Consumer groups recommend getting what is known as a FICO score, which ranges from 350 to 850 points, because it’s the score most creditors rely on. Equifax is the only bureau that sells FICO scores to consumers. With the other bureaus, you get a proprietary score. If you want FICO scores from all three bureaus, you can buy them at myfico.com from Fair Isaac Corp., the company that developed the scoring system. Lenders generally will pull all three of your credit scores and throw out the high and low ones. When you get your scores, you should receive an analysis that includes how you rate in terms of other consumers and tips for improving your scores.

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“Foreclosure filings are skyrocketing in North Carolina. The main cause of the increase in foreclosures is the large and growing number of home loans made by subprime lenders,” says Alfred Ripley, legal counsel for Consumer and Housing Affairs at the NC Justice Center. “While subprime loans have been around for decades, they didn’t used to be as damaging or widespread as they have become in recent years.” In North Carolina, foreclosure filings have increased nearly threefold in recent years to an all-time annual high of over 45,000 in 2006.

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My husband and I are in the market for our very first house. We believe that this is a good time to buy, especially when mortgage interest rates are still quite comfortable. We know that once we find a house we like, we have to enter into a real estate contract with the seller. Who prepares this contract? What real estate professionals will we (should we) work with, and when do we get them involved in the transaction?

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Congress enacted TILA to avoid the uninformed use of credit, the judge said. TILA requires lenders to disclose to the borrower information about the loan, such as interest rate, monthly payments, and total payments over the life of the loan, he explained. TILA includes a notice allowing the consumer to rescind the loan within three business days after consummation of the transaction, delivery of the notice of the right to rescind, or delivery of all material disclosures, whichever occurs last, the judge emphasized. “If the creditor fails to provide the required notice, the right of rescission continues for up to three years after the consummation of the transaction,” the judge noted.

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Recently listed is this one of a kind, 2.87 acre Waterfront Lot with a beautiful view of W. KERR SCOTT LAKE.

It features easy lake access and is dock approved.

The lot is alredy cleared and is ready for building your beautiful home.

Important for lake lots, the property has been “Perc” tested and approved for a septic system for a 3 Bedroom 2 Bath home.

$400,000 for this unique NC lakefront property.

Contact Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email Greg at grstike@charter.net

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Mortgage fraud rose 30 percent last year; it is spreading nationwide, and it’s getting the blame for the housing bust. Once concentrated in relatively few state, “incidents of mortgage fraud are now more evenly distributed across nearly all states,” according to the institute’s “Ninth Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report To the Mortgage Bankers Association.” The report says most fraud comes from so-called “liar loans” where applicants (either on their own or because they are cajoled) are not truthful about their employment history and clamed income — a crime punishable by up to 30 years in jail or fines of up to $1 million or both, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations which, in recent years, has gone after mortgage fraud for what it is — organized crime.

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In many areas of the country, the real estate downturn grinds on longer than the housing economists had been predicting (go figure). According to a recent teleconference with numbers crunchers from the National Association of Home Builders and the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard, spending on remodeling is also dropping, but just 1.5 percent after adjustment for inflation. According to NAHB chief economist David Seiders, the slower growth of remodeling this year and next would be more evident in highly discretionary jobs like remodeling kitchens and baths and adding rooms. So now I know why the bank made the offer and suggested adding a room.

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