Your Guide to Credit and Personal Finance

Refinancing your mortgage has the potential to save you a lot of money ? unless you get taken by a scam. Refinancing scams prey on your desire to refi at a low rate. Once they get you hooked by having you put money down or using delay tactics, you have little time to back out. To protect yourself from losing money on your next refinance, watch out for these signs of fraud.

1. Failure To Disclose Rates, Terms, And Closing Costs

Information is your greatest tool when making financial de cisions. With online lenders you can rapidly compare rates, fees, and terms. Many lenders also offer loan estimates, disclosing pertinent information before you begin an application.

Anytime a lender delays or refuses to provide information, you should be cautious. By law, financial company have to tell you the rate, fees, and closing fees of any loan product. You should also know how much time you have to close the deal before rates are subject to reevaluation.

The most common scam involves no t telling you when locked in rates run out. Then at closing, the lender will quote you a new rate a point or two higher.

2. Requests To Sign False Or Blank Loan Forms

Whenever a lender asks you to falsify information or sign blank forms, run away. If you knowingly give false information, you risk legal and financial problems. While you can still go to the authorities, you will have little recourse.

Blank forms provide frauds a license to draw up any kind of loan terms they want. Yo u may end up with higher rates, balloon payments, or signing away your home?s title.

3. Pushes You To Agree To High Balances Or Payments

Be aware when lenders try to push you to agree to a high balance or payment. While all lenders will encourage you to borrow more in order to increase their profits, the good lenders aren?t trying to force you into foreclosure. Legitimate lenders want to collect interest. Scammers want to take your home. View our recommended and trustworthy refinance le nders at www.abcloanguide.com

The best protection from scammers is information. Check out lenders? sites, ask questions, and don?t be afraid of backing out of a deal. Good rates and good terms are out there for those willing to do a little research.

Take a moment to research how to Refinance Your Property, or obtain an ABC Loan Guide list of reputable Home Loan Financing.

If you are struggling with ever-increasing credit card debt, a 0 APR credit card could be the magic wand for you. There are a number of 0 APR credit cards in the marketplace. These 0 Interest credit cards offer cardholders zero percent on new purchases and certain 0 APR credit card offers also allow balance transfers, lowering the interest burden even further.

The Truth About 0 APR Credit Cards

These types of 0 APR credit cards are offered by popular credit card lenders including American Ex press, Citibank, Chase, HSBC, and Discover. These cards have many benefits to offer if you have a good to excellent credit rating.

Keep in mind, that the zero percent offered with these cards is not permanent. It is an introductory rate and is typically offered for ninety days to as long as 12 months. At the end of the interest-free or zero percent periods, cardholders will have to pay a higher ongoing interest rate. Generally, these rates could vary between 10 % - 14% and sometimes can be as high as 24%.

A 0 APR credit card is ideal when you want to purchase something expensive but cannot find another way to finance it. There will be no interest charges for the in and you will have the introductory buffer period to pay off the expense. But buyer beware … make sure you can pay the purchase off before the introductory APR expires.

Most 0 Interest credit cards allow balance transfers from your existing higher interest cards and many will waive the transfer fees. This is one of the best met hods to pay off debts at a faster rate, leading to substantial savings on the interest charges incurred.

It is possible that a single credit card can have multiple APRs including the following:

1) One APR for balance transfers, one for purchases, and one for cash advances ? the APR normally would be higher for cash advances compared to balance transfers and purchases.

2) Tiered APRs ? Different APR levels can be assigned for different account balance levels or tiers, e.g., 15% for balanc es between $1 - $500 and 17% for balances higher than $500, etc.

3) Introductory APR ? 0 APR as the introductory offer and a higher rate upon expiration of the introductory period.

4) Penalty APR ? A penalty APR rate may apply if you are late with your payments.

The Traps to Watch Out For:

A 0 APR credit card is an attractive proposition, and often is too tempting an offer to resist. However, it is essential to be informed about the often-untold catches in these lucrative offers.

1. The 0 APR is a Limited Time Offer ? In general, the 0 APR offered is only for a limited period. The period could vary from 3 months to 12 months. This implies that purchases made during this period will not attract any interest. You need to be cautious about the expiry period and remember to pay off before the period ends inorder to avoid hefty interest charges.

2. Once the introductory period is over, the 0 APR credit card may have a ridiculously high interest rate like 20% or higher.

3. On-Time Payment ? Most of these 0 Interest credit cards require you to pay the minimum payment on time every month during the introductory period. Late payments will result in penalties that include shifting the remaining balance to a much higher APR.

4. Complete Payment ? Certain 0 APR cards require you to pay off the balance entirely before the expiration period of the introductory offer. If not, the default high interest rate could be applied to the entire balance. Ensure that you understan d these credit card terms clearly.

5. Applicability of the 0 APR ? Most of the 0 Interest cards offer the 0 APR on new purchases and balance transfers in the introductory period. However, there are some cards that offer 0 APR on balance transfers only with higher applicable APR’s on new purchases.

6. Other Fees ? Some credit card companies compensate the 0 APR by charging high annual fees or transfer fees on balance transfers.

7. Cap on Balance Transfer ? Certain cards may have a cap o r limit on the balance transfer amount. This means that the 0 APR will apply only for the amount within the cap limit and anything more will be charged the default higher APR.

While it may be an attractive offer to go for 0 APR credit cards, it may not be a wise decision in certain scenarios. So, before you seriously consider a 0 APR credit card, it is essential to compute credit balances, interest rates, and your pay off capability. Read the terms and conditions carefully to avoid credit traps. Un derstanding the fine print could have substantial savings apart from trouble free credit rating.

For more information on what to watch for in 0 APR credit card offers, Robert Alan recommends that you visit CreditCardAssist.com

20.12.2006 - Home Credit Group, the international consumer finance specialist, announces that it has completed the acquisition of two of Ukraine’s rapidly growing financial services companies - Bank AGROBANK and PrivatKredit - by obtaining all necessary approvals from the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Office, as well as the National Bank of Ukraine.