Many of you have e-mailed your concerns regarding the recent hack into an MU database where the personal information of 22,000 people was recently compromised. I don’t want to focus a lot of time/attention on this since I dealt with the issue about 6 weeks ago in a tip, but I wanted to remind you of what you should be doing if you find yourself in the middle of this …
- Review the information from the financial tip dated 3/22.
- Think twice before buying the theft protection services that are sold.
- Review your credit reports. Even if you’ve already received your free report(s) for this year, as a potential fraud victim, you are entitled to free credit reports [for fraud]. Contact the three credit reporting agencies (Experian.com, Equifax.com, TransUnion.com) to order the free reports.
- Place fraud alerts on your reports (https://www.annualcreditreport.com) click on ‘fraud alert.’
- If you live outside of Missouri, you may be eligible for a credit freeze [Missouri has considered a bill but has not acted upon one yet]; read the tip mentioned above and you can find out if your state has a law in place.
- I would review my credit report monthly for the next 3-6 months. In most instances, activity that occurs will not show up immediately.
- Go to StolenIDSearch.com. You can enter your SSN and it searches a database of nearly 2.5 million compromised numbers. It will tell you if yours has been compromised or not. Secure site.
The Consumer Action Handbook, first published in 1979, is one of the most helpful and popular consumer resources. The free guide is designed to help consumers find the best and most direct source for assistance with their consumer problems and questions. Tips are offered on such topics as banking, making purchases (buying and leasing cars, housing), protecting against fraud, insurance, and resolving marketplace problems (includes sample complaint letters). Thousands of contacts for Better Business Bureaus; federal, state, county, and city government consumer protection offices are also provided.
Ordering Information.
- The booklet can be viewed online
- Order by phone: 1-888-878-3256
- Order online
- View contents in pdf format
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Private Loan Consolidation
Last week I addressed consolidation issues/strategies for federal loans. As promised, this week I will discuss consolidation of private loans (PL). Contrary to popular belief, you can consolidate private loans – the primary question you will need to answer is whether or not doing so is in your best interest. In most cases, it’s not …
Private Loan Consolidation Considerations.
* Cannot consolidate PLs until you’re out of school and beginning repayment.
* Cannot consolidate PLs with federal loans.
* Unlike federal consolidation – in the vast majority of instances, consolidating PLs will leave you with a variable rate loan – NOT a fixed interest rate.
* Keep in mind that the best option/choice is often to leave them alone.
How do I know if consolidation makes sense for me?
* Look at the benefits of your current lender. There are very few companies (about 10) that will consolidate any private loans [regardless of lender]. Most companies will offer some type of consolidation or “refinancing” of private loans, but will require that you have loans with them to be eligible. That requirement will differ by lender; some will require at least one loan be with them, some may require that at least 50% of the consolidated amount be with them. Regardless, researching your current lender(s) is a good place to start.
* Shop around. As mentioned, there are a few companies that don’t have stipulations in order to use their consolidation/ refinance program. Here is the best list I’ve come across (http://finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml). You want to shop closely the loan rates/terms because the lender, not the government sets the interest rates (most are linked to the Prime Rate or LIBOR Index).
* How does your credit look? Perhaps the most important question to ask is ‘How is your credit now’? and what did it look like when you first took out the loan(s). Private loans are credit-based – if you had poor credit with no co-signer, your current rate is inevitably high. You are the best candidate for PL consolidation. Your rate with good credit should never be worse than the prime rate (currently 8.25%), but could be 6% or more than that with poor credit. You possibly paid fees to take the loans out initially; most companies will assess more fees (not all) to consolidate the loans (1% - 3% is common, but I’ve seen fees that approach 10%) … these fees [along with maintaining a variable rate loan] are the biggest reasons why often you’re best not to consolidate private loans. If you had good credit all along, your loan situation is not likely to improve by consolidating. If you decide that PL consolidation does make sense for you, you may want to review my article on PL shopping – the criteria used to shop for the loan initially is the same for shopping for a consolidation company.
Private Loan Consolidation Considerations.
* Cannot consolidate PLs until you’re out of school and beginning repayment.
* Cannot consolidate PLs with federal loans.
* Unlike federal consolidation – in the vast majority of instances, consolidating PLs will leave you with a variable rate loan – NOT a fixed interest rate.
* Keep in mind that the best option/choice is often to leave them alone.
How do I know if consolidation makes sense for me?
* Look at the benefits of your current lender. There are very few companies (about 10) that will consolidate any private loans [regardless of lender]. Most companies will offer some type of consolidation or “refinancing” of private loans, but will require that you have loans with them to be eligible. That requirement will differ by lender; some will require at least one loan be with them, some may require that at least 50% of the consolidated amount be with them. Regardless, researching your current lender(s) is a good place to start.
* Shop around. As mentioned, there are a few companies that don’t have stipulations in order to use their consolidation/ refinance program. Here is the best list I’ve come across (http://finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml). You want to shop closely the loan rates/terms because the lender, not the government sets the interest rates (most are linked to the Prime Rate or LIBOR Index).
* How does your credit look? Perhaps the most important question to ask is ‘How is your credit now’? and what did it look like when you first took out the loan(s). Private loans are credit-based – if you had poor credit with no co-signer, your current rate is inevitably high. You are the best candidate for PL consolidation. Your rate with good credit should never be worse than the prime rate (currently 8.25%), but could be 6% or more than that with poor credit. You possibly paid fees to take the loans out initially; most companies will assess more fees (not all) to consolidate the loans (1% - 3% is common, but I’ve seen fees that approach 10%) … these fees [along with maintaining a variable rate loan] are the biggest reasons why often you’re best not to consolidate private loans. If you had good credit all along, your loan situation is not likely to improve by consolidating. If you decide that PL consolidation does make sense for you, you may want to review my article on PL shopping – the criteria used to shop for the loan initially is the same for shopping for a consolidation company.
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