Tag Archives: lender
Common Questions About Using Collateral On a Loan
Using collateral on a loan is the easiest way to get yourself approved and get yourself a great interest rate, especially when compared with unsecured financing options. But how does it all work? This can be overwhelming and confusing, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. These common questions cover basic things you’re going to want to know before you start diving into the world of financing.
What is collateral? Collateral is the security you promise to your lender. It’s saying to them that if you fail to make your monthly payments, they have this as security that they can repossess to cover their losses.
What is a secured loan? This is where you offer up some form of collateral. In unsecured financing there is none. In this type of loan your property can be repossessed if you don’t make your payments each month. By having this type of security the lender feels safer, that there is less risk, in lending to you. When there is less risk lending to you companies are more likely to approve your application and are more interested in working with you.
What can you use for collateral? The short answer is anything, but the longer answer is that every company sets their own standards. Banks will mostly only work with real estate and this is the most common form of security. However this is not the only type. The second most common option is a vehicle. It’s fairly easy to find a good number of lenders who will work with a car as collateral. Less common, but still out there, are those who will work with high priced items, like collectibles or jewelry.
Can I keep using my property while it’s being used as collateral? That depends on the item being used. When you are doing real estate or a car, then you can go on using your item as normal. With other high priced collectible items, however, lenders will often hold the item until you have finished making all of your payments.
Why would I want to do this? While there is certainly unsecured financing out there, using collateral makes it a lot easier to get approval. This is important if you have something like bad credit in your history. There are more benefits beyond that, however. By making the lender feel safer that you will repay things, and taking the risk off of them, they are more happy to work with you on things like the amount of your monthly payments, and most importantly, your interest rate. Secured financing is going to have the best interest rates available for you.
Fix Wrong Information In Your Credit Report — TODAY (Page 1 of 2)
Other than eating, sleeping, and breathing, one of the most important things you should be doing on a regular basis is ensuring that the data in your credit report is accurate. That is such a simple statement, yet it is ignored by the vast majority of consumers, probably due to several factors, such as:
* Consumers seem to accept the fact that errors will self correct in a reasonable period of time, where in reality nothing could be further from the truth.
* Consumers dont know how to find out if there is wrong information on their credit report, which impacts their total credit score negatively.
* Consumers dont realize that having a low credit score (lower than what they deserve, if the information maintained by the credit bureaus was accurate) can impact a huge number of factors in their everyday lives.
* Consumers dont realize that studies have shown that the MAJORITY of credit reports on consumers and businesses have errors and inaccuracies.
Your credit score is used by anyone loaning you money such as credit card companies, home loan lenders, auto loan lenders and finance companies. You need to find out what your credit score is before you talk to any lender in case there is something on your report that they may question. Your credit score is the actual number ranging from 300 to 850 that lenders use to judge your creditworthiness and the interest rate theyll charge you. Having a credit score lower than what you actually deserve could mean the difference between getting approved for a loan or credit card, or being denied. If you are approved, a lower credit score can mean the difference of the lender assessing a 14% interest rate or a 6% interest rate, which can cost you hundreds and even thousands of dollars more at the end of the loan period.
The big three credit bureaus are required to give you a free copy of your credit report annually, or any time that you have been denied credit based on information that they provided to a potential lender. It may take some time to get through to the credit bureaus to request a copy of your credit report, but this is well worth your time to do so. Be sure to get a copy of it from all three of them, since some lenders only report to one or two of them. This means that the information on your credit report from one credit bureau is almost certainly not going to be identical to the data from another credit bureau.
If you notice any errors on your report, you should complete a dispute form with the credit bureau. When they send you a copy of your credit report, they will usually include instructions on how to file a dispute for erroneous or inaccurate information. Some experts say that if you are disputing say 5 different items, you should file 5 separate dispute forms so each one can be addressed specifically. There is some merit to that discussion, since the credit bureaus may view a dispute consisting of many items as frivolous and not take appropriate action to correct the information.