity will evaporate slightly more rapidly due to the margin being raised. This isn't the best thing about a reverse loan, but not having to pay the mortgage company every month helps.

Interest is eating away equity, and that is the negative aspect. Due to the marginal increase, it will deduct from it a little more rapidly than before.

About the Author:

Scooter to a strong California website hitting the 5 big mistakes to make when getting a reverse mortgage. An additional site covering twenty top queries about the California reverse mortgage is right here

Home Building Hurdles and Construction loan Declines

By Rick Gomez

The financial crisis is affecting everyone. People are losing their jobs and some have to foreclose their homes. As a result, there is a decline in home building making some doubt that now is now the right time to build a home. [I:0:T]

When you have built your home, one thing you have to deal with is the property taxes and this could range from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on where you live. Take note that this does not yet include mortgage expenses if you have not paid yet for the house in full. The only consolation is that you pay for this on a fixed term.

While most home values go up after how many years, in some cases like during the financial crisis, its value could go down. Some analyst said that the average home value has only kept up with inflation over the last few decades so you dont really gain that much.

A good example is the state of California which lost more than 220,000 jobs in the past 2 years. This translates to a loss of about $30 billion to the states economy. Some companies have gone bankrupt with others forced to close down their projects.

You will also have to include inflation because building a home increase from 3% to 6% annually. With this information, only look at homes that were built within the last 6 months.

Since the property of most homes has also gone down, many of the current homeowners cant even make a profit if they decide to sell it now in hopes of building a new one.

For those who are renting, continue paying for it because it is cheaper to own until perhaps you have save enough to consider building your own home. In most places, annual rent is still less than 3% of the purchase price and mortgage rates are 6.5% which makes it cost more than double to try and borrow money to build a home.

If you signed a warranty with your contractor, any problems will be taken cared of by them without any additional charges.

Since your house is new, it is more energy efficient compared to older homes thanks to new technology and you are compliant with new environmental regulations.

If you had this property for a long time, then chances are the neighborhood around you is already well developed. You dont have to haul a lot of dirt, do grading, clear trees or blast through large rocks if your property happens to be somewhat secluded.

There are bargains to be found out there in the real estate marketplace but make sure you pick the best projects in the best areas.

We mentioned earlier that the second reason for the decline in home building is that people are not earning enough to buy a home. This is true for new families especially those who have children because its hard to do both when you already have children.

What makes matter worse is that banks who happily loaned money to homeowners sold this to companies like Fannie Mae or to buyers of mortgage backed bonds. As a result, the value of most homes is now falling so you will have a hard time making a profit if you decide to sell your home.

About the Author:

If your looking for a construction loan to build your new home and want new ideas on home Building, or just Building a new home download a free construction loan e-book on our website.

Starting a Credit Repair Business and Keeping Your Expenses Low

By William Blake

With any business the initial start up costs can be challenging. A credit repair business is not unique in this way. It can be expensive to get started and costly to maintain your credit repair business. Also, just like with other types of businesses, you may have to work hard for a while before you see any profits. Add to that the challenge of learning to provide a good credit repair service and you realize that you are faced with quite a task.

Getting Ripped Off

You have to be careful when buying the products needed to start your business. It will be frustrating and a waste of money if you invest in credit repair business software that you are expecting to help you get your business going and it ends up being worthless. If you make good decisions in the products you choose for starting your business you can avoid this frustration and you will see just how much your business can earn.

Most of the credit repair business kits being sold on the market end up being more profitable to the seller than to the buyer. However, the good news is that there are ways to enjoy free credit repair business that are realistic and which wont make any dent in your pocket.

By trying to keep your initial investments down you allow yourself to gradually learn about credit repair as you build your business and you wont have a lot of out of pocket expenses.

Some credit repair services charge extremely high fees and prey on debtors desperate for a way to repair their credit. Some lawyers and other professionals also take advantage of people. If you want to start a good credit repair service you dont want to get caught up in that game.

The good news is that an average person can get into the credit repair business " as long as he or she has the required knowledge. To open up a free credit repair business can be very simple. When it comes to repairing credit scores there are two options available: one is to do it on your own while the other is to seek professional help.

Mycreditreport data generator 1.0 and Poor Mans Credit Repair Kit are two free credit repair business programs that you help you get your credit repair business started. There are others that are also available and you can find them by doing a little searching online. With programs like these you can easily get your business started without spending a lot of money.

About the Author:

Are you tired of struggling to keep up with your credit card debt? Get some simple ways to pay off credit card bill on the Debtopedia website. Visit http://www.debtopedia.com for a free copy of my "Secrets Of Credit Card Debt" report.

How To Easily Reduce Your Utility Bill By 20%

By Jenni Snook

Receiving our gas and electrical bills is certainly not the most pleasant experience. Despite not receiving a pleasant bill, many people quickly assume that there's nothing they can do to help it. In reality, there is a lot families can do to significantly reduce both their energy consumption and their utility bills. All this is possible by following the tips in this article.

A simple way to start saving money is by researching what different utility companies charge. You may find cheaper alternatives that you didn't know about. Utility companies are in fierce competition with rivals, which can only be a win-win situation for you and saving money.

It's possible that you may be living in an area where there is only one utility company. It's also possible that your utility company is already the most economical one. If this reflects your situation, then your next step to save money should be to reduce your energy consumption. This may seem impossible but it isn't. Even by applying very simple energy saving techniques, you can accumulate quite a large amount of savings.

Simply turning off the lights in rooms that are not being used is a great way to start saving energy. It's very common to people to leave lights on even after leaving the room. This will increase your electric bill quite substantially over time. Saving hundreds of dollars a year can be simple as switching off unnecessary lights at home.

One thing to consider for those who lives in an older home is insulation. Insulation does wonders for cutting down the amount of heat that leaves your home. Insulation can allow your family to save a significant amount of money. If, by chance, you possess a boiler in the household, it would be a good idea to insulate that as well. This helps keep your water warmer, especially during the winter months. This process of insulation assures you savings both on the quantity of water and the heat used to heat it. There is an added benefit of insulation in that it means that your boiler's wear and tear will be reduced meaning that that it will last longer.

There are those people who do not consider reducing their energy bill simply because they are convinced that it is out of their control. Nonetheless, there is a big possibility of saving a significant amount of money by simply looking for alternatives. The best part about cutting energy is that you're saving money as well as protecting the environment.

About the Author:

Jenni Snook is the main reporter of http://www.HealthyWealthySoul.com, a website focused on providing individuals recommendations and resources on personal finance planning to achieve both financial and spiritual bliss in their lives.

What Are Guaranteed Payday Loans?

By Dave Davis

If you need cash quickly and won't be getting paid for a week or two, there are quite a few options available to you. Many people turn to cash advance or payday loans to get the funds they need. Lenders can often give you the funds you need on the spot and this can save you late fees and other expenses.

If you need to get a payday loan or cash advance, you'll want to check to make sure it's legal in your state. 12 states prohibit lenders from offering this type of loan. These loans are also illegal in Canada. However, some states allow this practice without any problems.

If you live in a state where there is little to no legislation, you'll want to be especially sure to read the fine print to make sure you are not paying more than necessary in fees to borrow the needed money. In most cases, the finance charges range anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the amount borrowed.

You should only use payday type loans as a last resort, and you should make sure to always pay them back on time. These loans usually need to be paid back within two weeks and if they aren't, the interest compounds again. If your interest compounds at 10% every two weeks you're going to have to pay some big time money in a huge hurry.

Most lenders that provide this type of loan will withdraw your payment from your bank account automatically. However, some will leave this up to you because they want to be able to charge you more and more interest over time. The annual rate you would pay in interest on this type of loan is astronomical.

If a payday lender tries to cash a check that has insufficient funds, they will usually charge you extra fees and increased interest. To avoid these complications, you should make sure that you can pay back the full amount, on time.

If you decide to take a cash advance or payday type loan, it will be fairly easy to find. If you're in a state where it's legal, you will find quite a few payday loan stores on any major street. You can also find these loans easily online.

About the Author:

Only use a guaranteed payday loan with extreme caution. Dave educates people on how to use personal loans to save themselves the extreme interest rates on other types of loans.

UK Payday Loan Software

By Shelly Ganes

This article looks at the way banks exploit customers with NSF and overdraft fees. It contrasts this with the other option known as payday or cash advances and proposes that these are in fact cheaper than bank fees. It goes on to show how banks lobby aggressively against the payday industry fearing cuts in there fees. The findings are based on a US study by the federal government and is freely down loadable.

This is an independent agency part of the federal government - created in 1933, just when thousands of banks failed. The 1920s and early 1930s saw thousands of banks fail. The FDIC is managed by a five-person Board of Directors, all of whom are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with no more than three being from the same political party.

In 2006 legislation allowed banks to apply automated overdraft programs - much to the detriment of consumers. This is a system where the bank honors customers obligations using computer rules to determine non-sufficient qualification for overdraft coverage. Data and information were gathered through a survey of a sample of institutions representing 1,171 FDIC-supervised banks, and a separate data request of customer account and transaction-level data from a smaller set of 39 institutions.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published the results of a two year study on the use of overdraft programs operated by FDIC-supervised banks. The study found that a typical NSF check can result in overdraft fees and interest in excess of 3,500 percent APR. Customers in low income areas were more than likely twice as certain to incur these fees.

The FDIC study reinforces the payday loan industry's position that short-term cash advance loans are significantly less expensive than traditional bank overdraft fees. The other major difference is than banks are automatically enrolling customers in programs that carry APRs and other fees that are in fact far more expensive than a payday loan. Namely 75% of banks did this.

The study concluded that a typical customer would incur fees of $27- for each $20 overdraft over a 2 week period. A $60- ATM overdraft in 2 weeks would incur an APR of 1,067 percent. A customer repaying a $60 ATM overdraft in two weeks would incur an APR of 1,173 percent and a customer repaying a $66 check overdraft in two weeks would incur an APR of 1,067 percent. Surprisingly, the study also concluded that the faster a customer repays an overdraft, the higher the resultant APR.

Consumer advocacy groups like the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) have lobbied to ban payday lending, leaving consumers with no option other than to pay overdraft fees to banks and credit unions. CRL have led a charge to pass a law banning payday lending in Ohio. In 2006, Ken Compton, CEO of Advance America, said, "Contrary to the CRL's spin, responsible uses of the payday product provides consumers firm footing to overcome unexpected financial circumstances,".

Some key findings;

Over 90% of banks completed overdraft fees without informing the customer.Very few banks (less than 8%) inform customers that they are about to incur insufficient funds. There is little opportunity to cancel the transaction so avoiding the fee.

Bank customers complaints about overdraft fees were received by twelve percent of banks.

Almost 9 percent of consumer accounts had at least 10 NSF transactions during a 12-month period. Nearly five percent of customers have 20 or more NSF transactions. Customer accounts with 20 or more NSF transactions were charged $1,610 per year in NSF fees on average.

About the Author:

Marsha Smythe is intrigued by the concept of APR and how banks can get away with charging such high amounts. He makes available on his blog downloads from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). These are a must read for anyone contemplating overdraft versus payday loans. Although US bank orientated the same rules apply to both UK Payday Now and Canada payday cash.