Automobile Articles - Page 1

Real Living and GMAC Real Estate hope to provide an even higher level of customer service. The real estate companies have announced a merger with plans to target a female audience and for an emphasis on customer service. Real Living and GMAC will rebrand under the Real Living name, with offices across the country. Real Living will focus on female customers, with a plans for an exceptional customer service experience. The Real Living, GMAC merger comes after Brookfield Residential Property Services acquired both GMAC and Real Living.

Obama’s Making Home Affordable Mortgage Loan Modification Program is helping some but delinquent mortgages are still on the rise. Delinquent mortgages are on the rise as loan modifications are taking longer to complete. Delinquent mortgages, those that are 30 and 60 days late, have usually had a high rate of "self-cure" or homeowners finding ways to make their mortgage payments. However, as home values fall, more homeowners are letting their delinquent mortgages turn into foreclosures. These delinquent mortgages will continue to turn into foreclosures as it continues to take longer to complete loan modifications even under the Obama Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Plan works its way through the system.

A lower monthly mortgage payment should be the goal of a loan modification or a streamline refinance. If your lender offers you a loan modification but raises your monthly mortgage payment, see what else they can do to help lower your monthly mortgage payment. Maybe you can participate in the Obama Making Home Affordable Refinance Program and extend the life of your loan and reamortize to lower your monthly mortgage payment. My personal finance and real estate advice is to go to a your lender and get your lender to lower your interest rate to lower your monthly mortgage payment. Lowering your monthly mortgage payment is a goal of the Obama Making Home Affordable Refinance Program.

What happens if you can't pay your mortgage? A homeowner worries about getting a deficiency judgment if her rental property falls into foreclosure because she can't pay the mortgage. Some states allow deficiency judgments on primary residences, but many do not. If your house is in foreclosure because you can't pay your mortgage, you'll want to make sure that the lender in your foreclosure can't come after you for a deficiency judgment. In some circles, when a lender can't go after the borrower for the debt, the debt is called a non-recourse loan.

The latest scam warning from the BBB is about phony debt collectors. The scammers use personal information like social security numbers to get their victims to wire money under threat of going to jail. The BBB warns that just because they know your info and claim you owe money, doesn't make them legitimate. Find out how to detect if a call is phony and what to do if you get targeted.

Scams from Nigeria are targeting apartment rentals in South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado and California. You need to be careful to avoid these Nigerian apartment rentals scams. Use common sense and do your due diligence before sending any information to third parties you do not know. Once you become a victim of a scam from Nigeria that target apartment rentals, you'll have to take action to protect your financial information.

Should you buy a new car or a used car? There are plenty of factors that will weigh in on the decision, including what kind of financing you can buy, and which car is ultimately the better deal. Also, with the Cash for Clunkers deal, you might get a better deal if you're trading in a used car with a lot worse gas mileage for a new car with great gas mileage.

A home buyer purchased a home using an installment contract for deed. She paid an escrow company, which then paid out her mortgage, taxes, insurance and homeowner association dues - or so she thought. Now she finds out that the escrow company/mortgage broker hasn't been making any payments, and the house could be foreclosed upon. Is she a victim of mortgage fraud? What should she do now?

Home sellers are up in arms. Mortgage rates are at 40 to 50 year lows, but lenders are telling them they cannot refinance if their homes are listed for sale or if they listed the property for sale within six months. That listing will cause a refinance problem with lenders. What's the best advice to tell homeowners in this situation if they would like to refinance their mortgage?

A new scam alert from the FBI is targeting auto shops via the phone relay system. This scam asks businesses to charge repairs and shipping costs to a stolen credit card, asking to wire the excess funds back to the scam artist. After the money has already been wired, the business finds out the credit card is stolen, getting stuck with the loss. While this scam is appearing in auto shops, the money wiring scam has been around for a long time. Don't get trapped by this scam.