First-Stop-Credit.com News

Even though she recently filed for bankruptcy, Laura Fogle, has been bombarded by new cedit card offers from banks and issuers wanting to lend her money at high interest rates. In the last few weeks she has had unsolicited offers from MasterCard and Citibank to name but a few.

This is nothing new - credit card companies have a history targeting bankrupted people. They think that by enticing them to sign up for a new credit card at inflated rates of interest, they will recoup money from late payment fees and interest that will then be weighed against outstanding debts. Many of the offers from credit card companies are for secured credit cards that require an initial bank deposit, which is then used to pay any outstanding balances.

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A survey from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has said that UK house prices continued to slow in the year to October. The annual rate in the growth of house prices across the UK was in October at 2.2%, down 1.1% from 3.3% in September. Figures from the report show that the cost of the average UK was down to £186,103 in October from £186,755 in September.

Recently the Nationwide Building Society reported house prices to rise through 2006.

The Bank of england’s December meeting has concluded that the UK base rate of interest will be kept at 4.5%, a decision that marks four months in a row where the interest rate has remained unchanged.

The last change in UK interest rates was in August 2005 when the Bank of England trimmed them 0.25% down to 4.5% in order to boost lagging consumer spending. However, with UK stores facing the toughest retail outlook in years the drop in interest rates may not have been enough to reignite consumer confidence. City economists now expect the Bank of England to wait until Christmas retail numbers are released before deciding on any changes to the interest rate.

“Today’s MPC decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.5% was widely expected by the financial markets. But British business is disappointed that the MPC felt unable to take decisive action to counter the worsening economic situation,” stated David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

According to the Nationwide Building Society, we can expect house prices to rise in the UK throughout 2006. The best house prices are forecast to rise by up to 3% (following a 2.4% rise in 2005 and a 12.7% rise in 2004) the Nationwide report warned that house prices may even flatline in some areas. However, the Nationwide report did warn that, at least in the first few months of 2006, house prices may actually fall in comparison to the first months of 2005 which saw strong growth.

“Our expectation is that house price growth will remain firmly in low single digits in 2006 as the economy recovers. With rapid price increases over the last nine years it will take some time for affordability to recover,” said Fionnuala Earley, an economist for the Nationwide Building Society.

The report believes that UK house prices will not crash during 2006. Strong demand and not enough new housing, low interest rates and low levels of unemployment should help maintain the property market. However, the report was based on the forecast on a recovery in the UK economy, which has recently shown signs of a significant slowdown.

Two private consumers are taking a case against TransUnion and Wels Fargo over alleged false credit reporting. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher had their mortgaged home in San Clemente red-tagged because the land it was built on was deemed instable. After contacting Wells fargo Home Mortgage, their mortgage servicer, the Fishers were issued with a forebearance agreement which put a stop to their mortgage repayments while their home was red-tagged.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage then transferred the mortgage to Freddie Mac, who acted as the mortgage holder and eventually charged off the loan leaving the Fishers with a zero balance. Up until the property was red-tagged the Fishers maintained a spotless credit history, never missing a mortgage repayment.

However, Wells Fargo reported false credit information about the Fishers by saying they had a history of late repayments and then began to start foreclosure proceedings on the property without any persmission. Because of Wells Fargos’ false credit reporting the Fishers faced difficulties when trying to find another home to move into. The Fishers maintain that Wells Fargo reported incorrect credit information for two years. Meanwhile, TransUnion also were reporting incorrect credit information pertaining to the Fishers even when alerted to the inaccuracies by Wells Fargo and the Fishers.

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This year Black Friday, the day that is traditionally the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States, is threatening to plunge many consumers into financial difficulties.

With many of the favourite Christmas lines, like the iPod and PSP costing hundreds of Dollars, it is easy to see how a middle-earning family can slide into a financial pit this Christmas.

“Consumers have typically been on the wrong side of the interest rate equation. On Black Friday, what do consumers do? Pile into the family minivan and splurge on items that they sometimes can’t afford,” said Larry Chiang, founder of United College Marketing Services, said in a recent television interview.

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