Know what you're up against:

Let us look at a credit card with a balance of $3,000.00 at 19.0%. If the consumer makes no new purchases and is making only the minimum payments, it would take over 44 years to pay off, and would cost $10,000.00 in interest alone!

Some facts to be aware of:

Ú   19.0% is a low average

Ú   Most mortgage terms are only 30 years or less

Ú   Many Consumers do not have just one card or revolving account

Ú   Many Consumers cannot even afford to make their minimum payments

Ú   Many Consumers are caught in the ‘Credit Card Shuffle’ or Balance Transfer Trap, which only gets them farther behind while creating the apparency of a viable solution

The value of the Debt Settlement Refinance Program is that one is eliminating a lifetime of unsecured debt with no tax benefits and seemingly no end in sight, and replacing it with a new home equity loan with tax benefits (for details, please consult with your CPA or Certified Tax Preparer) that has a definite end in sight (15, 20, or 30 years).

Know about Credit Counseling:

Many Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) are funded in large part by Credit Card Companies and are supposed to teach Consumers budgeting and other financial skills.  If they are paid by the Credit Card Companies to keep Consumers on their programs, and are charging Consumers a fee to participate in the programs, in who’s best interest are they really working?

There has been a lot of governmental interest in the CCCS Industry recently, and we have included some links below to news articles - some supporting CCCS programs, and others condemning.

We here are at Equity Resource Solutions, Inc. are more in favor of the Debt Settlement option, however, there are those Consumers who would benefit from a program that offers more financial guidance.  This is why we have affiliated with Financial Planning Firms that can assist in getting a Consumer’s “financial house” back in order.

Know about Credit Scoring:

Many Consumers are kept in the dark as to how their creditworthiness is determined.  There are many factors that are taken in to consideration, and we have listed many of them here for your benefit.

The first thing that most lenders look at - and many Consumers are almost paranoid about protecting- is the Consumer Credit Rating Score.  This score is most commonly referred to as one’s FICo^® Score*.

*The term FICo^® comes from the Fair Isaac Company who was the first to develop standardized consumer credit grading, and is a registered service mark owned by the Fair Isaac Corporation.

There are three Credit Reporting Bureaus through which all consumer information travels, by whom it is evaluated, and by whom it is scored.  They are: TransUnion (http://www.transunion.com), Equifax (http://www.equifax.com), and Experian (http://www.experian.com).

A consumer’s Credit Score is broken down this way:

Percentage of score                                Factor

35%                                         Payment History

30%                                         Amounts Owed

15%                                         Length of Credit History

10%                                         Credit Types in Use

10%                                         New Credit

*Source: http://www.myfico.com/myfico/CreditCentral/ScoreConsiders.asp

Terms Defined:

Payment History is the frequency of late and/or missed payments on all of a consumer's credit accounts - secured and unsecured.

Amounts Owed refers to how much debt is owed versus the available limits (on revolving/credit card accounts) or how much is left on an installment loan, such as a home or car.

Length of Credit History is simply how long the consumer has had established credit in their own name.

Credit Types in Use refers to how many revolving/credit card accounts the consumer has compared to how many installment accounts the consumer has.

New Credit is determined by any recently obtained credit.  Although the number of credit inquiries in a given period can temporarily affect one’s score (this varies by Bureau), it is whether or not one has actually gotten a new credit account that matters more.

Other factors that help determine a consumer's creditworthiness are: time on job and in industry, time at residence, debt to income ratio*, income history and trend - how much has the consumer made in the past and how much are they likely to make in the future.  Each of these factors helps potential lenders determine the level of Credit Risk involved with a particular consumer.

*Debt to Income Ratio: The Debt to Income Ratio is the amount of debt payments showing on your credit report divided by your monthly income before taxes (gross monthly income).  Example: If your gross monthly income is $4,000.00 and your total debt payments (credit cards, cars, real estate) total $1,000.00 your Debt to Income Ratio (DTI or DR – for Debt Ratio) would be 25%

Unfortunately, far too much emphasis has been placed on the credit score alone, and this has served to keep more Consumers out of the market for homes, cars and other investments.

Fortunately, Equity Resource Solutions, Inc. has partnered with lenders who, while they take the credit score in to consideration, evaluate more equally all of the factors involved in determining a Consumer’s creditworthiness.  As a result, the Debt Settlement Refinance program is based more on the Home Owner’s current mortgage payment history, and less on the Credit Score - although it is still a factor in determining interest rate in some cases.

Know where you're going:

It was 1980 when there were 200,000 personal bankruptcy filings in the United States, 1990 saw over 600,000 and in 2000 there were over 1.2 million.  This number is only trending upward at an exponential rate.

Within the next few years, that number could reach 2.5 million.

Through the use of the ERSi Debt Settlement Refinance and Debt Settlement Home Finance programs, however, that number can be dramatically reduced.

Know how to win a “losing game”:

The Equity Resource Solutions, Inc. Debt Settlement Refinance and Debt Settlement Home Finance Programs are geared to assist the Consumer in getting out of debt, and in to financial prosperity.

To determine your eligibility, please contact us.

equityresourcesolutions@earthlink.net