The Economy is Increasing Home Insurance Rates

Author: Stephen Sikes

If you are like many people, you are having a tough time with your regular bills right now. It seems this year everything that we have to buy has gone up in price. At the same time, we are making the same or less than we were this time a year ago. For many, there have been no pay raises as businesses struggle to stay open. Others have lost their jobs because of the down economy and are stuck trying to make do with whatever work they can get.

There is now word there may be another hit – home insurance rates. It looks as if home insurance rates will be going up and this time it doesn’t have anything to do with a big disaster that sent insurance companies panicking. Instead, it's investments gone wrong.

You see, home insurance companies take the money you give them as premiums and invest it. Their hope is to make a good return on that investment so they can make a profit and also have the money to pay out on claims as needed.

This year's economic downturn has made a mess of things for them though. Instead of being able to rely on those great returns on investments, the investments have tanked. Now the insurance companies are noticing they don’t have the cash they had hoped they would have and they need to make up the shortfall somewhere.

This is where you and I come in. They are passing on their loss to us. It will show up in the form of higher home insurance premiums
. Some areas of the country are already seeing it happen, with rates going up three to five percent. Other areas are being told to brace for it.

So, what can you do?

You can check around to see if you are getting the best deal. There are a lot of insurance companies out there. While you may be used to using the one you are with, that doesn’t mean they are the most affordable option. Instead, you need to be willing to shop around and see if you can find better rates.

Luckily, this is the easy part of the equation. There are plenty of home insurance comparison websites out there that will allow you to put in your information and then will shop your needs to insurance companies that serve your area.

Before long, you may have a long list of quotes from local insurance companies and you can choose the one that is the best deal for you.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/the-economy-is-increasing-home-insurance-rates-618999.html

Be Prepared for a Credit Card Crunch

Author: Stephen Sikes

In the same way that the other lending fields have been feeling a crunch in recent months, it is expected that the credit card industry is going to be tightening it's belt soon.

The mounting problems for most lenders right now relates to mortgages. Many banks and lending institutions gave much more in lending than they should have to many of their customers. Eventually it started catching up with them, as their customers could not make their mortgage payments (because they were more than they should have been in the first place) and then started defaulting on those mortgages.

Now the concern is that the same thing has happened in the credit card market. Many people have been allowed to get more and more credit cards with higher limits in recent years. Many credit card companies kept upping their limits so they would spend more because they didn't foresee a backwards spiral from their actions.

Now many people are in too deep of debt and are filing bankruptcy, leaving the banks with the debt. This is causing them to rethink what they had approved in the past. Many are rolling back credit limits and tightening the usage of cards they have issued.

What does this mean for you? This means you better know what your limit is and know how you will deal with a lowered limit from your credit card company.

Read the Mailings

Your credit card company will have to let you know if they are going to change your limit. But, if you are like a lot of people you get so many mailings that you don't pay close attention. Change that habit. It could be one line in a statement or other notification that tells you they are lowering the limit.

Additionally, many credit card companies are upping the interest you will have to pay on your cards if you keep a balance on them.

Use Wise Credit Practices

The next thing you need to do is use the best credit cards practices you can. If you have debt on your card here's what you need to do:

Charge what you need to and make sure you can pay a lot of it off at the end of the month – This way you will not be surprised if you suddenly have a lower limit as it will not impact your monthly credit card usage.

Don't miss a payment – One missed payment looks like you are having tough times and can cause the credit card company to clamp down on you.

Try to keep your overall debt at ½ or less of your credit limit – Some credit card companies are chopping credit limits by as much as ½. If you know this and keep your outstanding debt below this point you should not be damaged even if they decide to cut your credit.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/be-prepared-for-a-credit-card-crunch-619007.html

About the Author:
Stephen Sikes is the owner of the credit card comparison site
www.CreditCardWave.com

What are Your Foreclosure Rights

Author: Jill Borash


If you are going to fight the foreclosure
of your home, you need to know what your foreclosure rights are and how to use them to your best advantage. This means getting educated and if you want to save your home, it means getting educated quickly.


The first thing you need to know is that every state has different foreclosure laws. There is not one universal law that governs all states. What this means is that you need to research the laws for your state to figure out what they are. Because whatever those laws are, that is what governs your foreclosure rights.


A good place to start looking to find out what your foreclosure rights are is the website for your state. Doing a search for foreclosure should point you in the right direction. That should at least give you some information and hopefully a phone number to call. I know that in Colorado, there is a free foreclosure hotline that offers free assistance. Because of the current foreclosure crisis in the U.S., many states are now offering all kinds of different free assistance to homeowners to help them understand their foreclosure rights and stop the foreclosure of their homes.


Another good place to look to understand your foreclosure rights is an attorney. I know that it can be difficult or even impossible to afford an attorney when you are facing foreclosure but there are resources out there that can help. If your income is low enough, you might be able to qualify for free help from an attorney or you may be able to find an attorney that would take on your situation pro bono (for free). You will never find out unless you do a little digging and unless you ask an attorney if they are willing to help you.


Doing some research on the internet can also help you understand your foreclosure rights. Sit down with the documents that your mortgage company’s lawyers have sent you and lookup every word or phrase that you do not understand. That is what I did and it helped me get a better idea of what I was dealing with. My one warning here is that be careful who you listen to. There are plenty of people out there who try to take advantage of people who are in the middle of foreclosure. Look at more than one website to get your information. It gives you different perspectives as well as giving you a better idea of whether or not it is actually credible, good information.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/what-are-your-foreclosure-rights-618550.htm

Help With Foreclosure - What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeAuthor: Jill Borash

Being uninformed can be one of the most deadly things you can do when you are facing foreclosure. You can get help with foreclosure but you also need to be on the lookout for the wrong kind of help. Here are a few things you need to know and a few things you need to avoid if you want to save your home from foreclosure.

Being unaware of or not understanding critical dates in your foreclosure situation can spell disaster. If you want to get help with foreclosure, you need to know what court dates have been established for your foreclosure, if and when a sheriff’s sale date has been established, and what the foreclosure deadlines and dates are for your state.

Every state moves on a different timeline. You need to know what those timelines are and more importantly, what those timelines mean. Help with foreclosure is only possible if you move quickly enough within the timelines for your state.

Read through the documentation that your mortgage company’s lawyers have sent you for important court dates. If you cannot figure out what those dates are from the documents you have, find someone who can help you figure it out. There is free help available from state and local government resources to help with foreclosure.

The documentation that you have received from your mortgage company’s lawyers will tell you whether or not a sheriff’s sale date has been established for your home and if it has been established, those documents will tell you what that sale date is. The document I received that had the sale date for my home was called a Combined Notice of Sale and Right to Cure and Redeem. If you want help with foreclosure, you have to know what that sale date is because that tells you exactly how much time you have left to save your home.

You will get a lot of mail from people offering to “help” you get out of foreclosure. Most of what you will get are scams and not people truly wanting to help with foreclosure. The biggest factor to watch out for is people who ask for money upfront in order to save your home. If they want you to bring money with you on the first meeting, chances are you have run into a scam.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/help-with-foreclosure-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you-610661.html

About the Author:
You can get help with foreclosure but you need to make sure that you are informed and know what all of the vital dates in your foreclosure situation are. You also need to make sure that you avoid any scams that are not true help. Get more free information about how to stop mortgage foreclosure at http://www.Stopping-Home-Foreclosure.com/HelpWithForeclosure.html

5 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

Author: Stephen Sikes

It seems every day there is a new story about identity theft and credit card fraud somewhere. Sometimes there are hundreds of these stories in a day. With so many people out there desperate to take our credit card numbers, how do we keep them save? Here are five tips that will give you a good start.

Keep your Numbers Private

Your credit card is a personal card that is meant for you. While it may just seem like a piece of plastic, you should not freely lend your card out to people you know, or give out your credit card number for no good reason. Even when you have to pay for something at a restaurant or other location, you should try to keep an eye on what is happening to your card to make sure someone isn't copying down your numbers to use later.

Shred Receipts

Receipts are not supposed to show more than the last four digits of your credit card, but many of them do. They also have a lot of your other personal information on them. Once you are done using your receipts, or filing them away for taxes, you should shred them instead of putting them in a regular trash can. Don't make the information easy to find for someone who may be up to no good.

Shred Application

Credit card applications come in as much as other pieces of junk mail. You may see them so much that you no longer care about them and toss them in the trash without a second thought. That is not a good idea. That application has some of your information on it. You should always shred credit applications to make sure someone else doesn't fish them out of the trash and try to open a line of credit in your name.

Use Secure Websites

If you do a lot of online shopping, make sure you are using a secure online site. Look for that little padlock logo in the corner of your web browser so you know the information you are entering is secure and only going to those you want to be giving it to.

Watch Your Card Statement

The best thing you can do to keep your credit cards secure is keep a close eye on what is happening on them. If you do online banking, you should check your credit cards regularly to make sure all the charges coming through are ones you put there. If you wait until the statement comes, make sure to look at it as soon as it comes and call if you see anything that is suspicious.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/5-ways-to-avoid-credit-card-fraud-610619.html