There are literally millions of credit cards in the world today and even with the current credit crunch, the numbers of cards being issued is still on the increase, so the ramifications for the credit card industry are immense and for them at least, difficult to comprehend.

During the good times, credit card companies issued cards under the guidelines of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. However, in their greed to attract even greater numbers of customers each month, they forgot to ensure that their consumer credit agreements they issued to customers were legal and above reproach. This situation changed in April 2008 with the creation of new rules and regulations that fully covered every lending institution that issued a consumer credit agreement.

However (and this is the good part), there are literally millions of potentially flawed agreements in existence that mean you, the consumer, can wipe out your total credit card debt in an instant, legally and ethically.

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Sure, the economy may be flailing, but learning to preserve and maintain your creditworthiness and improve your credit score is still extremely important. If you’ve spent any time watching or reading the news, you’re aware that bad mortgages obtained with faulty credit lending practices and other flawed methods have sent the economy into a tailspin.

Creditworthiness is defined as being financially established to the point where lending credit is deemed a sound judgment by a bank or financial institution. Your credit score determines many things - if you’re responsible enough to re-pay a loan on time and not default as well as your experience handling lines of credit and interest rates. In the eyes of a financial institution, your creditworthiness will help you acquire a loan for a car, house, or other large asset much easier.

The Dynamics: Maintain and Improve Your Credit Score

Developed as a mortgage tool in the mid 1990s (1), your credit, or FICO (R), score essentially determines what, if any, loans you are eligible for and the amount of interest you’ll be required to pay. As your score decreases, the rate of interest increases. Credit companies often say that timely payments are perhaps the most important factor to foster and continually improve a credit score that is high or within an acceptable range.

Your credit score is broken down into many factors: 35% is your payment history; 30% is the current amount you owe; 15% is the time you’ve had your credit lines open and active; 10% comprises new credit lines; and the remaining 10% is the type of credit you use (2). If you’ve fallen behind on payments and the amount you owe is increasing, your creditworthiness (in the eyes of the lending institutions) may be floundering.

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Applying for mortgage loans when you find a home will require different types of information. You will need to provide tax returns, proof of income and a savings or checking account that has the down payment. You will need to provide a copy of the good faith deposit that was given to the realtor. The lender will need to do an appraisal of the property to make sure it is worth the money being asked for it and to make sure you will not need to make any repairs as soon as you move into the home. You also need to provide proof of insurance as soon as the loan is approved.

For the time period leading up to the approval of the mortgage loans, you have to refrain from using any credit cards, obtaining, or refinancing any loans. Mortgage loans are strict and have different guidelines to follow that what a conventional loan does. You have to wait patiently for the loan process to come through. It can take as little as three weeks or as much as two months. It all depends on your particular situation. In some cases, you might have to pay off a debt or two before you can receive financing.

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Repossessed homes are put up for sale when the borrower of the loan defaults in making the payments. This results in the lender exercising the mortgage rights and selling the property to recover the loan amount. This sale process is done by various methods which shall include direct buy sell between the bank and the buyer or an auction in case of the Government houses for sale.

Owning a house today has become difficult and rather a luxury because of the increasing property prices and inflation pressures. Because of this reason repossessed homes for sale are gaining popularity and most people are searching for these for purchasing or investing. Whether the buyer is a prospective one time buyer or a real estate investor, purchasing repossessed home shall prove a benefit which shall have direct impact on the saving of money by the individual.

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Foreclosures are on the rise as they soared 71 percent in the third quarter, to an average of 8,500 homes a day.

More than 3 million foreclosed homes are expected to be in foreclosure by year’s end. Lenders are taking possession of foreclosed homes quicker than before which means that by year’s end lenders will have more than million homes in their possession.

Rather that working with people to aid their help to save the home, lenders are walking away from it. With distressed prices as of now, this would push home process to even lower levels.

Banks are overwhelmed with the sheer number of troubled mortgages and it made it more difficult for them to work out every loan modification by either reducing interest rate, or changing loan terms.

Many of these homes also have second mortgages attached to them which would involve another lender or another party that needs to be present for negotiation. With over 3 million home being foreclosed lenders do not have time to work out each of these homes.

Main problem is that mortgages are grouped together and sold off to investors. These mortgage-backed securities carry terms that are sometimes hard to renegotiate, so the banks typically service the mortgage by collection payments and passing it to investor.

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