I recently graduated college and currently make 53k. I bought my wife a ring while I was in school with a Gordon’s credit card which is currently $200 dollars from being paid off ($2,000 purchase). While in school I made maybe 7k a year. I made 4 times the monthy payments to get it paid off. My credit score has risen 100 points from 540 to 640. I can not get a 1,000 dollar increase through gordon’s nor can I get a car loan (through Prosper or anyone else) so I can stop driving a vehicle that will most likely kill me (geo metro)…haha. ..but seriously; how can this economy survive when people with excellent credit scores are the only ones to get loans? WTF American. I have 12k is student loans which are all in great standing. Gordon’s sucks, Prosper sucks, this blows. I wanted to buy the house I am currently renting which is only 130k ..but I think I am getting my hopes up.
I opened a CD account with Chemical Bank of $500 and the Branch Manager said I could borrow against it and that they could not turn me down because it was SECURED by the CD. So I tried to borrow only $200 of the $500 and the bank Turned me down because my credit score was too low(482Transunion)529Equafax-574Experian) even though its SECURED. So why I ask you, why I cant borrow off my own money? Did that bank do me wrong? Can I sue that Bank for negligence and or Wronged me? Or what?
I own 2 small companies that average a total of 800,000 in sales each year. We operate these 2 companies on a 50,000 LOC…We have weathered this storm as best as possible until July 09. I went to the bank (Regions) this week and asked for 10,000 extra on our LOC and were refused…. Can someone please tell me how my TAX DOLLARS bailed the banks out yet the banks cannot help us????? We are facing some major issues in the next 2 weeks and at this point have no idea how we’re going to make it… I just do not understand!!! Mr. Obama, I ask you, is there no help for us little guys?
I have a score of 650, no debt and no accounts that I owe on. I don’t even have a bank account. I still can’t even get approved for a deferred 90 day payment option for a Bill Me Later purchase. The whole system is wacked, all 3 of my reports say different things and are filled with inaccuracies. Something needs to be done about this credit crisis.
I am having trouble refinancing my 1st & 2nd mortgage because my house value fell. I had my credit card limits lowered by Chase credit card company and interest rate raised. Currently I am in an interest only arm loan that is due to go up in January. I have good credit or at least I did before Chase lowered my limits. I have a job that I worked in for 27 years. My mortgage company will not modify my loan and I am sinking deeper into despair because I cannot get a loan to refi before the arm loan modifys. My mortgage payments are current so I guess that is why no one wants to help me.
i would just like to say i am having trouble getting a loan… i have steady income through the united states military no debt 2 credit cards that i have paid off… and hardly any bills all together… and a great credit score… can some one explain why i am having issues???
I have a good steady job and always have made my payments on time. I have a credit score of 695. I wanted to fix my credit and have one lump sum monthly payment to pay off my loans faster, due to getting a new car and paying of credit card balances quicker and clean up my credit score.
I am 20 years old and have had 3 credit cards that I use for typical student expenses, books, laptops, supplies. I have been using and paying off these cards for about 3 years. Recently I tried applying for a loan to purchase an automobile, Ive gotten denied 2 times, and was so desperate that I applied for another credit card with a higher limit. Was also denied. I work full time as a security guard and have never missed a payment and have maxed out ($3000) a credit card once or twice. Whats the deal????? Is this because of economy? I didnt have a problem aquiring these cards 3 years ago when i had NO credit….
I am a single, self-sufficient, 27-year old that holds a secure job despite the economic times. I earn an income in the 70-75K range and have “excellent” credit as reported by all three bureaus.
I have been denied an auto loan by four different lenders.
The reasons for denial supplied by the lenders are vague (“insufficient collateral”). This has been a frustrating process since I have saved enough money to essentially purchase a car in cash and I’ve been told by many acquaintances in the know that I’m the “ideal” candidate for a loan.
I hope this economic mess clears up soon so that a young guy just starting out who’s done everything by the book can finally get a break.
I was turned down for a credit card because I have an interest only mortgage loan. Plus they said I only have $11,000 in debt. I have never heard of such. I am current on my mortgage and all credit cards. Have no auto loan. Make $90,000 a year. What gives?
I am trying to repair my credit and have a total debt of $65.00. I have been with my credit union SIGNAL FINANCIAL for over 13 years and have had CD’s and currently have a checking and saving account. I applied for a personal loan for $5000.00 as I wanted to take care of my daughter’s summer camp and also have reserve funds as I am in a program to purchase a home. I was denied as I was told I dont have any “colatteral” (car) or enough credit? I have 4 credit cards with a $65.00 balance and over 4,500 in credit. I am not sure if it is because I am of AA or Hispanic descent or some other reason. How can I build credit when I cant get a small loan to manage and pay back to build history??
I have a score of 748 and have owned my business since 2001. I recently divorced and split my business with my ex. I have a large amount to put down on a home due to sell of other home and my job is stable but due to name change on business and divorce it seems that this is stumping everyone that I go to for a loan. I have no debt of my own.. None.. and make over 60,000 a year but can’t get financed for 150,000.
I recently applied for a Student Loan through Wells Fargo for $4800. My score is in the 680 range. My father co-signed and his score is 810+ and we were denied. It made no sense because he had just been approved for a Citi loan for my brothers university!! I understand perhaps we were denied because of his recent application and approval for a loan but we applied with Sallie Mae and were approved. The only thing that makes sense here would be Wells Fargo did not have the funds to loan out….
I was rejected by Capital One for a refi. of my car. The reason was not my credit, but my Mortgage. Not for being late, but due the year and area I bought my home(I do have a 2nd mort too). My credit score is over 700, I had a loan w/ Capital One about 2 years ago, was never late. I’ve had the same job for 10 years. I’m not sure if it is legal to reject a loan app. based on the year and location of a home purchase. My credit had nothing to do with the rejection. I do live in Florida however.
I have 8 investment property mortgages with the same bank (BBT), 750 credit score, NO late payments in years of paying on these loans, thousands of dollars on deposit with this bank. I called my “personal banker” asking to same money on some of these loans (interest rates from one with 6.5% to most with 7.75%). My “personal banker” finally called back days later with a message that he thinks I should do nothing i.e. leave my rates at nearyly double what the prime lending rate is. I was pissed off for days. A delinquent mortgagee can get a refinance deal but responsible borrowers like me catch hell when requesting loan modifications or refinance options to save me cash. Who’s stuck on stupid here?
I am a psychotherapist–a very successful one. I am a micro business, but I have ideas for expanding and making more income. B of A cut my business line of credit without telling me, Wamu (Chase) closed my line of credit when there were the first early rumblings of banking problems. B of A has been very difficult with our personal lines of credit, too. My husband and I make a big income, this is very annoying, I feel stymied. I’ve paid THOUSANDS of dollars in interest to B of A over the past 30+ years, you’d think they’d realize what bad PR this is. When the economy turns around, and it will, and B of A comes around with their offers, you can bet I’ll be looking for another bank to help me grow my business.
In 2001 we bought a 28×80 4bdrm/2bath doublewide with living room and den and has a wood burning fireplace, which we have never used. It was placed on 2 acres on a permanent concrete foundation. The house and ammenities came to less tha $77,000.00.
We were coerced into a liar loan for a second mortgage on the house. Interest only…however we have gotten this worked into a loan where principal is being paid. The guy who did the lair loan was fired very soon after he did this, and now we and the bank are stuck with each other. We have put up woven wire fencing on most of the property, have built several nice shelters and a barh for our goats. We have a penning system in place on, what is now a mini-farm. We have also been trying to get our loan down from a 7.5% fixed rate to a lower fixed rate interest and/or get a loan modification. We owe about $65,000 on the house and $13,000 on the liar loan at a much higher interest rate. We have had problems in the past but have gotten our credit scores back up into the mid 600s. I know that isn’t great, but it ain’t bad, either! Now, no one wants to loan on a mobile/manufactured home! They’ll sure finance them when you buy them, but won’t refinance them.We are Freddie Mac backed and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get something done. I am disabled now, and wasn’t when we bought the home. President Obama’s Homeowner’s Affordability & Stability Plan is firmly in place (as of 3/4/09),
and provides cash incentives to those lenders/servicers who participate in this program. The same lenders that tell us all “YES!” when we buy, won’t service their own loans! Something more will have to be done, as far as I can see. Perhaps we should just ALL contact the White House!
April Metheny
I own (outright) a 1.2 Million dollar family home. I make 100k+ a year through work and investments. My credit score got tanked down to 650 due to fiance accidently selecting savings instead of checking when paying her student loan (Sallie Mae = CORRUPT, but thats another story). I am also the trustee of a trust with assets over 350k, and I owe no money on anything. I was denied a business loan for 500k because of “length of time of relationship” and the credit score. So there are a few things are really F’d up here…
1. It is my belief that the banks are refusing to lend money to responsible americans sue to their short term cash problems.
2. Our credit rating system sucks. Any company at any time can put a bad tick on your credit, and all the sudden you have to jump through a friggin circus obstacle course to get it removed.
3. The “bailout” plan set forth is only going to increase american’s dependancy on government, thus increasing the amount of power that politicians have that is already WAY out of hand. Look at how poorly and inefficient our government works. Do you really want to give them MORE money and power? If the government takes over health care, thousands will die. And building up infrastructure is great, but how is that going to get us out of an economic slump??
I want to know what is happening to the money the taxpayers have “invested” in the banks that are closing credit and raising rates on all of us.
I have a high credit score I’ve worked very hard to responsibly maintain. My bills are paid on time or early, and always more than the minimum.
After Chase received bailout money to keep credit flowing, they bought WaMu. I was a customer, and my account among 1.2 million accounts were closed due to what they said was a business decision. The account was at a zero balance. Now I’ve been notified that my two remaining Capital One accounts are going to have the rate raised to 17.9% due to the poor economy. They too have received bailout money and just bought Chevy Chase Bank. Thankfully these accounts are also at a zero balance. The credit I’ve worked hard to maintain, is being erased through no fault of my own.
These companies don’t make money on people with good credit and responsible behavior. They make money on debt, the same debt that tanked the economy in the first place.
People should be outraged that their money is being used to continue the problem that started all this in the first place! I urge all of you to contact your Congressman and ask why the bailout money is not being used as intended!
I make 500K a year and have my bank questioning my ability to pay even though my checking account with the same bank had enough cash to pay off my mortgage. It got so bad that I paid of my loans completely. They have no concept of what is baby and what is bathwater. If they are this stupid with me I can’t even imagine how dumb they are with people who make less.
I HAVE ONE CREDIT CARD AND A CAR LON AND I HAVE GOOD CREDIT SCORE AND HAVE BEEN BANKING WITH THE SAME BANK(SIMMIONS fRIST) FOR 6YRS AND CAN’T GET A LOAN, IT’S BECAUSE I DON’T LIVE IN A BIG HOUSE AND UP IN DEBT OVER MY HEAD ,AND HAD 20 OR MORE CREDIT CARDS ,
I WOULD GET A LOAN, IT SUCKS TO BE THE
WORKING CLASS, I SAY EVERBODY WITH DRAW
ALL OUR MONEY OUT OF THESE BANKS. AND LET THEM SEE WHAT’S IT’S LIKE TRYING TO SURIVE…..NO MORE PONY’S FOR TIMMY
We are looking for a cash out refinance and have been declined due to open credit cards. We wanted the loan to pay them off and to do some work in the house. We’ve been told that can’t get the loan unless we pay off the cards and close them but we can’t do that without the loan. That’s the main reason for the loan in the first place! We are way under the max percentages for this loan and live in a stable mortgage area. What gives!
Help! Is there really a truthful person out there who can get me a loan for my 88K on my house for 5% or less?
My current Bank is trying to screw me over.
There’s something wrong with this picture. I applied to refinance to take advantage of lower mortgage interest rates on my $410,00 total combined notes for homes and was denied because “I don’t make enough money.” I’m currently paying 6.625% and was hoping to get a rate closer to 5%. Mind you, I have never been late with a payment in the 5 years I have been financed, have more than 60% equity in my properties, have a credit score of 761 and have no credit card debt. My business is vacation rental homes and I gross over $150,000 per year. I know how much I need to live on (I’m very frugal) and I re-invest the bulk of the rental income into improvements on the properties leaving me with a gross adjusted income of only $20,000. This not only keeps my guests happy but it allows me to write off many deductions, thus reducing my tax liability. I don’t have to have to live on $20k but I can and am looking at the long term investment to sell the much improved properties when I retire at a higher price in the future. Any suggestions?
And Yes there are still some mortgage brokers left who are doing fine, those of us who know what we are doing and never screwed our clients with “fastrack to bankrupt” loans or our lenders with BS applications. And enough with all the politics please, it’s just math and remember, right and left wing ideology is a moron’s shortcut to thinking.
Anyone with a 700+ credit score and who is not upside down in equity and can document income to debt under 45% can refinance under 5% right now, if someone is telling you different i.e. Christine in Falls Church, VA they are trying to rip you off. I’ll refi you right now FHA 4.875-5.500 no points.
I just read the majority of comments left under this heading and I realized something that I was told but did not believe.
Most people are really stupid! Most of you have no idea what you are talking about. That is likely why you cannot get a loan. Look at your credit, would you give yourself a loan and trust that you would pay yourself back? the faucets have been on for so long everyone thinks they deserve a loan…guess what you do not. Banks will not be lending anytime soon, they have no idea if they are going to be in business next week.
Democrat Republican, who cares? Conspiracy theories, whack jobs!
The government bailout will save us, are you ****’n kidding me?
Your pension….what is that?
We have become a nation of stupid, fat, lazy people. No one takes responsibility for anything anymore and everyone thinks they deserve something. YOU DO NOT DESERVE A LOAN, THAT MY FRIEND NEEDS TO BE EARNED! Go to another country and see how they give out loans, they look into family history of paying down debt, your parents, uncles, cousins. At least here they just look at YOU. If we throw 100 Trillion dollars at this problem do you think it will go away? How much time do each of you waste watching TV or reading this crap on CNN? Have you read a book this year yet? Do you have any idea how much all of this bullshit wastes your time?
If you each were working instead of typing and reading this God forsaken dribble we would be a more productive society. Your jobs, whatever you do, how do you really benefit society? Bankers, Lawyers, Ivestment Bankers, Stock Brockers, Accountants, Government workers and Insurance related industries. All of these professions are worthless wealth dividers, created mostly due to governmental regulations of some sort or another that really benefit society in a negative way. Yes, we all kid ourselves that our work is so important, but if you did not save someones life today, or make something that people can truly benefit from, (I am not talking about making pepsi or chips and shoving them into stupid peoples mouths here) then we are really just buying time.
Educate yourselves, and for God sakes learn how to spell and use more than a fourth grade vocabulary, it is pitifull!
Look in the mirror, would you give yourself a loan?
Its a strange state of affairs, first you have the government backing banks and there system of denying credit with the forgivness of government bankrupcy and there backing of bank practices of not giving loans for slow pay or bankruptcy filings. now the government says they will bailout banks and not the general public billions of tax payers dollars for auto industry and banks and business and the public gets mear 10’s or hundreds of dollars and no bailout for those who are trying to make it.
I make about 47k and financial obligations of about 125k can I get part of the bailout to help me catchup with my obligations?
Banks are lending to the rich and that’s all. Basically doing this….if you want to borrow $100,000 you must place $100,000 of reserves in our bank.
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I am seeing this more in the small business/commercial side of things more than home mortgages)
I don’t know about home loans, but SunTrust appears to have a bait and switch rate on boat loans. From what I understand, the only people who are able to get the rate SunTrust advertises are those who have the cash on hand to buy the boat they want without a loan. We were recently offered a loan about 3.5% higher than the advertised rate, despite the fact that we are homeowners with excellent credit and both make six figures. A boat is obviously a discretionary purchase, so we’re thinking we may just ditch the whole idea. It’s no wonder the economy is stalled.
You pay off (early) a credit loan that the bank should not have given you in the first place (This credit score was low, due to no employment). Now you can’t get another loan, after working without any lapse for 5 years! Does this make sense or is this steretyping because you cut them out of their interest rate the first time?
Phil when the economy hits you….you better not whine about it. Don’t you realize that the enitre world operates off of a credit system. When credit for small business goes away overnight it can breakdown a nation. It’s not that those businesses are living beyond their means…
But then again I guess you are perfect
The banks are ONLY lending to those who don’t need it. I call it greed when the fat cats who don’t need the money are going in and getting loans….leaving no loans available to the small business owners who will need it. Banks need to wake up and realize that they are only making it worse if they ONLY lend to those who don’t need it.
Credit score 730. 200K income. Cannot refinance because my home has no equity due to foreclosures around me! I have done nothing wrong. I cannot even sell my home because I am under water. I understand why people walk away!
I am trying to refinance my mortgage right now which will pay for an addition, roll in my HELOC and 1st mortgage. I was approved relatively quickly, but was told that I would have to pay a higher interest rate because of my credit scores. I was shocked. I had just ordered my credit report from Experian and the score was 743. The lender told me the score he had from Experian was 703, and further, that the other two scores were 708 and 668. I couldn’t believe it so I ordered the other two credit reports. They indicated a credit score of 743 and 734 respectively. I thought he was just trying to jerk me around to charge a higher interest rate. I asked the lender to send me the copy of what he had for comparison. He wasn’t jerking me around. I couldn’t believe it. I contacted the company that put the report together and discovered some interesting things. First, the score that is reported to the consumer is different than what is reported to banks, credit cards, car dealers when they run your credit. What is reported to them is an analysis of what type of credit risk they think you may be. That being said, the only reason to run your report is just to see what is on it, not to see how credit worthy you are. Second, it isn’t the credit used to credit available ratio, income to debt ratio, etc. It is a current debt to maximum debt ratio. For example – I have a credit card with a $5,000 balance. The highest balance I have ever had on the card is $10,000. My credit limit on the card is 20,000. In order to raise my credit score, I need to be no higher than 30% of my highest balance ($3,000 vs. $6000) – not my credit limit. It actually lowers my score because I have never maxed out my card. This is not only true for credit cards but HELOCS, mortgages, etc. The fact that I have never maxed my credit cards, that I am ALWAYS on time with payments, that I make an extra mortgage payment a year, and that I have no car payment makes no difference. There is something very wrong with a system that encourages you to max out your credit to bring up your credit score.
Oh my gosh! I read this thread and there are so many whining babies out there thinking that they are ENTITLED to money from the banks. Get a clue people! Banks are a business and no good business should expose themselves to those of you that are risky.
Read this thread! People who filed bankruptcy are whining. DUH! People who have tens of thousands of college debt, credit card debt, home debt, etc and they want more?
For those of you out there crying rivers that you cannot get loans because of your past or current situations, get a grip and don’t expect that you are ENTITLED to anything. Learn to live within your means. Because when YOU falter on those payments, it impacts the rest of us that don’t.
Not to be mean or anything, but most of the people posting here have AWEFUL credit scores for this market. The people with a score of 650 or contributed more or less to the current state we are in now. You can blame banks and financial institutions for loaning outside of people’s means, but, honestly, who signed the paper?
I am glad that people are getting turned down because that is how we are going to start to recover. Banks need nearly risk free investments – they won’t find that in a 550-650 score. Banks need to rebuild their balance sheet with a solid cash flow before they can start taking bigger risks. Most of you guys in that boat are probably the people who got a credit card and thought “Hey, free money”.
Instead of complaining about not being able to get a loan because banks are being stingy – rebuild your credit. I’m 23 and fresh out of college last May and I’ve been building my score with student loans, smart credit card use, and small simple financing decisions (interest free furniture financing is A++ when done right). Through that I rocketed up to about 760 last November. Do I think I can get a $350k mortgage? Heck no! But I’m not blaming banks for trying not to repeat their mistakes and make things worse. Until then, I’ll live within my means and build a longer credit history so when I go to BECU in 2010 they will say “I would love to give you $350k at a stupendous rate!”. It’ll be a warm and fuzzy time.
The engine in my car of three years recently died on me. I am a single mom of three that have activities and I had a job to go to. I do not have any credit currently. I spent the last five years cleaning up my credit after my divorce. I figured that I was in a good position to get a car loan of about $12,000 with a down payment of $1,500. I went to several dealers that say no credit, no problem, bad credit, no problem; first time car buyers, no problem; even one that said your job is your credit…. well all of them were incorrect and even misleading. I have one dear call and leave me a voice mail saying that I had been approved for a car loan from a bank out in CA, but when I got there they changed and said that I was not approved. All the denial letters that I received stated that there were liens/judgment delinquency and public record or collection and a bunch of other information that is not true. I ordered my credit report and there are none of the above listed. It is just another way for them to avoid lending.
If I’ve been banking with B of A for the past year, have had the SAME job for the past 2 years, and I want a $60 to $70k house… I should be entitled to a 1st time home loan. Yes, I claimed bankruptcy in 06, Yes, my credit score is below 600 but above 550, but I 1)HAVE A JOB, and will continue to have one unless I don’t show up 2)There is an illegally imposed collections from an apartment complex that I had to break the lease on because the management and police department wouldn’t let me break it in less than one month of living there after I found out there were video cameras INSIDE my apartment, and the management and police were/are involved in a major drug trafficking operation there.(PHX,AZ)Northern Point Apts. 3) I am legally trying to apply for a loan with my REAL IDENTITY.
you know – this article and all these people “with 800+ credit scores” posting saying they got denied actually had me a little scared! My husband and I both have credit scores over 800 (mine’s higher!), a piddly mortgage, and one small car payment. That’s it, no CC debt, no student loans, nothing else other than the mortgage and car note. We applied for a HELOC to take advantage of the desperate contractors who will build an addition on our house for CHEAP compared to 2 years ago. Even with the HELOC, our LTV will still be less than 70%. And YOU all actually had me nervous that we would be turned down “for no reason.” But I just got a call telling me that we’ve been approved for the HELOC at Prime rate minus 1 (wow, gotta love that!). AND, the guy from the credit union is coming to our house to close tomorrow. What service!! Especially considering the fact that we aren’t even members of this credit union (yet)!
Y’all need to stop it with the doom & gloom stories. and the rest of you who can’t get a loan “for no reason” are obviously not telling us the whole story.
As the article states, families like our own has no trouble getting loans. Everyone in our family has credit scores above 750, all of us have kept our jobs through this downturn and none of us have any credit card debt.
C Janssen,
I have often pondered that call myself. I am game.
Out of curiousity who else?
Rise up.
As if you had a choice.
Try a small town bank. I have worked at one for 10 years and we love to give out money to those that qualify. If you are over 650 score and have debt to income below 40% than you got it. If its below 650 then its a little tougher but you may still get the loan. If your score is around 600 or below its for a good reason and you are too risky.
Litton Loan Financing REFUSES to renegotiate an 11.45% mortgage with me. Everyone says to talk to your lender BEFORE you start to fall behind when you KNOW that you are going to be in crisis. Well, I’m trying to do that and they refuse to budge. I guess they’re prefer that I be homeless and they take on the expense of owning and selling my home. I can’t believe this is happening in this country.
We seriously need to band together and take some action rather than sit here and continue to be raped by our goverment and Wall Street. Must we always be at their mercy? We are blatant victims ridiculous gov’t policies and we continue to get royally screwed by the IRS and banks, but we can’t just sit here and complain and pop more anti-depressants. This is one moment in time that the American people need to leverage our collective power to make some serious changes. Otherwise we will be living in an ever oppressive society for years to come. So much for government working ON THE BEHALF of the American people.
Who’s in?
Come on…let’s be honest. How many people out there meet the banks criteria as the “perfect candidate for a loan”? I was denied a car loan of $5000 because my credit wasn’t above 650 (never mind that I have a steady income).
The banks lending criteria is tight because they are hoarding money. This defeats the purpose of last year’s bailout. Until the government makes it MANDATORY for banks to apply the provisions of the bailout and now the recent stimulus package, it’s pretty much a WASTE of taxpayer money.
In short:
1) We are paying (with our tax money) for the rich to stay rich and the war on the middle class to continue.
2) We are paying (with our tax money) for the banks to deny us credit and further impede the flow of money.
3) We are paying (with our tax money) for the banks to foreclose our homes and for the sheriff to evict us.
I understand the power of the taxpayer. But I never thought that power would be used against ME!?!?!
Honestly, I haven’t even applied for a loan. And this is why:
I am a person with morals and ethics. I refuse to take on more debt that is beyond reason. I adhere to a model where I will have money to make a down payment if and when I go to purchase anything. Anything, even if I want to make a purchase on my credit card I make sure I can at least cover 20% of the initial cost if not all of the cost. Who applies for a loan wondering if they can get it anyway??? What a clueless model, if you don’t know you can get the loan you shouldn’t be trying.
I AM SICK AND TIRED OF PAYING FOR OTHER’S MISTAKES. There will come a time when the glutton and sloth will have to pay.
The wise saw the winter coming and prepared while the idiot squandered his life away.
No issues getting credit here. I don’t make a lot of money, but my credit is good. I am not upside down on my house, because I bought something I could afford. People need to take responsibility for their actions and quit relying on credit to live. When you took out your original loan you agreed on the rate for the life of the loan. Everyone speaks as if they are entitled to refinance. You agreed to the original term, now the bank can turn you down for a refi. Get over it. Start living within your means.
Banks are no different then the rest of us, hold on to every red cent you can!!!! I for one am pissed off about it too, and now we wonder why our elderly are so tight with a dollar, well after going through the Great Depression, they still remember all that happend. Hopefully, when and if we pull out of this mess, we all will remember how these banks and credit card companies are lying and trying to make all of us fail in our payments by jacking up our interest payments and denying us credit!!!! I am paying these Bas–rds down as quickly as I can, and they can kiss my a– with any more interest in the future!!!
I have been denied by citibank to refinance a first and second mortgage that I already have with them. I earn 200,000/yr, never paid a payment late in more thank 30 years, and a 780 credit score. I wanted to change the second into a line of credit for the same amount that is already on the second. Denied! Obviously, they already have the debt with me, the house is the same, there is more than 20% equity, I have multiple business accounts with them. They will not be my bank unless I can get someone with good common sense to see the absurdity of the situation.
We are a small farm family, credit still good, turned down by 4 banks to refi. We have a timber management business with Draft Horses. Because of the housing market timber is not moving and if it is the price has droped 60%. Mills have close etc.
I had a excuse from one bank ” your credit is good you have paid on time you show income but you live in a agriculture distric– M&T bank told us this. Business needs to wake up and support your local farmer, we are the ones that look out for you and your family and put a safe and good quaility food on your table. We are a paper nation it is time to support the producer and product not the paper it is writen on. If our nation can not back its paper with product we are all doomed. It takes a few pennys for the corn to produce the cornflakes and dollars to produce the paper to put it in. The milk producer makes aprox 25cents on each gallon of milk. How much did you pay for your gallon of milk today?
Support your local farmer
We currently own 20 acres theat we would LOVE to build our dream home on. We both have great credit (both scores at or above 700), have held our current jobs for many years, have lived within our means and only bought a home we could afford even thou we “qualified ” for alot more, have never been late on our current mortgage and always add extra principal to our payments, have no credit card balances (always pay off monthly when used), 1 car payment that has never been late. We CAN NOT get a Construction loan to build. Since things have become so tight, you MUST have 20% down or good luck finding PMI. IF you do find PMI, it costs a fortune monthly. Can’t use the equity in our current home, the value has fallen so dramaticly it is almost gone and would not get us close to the 20% down we need to build a dream we have worked very hard for. Seem those of us that HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE, are now being shut out while everyone else gets a handout. WE are the ones that can put money BACK INTO the economy, not take it out!! Banks are not lending, I don’t care what they are telling everyone.
I have always been a die-hard Republican. But, I gotta say, what is wrong with the Republican Party these days? They are completely clueless. They are out-to-lunch, in so many ways. They block getting any money infused into the Economy, when even all the Economists are unanimously saying that even a flawed stimulus package is better than no stimulus package…and a belated one is just as bad. They are blocking growth, which seems against all the Republican Party stands for. It seems all they are interested in is these stupid refund checks. Mr. Clinton did the biggest tax increase in U.S. history, and, guess what, the economy soared! Refunds are, after all, pretty silly. People just squander them, in ways that don’t really stimulate the economy. Or, worse still, they plop it in the bank to earn 1% and make the millionaire bankers that everybody hates even richer. Tax refunds are pretty petty. And besides that, wouldn’t you rather have many people spread the burden of taxes, actually increase them, it is not really impacting any one person individually all that much, but it can actually benefit each person. i.e. what’s so bad about raising taxes…it’s not you that’s paying a lot more…it’s everybody, across the board, sharing in the wealth so to speak to pay a little more now and to save what could very well down the road, be a lot for you. Wouldn’t you agree? They can give 100% of the taxes back to every single person, and is the economy going to necessarily turn around, solely because of that? Absolutely not. We’ve got to come up with some serious answers. This economy is not going to turn around unless we get really smart about it, and really put some thought process into it. It’s not going to just happen by itself, it’s going to take some real work, and it’s certainly not going to be all fixed because a bunch of people got some measily little tax refunds. This is Mickey Mouse economicts. We need some smart people to put their heads together. We need to come up with something comprehensive. Now is not the time to be blocking passage of something-anything-which is going to help the economy. You would think the politicians in Washington would be smart enough to figure that out. This bickering and back-and-forth antics is going to cost them dearly at some point and time. Ultimately, they are going to end up paying the price for this little chess-playing games that they are doing up on Capitol Hill. It is not helping anyone and is making them all look like asses. Don’t they realize that? And, the previous administration refused to help the people (Homeowners) that are doing the suffering. They chose, instead, to give incentives to people to buy houses now. That makes no sense. These people have all the benefit of hindsight. They’re scooping up homes at rock-bottom firesale prices from people who lost them due to foreclosure. That is not really the people that need the relief. Come on now, at least the current administration is not quite as clueless. But they’ve still got a long way to go in the way of providing relief to the people who really need it the most, the people who are sitting on upside-down mortgages worth only a fraction of what it was when they bought it because they were duped by the unscrupulous real estate and banking companies who ceratainly knew what they were doing. They knew that the housing bubble was well on it’s way to bursting, and instead profitted on it. You can’t say they didn’t know, these people with all their complex models and statistical data, this is what they get PAID to do. They knew that we were on the verge on collapse, they didn’t care as long as they still got their multi-million dollar bonuses, compensation packages, and lavish retreats. They fleeced America in the biggest fraud of 21st century. You think Enron was big…that was nothing…why aren’t any executives of Real Estate companies going to prison? Does it have something to do with all their campaign contributions to Congress? Where is the outrage??!!!!!
Running Insurance Agency for 7 years have perfect credit and long good History with Wells fargo bank
since 1996 .
Had $18000.00 in business credit line with Wells Fargo Bank.
with no reasonable explanation They reduce the line of credit to 2500.00 and they do not have any explanation for it? why
although never used the credit line more than $ 1000.00
at one time .
I was going to expand and hire 2 more employee
but having condition of credit crunch I can not be able to employe any body
I have a 780 credit score, owe less than $150k on a house worth over $800k and have over $500k in stocks/CD’s/Cash Wells Fargo sent me a letter to reduce my interest rate, I filled it out and sent it back and was denied because they said I did not have enough income. So how can they keep me at a higher rate, putting me more at risk as they would term it, instead of refinancing me and lowering my interest rate making me a safer borrower. Doesn’t make any sense accept thy know I will pay it so they refuse a virtually perfect situation so that they can make more money. The greed is still there and the problem is not fixed!
I had ZERO problem refinancing my mortgage at 4.75% last month as well as getting a 75,000 line of credit at 5%.
My credit score is 790 and I didn’t load up on credit cards or buy too much house in the credit bonanza. If you were prudent you shouldn’t have a problem.
Hey. Listen to this… Everyone keeps talking about “Not being able to get a Loan”
Well, I have just received my Income Tax Refund! Guess what? I received a Letter from the IRS, just after my refund was direct deposited stating “why they have made a change on my return”. Seems as though I DID NOT DEDUCT my STIMULUS CHECK, which I received from the Bush Administrations effort to HELP ME OUT! Come to find out, they TOOK BACK my $300.00 from my TAX RETURN!!!!! “Some STIMULUS huh”? Better make sure you deduct that check YOU THOUGHT our Good Ole Uncle Sam was giving to us.
Plenty more Hidden Secrets out there. All you have to do is Look Closely!
Banks are not lending nearly enough. I have an 805 credit score (last time I checked). I was denied a home purchase loan, with 25% down payment, for a small rental property (loan amount was about $120,000). Very basic loan, and Wells Fargo, Chase and Countrywide rejected the application. Unbelievable! I have received and paid off at least 20 mortgages; never a single late payment. I own two highly successful companies, and earn about $1 million per year, and I have over 70 real estate properties that are all free and clear, and a few (less than 10) that have loans, none with an LTV even approaching 75%. I can’t imagine a stronger borrower. And yet they deny my loan application? If I can’t get a loan, I don’t know what a person has to have in order to get approved. This lending environment is crazy.
We have a 780 credi score. We paid
our equity line off(25,000) in 3 years on a 10 year loan. After we paid it off, Chase lowered the loan amount.
Never missed a mortgage payment, plus paying extra each month. Home is still worth more then we paid for it, even after falling prices. Bank of America would not refinance 36000.00 for a lower interest rate. We have under 2000 in credit card debt, which is paid in full every month. No interest charges. No car loan. Make 80K per year. NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THESE CROOKED BANKS! I am cutting my spending to the bone, to save enough to pay off the mortgage myself. I refuse to touch another dime in the Chase equity line. But…I do have to agree with others here. The GOVERNMENT is the cause of this mess. Including all the crooks in congress trying to make us believe they had nothing to do with it. They are not going to help us. They are going to steal more of are money, and our grandchilderns, grandchilderns money,for many many years. Socialism is here.
I’m a 27 year-old male, in psychiatry residency earning $56,000/yr. My wife is a 27 year-old teacher earning $60,000. We have a home with a mortgage, haven’t missed a payment since we’ve had it (2 years.) I have substantial medical school debt which I could have deferred but I have been paying regularly since I finished school in 2006, and never missed a payment. AMEX card since 2003, paid in full every month with no missed payments. My wife pays off her credit cards, while paying tuition for a post-masters certificate. Never missed a household (utility, cable, insurance, car etc.) payment on anything in our adult lives. The good news: we were able to streamline refinance our 260,000 mortgage via FHA. Bad news: I have been denied by Chase and Schwab for a credit card. Why would I want another credit card in the first place? Because my current AMEX doesn’t have any rewards attached, and I think it defeats the purpose of paying a fee to get rewards (they cancel out). I have a bank account with Schwab; they can verify my transactions; I would even be willing to explain my reasoning to Charles Schwab himself if I thought it would make a difference, but I know that’s a pipe dream.
So, yes, banks are giving out money. It’s just that now, more than ever, they are letting us know we have no say, and that’s pathetic.
I have been a good steward of my credit I think. I have paid my bills on time and have them all setup on auto payments using the credit companies own systems. They, in essense, take their payment when it is due. Beginning sometime last fall, creditors began pulling in available credit. I have two credit cards and two lines of credit. All of the credit limits were reduced to my balances due and continue to drop as I pay my bill. The net effect of this is to take my credit score and kill it by changing my credit from a 50% credit available to a “maxed out” condition. Being maxed out is a very bad thing for your FICO score. I didn’t do anything wrong and was responsible, yet my credit got wrecked by the banks who borrowed money from me via the bailout. I believe they did this to reduce FICO scores so the could claim no one is credit worth to lend to and keep the money.
What is WRONG with you smug types with “perfect credit, high-income, no problems getting loans?”
Grow some empathy, seriously. If you haven’t read your Adam Smith, I advise doing so…markets are made by human beings, and the lot of your neighbors directly affects YOUR prosperity or penury.
Stop the ‘above-it-all’ attitude…that’s what caused the Bolsheviks to start shooting you kulaks ‘back in the USSR.
PS, I also have a decent income, am not some socially rabid rabble-rouser and don’t belong to any communist groups. What i DO know, however, is that either we all start planting the blame squarely where it belongs: The banks and the regulators who were MIA the past decade or so.
Hello Again CNN:
There is SO MUCH that is wrong with all this Bailout.
The Banks have Always had the upper hand on the Consumers. When you secure a Loan (ANY LOAN) have you ever really looked at the Payment you make each Month? The MAJORITY of the monthly payment goes DIRECTLY to the BANK, in the form of INTEREST… VERY LITTLE goes to the Principal!!!
There is a MOVEMENT coming in this Nation that is long Overdue. A movement that requires the Majority of your Monthly Payment be Applied DIRECTLY to your PRINCIPLE and the SMALLER Amount applied to the INTEREST for the Banks.
There is an old saying, “what goes around, comes around”…. The Banks are being Punished for all these decades of GREED at the Expense of the Consumer….
My company is a Registered Lobbying Firm and I am a Registered Lobbyist and I see these issues all the time.
If the American Public REALLY knew just what is added, included or SLIPPED in at the Very last Moments into each piece of Legislation, they would be revolting like Crazy…..
What about the forcing of DIGITAL TV on the American Public. Unknowing that these Digital Converter Boxes have Cameras and Microphones installed from the manufacture, just so Uncle Sam can INVADE THE PRIVACY of each and every HOME IN AMERICA….. Go to Wal-Mart, buy a Magnavox or any other brand. Take it apart and just look at the little camera and mic inside. Can you only imagine Big Brother and heaven knows who else, watching you in the “Supposedly Privicy of your own Home”?????
Enough. People better wake up in this country and Smell the Roses. Excuse me, Not The Roses, but the Bull Feces our smarter than we Government, is shoving down our throats…..
Listen to Late Nite Coast To Coast AM, with George Norey, if you really want to get educated.
I have found, a lessening majority is finally waking up, and are Screaming for Change. They only need to find those special few people, to lead for that change…
My credit card in good standing was “rate-jacked” by Wells Fargo (from 5.5% to 12.99%) six months ago. When I inquired, I was asked, “Did you read your Terms and Conditions”? EVERY credit card contract (apparently) has a clause that allows the lender to change the interest rate at will (“re-price the loan”). Explanation (from an honest Wells Fargo banker): “Actually, we’re doing it to everyone, across the board. As the economy tightens, it’s an easy way to legally derive a greater yield from our customers. We do give a reason – we find something, however small, in the credit profile, which we can claim is objectionable, and hang our hat on that.”
Rate-jacking is widespread, and clearly legal. The remedy: Pass legislation that forces a bank to honor a stable credit card interest rate set at the time of first approval. I understand such legislation is being considered in Congress. CALL TO ACTION: Tell your Congressman to make this happen!!
After tanking credit score ten years ago due to $100,000. medical bills (which I paid in full), I have diligently worked on raising credit score to high 600s. With home worth $150,000. (owing only $30,000.) and only $700. in credit debt trying to get a moderate car loan for $12,000. proved to be impossible, even with 20% down and a car to trade in. No installment credit in ten years (paid cash) since was working on paying off medical debt, $70,000 annual income, no car for me
“Bail Out”. Is that a red flag or what? Why, in a supposed free market society, are we “bailing out” anyone??? Figuring out a logical, effective way to keep our financial machine running, even if it takes some cash, makes sense, but a “bail out” is absurd. Obviously the government messed up royally with the first several billion dollars of our money that they gave away so freely with no (or at least very few) strings attached. We’ll see how bad this next go-round gets. All I know is my credit card rates have all doubled whether my accounts have balances or not. I know a small business owner with a CC through Advanta whose rate went to 37%! Aren’t the banks borrowing at near 0%??? I guess now that they’re not lending to individuals and small businesses they have to make up that lost revenue by jacking it to those of us who are still paying our bills. I’ve heard story after story from people who were struggling to make their mortgage payments and were told by their lenders they needed to miss three payments in a row before the lendor would do anything to help. What?!!! I bust my butt to make sure my mortgage and my bills are paid each month, and for that I have been granted the absolute priveledge of “bailing out” people who over-stretched their means, who borrowed irresponsibly AND I also get to “bail out” all those bank and wall street executives who so flagrantly took advantage of a broken system to line their own pockets and are now busy sticking it to me and lighting their cigars with MY $100 bills. Wake up and smell the poo America. The only way to take back control of our country is for each individiual to pay down their debt until it’s paid off then use cash. If you want reform in government, finance, banking, the insurance industry, etc you have to inundate your elected officials with your demands and expectations. If they don’t do what you want, stop voting for them – duh. They need to know we’re serious. Or, you can bitch and complain to CNNMoney. It’ll feel good, but really, what is it going to get you? We’ve forgotten we have the power. Complain all you want, then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I actually paid off a line of credit with Bank of America and recently called to see if my line of credit was still open. While I was on the phone, the extremely rude lending officer reduced my line of credit from 53K to 10K while I was on the line saying that “we are not extending lines of credit anymore”. I paid the darn thing off 3 years early and never missed a payment, have had a mortgage with them that was paid off and a boat. My thoughts are to pull all my money out of BOA and find another bank as this tells me they are about to go under. If I am not a good credit risk…..then they have some serious problems!! Where did the billions go that BOA took from the government???
I bought the house in 2005 somewhere close to the peak, that me I put in 5% down, eventually making it to 20%. Right now the house prices have dropped more than 20% in my area. Our incomes are pretty good and we have never defaulted on the payments and our credit score is excellent too. Banks will not allow us refinance as we don’t have 20% equity now. To refinance I need come up with another 20%, to be even considered.
Banks are actually playing with consumenrs. I got somany refinanace letters from my existing mortgage provider countrywide. When i applied they have very good reason to make you stay away from refinance.
As this is bad housing already they compare your house with neighbourhood foreclosure sell price and ask you to put tones of money to fill the gap.
No one is full to put more money in house in this economy and this housing market. So consumer end up with thinking better to stay with current higher rate instead of putting 50k in house.
So how come this would help economy eventhough banks are getting taxpayer money.
I have very good Credit Score, decent job and excellent payment history, i cant refinance becasue they want me to put handsome money in order to refinance and i dont want to do it.
This is the tale of a Florida resident that wants to buy a home, qualifies for FHA, has a steady job, is creditworthy, yet all lenders are turning her down. All because of a credit score. She paid off her car loan which ruined her chances for a mortgage. There are homes in foreclosure, many in disrepair. There are people out here ready to buy a home but are faced the same dilemma, the banks are just not lending. The government should pass a new bill requiring a certain quota of loan approval from the lenders receiving our money. The CEO’s be forced to submit a list of loans approved for home ownership on a monthly basis. If quota is not met, a fine and/or jail time would be imposed.
I am glad to get a chance to tell this story! I am a small business owner and my wife is an operations manager for a local company, she and I are pulling in over 125k in income and have an honest 100k in savings at a local bank and mutiple assets that are clear of debt. I went down to a local credit union that we are a member of and wanted to refi one of the company trucks 2008 Dodge 3500 paid 42k one year ago, owe today 25k. It would save us about 250.00 a month. Well we did not qualify! I ask if we are not credit worthy who the hell out there is. My Story Scott
I work for one of those big banks that got all of the taxpayers’ money. When those CEO’s go before Congress and say they are lending, they are lying. They are doing everything possible to pretend to want new loan applications and then finding every way possible to turn them down. Even people with great credit and 20% down payments are having problems. It’s a joke.
I am 28 year old single female, and I was just approved for a car loan at 4.8% on Feb 7th 09(Southside Bank of Virginia). My credit score is 790 and I own a home. I also have student loan debt that is relatively low. I have never had any problems getting credit. I have a good steady job making about 70K a year. If you have a credit score of 700+ just keep looking. I have no idea why you were denied, but their are banks out there that would love your business. Good Luck!!!
Chase just doubled my credit card interest rate (effective 4/1/09) inspite of having a mint credit score and a 12 year history of perfect payments on time with them. I called them about my options, and they said I could cancel my card or live with the new rate. Nice people. I will remember this when I vote for my Congressmen who gave them a bailout last fall!
I agree with many people, that those Americans that chose to live beyond their means should be held accountable. However, we are now offering to help those people that can no longer afford their homes (whether through their own actions or due to layoffs and other tough economic situations), but not helping those of us who are ‘good risks’.
Our mortgage is held by Wells Fargo. We have made our payments on time, with extra principle payments included, every month. Both my husband and I have credit scores in the ‘excellent’ range. We live comfortably and within our means – we don’t travel or partake in other ‘excesses’. We went to Wells Fargo to refinance from our 6.75% interest rate and were locked in at 4.625%, thereby saving us $700/month! We were thrilled…until EIGHT WEEKS LATER when we finally were told we were denied because our 2007 income was too low.
WHAT?!?!? Wells Fargo holds our mortgage, and are willing to allow us to continue to pay the extra $700/month (because they know we can and will), but are worried about our income? HA!
The CEO of Wells Fargo was one of those speaking in front of Congress about how they are lending, but I can guarantee, they are NOT! And they don’t care about the consumer (which I realize is no surprise – they are out to make money as any business it), but I can guarantee they have lost this customer and all the interest payments they were thinking they would continue to make. We were scooped up and closed with another institution within weeks.
Some institutions are lending, but it seems to be only those that did NOT receive the government bailout money.
banks are not lending any money they are hold on just in case the top man may need it himself this whole bailout is a bunch of BS taxpayers will end up paying this money back and i can’t even get a loan i have had it with the government taxpayers need to run the country these old politician don’t have a clue as to what happen to people on a daily basis i say clean out all the banks le the government control the money dont give them another dime unless they have a good reason to recieve bailout show the books contact those involved i wish Obama would contact me i would have this whole mess straighten out in less than a year the stealing game is over for all you big CEO and wall street investment banker all you are to blame and for someone like me to struggle to pay my energy and you make 850k 950k a year this asburd. please contact i have a solution that would work. Trust me i would become famous for this i beleive a wrong decision has been made here we are in for a world of huge bad times for a long time i’m tlaking for the next 10-15 years. please God watch over us while the greed stealing has just started watch and listen my friends
I have had no problems getting a new credit card through capital one @ 0% balance transfer.. It seems everyone has failed to take into account your debt loads are to high… as everyone in the financial sector point out.. why should someone issue you more credit if your already unable to handle what you have..
and to bucky fredericksburg virginia: February 18, 2009 2:21 pm.. whinging about not being able to buy a house because you have too many unpaid hospital bills.. why should you be allowed to buy a house if you owe tremendous amounts to hospitals for services you didn’t pay for.. Do you think the life saving treatment you received should be free? do you think hospitals work without payment? if you had health insurance the health insurance company still would have had to dole out the thousands of dollars on your behalf.. so you reinforce other peoples statements of “Americans.. it’s always someone else’s fault or responsibility for my mistakes” so i firmly believe if you couldn’t even afford health insurance at 50-400$ a month for single coverage, how do you expect to afford a mortgage??
I currently have my mortgage through Chase and since the interest rates have declined I really wanted to refinance to a lower rate and a 15 year mortgage. Here’s my story; my credit rating is high (about 786), I have $2,000 of debt, $25,000 in savings in the bank, , my house has not devalued (worth $209,000) yet I only make $16,000 a year. My mortgage has been paid on time for the last ten years and I’m only asking to borrow $52,000. What did I get? DENIED! Not only did they deny my refinance, they refused to call me back about the denial but they also opened a credit card without my approval! This is absolute crap! No, the banks aren’t lending but they sure can do whatever they want and that means opening lines of credit that they get incentives on (hello fraud!) and deny people that live well within their means. Yeah, I make nothing but I sure as hell pay my mortgage on time so I should have been refinanced! The banks are worthless!
On further consideration, I believe the solution needs to be a government threat to the bank charter. The bank files “call reports” each month and it must show a 10% increase in new loans and total loans each month or it is assessed a monetary penalty in the amount they missed the target. If they miss the target three months in a row, they lose their charter. This way, the share holders pressure the officers and managers to make loans or the bank is seized and handed over to another bank that is making its target numbers. Problem solved.
“The borrower is slave to the lender.” Remember the golden rule? The one with the gold makes the rules. Rather than complain about higher interest rates, pay off your debt and start paying with cash. Once you are debt free, you will be the one with the gold and you can make the rules. Stop being a victim, life isn’t fair…not even in America.
Loan approved – no problem. I have never had a problem getting a car loan – this past weekend I purchased a new Toyota Camry and received financing at 4.7% from a large bank. Don’t know where the problems are for some but with a decent credit score of just over 820 I had 4-5 loan options at or below 5.5 for 48 months offered.
So explain the logic that is going on here. I have had some problems in the past so my credit score is not that good. I want to get a car loan which I have the income to cover it. I am denied the loan because of my score not the fact I can make the payment. Or I get some unbleavable high intrest rate that makes my payment to high to pay for. But the guy who has a great score gets 0% fianancing and a low payment and he is usaualy the one with a high paying job. He also is not in deperate need for a car to get to work because yours is broke. it should be a flat intrest rate based on your available income. Lets get this fixed so we can start buying cars instead of giving GM 20 billion.
I think whats happening is that the banks are using the money to hold on to their properties to sell at a higher price, rather than lending to consumers and making a small profit. I wrote about it on my blog at http://xmplary.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-are-banks-doing-with-bailout-money.html
I have credit score of 780. I applied for re-finance to get lower interest rate through Wellsfargo and got turn down. Because of they value my house below market price so didn’t reach their 80% max rule.
You all are missing the point. The employees of these lenders want to make the loans you describe and were able to six months, a year, even 20 years ago.
The problem is, the GOVERNMENT OWNED source of nearly all mortgage money, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are both tightening credit. TODAY! Feb 19th, 2009. Ask your broker! FHA (which technically is not a lender) has added minimum credit scores for the FIRST TIME SINCE 1935!
Your government IS the problem!
We need to EACH ONE OF US write our Congressmen and tell them that banks are not lending, they are still tightening credit.
On a technical note, one of the reasons mid sized lenders cannot lend is the large banks will not grant warehouse loans – the temporary funding facility leders use to fund the loan until it is delivered to its MBS. Many lenders are slowing down their underwriting so that they do not have to admit that they do not have the funding capicity to fund all the loans they want to make.
For all the talk, the government is making things worse, TODAY!
Why you cannot get a loan.
Let’s see, we put the fox in charge of the hen house and the wolf and the lions are watching the fox.
Who thinks this is going to work? Does anyone have any idea who got us into this mess? Bankers? Wall Street? Irresponsible Borowers?
Our elected officials who are now claiming to save the day and get us out of this mess cannot even tie their own shoes. The irresponsible lending guidelines, mandated lending standards, in-adequate oversight, irresponsible management, and unrealistic expectations of our economy by the same people that are now claiming they can spend our way out of this mess they got us into in the first place.
How can we as a nation let this happen? We are all fooled into thinking that Republican versus Democrat, my candidate is better than your candidate mentality and we all forget the reason we should be electing these people. Integrity, Intelligence and leadership ability. It has become more about the votes, graft and greed.
I may be a little skewed, I am from Illinois, but did anyone look into the whole Obama and Tony Rezko issue? Are we just going to forget about all of that stuff now that he is prez and let it slide by? Obama somehow needed the lot next door to his home on the South Side of Chicago, could not afford this lot, but Tony Rezko, I am certain out of the goodness of his heart, bought it for him and sold it to him for a reduced price. Wait a minute this Tony Rezko is now in jail! Our Governator is now in jail also, well technically not yet but he will be soon.
Wake up people, as Adam Smith wrote in the Wealth of Nations;
“There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.”
To Terry Dudely Utah…
There are many small businesses that rely on loans to front projects in construction…you know the backbone of our economy. Of course because our politicans gave this loan to anyone that could sign their name with an X mark, we who have been in business for over 35 years are at the mercy of those who as you say did not manage their money properly.
Not everyone is was greedy, complacent, and irresponsible….some of us really work for a living and provide jobs to many.
YOu might attribute your comments to some but not all of us are in the category you seem to project as reasons for where we are today.
This is more than balancing a checkbook issue or buying too much food at a grocery store.
This is about our government being led by a bunch of socialist who still think people deserve something for nothing…and banks cheating the American people out of making a living by charging outrageous credit card interest on those that can least afford it or not providing business loans to those who need it. It’s about banks taking TARP money and buying banks in CHina, it’s about many of the CEO’s, investment bankers and others making millions off of these including Charles Raines ($90 million) off Freddie Mac by selling these loans to unsuspecting countries that now blame us cheating them and taking their own countries down…
Yes, these people who took mortgages should be held accountable but the buck starts at the top…and that would our politicans who approved deregulations of the banking industry and that happened on Clinton’s watch.
Some of us do balance our checkbooks but we still rely in loans for our business to operate and survive.
I recently attempted to REFI my home with Wells Fargo because they offered a 4.75 fixed rate 30 yr mortgage. I currently have a 5.87% fixed rate 30 yr mortgage which I’m very comfortable with but thought I’d go for the better interest rate nonetheless. My credit rating was 775 and I have no debt, no school loans, no car payments, and I pay my credit cards in full each month with no balances. My wife and I have over 30K in savings accounts. We have no marks on our credit, never declared bankruptcy, nor have we ever been late paying a bill. In general, I think we were a minimial risk. We bought our house in April 2008, for 315000 and put 22% down. Our combined income is close to 90K in secure gov’t jobs. The REFI required a new appraisal and because of the market decline we ONLY had a 81% loan to value ratio. We were denied because of 1%. If we can’t get a loan , I don’t know who could.
“All of my accounts are current” Current?! Is this what people think is “good” credit. I use the term lightly because that is ridiculous. Before you take on NEW debt, you should be free of OLD debt. If you are still paying off thousands of dollars elsewhere, why would anyone lend you hundred’s of thousands of dollars to buy a home? You aren’t paying your smaller bills off very quickly as is! What are people thinking?! If you can’t show they you can EASILY handle the loan…why would someone hand you money at a 5% interest rate? Correction, why would I hand you my money (as a bank shareholder) when you haven’t shown you can handle a few thousand dollar expenses and pay them off quickly.
Why do people feel they can debt load themselves and everything is “ok” if they make minimum payments until they die?
It was distressing that in this article only the consumer who was declined credit had an opportunity to send their comment regarding the banking industry. As a banker it is important that consumers realize that the community banking system was and is still lending to creditworthy borrowers. Every day we receive customer inquiries that begin with, “Are you still lending?” The media and government would have us all believe that there is no hope and all is lost, but the realization of a good financial decision is you, the individual’s, responsibility. There are good lenders out there who are here to help local people purchase autos, buy homes or realize business opportunities.
I have great credit score it is around the 785 mark and yesterday I applied for a Bank of America credit card. The bank them called me at home and told me that I had good gredit but at this time we(the bank) is not opening any new credit lines. Why are we helping the BIG banks if they are not going to loosen up the lending and allow us to get the credit we need? I think Obama needs to rethink on how we shold spend this money with the big banks.
What is the deal with banks (chase) that have given a person a line of credit and then out of the blue take it away? We have been paying our home equity line of credit every month on time and were in the middle of home renovations, when we went to buy some material and the card was rejected. We called the bank and they said you had a change in your credit profile so we have cancelled your line of credit. Can they do that? How do you work around this problem?
It’s always the case that those that don’t need the money get the best rates. I signed up for a Debt Reduction program several months ago since I was unemployed a few months last year. I did not realize that my FICO score would plummet and my other credit card would be closed by CitiGroup. I’m in a house that I did not refinance during the upswing but I have a 3 year ARM that just expired and so far the rate is ok but I can’t get anyone to touch a refinance now. What’s disturbing is the folks that did refinance during the high-point and are now underwater, may get help while those of us that didn’t cash-in will still be paying while our housing values continue to decline. I’m amazed that the banks received Billions of dollars and are still using predatory practices. I’ve been saying for years that when the Government gives incentives to Corporations, they have to have some stipulations. Years ago, it was tax breaks to create new jobs and the jobs were in India and China. It’s pathetic! The CEO’s only line their own pockets.
Have been with the same bank (Chase) for over 11 years. Tried to refinance to get a lower interest rate. They said the value of my home had fallen to under $140,000. Less than a year ago it was $240,000. The loan officer said to call customer service to see if they would make a loan modification for us. That department stated that “NO – You pay your bills on time so we will not do anything for you.” I asked if I was behind on my mortgage for 3 months or more would they help and they said “YES”. We pay our bills and live within our means so why do some who don’t get all the advantage? Does not make any sense to me…at least I am grateful that I have a job (For now!)
I have been a loyal BofA customer for 17 years. I’ve never had a late payment and never had a credit problem. I make well over 6 figures a year, own a house that I bought in 2002 when the market was affordable, live within my means and have a 750 credit score. I have a mortgage with a horrendous rate that I still continue to pay faithfully each month. I called BofA to see if they would help a longtime customer get into a loan with a better rate (my loan is fixed at 7%.. ouch!). After making me dance and jump through flaming hoops, I was eventually denied because my LTV was over 80% (it’s at 90%, due to falling property values). So what kind of BS catch-22 are the banks playing here? Sure, they’ll give you a loan, if your LTV is high enough – but LTV’s across the nation are going up as property values go down.
Apparently customer loyalty and a proven history now means nothing to these banks. They take our money and they refuse to lend it back unless you can meet circumstances that are difficult to realize today. As soon as I find a bank that will finance me, BofA can pound sand and I’ll drop them faster than live grenade.
Lack of finacial understanding and education coupled with irresponsible money management and lack of willingness to take accountability for one’s actions by Americans at all levels appears to be the root causes in our economic instability. I’ve noticed that not many people know how this economy works or how the flow of money travels, nor do they want to learn about it or have any responsibility in ensuring the success of their own economy. Credit was too easy to obtain, and greedy undereducated or downright complacent borrowers got in over their heads. This triggered the horrific collapse we’ve witnessed. Basically everyone is to blame for this fiasco. However, is it the fault of the banks that YOU can’t balance YOUR own budget, and that YOU took on too much? To put this in perspective: Is it the grocery store’s fault that YOU ate too much and don’t exercise, so YOU got fat and unhealthy? This identifies the responsibility for our entire mess… YOU, ME, EVERYONE. The bank might have thought you were trustworthy, but you should know yourself better than they do, and only take on that which you can truly handle. America, the land of “Someone else should always take the blame for my actions”.
so my credit is not bad all of my accounts are current but i have alot of hospital bills due to a lack of health insurance. so becasue i cant afford health insurance I can not own a home. this is why our country is in the mess it is in. so needless to say i was denied for a home loan due to hospital bills
My issue is not that precisely with all these stories of being denied financing and refinancing. That’s the lendors’ decisions and they presumably know what they are doing.
My issue is that banks will not refinance my own mortgage, but I will be forced fund government programs to refinance mortgages of people who are worse payers than I have been and who’s properties have worse equity positions than mine.
Logically, this makes no sense and is very frustrating.
We had less than perfect (but not bad) credit 2 years ago when we bought our new house. We were told we would be getting a moderate-interest fixed-rate FHA loan. However, 10 days before we were to close – and after our old home had been sold and closed on – our loan officer called up and said we had a problem. It was the beginning of the housing crash, and all that was available to us was a subprime ARM. We had little choice but to accept (and admittedly didn’t do our research), under his assurance that we would refinance before the ARM kicked in after 24 months. Well now here we are in a banking crash and no one is lending. Our credit is vastly improved, yet no one will refinance us. They had no problem giving us a subprime 2 years ago, but now with IMPROVED CREDIT, they won’t refinance. I’ll tell you this, with my wife now laid off because of the economic situation, if that ARM kicks in before we can find someone to refinance us, we’ll be in serious trouble.
I blame myself for signing the subprime to begin with, but you would think after 2 years of never missing a mortgage payment AND improving your credit, that SOMEONE would be willing to help.
We bought our home 2 years ago,, i didnt really know the condition to our loan until days before signing,, long story short,, we are on time and we have a interest rate of 9.5 with a 40 year mortage with a 100,000.00 balloon…….we have tried twice to refinance and every day i get calls that people want to refinance us. but at the end of the day i get turned down. I am not asking the goverment to pay my mortgage,, I would just like to refinance my mortgage as i have a prepently of 6 month of interest if i refinance before 3 years. now pa has past a law that banks can not have that anymore,, but it doesnt help us. T
Let me make one thing clear: my complaint is not that I did not get refinanced even with excellent credit and low debt. It’s the bank’s decision and they assumably have good economic reasons for making it. I can live with being declined.
What I cannot live with is that people in DEFAULT, the worst payers of all, will now get refinanced ON THE TAXPAYERS DIME.
My money, that was not good enough to refinance myself, is being taken to refinance those less responsible. Outrageous.
How can anyone think that is right? Morally corrupt is all it is.
We recently got a credit card Interest rate increased to 17.24% from 13.99% with no reasoning and or late payments. Chase simply stated the following:
” ..in response to market conditions and to mantain profitability on your account…”
Waht do we need to do to report and/or escalate and to who these issues that are bringing our Cash Flow down ?
Please advise
I think I have discovered another reason people can not figure this mess out, bad math.
H. Oakland, California and Chris Indianapolis, IN both posted numbers about paying every adult $50,000 claiming it would be lower than the current bail outs. There are more than 250million people over 18 in this country.
50,000 X 250,000,000 = 12.5Trillion
If you can not do basic research and math, how can you make any sound financial decisions?
All I hear is help for those who are “losing” their home gets help. What about those of us who have paid their mortgage on-time and once the ARM hit, it doubled out payments. We tried to re-finance and were unable to because our property values continued to decline due to foreclosures in our neighborhood. We were unable to keep our home. But we can afford a home with credit scores at almost 700, but we can’t get financing because we have a foreclosure in our history. Now we have to wait 3 years to get another mortgage!!!!! So I am wasting $18k per year in rent, when it could be going to toward my principal on a mortgage.
Everyone seems to pick one group to blame for the economic mess. As a former financial industry employee I saw first hand the mess starting to be created back in 2004-05 and there are numerous parties who should share the blame. However, if the investment banks did not allow such relaxed underwriting guidelines many of the loans would not have been made. Many of the firms the Investment Banks hired to perform due diligence reviews on the mortgages loans are pathetic and peformed cursory reviews at best. I also question the qualifications of many of the employees. What do people expect when they put greed ahead of risk management and sound decision making.
I received an e-mail from American Express today indicating that they had lowered my credit limit by 60%. I spoke with an AMEX rep from ” customer service”. She stated that their decision was based on ” looking into your credit file.” I replied, that I have excellent credit with Equifax score of 801 and always pay approximately 25% of the balance each month, much larger than the minimum. In addition, I have never been late on a payment. The lady stated , ” yes, this all true, but we have made our decision.” I stated that THIS is the problem with our banking system. To deny credit to those with PROVEN excellent histories is shameful and greedy. This country is in a nosedive.
I have a business and recently our clients have been paying slow terms going from 30 days net to them asking for 60 to 90 days to pay, these are the same companies that received some of the bail-out funds, I spoke to my banker and just found out that they shut down their business banking unit, and We have a business account with them we are a small business and have the potential to add more business in this economy , So why did our bank not communicate that they no longer have a business banking unit at TCF , We were just looking for short-term working credit to continue working with our clients until the accounts and funds became available
I applied for a personal loan today at lendingtree.com, I also applied there four months ago, just to see rates and try to buy a used car.
Four months ago I received several offers. I have no cc debt, an excellent credit score and record, and only student loan payments.
Four months ago I got offers for around 10% interest.
Today, I got one offer at 22% interest.
When are the banks going to start lending again, to people who are credit worthy like myself?
I am a single parent, which means one income and I have an 18 year old son. I cannot afford to buy a home. There aren’t new homes to qualify for at an affordable price (new because I don’t know how to fix anything and wouldn’t be able to afford to pay to fix an old one) forced to buy old homes that are not worth the price. I cannot afford to put my son through college that would be another loan. I have many credit cards in order to be able to keep up with the needs. I pay my minimum payments but struggling to keep up with all. I was late on one which has brought my interest rate to a ridiculous amount ex. of a payment of $217.00 the bank keeps $150.00 in interest. I request balance transfer for a lower interest rates, for a lowere payment to be able to qualify for home but no bank will approve because of the high debt. This will eventually force me to fall behind on payments and damage my credit. I do not get any tax breaks no child tax credit no earned income credit. This year I have to pay more taxes than last. How can one survive when you try to be responsible but the companies keep getting richer and the poor poorer. You get a 3 percent increase in pay and 10 percent interest in everything else, health benefits,taxes etc. When will it all stop. I cannot retire where or how will I live.
I have not been denied a loan but with all the Bankers partnering with the Lobbyists and Politicians, the Banks are loaning the money to each other and probably family and freinds.
I am writing to share with you my experience as a homeowner facing the possibility of losing my home.
As a single mom, I wanted to provide a home for my child. I saved up my money and was able to buy my house (technically speaking, it belongs to the bank). A 5/1 Adjustable-Rate Mortgage at 5.375% was what made it possible for me.
My adjustable rate mortgage resets in September 2009 – my monthly payments could increase significantly to the point of being unaffordable. Over the past several months I became proactive and began looking into fixed 30 year rates on a daily basis. Finally, in December I was approved by the Loan Officer after he had checked my credit and was able to lock a 4.75 30-year fixed rate with Bank of America who is also my current lender. I was very happy that my nightmare of losing my home may not come true. My mother taught me that here in the U.S. your Driver License and your Credit should be kept clean, because it represents who you are. As a result I’ve keep a good driving record and an excellent credit score.
I’ve gone through hoops and hurdles, filling out numerous forms, providing more and more documentation. Everything looked good. Then they wanted more and more and I gave it to them.
Last week, I was informed that nearly two months after the application process began they will deny the loan unless I come up with $20,000. They say that now (two months later) my home is worth less than the loan.
So here I am trying to do the right thing – obtain a loan that is affordable, that I can pay off, that keeps me out of foreclosure, and that allows me to stay in my home. The only sticking point is that the home is worth less than the loan – only because the bank kept dragging their feet.
I can afford the 30 year fixed. I may not be able to afford the adjustable rate when it resets in September 2009. I can’t even begin to express how frustrated I am.
I keep hearing on the news how my government is giving Bank of America billions – BILLIONS – of dollars to loan out. Imagine how I feel having to foot that tax bill while I’m being foreclosed! This is so very wrong! They are denying my loan and at the same time nearly guaranteeing that they will foreclose in 7 months. I want you to know this because of how very unjust Bank of America is behaving with my money – with your money – with all the taxpayers money!
Is there anything anyone can do? Any pressure you can apply on Bank of America to give an honest hardworking single parent an affordable loan? I’m not asking for a handout. I’m asking for a chance.
So I admit I am one of the people who don’t have great credit. I have a score of 500. I pay all my bills ontime and have paid everything off but my car and some medical bills from a stroke I had years ago. I came up from 350 to 500 and now I am being told that after paying everything off in order to get more credit I need revolving credit. I have a great job and only a car payment as a bill, I am being turned down everywhere because the credit bureau goes back 7 years and doesn’t take into account the 3 years where everything has been paid back on time or early. So I am caught in a horrible loop where I am trying to improve upon life and increase my credit score to one day buy a home. I don’t think the score should go away I think it is helpful, but I do think maybe going back so far gives no credit to people like me who have learned from the errors and are doing better and want to be a financially responsible member of the community
I admittedly have troubled credit, having been in Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the past (paid in Nov 2006). We got an excellent rate on our home of 5.75% on a refi in May of last year (our area thankfully didn’t depreciate.
I’ve run into some cash shortages, so I applied to my bank for a $10K line of credit. denied. and haven’t gotten the official paper denial as yet.
The ironic thing about this? My bank is National City, which was having money problems and was purchased last year by PNC with TARP funds
I hate banks….
Why are you only interested in stories of those who cannot get a loan? How about balancing the story against those who were successful in getting a loan. I may prove instructional to those wanting one.
!
We are trying to get a SBA loan for a start up business. As I called all the Preferred SBA lenders I was told ” We are not making new start up loans.” or “We are going to need 30% down” When we got the 30% we were then told that we could not get the loan because we need at least 6 mths working capital. Wow 6 months. So we are sitting here no SBA loan and no hope
We put our life savings- $200,000, down on a home $700,000 home. We both have excellent credit. We make over $200,000 per year, no other debt and money in reserve. Our home is now worth 400,000. We want to refinance to a lower rate (we’re at 7.5%). The bank says we can’t because of no equity. Don’t you realize that NO ONE has the stomach to pay high interest rates on rapidly depriciating assets? This is forcing everyone into foreclosure around us! Throw us a bone or watch us walk away.
Our walk away number is $300,000, which should hit soon.
BOFA – you could have had a $500,000 loan at 5.25%. Soon you’ll be struggling to find a buyer for yet another foreclosed home. Good luck with that.
Owning is totally overrated anyway. We’ll walk away, lick our wounds, and save our money. When the houses come down to $200,000 in 5 years – we’ll have the cash, and Bofa might end up selling us our old home for that price – lol.
In the recent three months, since I have been paying down my credit debt quicker, most of the Credit Card companies are lowering my credit limits to match the balance owed, or lowering down to a ridicules limit. I have never missed a payment, or been late on a personal line of credit in 15 years, and I have had some accounts for over 15 years. For example, GE Money Bank, which does consumer retail cards like, Dillard’s, Neiman Marcus, Chevron Texaco, Lowes, and the Paypal for EBay, they have lowered my Credit Line from $5,000.00 to $100.00 on one account, another $850.00 to $100.00, matching another, etc. The bad part is that now my credit score is lower, because it reflects that I am maxed out on some cards, because of lowering the limit to match the balance, and changes debt ratio. It makes no since to use credit anymore. All of my credit cards that have done this, I am considering either closing the accounts, if there is an annual fee or no active fee, and I am considering opt out due to increases in interest rates. The government bails out these financial institutions, and then these financial institutions wants to raises interest rates to high levels. Banks and Credit companies now have so fees, like over-limit, late fee, transaction fee, payment fee, annual fee, processing fee, monthly fee, minimum fee, cash advance fee, by-phone fee, points fee, statement fee, by-mail fee, ATM fee, check fee, cashiers check fee, teller fee, etc, and then can change the terms monthly.
In reading the other posts, I suppose the issue seems to be there is no set pattern of who (and who does not) obtain credit. I see people high good income, good savings, high credit score, and yet denied credit. And then I read posts from people who have modest income, modest savings, decent (700s) credit score, and get credit without any problems.
All I can assume is that there is “more to the story” on what banks/creditors look for in a potential debtor. Is that fair? Maybe, maybe not. Does that make sense? I’m not an actuary so I can’t speak to that.
All I can say is my personal story. I just refinanced my house, and my application took all of 5 minutes online. I went down to a 4.6% fixed rate 30-year mortgage (from 6.25%) with about 2% total closing costs. I started my new job 6 months ago (so work history is “relatively” stable), I have good equity in my house, but no “big pile of cash in the bank.” I am on time with credit card payments and have no significant balances (low five figures in total). I did use a credit union versus a bank, which perhaps made a difference.
I suppose my best advice is keep trying, and look for non-bank lenders (such as credit unions. Loans are happening, and no everyone has six figure assets or 5-year employment histories.
We have had temporary financing on our house while we sold our other house. Now that we have sold the first house we are trying to secure a 30 yr fixed mortgage. When we bought our house 18 months ago the garage had been enclosed to make a 4th bedroom. The bank didn’t have any problem with that at the time. NOW, all of a sudden not having a garage is an issue. We have been turned down by several underwriters with not having a garage being stated as the problem. This seems absoulutely crazy. Banks are telling us that underwriters have become extremely picky and are looking for anything to deny a loan. Yeah the banks will lend but they have tightened up so much that stupid things like a garage are becoming an issue.
I vote for a class action lawsuit against the credit agencies for defamation of character. If you miss a payment or better yet there is an inaccuracy on your credit report you get hit for a higher interest rate. Of course you can attempt to “fix” your credit report but the burden of proof falls on you. The lower your score the more interest you pay seems backwards as you can probably not afford it. I figure with all the incorrect actions / accounts on our credit reports (heard about 15% are wrong) then throw in the percentage hike and the interest we pay for being a “risk” were looking at billions – any lawyers want to take this one on?
Citibank turned my wife and I down for a consolidation loan of $15000.00. The we asked if we could loan us at least $4500.00 for a overdue debt that was needed immediately and they still said NO. I have banked with Citi for over 8 years, with direct deposit to there bank from the same company i have worked for 8 years. She has a credit score over 690 and mine was 650. This loan would have helped us position ourselves during this tough financial period. Thank GOD for loving parents who were able to BAIL us out. The Government should create a program for individuals who are starting new families, have school loans and need to buy there first homes. With the housing prices in the San Fernando Valley coming down dramatically, we still have hope we can purchase our first home with hard work and lucky break. We are a very good standing white middle class and educated family, who are trying to live the American dream, a dream that our constitution promises to all who live here. “I’m glad our government is helping the same corporations who distorted the reality of our dreams and then deny us a chance to recover. You help them with our tax money and they say NO. The people need the help to recover their lives to get the economy going”. “Yeah lets give the car makers more money, so they can make cars we cant afford. Lets give the banks more of our money, so they hoard it and not help the Americans who need it the most”. The credit system needs to be changed. Why companies check credit for worthiness and report you if you fail on a payment or lease, but wont report to the bureaus if you make good, like renting an apartment or cell phone companies. They do not report on time monthly payments. But will if you break a lease or contract. That is messed up. If they check your credit, then they should do something to help improve your overall score. Thank you for your time and reading my issues. I will be creating a VIDEO about this post on YouTube today after I get off my career job. Keyword nwo4rice
Chase just raised our business CC interest rate from 8% to 17%, cash withdraw, 19%. Is this interest rate even legal? We’ve been maintained low balance, close to 800 credit score with no loan request. Is this what I get after pumping my hard earned tax money to these banks?
We tried to refinance but the Banks seem to find appraisers the lo ball the value of the home. Ours came in $100K lower than 3 years ago. The Dallas area has not seen that kind of value drop, maybe 10% not 40%. Our credit score is over 750 but with the terrible appraisals the loan to value will not allow us to get a loan.
I’m so sick of hearing about how bad the economy is and how were in a economic crisis.
Over Christmas I looked for a Nintendo WII for over 3 weeks and every store (to include online stores) were sold out. I went to purchase a car this month and all five of the cars (all us models) that I was interested in were “just bought”. At least once a week my bank and other credit issuing agencies are offering me more credit and attempting to have me refinance. I personally do not know anyone who has lost their job and I know of only two people that know someone that knows someone that lost their job.
I was rejected flat out by 3 mortgage companies because my credit score was a 699 and I needed 700 to qualify for a mortgage.
My credit score is considered low because I have no credit debt (1 card which I pay in full every month) and have never taken out a loan. I paid cash for my car. I had 80K for a down payment on a home that was 300K and I make 100K a year.
I did qualify for an FHA loan but with these loans you can not put more than 20% down and I have to pay $127 a month in PMI fees because I am “considered” high risk.
At the closing of my home yesterday, I was surprised to learn that the FHA has decided to double there up front fee from 2000 to 5000 since I put an offer on my home 15 days ago. They can change the fees at a moments notices!
I find it ridiculous that yesterday Obama signed a tax credit for first time home buyers but that the FHA (federal government) turns around the raises there fees such that the tax credit becomes a wash. Additionally, people like me don’t qualify for the tax credit based on income but we have to now pay significantly higher fees to get a mortgage. It is no wonder no one is buying a home these days.
I tried to refinance my house (Wells Fargo) and get a car loan(Ford Credit) but as expected, I was turned down. The real problem is that a FICO score doesn’t tell the whole story. My credit score went from 780-790 to 490 in less than 18 months.
I got hit with a 1-2 punch followed by a right cross that sent my finances to the canvas. The price of gas, utilities, groceries, property taxes, etc went through the roof. This forced me to prioritize my bills. I still have a job but none of my creditors are willing to make reasonable repayment arrangements. I can probably recite their scripts because I heard the same thing from each one. My debt is not that bad based on my income but the monthly payments are not sustainable. If only one bank was smart enough to realize that I have the ability to repay all of my debt then I could tell my bankruptcy attorney never mind. But since they want to raise my interest rates and then attempt to force me into agreements that they know I can’t complete then I will just pay all of my money to the trustee who will then divide it up and give them the crumbs that they deserve for playing hardball.
If Bush had paid the people $50,000 per head to all American adults over 18, it would have been around $200 Billio of the $350 Billion he paid the Insurance Companies and Banks and his buddies to go shopping for luxury items, buying smaller banks and paying themselves big bonuses hide the rest off shore! That $200 Billion would have taken care of most cash flow probelms and the current economic disaster. That means all those who voted and allowed Bush Admin to grant that reward to failing banks and insurance companies are not real peoples representatives. Therefore, we currently have taxation without proper representation which is wrong,immoral, undemocratic and unconstitutional!
Us both being federal employees, our jobs are pretty secure “I imagine?”. Both our credit scores are over 700 (730-760). Credit card balances, range from zero (emergency card) to $1,400.00. Between us we have 4 cards. No lates, no charge-offs.
We tried to get a lower interest rate, but were denied credit by the bank holding the note and others, because our home value is upside down.
We get letters to call the bank and modify our loan and then get denied for a variety of reasons, other than not credit worthy.
Th ereality is that most of the complaints fall into 3 major categories. 1.self employeed or undocumented income. If you fall into these categories it will be more difficult to get a loan and it should be. These make for higher risk. It may require working outside of the large banks and using a local provider. 2. Refinancing: a couple of observations if you have only been in a loan for 1-4 years you may not be able to refinance especially at no cost. If you have an interest only or low down loan(below 20% equity currently) you may not qualify. Guess what the standard has been raised and that means you need to meet the new standard. There is no guarantee that you get to refi for no cost to a lower rate just because you want to it needs to make sense for the bank. When you finance a loan you should be happy with the terms of the loan as written. REfi’s are a bonus not a right or long term plan especially on short time frames. 3. A credit score of low 700’s or lower is not prime. Given the current economic environment you should have a hard time getting prime level financing if you score is in the 600’s or even low 700’s. Risk equates to higher rates and harsher qualification.
Finally, the banks did not get “given” the bailout money. The money must be paid back and there are numerous provisions that conditioned receiving the money. Hence the arguement on restricting compensation etc. Many of the banks were basically forced to take TARP money and would like to not have to live with the rules but they can’t get out. The government gets stock or the money back so the banks had to post collateral for the money.
From personal experience if you have documented income, equity and good credit (750+) loans are available. If you are a riskier case it is going to be more difficult and at higher rates. The banks don’t owe any individual anything except for their shareholders.
At present situation, due to the lack of cash flow and devalued assets, Credit Reporting Agencies such as Trans Union, Equifax, Choicpoint, and alike are the problem makers! They continue on their burocratic mistake ridden downgrading of regular people thus allowing the banks to reject loans!
The real change in banking must begin in either getting rid of them and allowing the creditors do a realistic evaluations or changing their whole structure, strategy and guidelines!
Banks like what is happening currently.
They are using the situation to milk people with bogus charges based on the above and more and instead of lending the money Bush gave them , they are buying smaller banks and air plaines and etc.
It is a known fact now that over 2000 large US Corporations pay no Taxes!
It is also well known that how IRS is chasing hard working Americans for small past due taxes, issuing bank levys and property liens and paycheck garnishments! To make it short, IRS, Credit Reporting Agencies, Big Banks, and Large Corporations with their Off shore hiding spots are to blame!
I wrote yesterday about this horrible situation we are in. And of course I read the stories of indivduals who cannot help themselves by tooting their own horn.
Bottom line – If you have a history of borrowing 400k frequently as one writer suggested, then of course you can get money.
In my case I have no history of installing stable businesses, yet I would have at a minimum quadrupled the price of my home by installing a profitable solar farm on my existing grounds.
Yet there are people who obviously have more disposable income then they care to mention or maybe they just can’t help themselves to insert comment into a situation that all of us, even with good to great credit and real equity(not inflated home value), can’t get even a secured loan. I was very persistant in getting answers to why I could not get money and the truth is the banks are not being supported enough now by the same business that drove us into the ground to begin with.
So people don’t be discouraged by a few millionaires or wannabees. Look to see if what your doing may be downsized so you can improve you net worth over a longer period of time then you really want. Like me, it is the only choice for now.
Look. We all know that most of us can get are hands on more credit cards than we can handle at a national average of 20%. I lost 46 points off my credit score by consolidating to a zero percent card because of the debt to cap ratio on the card. Just be careful and do a lot of research on the internet and always play devils advocate with yourself when an idea appears to be good. I just LLC’d for less than $300 and I am selling off assets for cash and services to build my dream. Determination is your biggest asset, not your undervalued house.
By the way comps, given by real estate appraisers for now are a thing of the past. My new beautiful 320 sq. ft. composite deck for a porch with all the landscaping and new sidewalks,was worth nothing on my last appraisal 1 month ago. My toys I sold were worth a good start.
Reading the posts I came across one from Teresa in Decautur Illinois which states “give everyone 18yrs and older $50,000 and it would equal 155 million give or take a few thousand”.
I have read this type of thing in several places on the NET recently and have to ask.. Where are you buying your calculators??? According to the 2006 census the total US population estimate was 299,398,484 people in the US. 24.6% where under 18 years old.
So lets do the math. The population above 18yrs old equals about 75% of the total population which would be 224,548,863. If you gave everyone $1 you are already over $224 Million Dollars.. so if you gave everyone over 18 $50k.. the amount would be $11,227,443,150,000.00… thats right over 11 trillion dollars..
Last years stimulus package was estimated to cost $152 Billion and no one got anywhere near $50k. The math seems pretty simple to me. I know its not exactly on topic but I just cant read this type of mis-information any longer and have people read it and then come up to me and say it like its fact…If you can find a flaw in my math, by all means post the correction…
i am a grandmother raising a grandchild lost my job of 7 1/2 years in August, Been living in my home for
5 years never been late on a house payment when I lost my job i did not sit home i searched everyday for another job Finally landed a job but making alot less I approached the presidnet of the bank and asked to consolidate my bills on longer years so i would be able to make ends meet and keep my home. they just refused now I find out that the mortgage note was not the arrangement we discussed 5 years ago The bank is stealing me blind and then will not refinance they would have to lower my interest rate at this time I am paying daily percentage I understood it was the lending rate it was the day i signed the mortgage for 5 years and then when refinance it would be again the lending rate at this rate i will never get my home paid for.. my home is not fancy and not above my means but I do not want to lose it but these litte hometown banks that are owned by the President and loan officers can do to you what ever they want to they have no conscious. Greed and the greed for money is the root of all evil
but what do I do?
I spent MONTHS looking for a new car loan. I will admit that I got caught in a preditory loan that caused me to have to file bankruptcy a year prior. Prior to my bankruptcy my credit was very good. Since my bankruptcy my payment history was perfect. I had 5 financed vehicles showing on my credit report all with perfect payment histories. I was attempting to finance 40% of the wholesale value of the car I was buying which put the banks in a vary safe situation. I was turned down by EVERY major lender on the market until Wachovia came along and accepted the deal 5 months into the process. I now have a car payment $115.00 lower than the car I traded in and am eternally greatful to Wachovia for stepping up to the plate for me.
Don’t let the banks continue to LIE through their teeth – they ARE NOT lending money without first dragging you through the mud hoping that you will finally give up and go away. It wsa my tenacity that finally got me financed.
Last week, HSBC canceled a Best Buy credit card I had as a result of inactivity (without any prior notice). It is true that I hadn’t yet used it- I got it only 3-4 months ago in anticipation of making a computer purchase and taking advantage of promo no-interest periods. I’ve been researching my purchase and waiting for a good deal. I can see the ripple effect now: my credit score goes down because I now have less open credit available to me and the average age of my accounts is now decreased; this could cause my other credit cards to raise my rates or, worse yet, make me ineligible for additional credit.
Wells Fargo denied our application to refinance our mortgage to a lower interest rate. Our credit score is over 775. Our only debit is 1 car and 1 mortgage. We have never missed a payment. Wells Fargo solicited us with a no-cost refi offer. After applying, they came back and said we do not qualify for the refi.
My husband and I are in our 30’s, both with advanced degrees, parents of 2 small children. Up until we started our business 2 years ago, we were a six-figure income. For the past 2 years, our income has been lower as we’ve invested in the business. We have no doubt it will continue to increase until we are at the same level before starting the business.
We were able to start our business and survive for the past 2 years on a lower income because we planned and saved. We could have purchased a larger home, bought 2 new cars, and maxed out our credit cards, but we didn’t. To the contrary, even with the start of our business, we invested as much as legally allowed to our Roth IRAs and continued our donations to various charities. We have also maintained health insurance, on our own dime, for our entire family. I’m proud of what we’ve done.
I am absolutely furious though with the housing bailout. It is as much the consumers’ fault as the banking industry. I have to stand by and watch our government reward individuals who were greedy, stupid, or both; and either purchased too much home or strike it rich by buying and reselling then they ever should have by renegotiating or reducing their loan amount, and I am going to pay for it.
Now, after seeing the first bank bailout do NOTHING to encourage lending, I trust the banks less than I trust politicians.
Have asked GMAC 5 times to refinance on my mortgage. Not to lower it but just make it fixed and not adjustable as my friends mtg firms have done. I have to pay late for that to happen which I cannot do working on a govt contract. So those who pay late get help and those of us who work two jobs to do so cannot. I recently went to get a car loan with Ford putting down 30% and still no loan. My husband worked at Wells Fargo whom laid off all contractors and are hiring out of India or only H1s. So why are we giving more to the banks to screw consumers over further. I am for giving it to the consumers and the banks can then lend to get consumer money. Only loans we got recently was one secured from our CDs. Nice a loan from yourself….
Two weeks ago I turned in a Chevy Trailblazer that I leased through GMAC for about $352 a month.
I just tried to assume someobody else’s lease on another trailblazer for $275/month for 21 more months. They denied me without reason. I offered to pay off all of the remaining 21 months in one lump sum and GMAC still would not approve the lease transfer.
That was instant cash they could have easily used. Now I guess I’m stuck buying a used car, life could be worse—but it should be simpler.
My story is short but very common… I have 2nd home with 7.6% interest on my mortgage. If I were able to refinance to current 5.25%, I would have saved around $600 per month.
I have 6 figure income and 810 credit score but I was not able to refi my second home!!!!!
The problem is that the value of my property is “under the water”. In other words, I owe more than it worth. At this moment my only solution (from economic standpoint) is to abandon it.
Advise to Mr. Obama: waive banks’ requirements for appraisal during refinance process for existing loans. It comes with “0″ initial cost to the government.
I never thought that I would foreclose on my property, but at this moment I am ready for it. And, if people like me, with perfect credit and good income, are losing their properties, then we are in a deep sht.
I called Bank of America to see if my online payment had posted and they were so sweet. They were so sweet they were going to offer me some loan deal and then things turned “UGLY” the person I spoke to was a so-called “credit analyst” why? I have not a clue. She said to hold on and then she comes back on and says we are closing your business account with Bank of America and we are reducing your line on this account from $20,000 to $5,000 and we are canceling this other account you have which has a zero balance on it. No paperwork just all over the phone. Then my spouse gets a letter from FIA which is also bank of America and they reduced her credit line from $5,000 to $2,500. I checked with the credit bureau and it says to my favor on every credit card i have ever had NEVER LATE, and NEVER missed a payment which i knew of course was true. So needless to say I paid off my Bank of America business card and now they keep sending me letters to reopen it. They can shove their credit cards. As soon as I pay the measley $2,600 off I am through with Bank of America. My wife is also through with their FIA card. I warned people months ago about bank of America being in a sordid state now I understand why.
783 FICA scores…15+ years of active credit…never late…never challenged…10% cash down on a $213,500 house I have lived in for 4 years…and now I cannot refinance. BS to banks who threw money away with ‘no income verification’ mortgages.
My wife and I recently refinanced our house at a 4.8% fixed rate. The loan approval went very fast, about 3 weeks from start to closing. We had purchased our home for slightly over $300K five years ago and had about $140K in equity. Our appraisal indicated the house value was virtually unchanged from the purchase price five years ago. We easily met the 80% criteria. I was surprised at how fast we were approved and closed on the loan.
I recently went and leased a car for my wife after turning in our old lease. No problem getting credit through U.S. Bank for the lease. I have a 812 credit score. I suggest if you have an excellent credit score and you cannot get a loan then try a different financial institution because with a good credit score there are definately people lending. If you don’t have good credit then the days of easy money are over, which is a good thing.
I am the owner of a small staffing service that employs over 250 temporary medical personnel. All our banks and
lines of credit have been tightened and it is becoming increasingly harder to meet our payrolls. Several of our banks have hit us with abusive overdraft charges and unrealistic fees. Banks are suffocating the creative entrepreneurial spirit of the American work force and
if not stopped will destroy this country for good.
Will not post a name for fear of retaliation of the banks,
which now control our destiny.
I work for a mortgage lender. The banks have twisted everything so that it hard to get a loan done. If you have a 720 you take a hit to your rate. If you cash out you take a monster hit. If your loan is over $417,000 it gets even tougher.
GE Money Bank turned me down for an $800 promotional loan. This is from someone making well over $100k, with no mortgage and minimal debt. You can’t get anything out of them as to why you are being turned down either. Their paper notification provides no detail. This is about 2 months after being approved by another store brand credit card financed by GEMB. Won’t by anything from GE now. Wonder how much this is damaging businesses as well.
How can we be approved for a refinance on our home when all the foreclosures have caused our value to drop $40,000 in two years? We recently tried to refinance and were denied because the needed amount was not 20% less than the appraisal (about 15%. We have all three FICA scores in the 800’s. No (zero) credit card debt. If we get behind will the bank be forced to give us a lower rate and take dollars off the principal as it appears they will do for those people already behind? That appears to be what is happening in the stimulus plan.
I was recently turned down for a $15K loan at a payment rate/amount that would have totaled to about 15% of my monthly net income.
My FICO score is well over 800, my house is paid for (mortage was financed through the same place I applied to for the $15K loan) and worth about $250K, car is also paid for. I have zero debts. But my income is only $20K.
Hello fellow americans!! I am a former marine from NC, I have a question that may seem repetitve but I was wondering why the business and corporation are asking for huge amounts of money, as if me and you would be asking to borrow 20 dollars to payday for gas!! Now for my other question the amount of money that the government is kicking out to the companies has no effect on the 95% of us as a whole! Because they are still not doing what they are suppose to do with the money! Ex. giving banks money so they will loan out money is insane ,they are simply not gonna do it!! If your credit score is below 750 you are not gonna get a loan with less than 15% interest!! now with the credit crunch stuff everybody has lost points on there credit so again how are we suppose to get money to spend to help the economy pull out of this mess!! I am not a economist but they need to give the people the money not the companies because we are what keeps the wheels spinning so to speak!! So some please anwser why they can’t give the people a lump some of money or a set monthly check until we pull ahead of this thing. No same there shouldn’t be some regulation , I know some people would try to take advantage but have strick guide lines and penalities for abuser(ex.must be taking care of a family or something like that!! ) and close the market for companies leaving US for cheaper labor and letting the american people stand in unemployment lines because there company moved to another country!! Or put such a high import tax rate on US companies operating in forgein countries that the company wounldn’t benefit from doing such!!! I know giving money to the people isn’t really the gov. thing but americans lossing everything they worked so hard to get should be #2 after national defense in my eyes!!
Thanks, Randall
There are just over 310,000,000 Million people in this country. Why can’t the government give the money to us, and I don’t mean 1500.00 that was a joke. Let’s say the President gave everyone 18yrs and older 50,000 dollars it would total 155 million give or take a few thousand. We the People would use it to pay bills buy a car or a house, and maybe reinvest in the Stocks. Wouldn’t that be cheaper than the 800,000,000,000 billion he will be spending now. I would like to be able to benefit from my taxes like the Big Companies do, But seriously I would just like to pay my bills and not some RICH BANKS BILLS.
Here is our story regarding the computer-generated form letter that we received from Bank Of America freezing our Home Equity Line Of Credit loan, devastating our financial security and our lives and sending us into an emotional tailspin. Although BOA eventually partially and conditionally re-instated our HELOC, it is at a much lower limit and it is subject to immediate re-freezing at any time without prior notification. These additional conditions placed on this loan effectively render it to be no longer a secure source of cash on which to live.
We are a retired couple living on a minimal IRA distribution. Several years ago, we purchased some land and built a home on the belief that we would be living there for the rest of our lives following our retirement. Unfortunately, after a short time in the home, it became apparent that we could not continue to live there due to health concerns and other associated problems. So we placed our home on the market and moved to another location to live. At that time, we secured this HELOC from BOA in order to provide us with sufficient cash to live on until we sold our home (due to paying both mortgage and rental expenses). We do not use these funds to take extravagant vacations or buy non-essential luxuries; we don’t even own a vehicle. We simply used these funds to provide the necessities on which to live.
We have a very small primary mortgage on our home and no other debt, so we only applied for a line of credit which we felt would be modestly required to live on until our home sold. In fact, at the time of our application, BOA actually unilaterally and not at our request increased the amount of the loan, but since it was a line of credit from which we would routinely withdraw only what was necessary and only pay interest on the outstanding balance, this did not present a problem to us, so we accepted the higher level. Even after accepting the larger limit from BOA, our total debt limit (primary mortgage plus maximum HELOC credit limit) was still substantially under the appraised value of our home, representing a mere fifty percent debt to equity ratio. Obviously, since taking out the HELOC, the value of our home and its listing price has dropped, but not significantly, as the home value decline in the area that our home is located in is minimal and far less than the national average. Based on current figures, our debt to equity ratio is still a modest and acceptable sixty percent.
So how and why did BOA arrive at their decision to freeze our HELOC at a substantially lower level than its original limit? The simple answer is that I don’t know, since to date despite my repeated requests, they refuse to provide me with their detailed calculations and assumptions to support their decision. So I can only conjecture as to how they came up with their figures. The short answer is that their decision was generated by a computer program, without any human input or review, using incorrect, illogical and unsupportable assumptions. You can find these so-called home value appraisals all over the Internet (such as Zillow, Yahoo or Eppraisal). Basically, they take recent home sale figures in a wide metropolitan area, and simply apply the dollars per square foot calculation to all properties in that area. These computer-generated appraisals do not take into account property specific items or differences such as age, location, views, land size, type of construction, condition of the home, or home improvements. And based on the current market, and especially in the area where our home is located, most sales are older homes on smaller lots at the lower end of the price spectrum and many are in fact foreclosures. So without an accurate and specific home appraisal done by a professional appraiser, which obviously the banks are not going to spend the money to have done on the thousands of properties that they have in their credit portfolios, these valuations are essentially meaningless. BOA did, however, eventually advise us of their so-called appraised value of our home (although they still refused to supply us with any supporting documentation or how they arrived at this figure) and it is indeed far less than our appraised listed value by a significant and unsupportable margin. In fact, BOA’s so-called appraisal is within a thousand dollars of the “home value estimate” of the home listed on the website eppraisal.com (yet, this website has no data or methodology to support their calculation, nor does it even list any comparables, but it does have a lot of disclaimers). But even if we were to assume their value was correct, our debt to equity ratio with the original line of credit limit would still be only about eighty percent, certainly not justification the freezing of our limit to a significantly reduced level that would have calculated to a debt to equity ratio of about forty percent on their appraised value.
Back to our story. On the exact date that we received the letter from BOA, we were on the verge of buying an RV in which we would be living full-time. We were doing this as a cost-saving measure and it would only take a few short years to pay off the initial cost of the RV versus paying apartment rents. It was to be a very intelligent financial decision. But, after receiving the initial letter from BOA, we were forced to cancel the order and forfeit our sizable deposit, as well as losing money on assorted accessories that we had already purchased for the RV, that are now useless to us and we will have to re-sell at a loss. So we have been forced to incur some actual and sizable financial losses as a direct and sole result of this one computer-generated form letter. Although they did eventually partially and conditionally re-establish our credit line, we understandably no longer have the confidence that it will remain open at this new level or any level for that matter, certainly not enough to afford purchasing an RV based on this credit account, or for that matter even living in an apartment. Subsequently, we have decided to temporarily move in with my brother for the time being. We feel that we just don’t have any choice. We are simply financially and emotionally drained and have lost all confidence in our banking system.
So what is happening here? Clearly, these decisions are being made by computers with no human intervention, until of course the customer cries uncle, as we had to do. But I believe that it goes deeper than that. Like all HELOC loans, our rate is tied to the Prime Interest rate. When we first obtained the HELOC, interest rates were high, so the fixed differential was actually negative resulting in a rate that is always less than the Prime rate (our interest rate is currently slightly under three percent). Now today, at lower interest rates, if you apply for a HELOC, the differentials are actually positive and several percentage points over the Prime (we noticed the other day that BOA was posting a five percent HELOC interest rate at our local branch). Clearly, the banks are losing money on existing HELOC loans in comparison to new ones. So it appears that this may be a backdoor approach to limit the amount on the older lower rate loans and drive customers to borrow more at the higher rates. It is certainly ironic that BOA is still extensively advertising HELOC loans on the Internet, television, newspapers and in their bank branches, while at the same time they are cancelling or freezing existing HELOC accounts!
Please understand that we are not rich nor are we poor, we are simply middle-class retirees attempting to modestly live out the remainder of our lives. We have a perfect credit history with an excellent credit score and have always paid all of our bills and mortgage or credit payments on time and in full. And we have invested wisely for our retirement, not too aggressive and not too conservative. Finally, we only financed a small portion of our planned retirement home, paying mostly cash for it. In short, we did everything right. Yet, I have read on the Internet, both in news reports and on blogs, that there are thousands of normal every-day Americans facing similar situations with dozens of banks. When I called the bank, after I was able to get through their automated phone system and talk to a live real person, they did not have any answers for me nor did they appear to even know what they were doing (and obviously, the local branch associates have no knowledge or interests in this part of their nationwide banking system). Clearly, computers are running the show at these banks!
So just where are the billions and billions of our bailout tax dollars going to? Certainly not to helping the average citizen who is in dire need of assistance. Guess it is paying for those bonuses, corporate jets, and luxury retreats. In fact, it is ironic (and should indeed be criminal) that we received the initial letter the day after the Super Bowl, where, as reported on the national news, BOA sponsored an expansive and expensive party! It should be no surprise that millions of Americans, now including ourselves, have lost faith and confidence in our banking system. Regretfully, we must now admit, that our money would indeed be safer under the mattress than with these so-called financial institutions.
Last night I tried to purchase a new Samsung television from Amazon.com. They were advertising a special promotion on the model I wanted to buy which allowed for no interest and 24 months to pay. In order to take advantage of the special you had to have your credit approved by GE Money through an online process at Amazon’s website that took just a few minutes to complete. The television cost around $2,000 and GE Money e-mailed me back that I had been approved for only a $1,700 credit line. This meant that I could not purchase the television since you could only use one form of payment. I am a Certified Public Accountant with a credit score that exceeds 800. It astounded me that I could not be granted a credit limit that would allow me to make this purchase. I cannot understand how anyone would be able to take advantage of Amazon’s offer. I consider their advertised special to be deceptive advertising. I have never been turned down for credit in my life.
i was recently denied a refinance from sovereign bank. my property is worth 280k, i owe 225k. they denied me… and i have an 804 credit score. this score was reported to me by the same bank that denied me!
I almost bought a house in the Laurel district of Oakland. My income was adequate and I had good reserves, and thanks to a city program I was going to receive $75,000 in down payment assistance. Washington Mutual refused to finance the property because it appraised for less than the price that was agreed on after multiple offers. It seemed ridiculous at the time, but the house is now worth 25% less based on comps so I’m thinking they knew what they were doing.
I was in an accident and the other driver had no insurance, so my car was totaled and I have been trying to find a new one. I have been to many auto places and at each one I HAVE BEEN DENIED CREDIT (even though I have never been late on an auto payment before). They want us to buy and borrow but they won’t help us out any
I found it a little challenging when I inquired about a new auto loan. I will admit that I had some credit problems from 10 years ago, but over the past 4 years my report shows 4 good auto loans, good standing on my student loan, good standing on my visa card, and good standing on my furniture loan.So what Gives?
Also on my credit-one,visa platnium card, everytime I turn around I am being charged a fee, and my minimum payment of 20 dollars, has always been paid, by at least 20 more dollars a month then what is expected. So why all these fees?
CNN Money needs to send all of these messages to President Obama. Banks are raising interest rates, cutting lines of credit or closing accounts outright when people need these resources the most! Is our Government completely blind to this! I agree with other poster’s, it’s time for everyone to default and go bankrupt.
This is my second post of the day but after continuing to read I feel compelled to stop laughing and make another post.
If you are running personal finances in a way that not being able to refinance your house or having your credit reduced is causing you financial stress then you have been running your personal finances to tight. Take some PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Maybe you need to rethink your spending habits. I have gone through this process on a personal level and it has been painful but it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to do it. Sometimes bad things happen to you that are outside of your control but it is still your life and you can control many things within it.
This endless blaming of the banks is just stupid ( and is another way to ignore your own blame in your own situation). Banks are paying interest on all money the government has loaned them (starting at 5% and escalating to 9% by year five). So the notion that you as a taxpayer are getting nothing is simply flexing your ignorance (since the government is only paying 1-3% on the bonds they are selling they are actually catching a nice spread). Banks are in the business to make money and to the extent they have right amount of capital they will lend for all loans they see being profitable. If they stop doing so then clearly competitors will take the profitable lending opportunity. If you can’t get a loan now then the risk assessment has changed for pools of Indi duals like you or pools of businesses like yours. Maybe you have noticed the economy has been in recession since Dec. 2007. Your house has been going down in value after going up in value way to much (most of you are not accepting the likely TRUE current value of your home). More people with similar credit scores as you have been defaulting on their credit cards. Should banks not respond to these changes? If you think it is hard to get credit now just think of what it would be like if the government didn’t stabilize things in September by extending these loans (looking back this would be my preferred direction). So your pissed that banks won’t continue the same poor lending practices that resulted in US taxpayers having to bail them out in the first place. Why am I the only one this sounds crazy to? At this point the alternative would have resulted in some of those banks going under and even less credit being available.
Economic bubbles will continue to happen whether it be stocks, real estate, or some other asset class. Recessions will continue to happen. Some will be more severe than others. The government will only be able to pass legislation that would have stopped the last one they will never be able to stop the next one. Once you accept this you can run your personal or business finances accordingly to survive these kind of times.
Aha! I think I found the problem. At least 80% of the people posting here have no idea how economics works.
Welcome to your lesson.
My company is getting rid of Corporate travel cards, as a result I need to get a credit card to support my bi-weekly travel. I was denied by Wells Fargo. Then applied for a secured credit card that requires me to have my own money held in an account in case I don’t make my payments. This was also denied. I admit that I have a few hiccups during this credit crisis. But I never thought that I would be denied a credit card when the bank is holding my own dollars as a guarantee.
I recently applied for a mortgage and was approved. I have a 673 fico score, 3 cards with substantial (>$5,000) balances and 1 almost maxed out (>$14,000)though I have been paying it down. I do have a few things in my favor; I make a lower quadrant six figure salary, don’t have any other debt and work for a bank. I am paying 5.5% interest rate but it would have been lower if I a higher fico score so it is a bit difficult to gauge from my experience.
I am a Mortgage Broker in California. We are at the forefront of the Mortgage Crisis and the lack of liquidity. This is a two fold story, because Banks won’t lend to consumers, they are driving the housing market into the toilette. Homes that were worth $1,000,000 two years ago are going for $550 to 600K now and less and banks are creating an entire class of people who have relied on credit shuffling , into a subclass of people with bad credit due to late payments, foreclosures, bankruptcies and deelinquencies on credit cards. These people represent potential buyers for big tickets items such as cars and houses. Now these “High Risk” people are out of the market even though many of them earn in excess of $80K per year. The other story not being told here is the dissappearance of the Mortgage Broker. Banks have for years attempted to make the broker vanish off the face of the earth so that they can openly take advantage of the US consumer by not having competition. No one is talking about these very important 2 issues.
We have tried getting a loan to purchase a new vehicle and even our house that we have a lease purchase contract on. My Credit is bad because of layoffs and decrease pay, but my husband does not have a revolving credit line (credit card), on his credit he has an old credit card debit from 2003 we were not aware it was not paid, and a medical collection, his Midscore is 537, we need at least a 580 to get anything, but the reason they deny us is because he has delinquent debt of $1,350.00 out there that we are paying on and because he has no revolving credit, well, how can he get revolving creidt if no one will give him a credit card because he owes $1,350.00 in debt and it shows we are paying on it, but yet people with over $25,000 in debt on cc’s can get more cc’s and even a loan to payoff those debts, where is the justice and who in this economy can afford tohave that kind of cc debt, if it were me as an investor, I would take my chance on a little 1300 debt balance for an LTV versus payin off 25,000 in debt to get the persons ratios down and then of course they will charge it up again and go into foreclosure while the $1300 debt is now gone and cannot get a loan, WHY?
Several years ago NCB in Ohio practically forced a home loan down my throat. It was a very sweet deal for them. I put down 66% and they financed 33%. All the equity risk was in my court. Fast forward two years. The same bank has managed my personal investments and their own into a black hole and are
now bought out by PNC with borrowed tax payer’s money. To add insult to injury PNC uses their federal loan to buy out NCB below current market rate subsequently screwing the share holders. Seeking to reduce expenses, I apply for refinancing. What am I told? No way, unless I am willing to pay points to buy down the rate. My property is still worth considerably more than the bank’s equity exposure…but they now feel it’s too risky! So much for supply side economics!
Chase did not deny my application for a $200,000 line of credit secured by my home which appraised at $2200000 with a credit score of 788 and a mortgage of $412000 as my only debt but they kept making meaningless requests, the final being requiring an affidavit of the death of my husband after receiving a certified death certificate without promising that would be the last request. The loan had been in process for over sixty days
Jon K
It is people like you that don’t get it. The individual on the phone only makes money if they do a loan for you. They’ve got every reason to try to get the deal done. You sound like every other yahoo that calls thinking your home is not depreciating. Reality check. You live in Arlington, VA. Be it Arlington county, Fairfax county, and ALL surrounding counties in the Arlington area. Your area is considered to be the worst designation for a declining market. It is ranked a 5 out of 5 (the same as Los Angeles county, Clark county, NV ie. Vegas, Maricopa county, AZ ie. Phoenix).
My point is, your perception does not equal reality. Wells isn’t going to get you a lower rate than BofA, Countrywide, Citi, etc. Here’s my prediction….you’re going to pay Wells money to lock your rate; your appraisal is going to come in low and you will have less than 20% equity in your home, either you will apy mortgage insurance now or your rate will go up. In the end, it will probably look like what the guy at COuntrywide told you.
All loan originators WANT to do a loan for you or they don’t get paid.
My fiance bought a small 650sqft condo in downtown Boston in 2006). We now want to upgrade to a 1400sqft condo with 2 bedrooms. However my fiance is an independent consultant – in order to get approved for a loan NOW he has to show 2 consecutive annual tax returns that show a profit for his business for the entire year. He has future binding contracts for that long, but the contracts don’t count. So this disqualifies his income from our potential mortgage until after his 2010 tax returns. He earns over 300K annually and has a credit score of almost 800!
If I apply by myself (I earn about $150K annually, with a credit score of 730)I can only get approved for a mortgage of 350K. That is less that our intial home is worth. We have a 30% down payment in cash, sitting in the bank. We can clearly afford a new home – but no one will give us a mortgage!
We have been trying to refinance our two mortgages on our home in LaGrange, IL. We want to combine the two mortgages into one so we have only one mortgage payment a month. We had exceptional credit, not just good credit, but exceptional credit for at least the past 18 years. I decided to go into my own business, so I quit my job. Unfortunately, the business didn’t go so well and now we have these two huge mortgages and credit card debt. I have since sold the business and I got a well paying job, our combined income is $183,000. Each year we try to refi. and no will help us. It has been very frustrating. For so many years we had exceptional credit, now we have one bad year and no one will help us, even though we have a combined income of $183,000. It is a nightmare every month trying to pay our bills.
Through the economic boom, our organization had money thrown to us by conventional and alternative funding programs including the banks (Well Fargo, BofA, Citibank, Wachovia). We were able to secure recourse and non-recourse loans almost daily. This included unsecured lines which we still had to personally guarantee. In the good times, we were always on time with our payments for all company expenses. With the current market conditions which has affected many industries, no revenue means the inability to pay your bills including paychecks for your workforce, debt service, and even things we all take for granted at times like the lease to the office or utilities. Now these same funding sources, who have received billions in taxpayer funds won’t even give companies like us a break. This includes perfecting liens on secured properties, as well as going after the same tax payer who has paid into the US system and agreed with the market to give a lifeline to these financial behemoths as a result of unsecured lines that they have guaranteed. And by gosh, they want the money NOW or else. Is this not an oxy-moran? We give to these banks billions, yet they still want your blood for not having the ability to pay back an obligation that in many cases where out of our control. If these were good times and a company could not pay-off their obligations, I would definitely understand bank’s wanting to exercise their rights. Shame on the company for not having the horse-power to be a vaible entity in the good times. However, in today’s current market, could not the banks help us small business owners by relieving some of those obligations in leau of receving billions of dollars which they are going to park in their checking out anyhow and reserve against the losses they have incurred? Any takers – Wells, BofA, Citi, Wachovia? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
What I find interesting in all this is that no one (at least the entries I have read thus far) mentions the individual they are actually dealing with that represents the bank. Everyone needs to keep in mind this is a business, and yes, one that has failed tremendously, but never the less a business. With that being said, I am trying to refi right now, have 20% equity, own in a very stable geographical area, great credit score, and make a good income. I dealt with 2 individuals; I like to refer as “donkeys,” at Countrywide, which currently has my loan. I consider myself very educated and they would try to hoodwink and bamboozle me into thinking or convincing or whatever you want to call it that they were selling me a good deal. Well, I knew it was garbage, I knew what the rates were out there, and I knew they were just going to make this really tough on me or better yet, let me refi, get a little bit better loan, but also make a decent chunk of money off of me. Bottom line, what is in it for the bank to redo my loan when they know I have never missed a payment, been late, have 20% equity in a great area, and are making great money off me..Answer: Absolutely nothing in it for them.
So, I said, you know what, I am going to go somewhere else and now I am refi-ing with Wells at 4.75%, bought a point to get me there from 5.125% and will be saving myself $520/month. What I am getting at in all this is, don’t give up – I talked to numerous banks and brokers, and most importantly go outside the bank that currently holds your mortgage. Also, I believe most educated folks looking for loan should know within the first 5 minutes or so if the individual they are dealing with is full of ___ or genuinely wants to do a fair loan with you. It’s not just the banks; it is also those who work for the banks doing the deals that are the problem.
I can’t wait for the day I tell Countrywide to take a hike and it is purely out of principle that I won’t even give them a chance to match. You want to jerk me around, I will take my business somewhere else and in the end cost you about 600K in interest you would have seen from me if you treated me fairly.
Just my thoughts. Again, those discouraged, I urge you to not give up! If one says no or tries to sell you crap, look to go somewhere else.
Look everyone. Things have changed! The reason a lot of you have the loans that you have is because lending rules have been extremely lax the last 5-6 years (see CRA as the reason). For a rental/investment property you DO need 25% equity. To refinance you NEED equity (except for certain VA of FHA streamline loans). The biggest things for everyone to get through their skulls is that your home is NOT worth what is was 3-4 years ago. It’s not even worth what it was 6 months ago. The reason most banks are turning you down is due to equity (unless your credit is terrible, because FHA still has very lax guidelines for credit). If a large bank turns you down, and a broker can get it done for you it’s because he’s got the appraiser working for/with him. This is the trouble! If everyone would stop fluffing the appraisal values this would eventually all settle down.
I am a mortgage originator and I’m still doing all kinds of loans (ones I can’t believe they allow; ie. cash-out loans up to 95% LTV, etc). The loans ARE available, but only for those with equity. Wake up. Your home HAS lost value. Probably much more than you think!
Check this out I have three cards with
BOA I call to get a lower rate it was 14% during the phone call they said they are going to lower all three lines and raise my rate to 26%-How can someone pay it off!!
Im Mad As Hell And Im Not Going To Take It Anymore!!
My FICO is 780 and I was interested in buying a couple of neighborhood houses to rent out in Lehigh Acres, FL. Asking prices range from 42 to 64k, square footages are 1,400 to 1,800, and all were built in the last four years. They are in good condition but I was told by two banks not to bother applying because even with 50% down they will not loan less than 50 grand per property. My credit union said I could put them on my credit card but I say why bother if I have to pay double the interest rate to borrow less money.
So let the banks hang on to them for now. At the current rate of collapsing prices they will have to pay money for people to take them off their hands in another year or two.
I have had a history of good credit. I recently purchased a home and have made regular payments without exception.
I recently applied for a loan at Wells Fargo to relieve my husband of his motorcycle loan through the dealership which comes with very high interest rates.
I was turned down with the reason for unsufficient credit history and (this bothered me the most as simply incorrect) deliquent credit obligations!
I have neever been turned down before so unless my credit changed (which I will check on) I don’t see any other reason than the recent banking developments.
I think it is crazy and completely unjust. If they turn people down like myself I really don’t see how the credit crunch will ever get better.
Isabella, Corona Ca
The problem with the tax credit of $8,000 for first time home buyers is that they need to purchase new. Those first time homebuyers who purchased a home within the last 3 years now owe more money on their homes than they are worth. There will not be the domino effect that congress is dreaming of because with the depreciation of homes no one can afford to sell.
Give the credit for those who want to refinance so that they can pay down their loans. Refinancing to a lower interest rate will lead to an increase in disposable income. People will use the extra money to go out and buy a car… if the banks will lend them the money.
Slightly off topic…
All the credit card companies can go belly up for all I care.
1) “We can change this agreement at any time, regardless of whether you have access to your account, by adding, deleting, or modifying any provision”. – so why bother with a contract then?!
2) “Your payment allocation will change. We reserve the right to allocate payments in a way that is most favorable to or convenient for us” – so why bother with a contract then?
3) Huge volumes of legalese that is indecipherable by a rational human being.
No more credit cards for me. I hope all of you credit card companies go out of business and take your slave-wage jobs with you!!!
These companies made money hand-over-fist for years, and now that they are not making their outrageous profits they feel the need to squeeze the rest of their customers so their bloated, inefficient, bureaucracy can continue unabated. Well guess what credit card companies? We’re sick of you, now go away.
I remember vividly reading the CNNmoney article regarding the banking giants clearly stating “We are lending.” Hmmmm. I have a very comfortable (and luckily stable) income, a 750+ credit score, and my wonderful and beloved Bank of America cut my HELOC twice in the last half year and now has frozen it (in the middle of a home remodel, no less). Talks with my banker are going nowhere. I am as good a credit risk as you can get, have never missed a payment, and can (fortunetly) afford to try to spend a little in this terrible market.
If I am having this kind of difficulty, I can only imaging what others are going through. What really angers me is that MY BANK JUST RECEIVED 35 BILLION DOLLARS OF MY MONEY, and is scared enough to cut off loans to its best customers.
needless to say, when all this moves on, I am getting a new bank. It is truly disgraceful that I must pay for Ken Lewis’ mistakes (i.e. Merrill Lynch).
It does not matter what they do for you in the good times; it matters what they do for their clients in the bad times; and B of A is FAILING MISERABLY.
ps: did i mention my stock in their company is now worth nothing??
My husabnd and I have a small business in a small town in central pa. We have been in business for 12 yr and he has been in the profession for 25. As a sole proprietor banks will not give you a break. This time 2 yrs ago we had great credit and couldn’t get a loan to consolidate credit cards and small business lines. Last yr when everything hit.Payments on credit cards got tight. Interest became loan shark rates and our credit plummetted. The banks again-no help. We have expended every bit of savings and every credit card available to get through last year and this year. Funny thing is,our business is doing great. Customers are coming and they are spending. Its cash flow thats tight. Because cash flow is tight and interest rates are crazy on credit cards that used to get 2-3%, our monthly expenses have doubled. We have repeatedly gone to bankers and accountants for advise and help to no avail.I even said to my banker how disgusting it was to think they would let people lose everything they’ve spent a lifetime building. In our case, we are playing the game. I will not lose my business, so I continue to negotiate with vendors, credit cards etc. I pay things as money comes in and endure the late fees. Our customers keep coming and that I am happy for. But noone can bear the extra burdens that ridiculus credit card rates and gas prices caused. These do not make us money they just steal it away. Our credit card company came in like vultures because we apply for an online mortage refinance last year. Before we knew it we got all these alerts saying we must be in trouble becasue we were looking for credit. How crazy is that. It has taken almost a yr to back off some of these creditors that had no right to raise our rates. But the damage is done. Our credit rating is pathetic and we owe thousands more in interest and fee’s because of those rates in between. Remember we are hard working people with a successful business. For many like us these problems were not of our own doing. And no banks do not give loans to those who really need them!
Citi bank has increased APR from 6.24 to 24.99% last month. American express has reduced my 10K credit to 800$ inspite of having really good score and paying bills month to month…this is ridiculous…they are doing to cover their losses by charging common man more…
My husband & I, credit scores 800+, equity of 20%, employees of relatively stable companies (not like GM or Circuit City), were turned down on our refi by Wells Fargo (our existing lender). It all made sense when I read Sue from Tempes’ comments. Good to know not to waste your time on Wells Fargo or B of A. The reduction in our monthly payment would be spent on consumer goods, which actually might help some of our fellow Americans save their jobs. The government needs to help homeowners directly and skip the banks.
Banks lost money because they were greedy. And we gave them billions expecting to stop being greedy?
I borrow from an “unsophisticated” regional bank where I do business face to face. No problems. They wont lend me as much as Wells Fargo but that is because they know what is good for them and good for me.
Bottom line: it is time this economy was focused less on consumption and more on innovation and wealth generation. For my part, I have two old cars I share with my family of five, and my sons are working their way through college.
No pain no gain – means no debt I cannot pay off with cash if required, and be satisfied with living off cash flow only.
This option is available to all and needs no subsidizing by the Government.
Robert in Erie PA,
Last year I started a media business, providing video services to local businesses and consumers. The entire venture was done without the help from my bank. I created my marketing portfolio and booked jobs prior to purchasing the equipment and supplies needed. Once I had enough jobs and deposits, I made my purchases with cash. I was able to get the business running for under $10,000 without the help from lenders. Now, in a tight economy I am able to provide services at a better price point than my competitors who have 20, 30 and 40-thousand dollar loans. While I am certainly no Fortune 500 company, I am able to continue to work without dependance on a financial institution. I would think that Americans need to get away from the banks and start making finacial decision on what they need and not what they want.
I’m a finance manager for a Ford dealer. I know my credit score and I deal with them everyday. This whole problem is caused by the banks. They look at credit scores regardless of pay history and arbitrarily raise credit card rates with no good reason. They sent me a letter saying my home equity loan would be lowered to the balance and would continue to go down as I payed it off. So I started paying the minimum. I had to call all my card companies and threten to file bankrupsy to get them to lower my rates back to where they were. All of this for a 720 fico score. You tell me what happens when they do this to me, what are they doing to people with lower scores. The government needs to suspend the mark to market for a length of time so the economy can get back on it’s feet. Banks can’t keep this up just because there securities (that aren’t worth anything now but will be once we come out of this) can’t be sold off. Reagan did it and it worked why not now. Geithner was a bad choice and it’s showing. But the news media can’t say anything negative about Obama and his choices. Obama also must come out with more optimisim instead of this doom and gloom just becuase ha wants his stimulus to pass. Obama and geithner should put a moratorium on rate increases for those who are paying thier bills on time and a freeze on home equity amounts also for those that pay in full and on time. Then people would have extra money to spend. IT’S IN HIS POWER TO DO THIS. AND THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT IF HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING. NO MORE MARK TO MARKET THRU 2010 AND MAKE THE BANKS FREEZE RATES FOR GOOD CUSTOMERS NO MATTER WHAT THIER SITUATION AS LONG AS THEY PAY ON TIME.
Mr. President,
You gave these banks the people’s money, now make them help the people, the real people of the United States, the middle class, the ones who really need the help. The people who have lost their savings over the last 12-18 months and now cannot put a large down payment on a house. The people who have seen their FICO score (which should be abolished) slashed by predatory credit card companies and self serving credit policies meant to hurt those who need credit most.
To allow banks to operate for the sole purpose of helping only those who need their help the least and using the tax money of those who need it the most but are not privileged enough to get the loans is wrong. Force these banks to lend to people who need to own their own homes, not to the people who already have homes or who just want to get a bigger home. Start at the bottom and the funds will trickle up without causing further harm to the delicate middle class.
Thank you Mr. President,
The American Middle Class
As a couple of people mentioned America, let it go with the credit for now. As far as the interest rates on homes loans, it will hold steady for a while.Let the banks do what they should have been doing all along, monitoring who they give money to. Banks are in the business of loaning money to make money. In the past, they got to laxed and this is the end result. If blaming sub prime lending makes you feel better, then go ahead, but Im hear to tell you, it is just the tip of the ice berg. Can you say “Greed”.
My credit score is 800, equity in my house is about 150,000.00. I am trying to refiance my loan, I have 192,000.00 30 year fixed, at 6.1% no credit card debt, annual income $98,000. 80K in savings. I am trying to refinance at the lowest rate possible. The banks will not go below 5 to 5.5 % anything lower is 2.5 to 3 points. The 10 yr bond that use to be the bell wheather for banks is no more. I have asked several loan officers what should I watch to find out when the rates go below 5%. None of them can tell me,
just call every day they say. If the rate goes to 4.5 I beleive ther will be a run on the banks from people with no risk. This will kick start the financial part of this economy. Bankers just beat out lawyers for
sitting at the bottom of the ocean. You know Whale crap.
Barb in LA, CA.
Do you actually think the intent of the stimulus package is to give people that, have the ability to gather $1M in one bank and have income that exceeds their needs by $300K a year, a $100K equity line??
I don’t think you get it or need it for that matter. I can’t believe you actually took the time to type that comment, just read it. If you have that kind of cash and income, why do you need a $100K equity line?
Thank you Ben from Portland. Finally, someone on this forum who makes some sense! I constantly amazed and dissappointed by how many people just do not have a clue.
The government loaned the auto industry billions and expects them to restructure and change the way they do business. But the banks are expected to continue doing business in the same manner that practically drove them to financial ruin? What did people expect the banks to do after they were hauled infront of congress and chastised by Barney Frank and blamed for causing the current financial crisis. Sounds to me like they learned their lesson. Now everyone is upset. Give me a break!
It seems to me that the bank CEO’s still get their checks and pay their bills so why should the care about us who are trying to weather the storm. I have applied for several credit cards and i hear the same story, ” you pay your bills but your to risky” so paying your bills makes you a risk well thats very encouraging citi bank and chase thanks for sticking it to us
My husband and I make a very high salary income- same jobs for more than 10 years.
Our cash flow exceeds income by more than $300,000 per year. Credit scores at top end.
You would think we are ideal candidates.
Wells Fargo won’t give us a line of credit for $100K UNLESS we give them $1 million in deposits.
Given the current economic climate, we are not giving any one bank that much $$. We spread it out to ensure FDIC coverage.
Seems to me the banks aren’t meeting the intent of Congress’ stimulus package.
Ok now lets talk about how Citibank is been lending. Lets see I had three credit cards with all available credit which I have been paying on time for as long as I have had the credit cards. All of a sudden about three months ago all three credit line where reduced. When I called Citi they told me it was because of my credit score well how do you explain that my credit score was in much better shape now that it was when I first got the credit cards. Banks right now are lying through their teeth. Nothing that they say can be trusted. They would have to work so hard to regain the trust of consumers. Another thing Citibank has done is raise the rates on credit cards accross the board. Regardless as to whether you pay your bill. So whats the point of paying your bills or mortgage on time when you are going to be penalized for it? We all might as well stop paying. People not paying their bills are the ones that are going to get the help.
its not far from insanity.
I’m really not understanding…I applied for a refi with BoFA…my credit score is 788..I’m employment and never missed a payment..my current rate is 6.5% and I wanted to refi for 5.0%…in one year I lost 30,000 dollars in equity..and did not qualify for the loan because I don’t have 20% equility…but I can qualify for the Bank to send me a 10,000 credit card I don’t ask for…I think it’s wrong to receive money from the government and not help the taxpayers….
I find it strange to laugh during tough times like these but talkback forums such as this provide no end to the laughs. With few exceptions nobody in this forum wants to accept reality (in most cases it’s either the government or the banks that is somehow screwing you out of your right to credit, sure). The government did a poor job of selling the bank bailout and now people have unrealistic expectations. The bailout was about stabilizing our financial system and preventing a complete meltdown (we will never be able to back test if this was absolutely needed, but this is what was thought to be the risk). It was not about getting these banks to lend a lot of money now, but about making sure they are around to lend in the future and probably in a more responsible way. Anyone who thinks banks should lend as freely as they did in the last 8 years doesn’t get it (or continues to believe what comes out of politicians mouths). Over lending is what got the banks in a spot where they needed this bailout in the first place. Should they really refinance your home for you that they can’t have any confidence about the value of? Should they really extend UNSECURED credit to you at 4,5,6,7% just because you have a good credit history? Is it really a surprise to you that in this credit environment your bank is reducing the credit on your card or increasing the rate? If you have a really good credit score you should expect to borrow less with more cost than in the last 8 years. If you have a moderate credit score you can expect to borrow less with more cost and potentially be turned down for some loans in contrast to the last 8 years. If you have a poor credit score you can expect to have very little credit extended to you at a high rate. This is our new reality. It will be a tough road to get back to responsible lending and borrowing but it’s what we have to get back to. If you follow the actual credit markets rather than listening to pandering politicians (yes Obama falls into this category) then you would know that the cardiac arrest the credit markets went into in late September has improved dramatically and this is a good thing (it is on the mend, but is not yet fully recovered). Now banks are fixing the problems that led to that shut down in the first place. But your politicians are telling you they should be back to their reckless diet of no exercise and fatty foods (loose lending)! Stop acting like a Country of whiners. Stop looking for the government to fix this, they can’t, only time will. If you think you are being turned down for a loan you think you should get even in this new environment then shop around (you do remember competition don’t you). If you truly are qualified for this loan with our new reality someone will give it to you. Banks understand competition. They know if they are turning down truly profitable loans then the competition will pick up the business. If no lending institution will give you the loan then it’s not a profitable loan. People, please get a grip. It used to be that recessions happened and we hunkered down and got past them. Why have things changed? Can we not deal with adversity any more? Is it the governments job to make sure there is never any economic pain anymore? Is the right to credit the next right we have to have after the right to free healthcare? Lastly if you subscribe to the “one group to blame for this mess” finger pointing you are going down the wrong road. This mess has four parties to blame and they all hold equal responsibility: 1.) Banks took to much risk and lent out to much money. 2.) Republicans failed to adequately regulate banks during the time that this lending exploded 3.) Democrats encouraged this kind of lending for years going back to the Carter administration 4.) All of us. We borrowed more than we can afford based on asset price assumptions that were ridiculous.
I recently tried to refinance my auto loan in order to reduce my monthly payment. I was told that my credit was great, but my truck is worth $5000 less than what I owe. The loan officer told me that it’s not just home values that are declining in today’s market; auto values are dropping drastically as the turmoil in the auto industry persists.
I am collecting Un-employment insurance in the state of Texas. I am not sure how Chase pulled this one but all unemployment funds go to Chase (not my choice)I can only go into the branch once a day, (they want me to use the ATM) which only gives out $20s…net effect… Chase gets to keep >$20 of each of my unemployment checks due to policies they invented.
Here is how I got a loan on a new home. I bought a foreclosed house for $60,000. The value of it is $125,000. One bank would not give me a loan because it needed $20,000 in work and they considered it and investment loan. Even though it’s not. I wrote access checks from my credit card to buy the house cash for $60,000 I went to another bank right after I closed on it and got a home equity loan for $80,000. That bank said since I owned the house free and clear it would not be a problem to to loan me the money. I took $60,000 from the home equity line and paid off the credit card and am using the $20,000 for improvements. I had to get a loan by borrowing money ??? What a shame.
The ironic part of this article is that banks are “tightening” their standards of who is loan worthy. Had the banks been doing their due diligence the last 5 years none of this would have happened. Once upon a time in this country credit was had to come by for most people. Now we have to go back to that because of this crisis. If you think this will end soon wake up. Individuals who want to borrow will have to clean up there current debt (and in the case of mortgages actually save some money) over the next couple of years before the banks deem them credit worthy. This will not be a short process.
I am in the same boat as Jason in Raleigh – Wells Fargo has my home mortgage – I refinanced with them about 8 months ago to 6% and recently tried to refinance to 5.2% with them but was turned down – all my financials are the same as before, and my income has gone UP. Also the apprasial of my house has gone UP – yet the underwriters denied me. My credit score is 720 and has not changed – so what gives!!??
I am attempting to refi my primary residence. Fico score of 825, $100k + income, and 625K appraisal on subject.
Third Federal savings and Loan holds $160K in 2cnd Position and will not let the first in line $340k subordinate the 2cnd. They do an online appraisal (in which is seriously flawed) Provident did the appraisal for $625K. I think Third Federal is in the business of losing $160k. I got an excellent rate from them (Prime-1%)but now regret it. Did not realize they were a flybynight mentality of a bank. When rates go up and I havent refied because of Third Federal, I will go out of my way to make sure they lose the whole $160K.
They are a joke!!!
On the contrary. I bought a new GMC Acadia in December and it took all of FIVE MINUTES for my CREDIT UNION to APPROVE the loan. They have been wonderful to me for over two decades.Now however two of my credit card companies have raised my interes rrates even though I owe oneof them nothing and the other one’s payments have NEVER been late or “Past Due” in any other way.That one is from a “big bank” as if you didn’t know.I opted out of both even if it may slightly hurt my credit score. Which is OVER 800 I might add. Again, my credit union to the resue with a credit line INCREASE and an interest rate DECREASE.
I work in the mortgage industry and I can tell you that the banks are tightening not getting better. After reading many of your comments, maybe I can help you out. Wells Fargo and Bank of America do not want to lend their money out. They will buy the loan once someone else has made it as they buy it for pennies on the dollar and then make a ton of money servicing it. But they don’t have to pull money out of their accounts to do that. I have a friend that works in the mortgage side of Wells Fargo and they are told that if the person is not a W2 employee with at least 5 years on the job, with a 760 or above FICO and 70% equity in the property that they don’t want the loan. Many people don’t even come close to that besides it leaves out people who get paid commission or are self-employed. If you are on commission they will take only 75% of your pay as your income which makes many people’s debt ratio too high to qualify.
Last week the FHA came out and said that they wouldn’t do anyone under a 580 FICO. But the banks have overlays on what FHA, Fannie and Freddie have to say and most have come out to say you have to have at least a 620 score to qualify for a loan. If you have anything under a 760, you will be charged extra in interest, yes, even if you have equity and are over 700 they are adding an 1/8 to 1/4 point to the rate for a “FICO adjustment”.
As far as having more than 4 rental properties, that was a Fannie Mae rule that all the banks had to follow. They changed it this week so you can have up to 10 properties financed but you must have 6 months of reserves in the bank for each property that you own.
The credit cards will continue to be rate raised and cut because they want to reduce their risk. The problem with this is that a great deal of your FICO score is based on how much credit you have used based on how much you have available. So when they cut your limit back to what you owe, you now look like you have 100% out rather than 40-50% or whatever it was. So now your FICO scores goes down. As you pay off the credit card, they will reduce it again because you are now in a lower FICO bracket.
The banks want to hang on to their money and your deposits. They don’t want anymore losses and aren’t going to risk it. The best thing we can do as consumers is take our money out of the big banks and put it into community ones or credit unions that will work with you and have some common sense and let the big guys like Wells and BofA try to find depositors elsewhere. If enough of us did that, they would come around.
One bit of fallout that no one seems to be talking about is the disappearance of the “low doc” or “stated income” mortgage that was so critical to business owners like me. Fortunately we own our home at a decent rate, but I tried to refinance when the rates plummeted and literally could not get past the first sentence of any discussion.
The fact is, many business owners (particularly LLC structure, which is taxed to the owner) need the flexibility of low-doc as they do not draw traditional salaries (by law, you cannot make yourself an employee of your own LLC).
I completely understand the risk associated with a bank accepting stated income… after all, that kind of thing helped get us here. But there is a huge difference between an individual with minimal financial evidence being loaned more than he/she can afford, and an established business person with all the right numbers, financial documentation, the certification of a large accounting firm, a long relationship with the lender, etc.
So, amazingly, many of the most productive job-creators in our economy cannot borrow to buy or refinance a home, because Banks are unable to come up with common-sense, “safe” programs that will help them stop the problems without killing the benefits.
I have an excellent FICO, 10 years of solid business financials and income documentation, large accounting firm happy to certify, sufficient liquidity to collateralize the mortgage in full, good equity in the home, 20 years of flawless credit and mortgage history (literally not so much as a one-day late phone bill), and on and on. By all measures a very safe, dream customer for any lender, but because of this mess they are painting everyone with the same brush, which will ironically make the problem worse. What stupid business people.
Haven’t been turned down yet – but we hold our mortgage (that we obtained as first time homebuyers in July of 2008) with wells fargo at 6.375. We applied for a refinance with wells fargo back when rates were lower and locked in the loan at 4.5%. My credit score is 745, my wifes is 760. Since we applied they’ve had appraisers out to the house that measured every square inch of wall space, they’ve asked for tax documents going back three years, have then asked for an IRS form to allow them to obtain tax transcripts, and have had us provide documentation surrounding deposits made to our banks over the last few months. In short we’ve had to jump through more hoops than we did for our primary mortgage. Neither of us has had issues with our employment – we both make more than enough to live very comfortably and we’ve paid off an extra 5% of the original mortgage over and above the monthly payment. The part that kills me is that it is in an effort to lower our rate with our existing lender. I didn’t think it would be this hard to refi when we are using the exact same bank – seems like if the documentation is in place and the appraisal came back with an adequate amount (it did) – they should be able to just float down the rate.
Oh well.
As an Architect we are on the front lines when it comes to watching the credit market fiasco. Granted, my clients have always been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul but this has been true for the twenty years I have been in the business. We are now firsthand witness to banks not lending. Watch how many banks go out of business….they cannot clean their balance sheets with the stimulus money, how can they lend?
We hear stories of banks refusing to foreclose on our developer clients’ properties due to their not wanting the debts on their balance sheets. The developers have not paid the mortgages in over a year, should the banks not be forced to go through foreclosure at some point?
We of course are a trickledown and are likewise not getting paid and have had to lay off people due to this, so do not tell me that the banks are lending. We ‘aint seen nothin yet, Greed kills and the party is over, get the money out of the hands of those who got us here in the first place!
I run a commercial finance brokerage that specializes in consulting, packaging and underwriting small to mid sized business loans. We deal with over 200 banks and we are seeing a drastic pull back.
We have more clients then ever before because they can not find financing. The banks are slowing down their processing times and becoming much tighter. A typical transaction used to take between 45 to 90 days. Now we are looking at 120 to 180 days to get a transaction done.
Banks are only lending on A paper, which is understandable but they are also declining transactions based on business trends that are due to the economic environment. Very scary times to be a small business owner!
For much of the last few months, banks have been lending a great deal, but largely to businesses with pre-existing contractually obligated credit facilities. In boom times, these are just gravy for the banks. A customer pays them to have the right to borrow money, but in times like this, those customers come calling.
However, there is still credit for consumers as well. Chase upped the credit limit on my credit card by the week before last without my even asking.
I have been on the same job for 5yrs. Make 55k/year. Fico score is 655. Tried to get a Auto loan for under 20k but i got denied everywhere. BofA and Capital one extended me credit, but they want me to buy only from a Franchised Dealer and car must be less than 50k miles. I had seen the car i wanted from a non franchised dealer for 16k but the Bank Says “NO” i think this is the most ludacris and ridiculous thing ever. I am single with no mortgage and only credit card debt…
Hey J Alpert,
If I owned a bank, I would not approve a loan for you. I totally understand why banks don’t want to own that paper/risk. Why would any bank want to give you a home equity loan, on top on the interest only mortgage you have. Do you know that mortgage you have is the reason why we are in this mess?
You should refinance that loan into a 30 year fixed, then maybe your chances to get a line of credit may increase.
My wife and I have an average credit score of 690 (which has fallen lately) and a stable family income above the medium-average. We recently applied for an auto loan with Chrysler Financial for a purchase amount with payments within our monthly budget and yet the application was quickly declined. They have claimed that they are now lending to buyers with credit scores as low as 620, so it appears there is disconnect.
I haven’t been turned down for a loan, but like the person mentioned in your article Citibank raised my rate on my credit card which I pay off every month from 8% to 19.99%. Needless to say I have paid the balance in full and closed the account, and will never open a card with them again. There was no change in my income or debt, except that my debt went down and my income went up. Oh, and my credit score is right around 750.
Hey S in Portland!
If you have 30 decades of credit history, I would not lend to you either. You should be dead!
I tried to refinance my student loans with Wells Fargo and Chase banks. I have a credit score of 680 and The amount of the student loan debt is $62000. I would be able to afford the payment for the student loans at $360 a month, but im cutting it close with a payment of $841. Both banks approved me a year ago with a lower score and now that the score is higher im being told sorry. They are the only two banks refinancing student loans and I cant refinance. I have to suck it up and pay out of my ARSE for these loans.
My wife and I have excellent credit (798 and 788) and are trying to refinance from a 7 yr interest only to a 30 yr fixed. So B of A had a great low rate, and they sent over an incompetent assessor (or maybe it is all part of their “evil plan”). They say the value of our house is $260K less than than one that sold in Dec across the street from us. We have 1 less bedroom and 1 less bath, but have a pool and beautiful landscaping. So the only way the will refi based on this assessment is if we fork over another $50K AND pay $300/mo in PMI. Sound like a scam to me. Absolutely absurd. No they are NOT lending.
I have rental properties, and banks will not count that income, or any non-W2 income.
Further, they purposefully miscalculate revolving credit line payments, to skew debt/income so that they can deny me.
I have a 728 credit score + good income. But can’t borrow.
It appears to be clear that the banks are punishing good paying consumer for their own transgressions, all the while gladly taking our money so they can further abuse us and fund their outrageous pay and bonus plans.
From the banks point of view, this is ANYBODY’s fault but theirs!
You own an unoccupied home renting to relatives with an interest only loan!! The home is in the bankrupt state of California…I would make sure none the banks don’t lend to you. You are the poster child of how we got into this housing mess! I suppose your buddy did the appraisal for you too! What a joke!
The stimulus is a joke and will not help any consumer in any way. How’s an extra $13/week going to help you pay that $2200/mo mortgage?
I have 2 acres of lawn. With my assets and the SBA more than willing to back my solar farm on my lawn to create SREC’s(Solar Renewable Energy Certificates) to which I can easily sell. I went to my local solar friendly lending institutions with 115% backing for a loan. Mistake #1. Even 100% cash backing for a secured note would have gotten me the loan. That was from bank home office senior loan officer’s. Do you know what that would make my home worth with 20 years guaranteed solar output @ min $50k per year? A great green concept, a great business plan, a great big zero loan.
Let me get this right. Using the most conservative of my 5 business plans my gross profit for mowing my lawn for 20 years is 1 million U.S.
Why?
The banks refused to even look at my business plans. I went home disgusted.
I cannot qualify for a consolidation loan any more. The credit card companies are skyrocketing my rates and reducing my limits for no apparent reason or explanation other than ‘because we can’. Well, I can declare bankrupcy. That’s my plan. I have no hope of the banks or creditors working with me, so they can get whatever they can get from the bankrupcy filing. F Them.
After reading all the horror stories regarding credit card companies that increase your rate and decrease your available credit, banks that say they will lend but then won’t, banks that will not refi your ARM mortgage (or any other adjustable or negative amortization loan), I have the solution………..
DEFAULT!
Join everyone else, file chapter 11 or 13 and GET RID OF YOUR DEBTS! Why grouse about the bailouts and the bigwigs getting money……..YOU TOO can get rid of your debt. If you stop paying your mortgage, IT TAKES MORE THAN A YEAR to get you out! Think of all the money you can save in the meantime.
We all know that sooner or later there will be credit for EVERYONE again, so sweep those debts away and wait for the good times to roll again.
Lets teach all those bastards a lesson, stop paying today!
I DID NOT HAVE A PROBLEM GETTING THE LOAN . BUT WHEN I TOOK A 401 K LOAN THAT I PAID INTO FOR 13 YRS. THE BANK
FROZE MY ACCT. FOR 5 DAY’S SAYING THEY HAD TO WAIT FOR THE CHECK TO CLEAR. WHEN THAT CLEARED I TOOK MONEY FROM MY SAVEING’S TO PAY OFF A LOAN AT ANOTHER BANK IN THE FORM OF A CASHIER’S CHECK
NOW THAT BANK IS HOLDING THAT CHECK FOR 10 DAY’S TO CLEAR. I THINK IT IS MORE THE BANK’S ARE NOT TRUSTING EACH OTHER. I AM STARTING TO SEE WHY 3 GENERATION’S AGO DURING THE GREAT DEPRESION WHY PEOPLE PULLED THERE MONEY OUT . PEOPLE TODAY PLAINLY DON’T TRUST THE BANK’S ANYMORE.
I have 5 rental properties bought with 10% down on 30 year fixed mortgage. I’m being turned down for another because Freddie Mac says that 4 is the limit. I can try for a commercial loan with 25% down and an ARM. I have excellent FICO, credit history and 21 years with same bank. I’ll go looking elsewhere.
c d millis
I own an unoccupied home that I was allowing relatives to live in. I have a $417K 5.75% interest-only loan. Current appraised value is $615K. I have not been able to get an equity loan of $65K from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, LendingTree, Ditec or anybody else. Who’s lending??? Nobody!
For those of you who don’t believe they’re hearing the “whole” story in these comments, you may be right. Or not. Let me expand on my earlier comment:
I have excellent credit, a spotless record, no debt, and am fortunate to live in an area where the housing market hasn’t tumbled. I have over 10k in available cash and a 200k retirement account. I’ve NEVER lived above my means, as my credit report of 30 decades supports. As I was forced to refinance in late 2007 due to divorce, I have less equity in my house than I used to, but still well over 30%. Comps in my area are coming back about 30k higher than my last appraised value, yet… Chase’s appraisal came in at a fire sale price. After a 50k remodel. Doesn’t make any sense whatsoever…
So I’m getting the runaround because of an obviously ridiculous appraisal. Maybe the appraisers Chase uses are trying to cover their own bases, but the comps my guy used weren’t even in my neighborhood. And no one at Chase seems to be empowered to use common sense. I feel like I’m trying to tell the emperor that he has no clothes…
I don’t work for the bank, but I am sick and tired of hearing this “Banks are not lending money” talks.
Banks make money by lending. They have been drunk the last few years. Now, they are awake. You, the consumers should wake up too.
If you are creditworthy, why wouldn’t the bank lend money to you? Or if your house is truly worth the money you are going to refinance for, why wouldn’t the bank lend? 2 of my colleges refinance last month, and 1 bought a house, none of them has any problem.
The reason people are not getting approve for refinancing is that you are still in denial about the price of your house. It is not worth as much as you like to. WAKE UP.
Housing price will continue to drop and the banks are FINALLY being prudent and realistic.
I’ve had no trouble at all getting loans. I’ve qualified for several 400K loans, all under 5%. I’m just vetting out the best deal. The banks are doing a great job. You can’t count equity in an illiquid market. That is what is causing a lot of the problems. The only thing that counts is income and your credit rating. That is how the system should work. People have had too much access to too much credit for far too long. THAT is the primary cause of the problem. THAT is what enabled the sub-prime loans.
People need to stop spending money they don’t have. Don’t complain about rates.
The only guys getting any sympathy from me are the small businesses. The Government needs to help those guys out.
I read the stimulus package and it’s not going to do anything for us. Maybe get me some tax credits to winterize my house. Thanks for nuthin Pelosi.
I went to get an FHA loan backed by the government with a 600 fico score and was told by several lenders no.When I asked why they all told me FHA has changed there rules. When I looked up FHA web site it states you can get a loan with a not so good credit score and 3.5% down payment. These lenders told us we needed 10% down now due to changes with FHA. Like I said why bother having FHA. I don’t care what banks say up on that hill there all lyers, look what they did with our tax payer money!
While the banks are glad handing our tax payer dollars from the good Democrat party, they are in turn giving the shaft to the American consumer. Decreasing credit limits, no loans and increasing credit card rates skyrocketing for no good reason. You cannot do anything about it. You used this credit in good faith with an inticing low interest rate because it was a good deal. Well that good deal just became your worst nightmare, credit card companies going from 7.75% to 29.45% on your account for NO REASON. They know they have you over a barrel because you cannot and will not get a debt consolidation loan from ANY BANK.
It’s time Americans unite in their protest. Quit paying EVERYTHING until they agree to YOUR TERMS. These banks are robbing the tax payers in broad daylight in your face and then shafting you in return.
Write your Congressmen and let them know, that another penny for bank bailouts equals a change of vote at our next voting opportunity.
My house was appraised at 123,000 I owe other debts totaling 30,000. I only owe 79,000 on my home but because I am one month behind on my mortgage payment I can’t get refinanced. I’m still trying to catch up. Can’t get any help from anyone. I work 50 to 55 hrs a week, when do I get my bonus and bailout?
Hi,
My Mom can’t get a loan from B of A, despite the fact she has a 755 credit score, has never missed any payments of any sort forever, has a fixed income, equity in her home and has been with B of A for years. She was talked into an adjustable mortgage when she refinanced a year ago which is now ready to set at 8%. She won’t be able to pay this and may lose her home is she cannot pay her mortgage. She is retired with social security and a pension and lives in Murrietta, California.
I just opened a $250K Heloc line at 2.25% (Prime – 1) at a large national bank. Of course, I had to prove income, assets, credit and an ability to repay the money, but shouldn’t that always be a requirement. With good credit and a strong balance sheet, it’s the best credit opportunity in decades. Congress encouraged this crisis via the Community Reinvestment Act and their regulatory control over Freddie Mac. So, why should congress encourage banks to lend money to sub prime borrowers again.
Interestingly enough my wife and I wanted to refinance our house we bought about 6 months ago and we shopped around for a loan and was turned down twice because they felt that the appraisal was iffy which was on par if not less than those around houses just down the street.
One lender in particular, Wells Fargo, turned us down at 5.675% because my company changed payroll companies during the year so they didn’t like my income even though I have been with the company for 5 years and same for the appraisal. Even though we were not asking for any money out of the refi and it would have cut our payments by around $200 a month. So obviously we were making all our payments just fine and wanted no money out just a chance to reduce our expenses which we could easily make. Seemed like a good loan to me. Never late on a payment in my life and all I wanted was to reduce my monthly expenses. Turned down.
We later shopped again with the same information to a loan wholesaler who loved the look of the loan immediately and we closed a week or two after that at 4.75%. Interestingly enough I waited to see who the loan was sold to and much to my surprise it was sold to Wells Fargo. They had turned us down about a month earlier for the same loan at almost a percent higher and bought the loan making less money than they would have.
Seems like poor management since a good loan is a good loan and you would think that taking the first loan would have netted them far more money than the second but because it was approved by a third party they liked it more than their own internal underwriters. No wonder they are having troubles since they can’t make good financial decisions. Hooray for me for a cheaper loan and I count my blessing everyday because of it but poor business strategy.
I recently locked a 4.75% 30yr fixed refi on my house. Our credit score is 800+ and have more then enough equity and income, so I thought. The appraisal was a joke, using comp’s that were either foreclosures or far smaller than my current home. Suddenly the bank changes the terms of the loan, raising the rate and requiring PMI. My response was simple, “take a hike”. It’s obvious the banks are taking advantage of these tight times, appraising homes at a foreclosure level in the event they have to take over the residence in this market.
I made the mistake of voluntarily reducing my credit lines on my cards…just before Bank of America cut my credit line by more than $10,000. Now, trying to get a new credit card, banks are telling my that “my debt as a percentage of my combined credit lines is too high.” The banks are putting the squeeze on me and others to pay higher rates during this recession…I hope they not only don’t get any more TARP dollars, but sue the managers whose fiduciary responsibility seems clearly abused.
My wife and I travel a lot. Our household income is over $100,000/year. All of our bills have been paid on time. We have a credit line that has been paid on time. Since we travel, we recently applied for an American Express travel card. We were denied because we didn’t have long credit. One reason why we don’t have long credit is because we pay everything off frequently. It’s interesting, we’ve been paying for our travel costs in cash. Why doesn’t American Express want that extra income? While we were on our cruise, we tried to get our credit line extended from $500 – $1000 from Citibank. We were refused. Yet, I pay the balance on the card every month. So, we had to use cash. We WANT to do business with creditors, but they are stingy. We are perfectly happy with spending our cash and not giving these companies a dime. But we all know it takes credit to get credit. It’s a catch 22.
I have my 1st morgtage with Countrywide/BOA at 5.5% and a 2nd home Equity Loan with Citizen’s Bank at 7.55 and I wanted to consolidate the 2 loans in the vicinity of 5%. Well BOA wanted so much for the closing fees (8K)…but they would wave 535.00 of application fees. Big deal!
Citizen’s tried to rescind my loan based on their stricter criteria and wanted me to pay them back 8K!!.
Someone needs to police what they are doing before helping them out. I think they are trying to make it harder on President Obama. Make him look bad and continue the downward spiral.
interesting credit card experience this weekend w/CITI
saturday, card got rejected. called Citi, “we reveiwed your card and adjusted your credit line from $12M to 2600…”
this is on a card that has never been late over 5 years.
rotten B******S
How quickly one can fall into a rat(e) hole. I had a Macy’s Visa card and made two purchases on it. One in the actual Macy’s facility(approximate $25) and about $400 at another retailer. When the Visa bill came, I paid the minimum balance. Mind you, I get a huge flood of garbage mail every day, from all lendors, including Macys. Why not — I had great credit. I paid the next Visa bill. At the end of that same month, I put the next month’s (3rd)payment in the mail — I was going out of town and wanted to be on time. In reality, I ended making a double payment in 1 period and 0 payments in the next period. After my extended out of town trip and the XMAS period, I went through the heaps of mail. Shock.. Macy’s said that I was 90 days late and reported me to the credit bureau. Why, you may ask? Because the instore purchase was dynamically billed to their instore revolving acct (which I did not know existed — I had applied for a VISA card only). I hadn’t made any payments on the $25 purchase, which now ballooned to $150 in late fees and such. Because my credit was now dinged (for a $25 nonsense purchase), my other VISA credit card company increased my rate 5%. That company had purchased two of my other credit card lendors, and now held 3 of my cards/debt. Now we played leap frog, and my credit card rates started to rise. I did a balance transfer between accts at a lower rate, and put the payment on autopay. The mailed payment missed by a day, and the Bank raised all of my 3 cards to at least 28%, as high as 32% — what a nightmare. Because of this, a number of my other credit card companys’ started raising their rates and reducing my credit limit to just above my debit level. Interest rates that were offered at 2.99% were now 17.99% & 21.99%. So now I am a huge credit risk on paper due to my debit-to-ratio status. Mind you.. With the exception of that Macy’s bill two years ago, all of my payments were on-time, including a mortgage. Payment history means NOTHING when it is good, only when it is bad and to the advantage of the lendor. Just prior to Sept ‘08, I spoke with the acct rep at the credit card company to reduce my rates; whereby, she had the nerve to admonish me on my spending. With dismay, I stated that she and her company should look at themselves,because, I had not used my cards for two years and was accurring $1000 a month in debit, due to their excessive interest fees, while I struggled to service the debit. Which is why I was speaking to her for the rate reduction. I am considered fairly intelligent and got caught up in a game with the banking / credit industry that was way over my head, with the rules changing in a on-going fashion — to my detriment –, their executives made millions. And no one is offering me a bail out plan. WHO IS MONITORING THE CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY AND REVIEWING WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE GUY ON MAIN STREET. Where is the accountability and corrective course of action. If one private individual charged exorbitant amounts of interest to another, they would come under the scrutiny of the law.. How sad that this great nation has been tarnished by the greed of the banking elite. Note: I still continue to pay my debit on time, even thought there is SEVERE financial crunch due the econmonic conditions.
I have a credit score around 760. We pay our bills on time, both for the business we own as well as personal.
Wells Fargo has just cut our credit line without any warning. I called Wells Fargo and asked them to explain.
The Bank manager acted like a high school student (he didn’t know anything about business lending). He wouldn’t tell me why it was cut. He said they were the number 2 lender in America…blah blah blah!!
Wells Fargo is NOT lending to qualified businesses or individuals.
Were has all the bail out money gone?
They are supposed to be lending. No one is being upfront about the situation. It is killing businesses all over.
Hello every one! Can someone tell me when the government would qualify us to refinance at 4.5% rate? I am tired of paying 6.75% on confirming loan and can’t refinace. Seems like I will be the next one pile up foreclouser.
I have a $414K mortgage with Chase @ 5.75%, the mortage is 10 months old. (Anyone notice how many times Chase has been mentioned below?) I am asking to refi the mortgage ($417K) @ 4.75%. I have 740 score, no debt other than one car loan, $14K. And 4 investment properties, all with positive cash flow and good LTVs.
10 Months ago I had more debt and less income than I do now and Chase bought my loan. Now I have less debt, make more money, and have a better credit score, I have checked it many times. AND CHASE (the company I am currently with and in good standings) is telling me “I don’t think underwriting is going to do this because of your adjusted income ($75K) due to the investment properties”
WHAT?!?!?!!?
You liked me 10 months ago when I looked WORSE on paper than I do today. AND I have an appraisal 6 months old for $1.1M on this, my primary home!!!
So to recap :
I have great credit score and spotless history.
I have good income history, not self employed.
I have great equity in my home, $700K+
I want to lower my payment by $360/month
……and Chase is going to pass and loss my business. UNREAL!
Any small banks out there want my business?
I want to vent about Citi Credit Cards. I have two credit cards,that I have had for over 5 years and never been late, have good credit and income. Up until two months ago I bragged about how great they were to deal with. I got a letter notifing me that they were INCREASING my credit lines. Nearly doubling each of my credit lines from $10k each to $18K each. I found that kinda strange with all that has been going on in the credit markets. I wasnt going to complain about an increase in credit line. I keep very minimal balances on these to cards, $3000-$4000 at most and usually pay if off in full. I have a lot of activity on these cards because I have done some home flipping in the past. I noiticed something very disturbing the other day. Citi raise my rates from a fixed 7.99% to 15.99% on both my cards. I was furious. Called Citi, their reponse..”we have revaluted and repriced all credit accounts” . Basically saying I can take it or leave it. Obviously I will leave it! I dont have to worry about the rate b/c I dont have a large balance on my credit cards and will pay off this last statement and take my business elsewhere. Maybe thats what Citi wants. What really bothers me…what if I had $10-20K on these credit cards and the raised my rates like that. I would be SCREWED! This could really hurt a lot of other people who are not as luck as I am. The governement has given CITI billions and what does it do? Raises rates on credit lines. How could doubling a credit line AND Doubling peoples interest rates possibly help anyone?? I dont understand it. This could put a lot of people in some bad situations, people that are probably already in bad situations. I HOPE someone in Washington is reading this or knows what CITI is doing to people. Its just not right!
The banks just don’t want to loan to anyone – right now. We purchased our home (So. Cal.) in Dec. of 2007. Financed through Chase with a whopping 6.875% jumbo. Tried to re-fi with Chase in Sept. of 2008 to get our loan payments down. Considered a 6.0% paying 2 points (outrageous!!!) Loan turned down because appraisal came in AMAZINGLY low for the area. We were told we could re-apply in 3 months, in which we did. This was a time when people were getting conforming loans around 4.625% to 5.0%. Chase let us re-apply again in Dec. 2008. This time the appraisal came in to where we could re-fi our balance only and not go below the 20% LTV (not having to pay PMI). I got an e-mail last week from Chase saying that they had a “FIELD REVIEW” done and were knocking down the latest appraisal back to the original appraisal done 3 months before. This “FIELD REVIEW” is a “drive by” appraisal with looking over the latest appraisal. The Field review omitted the closet comps we had, which were sales (SALES!!) in our area comparable to where we lived.
Chase (or anyone else) is not lending to the everyday worker. Our banking system is more corrupt now than ever and the taxpayers will bail them out. When will we learn?
Don’t borrow any money now. Use this recession as an opportunity to pay off debt, or at least pay it down. We’ve been in a cash economy for almost a year now, and it might last for another year, hopefully not longer. It was like this during the 1930’s and 1940’s, where we had a cash economy for almost 20 years. Only the very rich had any money, and they wouldn’t lend it. Everyone else had no desire nor ability to borrow, lest they lose the family home, farm, or business. Borrowing and lending resumed in about 1950. It could be happening again now.
I’m having a contest to see how low we can get discretionary and total spending each month … and it’s working. We can always increase spending later, when the recession ends. Otherwise, you can’t spend money you don’t have.
Hold cash and wait for the ARRA stimulus program to kick in later this year. It’s not that long a wait.
Both my wife and I have 800+ credit scores and a combined income of $100K+. We purchased our home 2 yrs ago and are TRYING to refi (without taking any cash) to take advantage of lower rates. After documenting $80K of improvements to our property and only putting a value on the home of what we paid 2 years ago, we cannot get a lender to give us a loan at 70% of loan-to-value. Even my loan broker has told us he cannot understand why we cannot close our loan. Rather frustrating when the “banks are lending money”. I’d like to know to whom?
Everybody I know is worried about keeping their job, or has already lost it. Exactly NOBODY I know wants a loan right now. But, I still think the real problem is the banks can’t loan us the money. Yeah, right.
I want to throw up after reading some of these comments, of how the bank’s did you wrong. I see one sided stories here and the banks are not here to explain why you truly got rejected.
Remember how we got here! Stop only blaming banks and start blaming your friends, family and co-workers who ruined it for all of us!
It is extremely far fetched to say that the banks are still lending freely. If they are closing and/or reducing credit lines which in turn worsens your credit score how is that considered lending freely???? Several of my creditors have either closed or drastically cut my credit limit down to the balance I owe. Then after I make another payment they cut it down again. My score is now just barely above 600 with no lates. Hope are these actions by the bank helping anyone or considered lending freely? Not to mention the banks are reducing the grace periods to make your payment to get additional late fees as well as jacking up your interest rate to 37% since they lowered/cancelled your credit which caused your fico to go down. If you ask me the credit card industry needs to be taken over by the FTC as the banks seedy practices with credit cards are what got us in this mess.
In 2007, my husband and I took out a home equity loan to help renovate and expand our business. We already had a first mortgage with Wells Fargo at 5.875% for 20 years (which is ok). The second mortgage (the larger one) we took was with Chase at 8% for 30 years. My husband and both make $120-130K a year. I have been paying both mortgages every month, pay my revolving credit cards every month and have combined credit scores between 700-750. I recently met with Well Fargo (who I have been with for many years) to refi my both mortgages to get a lower rate especially on my 2nd mortgage. Well, I was turned down. My LTV ratio on my home has gone up since house values dropped. I have tried to contact Chase over the phone but they will not help. I have made contact with a local Chase loan officer to see if he can do the refi. I am paying all my bills now but all I want is to save some money with a lower interest rate and no money out. What has been IRRITATING for me is that the banks seem to be helping people who have problems on their loans by modifying their loans BUT where is the help for people who have been keeping up their loan payments even in these difficult times. My husband and I always believe in working hard, (which we both do…my husband works at our restaurant business for the last 15 years and I have been working full time in the chemical industry for almost 17 years) but right now we feel discouraged and disheartened? We took an equity on our home to help build our American dream of expanding our business that he created from nothing and now we need some relief? My question is where is the help for people who have been paying their bills but are looking for a little relief? If I can’t get Chase to refi, then perhaps if I start paying my mortgage then perhaps I will get some help? It is very sad but I won’t do that because credit score suffers. But you can bet on this, the day I can refi, Wells Fargo and perhaps Chase will not see another dime of my business. Us hard working folks have to continue to strive and work and then once things get better (I hope to God they do) then we will chosse what bank we want to do business with.
Banks are still lending, just in a more responsible manner. I work in banking and the problem isn’t the banks themselves….for God’s sake they make money by extending loans so why wouldn’t they want to give people loans?? There are 3 issues people don’t consider when trying for loans. 1)The value of the assest backing the loan, i.e your house, has fallen in value significantly which limits your borrowing power. 2)When trying to get loans to consolidate open ended debt like credit cards, most people don’t qualify because of a double edged sword in the credit market. While true you are going to consolidate your current debt down, lenders have to assume that you could go out tomorrow and max out your cards again. Because of this most people don’t qualify because their income doesn’t support carrying thses two credit lines at once. 3)People assume that because they qulaified in the past that they can expect to qualify today. The rules of the game have changed, but unfortunately everyone hasn’t gotten the hint yet. For example, a 720 credit score today is the viewed as a 680 credit score a year ago. My fear is that because we are a society that needs everything, and needs everything now, that no matter what is done to try to right the ship it won’t be big or fast enough for our liking. My advice, for what its worth, is start budgeting, stop buying things you don’t need (you’ll survive), and start paying down your current debts before you try to take on new ones. Credit is a good thing, but saving is better. You can truly appreciate your purchase since you did the hard work saving for it, even if you had to wait a bit.
It is the sub-prime folks and your friends who ruined it for the rest of us. They got loans they couldn’t afford. Now people with good credit are walking away from speculative homes and second homes etc. This is only the beginning and the banks can’t afford to find out if you’re the next default – even though you have good credit. Live within your means, establish a good history and you will get loans. Otherwise, SAVE, THEN buy just like the hold days and quit whining.
I have held a Citibank MasterCard for more than 15 years, with a credit line of almost $28,000, and less than $5,000 outstanding on the card. We have great credit, more than 50% equity in our home, and no other significant debt.
Recently, we were on vacation and I was a few days late mailing out monthly payments. Much to my surprise, my card was declined on a $50 charge.
When I called customer service to inquire, they told me the card had been suspended because my payment was seven days overdue! Lenders are tightening standards to the point of absurdity. In fact, this has made me realize that the “relationship” with Citibank that I had supposedly cultivated over 15 years is worth absolutely nothing. Hence, I am going to pay down this card and get one with a lower rate from another bank. Banks should realize that these policies are destroying customer loyalty.
Another thing that makes me angry is that they require monthly payments to be received about 20 days from the statement closing date. However, the statement does not arrive in the mail at my house for 8 to 13 days after the statement closing date, giving me only 7 to 12 days to get the payment back to them or suffer a stiff late charge. I strongly suspect they intentionally drag their feet getting the statements out in the hope of generating the late fee income.
Bottom line is that I do not trust the banks and think their practices are abusive. I would support stronger consumer protection legislation.
The bailout should be send DIRECTLY to the consumers who are paying the for it anyway. WHY keep giving money to people who didn’t manage it the first time? Granted some people have mismanaged their personal finances but SO WHAT…look at what the banks, auto industry and insurance companies have done!!!! IF anyone else had done this they would be in JAIL not still receiving bailout money!!!! I say give all the working consumers (this includes recently laid off workers and retired) $50,000.00 and I bet you would see the economy get a much needed boost. This bailout thing is designed to further CORRUPT and BANKRUPT this COUNTRY!!!!
There is a parable in the bible about a servant who begs the king for forgiveness of his large dept. The king has mercy and he is forgiven a large debt. He then goes out to demand a much smaller dept from one of his servants. The 2nd servant does not have the money and begs for mercy but the 1st man starts to choke him and demanding his money. How similar is this to what is happening with our banks. They are given hugh sums of money to relieve there depts, they borrow from the goverment for a small percentage. However, they crank up our interest to 30%, fine us for being a day late, fine us for going over the limit ( due to our 1st fine)and when you call them for mercy, they say it is our fault – we should have read the fine print in that pamphlet they sent 5 months ago. Well I did not gamble there money on derivitives nor force them to loan money to those who could not afford a house. There is a solution in the parable also – the 1st servant is jailed. But the concesnsus is that we need these banks for our economy. This feeds teh bank executives egos and sense of entitlement, how valuable they have become in there own eyes. I submit that we need banks but not necassarly these bank or these banking leaders. If the leaders of these banks cannot learn to plan fair – they need to be replaced. It used to be we could trust large banking institutions – now they have become predators, looking to squeeze out every last penny. It’s time for the goverment to act because we are tired of bailing them out with our tax money so they can jack up our interest rates.
Early last August, before the meltdown, I applied for a Home Equity Loan with two banks I already do business with — the bank with whom I have my mortgage & then-large savings account, and the bank I’ve had my checking account with for more than 15 years. The loan was to be for renovations and improvements to my house — new energy efficient windows and renovation of the kitchen and bath — and I had been planning on paying cash from the sale of my first house a year or so earlier. I decided it’s hard to gather a nest egg that big and to instead finance about half the expected cost — $10,000. The mortgage bank (ING Direct) already had a no-loans-beyond 80% LTV (a shift from when I had originally bought the house) and so they didn’t have a product for me. The other bank (BofA), originally appeared willing to lend, then later declined to loan beyond 80% LTV, despite my credit rating of 850+ and cash reserves well in excess of the loan amount. (Their appraised value of the house was essentially what I’d estimated on the application, which tells me their protection of 80% LTV was a policy change that occurred between when I first applied and when the decision was rendered.) The banks’ decisions not to eat into 20% equity were eye opening.
The renovations are now complete (paid for with cash), and I’m planning on refinancing in the next few months. I’m waiting a bit to make some final repairs (painting the exterior trim where the old storm windows were removed, for example) and to see if the government offers any refinancing incentives. I can easily afford my mortgage (<25% of my NET monthly pay), but my rate is fairly high (6.7% because I put little down in 2006) and it’s a 5/1 ARM. I’ve decided I’d like to hold on the house for quite some time, so I’d like to refinance into a 30 year fixed, which should also bring the monthly expenses in line with area rents, should I decide to rent it out one of these days. I know a number of people who are currently refinancing, but I’m not quite sure what I’ll run into when I start the process. Only time will tell.
The whole issue has got to be resolved soon for the sake of all of the middle class, paycheck to paycheck, 30 somethings with children.
I myself am a 28 year old mother of 3 boys. My hubby works in the oilfield and we have really felt the fall.
When I had my son in June 08 my employer basically fired me. We had just signed a contract on an Owner Finance deal with our house. We moved in July 08 and have to finance this July. With all the credit crisis..and me losing my job..we are going off of my hubby’s income..which was 55,000 last year.
He has no credit at all..except for 1 little $300 credit card that we pay off every month. My worry is should I go ahead and try to see if we will be approved..or hold out until this stimulus plan passes??? Is this plan going to help people in my situation that can afford it but will probably get turned down just because the bank is scared to take a slight risk??
My son just started Kindergarten at the school .25 miles from our neighborhood..he has made many friends on the street…what happens if we don’t get our house due to the bank and credit crisis…How do you tell your son that you have to leave your “HOME”…and really not know where you would go.
We pay $1250 a month at the moment and we have no problem. Since I have been at home I have really pinched pennies in many ways.
A couple of tips for people to think of when trying to save money these days:
1. ALWAYS turn the light OFF!
2. Do you need your house phone? If
not…get rid of it and just use a
cell. (I saved $78.76 a month)
3. How does your cable bill look? Do
you watch HBO and all those
channels you are paying lots for?
(I dropped to basic and saved
$36.58 a month)
4. If you LOVE Starbucks coffee like
I did…buy one of those tassimo
coffee things and you will not be
let down. ( It is a 1 time invest
ment of $130.00 but you will get
your money’s worth in the end if
you aren’t spending $5 a cup.
This paid for itself in 2 months
and saved US about $50 a month)
Those little things right there saved me a total of about 175.00 a month. That gets put into a savings with other money and cross our fingers when it comes time to finance!!!!!
Why can’t they overhaul the WHOLE industry???
I can also give one more tip….check your credit!
DISPUTE>>>DISPUTE>>>DISPUTE
If you have ANY question at all on anything dispute it…they HAVE to verify it by certain credentials…if they can’t…it HAS TO BE ERASED from you credit report. So do ALL CREDIT BUREAUS!
You will be surprised at the innacurate things you will find on your reports.
If you find addresses that are incorrect…delete them. That can tie up and deny you credit if it seems that you have moved alot.
Personally I think that medical collections should not be allowed to reflect on your report. If that is the only reason you are denied a home for your family…that is pitiful. We have NO health insurance..and what happens if we get sick…I have children to take care of.
CREDIT REFORM!!!!!
HELP US NOW!
There are people out there that are suffering so bad…and they don’t know what they are going to do or where they are going to end up.
Get over all the politics and help all of us. We have paid taxes and done our part….and I am also a Katrina SURVIVOR. We were failed back then…and have really never recovered down here. It seems that New Orleans has fallen in the cracks with all the other things going on these days.
All we want is to be happy and know that our economy is stable enough for us to be able to focus more on our children…they are the future!
I submitted a request in regards to getting a personal loan, so I didn’t actual complete an application, and I was notified that I would be contacted by a representative to complete the application process. Here is the response I received…
Dear Carmen,
You recently submitted a request to AmOne indicating you were interested in an unsecured loan. Unfortunately, in today’s economic credit crunch the vast majority of people are getting denied for loan requests that don’t require collateral. Since 1999, AmOne has been a leading national authority on the vast range of loan and credit related products available, and our experience leads us to believe that this would be the likely outcome for your situation as well.
Rather than see you potentially head down the wrong path, we recommend that you allow our in-house loan and credit consulting department to help you get on the right track. All of our consultants have at least 10 years experience in every loan, debt and credit solution available for you. When you work with us, we will completely analyze your situation to help understand exactly where you stand, and then explain what your best loan or credit related options are moving forward. From there we’ll connect you with the best solution and hold your hand through the entire process.
Unless you’re already a loan or credit expert, determining the best way to borrow money, eliminate debt, or improve your credit situation can be tedious, time consuming and even intimidating. Our founding company belief is that everyone has the right to be represented fairly during any confusing or complicated process. With important tax or legal matters, most people hire an accountant or attorney. It should be no different when you make decisions that impact your credit and borrowing ability. We want you to understand “we are on your side” representing your best interests.
If you still want to take your chances applying for an unsecured loan, please CLICK HERE for a complimentary source. However, if you’re confused like most people are these days about where to go and what to do to get the help you need, we recommend you speak to us first.
All you have to do is reply to this email and provide the information below. From there one of our representatives will contact you typically within a few business hours for a free explanation of how we are helping thousands of people like you.
• Name
• Best Contact Phone
• Best Time to Reach You
• Email Address
We look forward to providing you some peace of mind about your situation.
Have a Prosperous Day,
America One
http://www.AmOne.com
Let me start by saying that I have outstanding balance $25,000 dived by two credit cards. One of the cards is AMEX and the other is a Citibank card. I have had these two credit cards for over 11 years now and they are the only credit cards that I open. I also have no other debt and nothing else that would negatively effect my credit. No other outstanding debt to my name. I lease an apartment and I have a good job that pays $47,000 a year. My debt was occurred during a marriage that I had a few years ago. The original amount of this debt was $30,000 but after always sending in more then my minimum amount I have been able to pay off $5,000 in 2 years. I’ve never been late with a payment and I’m always sure to make sure that I use my cards at least once a month to keep to them active.
Last November when the credit crunch was affecting everyone I was told by AMEX card that my $50,000 credit limit was being decreased to $18,000. When I called they told me that I had something negative on my credit report. I then signed up for one of those credit report places and found out that in 1995 I had a something sent to collections, an old medical bill that was under $100.00. When I called AMEX they told me that my credit was decreased due to this and once it was paid that my account would be reviewed. So I immediately called the collection and paid the outstanding debt. They informed me that it would take one month for it to be updated in my credit report. So I contacted AMEX and they said for me to fax them the letter that stated that the collection was paid, I also asked for the lady who I was talking to for a number for me to contact her. She said that they did not give out phone numbers but gave out employee numbers instead. When I contacted AMEX to find out the fax number, they told me that I needed the extension number of the rep and not the employee number. The never did allow me to fax the paperwork.
Just this month they lowered my credit again to $200.00 less then what I owe! This time they told me that it was because I had too high of balance on the card opposed to what my credit limit is. But they are ones that lowered the credit limit to begin with!!! Since they also lowered my available credit this has lowered my overall credit score because they have made it to be that I am almost maxed out on one of my credit cards! What in the world is going on?? This makes me undesirable for me to take out a line of credit for an apartment, a new car or whatever else I may need. Instead of rewarding me for being a good cardholder they are lowering my credit score and making me look bad in the eyes of leaders!!! I thought that the whole point in tax payers money going towards these companies was to make the consumer want to spend?? I don’t want to spend but rather pay off my debt. AMEX had ruined my credit and they don’t even care. It’s another way that they are using the bailout money to keep for themselves.
No one at AMEX will talk to me or take care of the situation, they all told me that until I lower my balance that there is nothing that they can do for me. After 11 years of being faithful to them I expected more. Now my credit score is hurting and I can’t get a loan even if I tried. Oh, and they also increased my APR.
We have an investment group looking to buy a small business. All the members of the group are professionals with experience in the industry and low to mid 6 figure incomes.
We tried to buy a $2.7M business with $1.4M worth of real estate and $500k FFE/inventory. $600k cash injection. So assuming 80% LTV on the R/E and 70% on the other assets we needed to finance about $700k of goodwill on the business.
Bank said we were $500k short in equity, meaning they are going loan us $200k unsecured on a business with $3M year in sales and $430k in free cash flow.
Reason was as explained by several bank presidents: The bank is in OK shape today but they do not see any economy improvement until 2010. Many of their customers that are current today will face difficulties in the future. This will require them to allocate more capital to the problem loans. Thus they are concerving capital in anticipation of this.
I don’t see this getting better anytime soon…
Listen up people… Times have changed…Credit is no longer king!!…Cash is KING now!! Before you apply for a loan, have at least $10,000 dollars or more in the bank. An excellent credit score will no longer cut it!! Two years ago you were golden, now you are considered average. The banks want to see money in your account. For those that are looking for cars, go to the auctions and purchase there. There are many there that were repossesed and most go for less than a thousand dollars. Now is the time to live with less. Try to pay everything with cash if possible and leave credit for emergencies only. Also try and join a credit union vice large bank. Credit Unions are owned by the customers and usually will be a little more understanding of your situation. But remember, you need to show the money along with good credit to be guarenteed the loan.
As a banker, I can say that the banks are lending but it is tight. The issue with the mortgages may be that there is no longer a secondary market or at least a very tight secondary market.
You can’t force the banks to come up with creative ways to meet federal requirements and not expect a conservative approach when the thing blows up. If banks started lending again like they did over the past 10 years we would be in this predicament again.
Really this is a return to the way things used to be. To many people got away with putting little or no money down and in some instances got a loan for 110% of the purchase price. Well now “the roosters” have come home to roost.
I bought my first home just 3 months ago and got a great interest rate at a time when thousands of people were foreclosing every month. Last week I decided to push my luck and was able to consolidate 3 extremely high interest loans (30%) into a single signature loan at less than half the interest rate (12%). That same week I was able to finance $3,000 worth of new furniture for my new house, I spent $7,000 on furniture with that retailer because they were willing to extend me credit.
I don’t have good credit either. My median score in the 650 range and my credit is littered with collections and judgments from previous medical bills that I spent the last 3 years paying off.
I believe the real problem here is many people have been irresponsible and did a poor job managing their debt. They racked up way to much debt and because their debt-to-income ratio is so high banks are not willing to loan them anymore money, and they should not be forced to.
I would like to see the government step in and change the FCRA so that paid collections and judgments drop off your credit in 3 years instead of the current 7 years, Bankruptcy’s should drop off after 7 years. Unpaid collections can still remain for 7 years.
I have a credit score of 730, yet Chase sent me a letter letting me know that since I have a promotional rate of 3.99% until the balance was paid off. Starting this month they were going to charge me a monthly service fee of $10. So I call BofA, Citi and Wells Fargo to find out what offers they had to do a balance transfer. None would allow me to do a balance transfer. They are not even offering balance transfers with high rates anymore. Credit is just frozen right now.
I recently received a letter in the mail that my credit card company is shutting down and closing all credit lines. I have never been late in the 8 years on this account or any other for that matter, pay my balance in full each month. I inturn applied for a balance transfer with a bank that I have been doing business with for over 20 years, I was denied. My debit ratio is currently is good, credit score was 720, which I have worked hard to maintain, now it’s 670 due to the lenders closure of this account! I was told by the lender that if I dispute the reporting with all credit bureaus it will not make any difference! The reporting on the account will stay as “Closed by Grantor/Lender” no way to fix the issue. I don’t think that’s fair to me I didn’t close the account, that it is going to be reporting in this manner! This looks bad on my report for the next 7-10 years!! Also to boot, I didn’t have a balance on this account! I also just recently needed to apply for an auto loan of $18,000.00 which I was told I needed a co-signer on. I have never needed a co-signer on any type of credit in my life. This is what is happen out in the credit world today.
Also, my Dad who has a Fico of 800, never any problems with getting credit when it has needed, was also denied a refinance on 1 of 4 Properties that he doesn’t have a mortgage on. The other 3 properties have LTV 40%. He also recently applied for a new car loan of $25,000.00 for 3 year at 0 APR, the bank wanted a co-signer!!!!!! He Applied with 3 other different lenders and was denied, telling him he should need to take out a mortgage on 1 of the 4 properties to show recent credit reporting! He check the credit reporting and does have a spotless reporting record, not lates, no judgments, liens, Bankrupcies! What, this man has assets valued of 10 million and you want a co-signer on a $20K car NOTE, are you crazy!!!!!!!!!!! Dad walked on the deal and now drives a moped!
My husband and I just bought a home and had no problems getting financing through a local credit union. We both have 800+ credit scores. No debt — that’s no credit card debt, no car payments, NOTHING. No late payments on anything. We got our loan and closed in roughly 2 1/2 weeks. We make less than 100K on one income, but the home we bought was within our budget. Nothing fancy or huge. So I guess it can be done.
Wake up, the reason most people can’t qualify right now is that they have already over borrowed. Most consumers are over leveraged and afford additional debt. Mega-Banks have learned a hard lesson and can’t freely hand out excess credit. Community banks are worse off.
The banks are not truthful at all:
I applied for a bank loan through Chase bank in June of 2008. They are not truthful at all…..
They have not been honest (at least not with me) my reasons are explained below.
The truth is the truth & a lie is a lie, yes they all looked good during the luncheon, the awards ceremony, all of the presentations about how they were going to help the businesses in Michigan
I simply can’t believe that they put on these events and simply treat people the way that they do. I know that everyone that requests a loan from them will not qualify…. every request will be different
Plain and simple they NEVER considered our loan request… The banker even “forgot” that he had even setup the first meeting with me at the bank to present the loan package to him. I had everything ready.
Well, he finally called me last week (8 months later) and he gave me alot of song & dance as to why we did not get the loan (I met with him in June, and I am just now hearing from him almost a year later.
None of reasons that he gave, which I do not believe simply for the following reasons
1. My personal credit was never checked by Chase bank (which is pretty good)
2. My business credit was never checked by Chase bank (which is also pretty good)
3. At the time of the loan application, I had over $100,000 (our own money) in the bank of which I was will to put $98,800 down as an equity investment for the loan
4. Our company receipts showed positive increases: 2005= $133,186.00, 2006= $295,521.00, 2007= $650,579
5. We are located in the heart of “the empowerment zone”
6. we had over $1,000,000 in collateral that we were willing to put up as a last resort to secure the loan
7. The debt that we had was less than 10% of the requested loan amount
8. We have a solid & honest business plan (you have a copy of it)
9. Even if we did not “qualify” for the $988,000 as they said, well what did we qualify for….. they never even told us
10. Even with the economy in the shape that it is in, we are still doing very well
Thank you in advance
Chuck
Unique Construction Company
http://www.uniqueconstructionco.com
Be Blessed!
Sallie Mae has been destroying my credit and my wallet. My credit score is an “ok” 650 – 670ish last I checked.
I was naive to take the student loan I got but I had no choice and no other lending institution could get me the amount I needed ($35K). I’m now suffering with a variable rate student loan that has varied from 10% – 15%. The loan itself has gone up $20K in just two years since I graduated college. I can barely make ends meet and trying to pay off this loan with an entry level job is proving to be fruitless. I called the company to try and get a better rate and explained to them that I want to pay this loan off! But they can’t/refuse to help me. It’s almost as if they are pushing for me to default on the loan. I honestly don’t know what to do and my parents are unable to help me either. No other loan consolidation firm or student loan firm can help me either because of they are no longer offering services or my loan is far too big.
I have a credit rating in the +800s, a good credit history, and no revolving credit card debt. I had no problems getting a car loan through multiple agencies. The only issue was shopping for the best rate.
Richard in Texas
I applied for an auto loan through Chase Bank. I have a mortgage and all my money in accounts at Chase. They denied me the auto loan for $17,000.00. The car dealership that I purchased the car from, got an auto loan approved by Chase. I have no idea how the car dealership was able to get me an approval from my bank and I was denied. Very fishy on how the banks work now.
I’m a mtg broker and an equiptment lease financing broker. Here is a shocker for many people… Banks and lenders expect to be paid back. If your credit shows a history of you paying bills only when you want to, don’t expect to get a loan. If you can’t pay a cell phone bill why should a bank expect you to pay a mortgage loan.
We just purchased a home after 10 years of renting, we saved our money and had up to 25% for a down payment. 100% financing is a thing of the past. Get used to it. If you’re not going to put anything at stake, why expect a lender to put anything at stake. If you have nothing down.. you’re just a renter.
Banks are in the business of lending money, it is the core of their revenue stream. They hold it for depositors, pay them interest, and then lend it out at a rate that covers the interest to depositors and the cost of doing business plus a small profit. So they want and NEED to lend money, but they also need to have some guaranty that the principal will be paid back.
The 2007 law change that changed the tax status of “forgiven debt” was horrible. It made it easy for people to walk away from their obligations if they felt that they were upside down in their house. Where in the Constituion is the guaranty of equity?
It also increased bank losses as they could not expense their losses via sending out 1099s. Unintended consequences of government intervention at its worst.
Lastly as long as there is talk about allowing judges to reset the principal of mortgages, money will be hard to come by. No one will play in a game where the rules constantly change, or have the risk of changing in the middle of the game.
I have had ZERO problems getting credit but I have always oaid MY BILLS in good times and bad. I would like to see the credit scores of teh people that are always complaining that they can’t get credit. I know of TOO many people that just walk away from their responsibilities. Is it tought out there YES but how can you expect a bank to give you money when it looks like they’re not going to get it back.
You want to solve this problem – Solve the BANKRUPTSY laws that are basically leagalized theft. It sure gets a lot of votes for COngressman though.
While reading all the comments below, it’s becoming very clear that debt and borrowing are very much like a drug. We know it’s bad, but we still need our fix while blaming those that provide it to us for our addiction and problems. It is perfectly clear that major contributors to the current crisis were lax lending standards and overconsumption. It’s amazing that banks have tightened up standards and are finally managing risk yet they are still being vilified. Many people who are not getting credit probably should not be getting it in the first place. Although the deleveraging will be a painful process, it is absolutely vital to our survival as a nation that we all learn to manage our credit responsibly and consume within our means without fully depending on loans to sustain our lifestyle.
I was unemployed from September 2008 to the first week of January 2009 (It would have technically been February 2009 because I didn’t get my first paycheck until Jan 31st). So I was forced to open credit card accounts to pay for rent, utilities, car payments, insurance, groceries, etc. I felt at the bottom of the barrel when I had to apply for an HEB card to be able to buy groceries!
Anyway, now that I am working full-time (and had to move to a city 6 hours away from where I used to live, so I could FIND a job), I wanted to get a debt consolidation loan. I needed about $5000 to pay off my credit cards and be able to stabilize myself faster, but I was denied the loan.
The reason? “Your credit report shows you have recently opened several accounts, this is a red flag for us. This is the reason why your loan was denied.”
I so wanted to tell the lady: “A red flag that the economy sucks and that the little people are getting screwed over while the big companies get bailed out? Yeah, that’s a red flag on my book too!”
I tried to explain to this person that I didn’t open those credit accounts for fun, but because I was unemployed. Even then, I was never late on my payments, and ended up spending all my money and relying on borrowed money from relatives.
I am a certified 4th to 8th, and 8th to 12th grades Mathematics Teacher. I applied for unemployment when everything else failed (money that I used to move, and pay the first month expenses of a move). I had applied for 50 school districts but not all of them hire in the middle of the year. I was finally called a few weeks before the end of 2008, and got the good news a week and half before my starting date. On the positive side, I love the job I have right now.
Even school districts are afraid of hiring! When I saw that almost 400 teachers got fired in Dallas because of budget cuts/miscalculations, and when I heard local school districts from where I used to live were cutting off all field trips, and were having to ask for an extension to pay electricity bills in schools, I knew I was screwed.
The only place that hired me in the middle of the year is in the verge of closing. So, perhaps, I might be in the same situation in about four months. I am working really hard to prevent that.
One last thing, though, I was recently admitted to the ER and was told I need surgery right away. I could only afford HMO, so I am dreading the bill. I can’t postpone the surgery, so all I can do is pray that everything will be fine.
Bank of America tacked a flood insurance payment onto a revolving acct for a home that I sold 4 years ago.
I have a two mortgages with Wells Fargo. The first mortgage is an arm locked in until 11/2011 and the second in an interest only mortgage. I think government should force lenders to take out the mystery in refinancing your mortgage. If you are rejected for a refi, then require the lender to disclose their standard that if met would have allowed you to be approved. I’m a goal oriented person as our many other Americans. If I have a solid number to strive for I’ll achieve my financial goal by adjusting my lifestyle and saving for it. I’m going to call Wells Fargo and ask them to tell me where I need to be with my mortgage balance to get a favorable refi. I don’t think its too much to ask for. Throw a bone to Americans that are looking not for a handout or bailout but solid answers to financial questions.
i have a credit ratiing of 780, and self-employed, carrying a home loan for the last 3 years, interest only.. my girlfriend wants to put in half of the mortgage so we could have lower payments, and hopefully have a more reasonable chance of getting through these hard times, and have a 30 year fixed.. my loan is through indymac ‘federal’ bank and thought they would love this, meaning they would carry less paper on our home.. but no, i got turned down for not having enough income, even tho our combined assets are more than the loan.. go figure how these guys/gals work? shakin head wondering why i can’t talk with the german bank that is really carrying my loan (serviced by indymac) and say “hey here’s half what i own, and adjust the loan”.. i’m already qualified for a much larger amount, just change a few numbers.. but of course indymac won’t tell me their name, etc.. it seems simple enough… well at 55, i don’t expect much anymore of these financial intuitions (especially helping people, incompetent unless we fit into their new forms.. or unless it adds to their greed).. it was nice in the older days when you would go to your personal banker and he/she would know if you were a good risk or not…
My wife and I both have strong credit scores (740+) and good salaries, but can’t refinance our house or either of the rental properties we have because we couldn’t sell them when we got married. For mine, in order to qualify for a refinance and not have 30% equity in them (like that’s going to happen with home prices in a tailspin), I’d have to kick my renter out & occupy the house for some indeterminate amt. of time to “prove” it’s my primary residence. I’m already losing money every month I rent the thing, can’t sell it, and can’t even refinance because the rules make it virtually impossible. I know we didn’t have to buy the house we’re in now — that was our choice & we have to live with it, but it’s still frustrating dealing with all the ridiculous excuses lenders use to keep us from doing something about our predicament.
The statement that banks are loaning money is a joke. My girlfriend and I are trying to buy a house and last year we were told we needed more money down so after working a bunch or overtime and saving we came up with 5% more than what the bank had asked for, just in case. Returning to the bank only to find out that they would not even consider us now because of the market and out credit scores not being high enough. Both of us have strong credit, hers being in the 750 range and mine pushing 800 as of Feb. 1st we were told that if we could put more money down that we would be able to obtain the loan. In the beginning we were told 20% down we returned with 25% to put down. How much should we have to put down 50%, 75% when is it enough. The whole industry is so screwed up and now we have lost the house that we were going buy and the place we are renting our lease is up. So because of this we will have to renew our lease again and continue to pay out money for nothing in return. Gee thanks mister banker for all your help.
Our market is strange. I bought a car last may and have made all my payments on time. I have a 736 credit score and a steady job. I went to trade the car in on something different(my wife can not learn how to drive a 5 speed) and i was declined by 7 different car lots. I have never missed a payment and never been late on my credit card. All this and my brother who has a 600 credit score and no job got a loan for a 250K house.
I have no bad information on my credit report, and closed on a house in October (we were approved in March of last year). Then in November, I hit a deer and totalled my car, so I had to buy a new one. No one would loan me money, and there were about a dozen hits on my credit report. I ended up financing with a “sub-prime” car loan. Then, because my credit score had changed, most of my credit card issuers have raised my rates to pretty high levels-those usually reserved for people with late payment histories and defaults and stuff (I’m talking high 20s here folks). As I said, I’ve never had a late payment and I have a good-paying job, but now that all my credit cards have these high rates and the minimums are so much higher (I used to pride myself for never just making the minimum payment), that I now have to decide who gets paid and who waits-I just don’t have enough to make all the minimums. I’ve cut back all over the place, but because these card companies raised rates on existing balances with no adverse credit history, I will have to start defaulting and making late payments. And since each one carries another fee and still needs to be paid eventually, it all snowballs. I figure I have six months before it reaches a point where I will have all the cards maxed out andI have to just totally let it go. I’ll probably end up in bancruptcy court and these idiot card companies will lose thousands-all so they can collect a few dollars more now. We’ll probably lose the house eventually too. A year a go I was in great shape, living the American dream. Now, the dream is becoming a nightmare, and I can see it unfold in slow motion, unable to do anything about it except buy lottery tickets and hope a rich relative dies. I lived through the recessions of the 70’s and 80’s and the stimulus-driven recession of W’s doing, but this may be the one that gets me….
For those who will read my other comment and say I am a deadbeat, I have paid off 4 mortgages and 5 car loans satisfactorily, have 4 credit cards with never a late payment, a student loan that is current and has been for over a year. Yet my credit scores are showing from 496 to 530, because of inaccurate info from my divorce. My ex didn’t pay what he was supposed to in the settlement; I have paid off $8K in 2 years of his debts yet they linger on my credit report.
I think that I am much more likely to pay my bills than others with higher scores.
We were recently turned down on a mortgage refi. We are self-employed and supplied all documents requested…last two years w2’s, tax returns, bank statements, savings, cd’s and more. We have excellent credit with scores in the 800’s. Still rejected!
What bothers me the most is the government telling banks how to run their businesses. If you didn’t like the way that they ran them before, don’t expect them to change because you are giving them money. Good money (taxpayer money)following bad money is a horrible idea. I also can’t believe it when I read articles much like this one, that states that banks have a responsibility to lend money. Banks do not have the responsibility to lend money, they have the opportunity to lend money on the hopes of earning interest income. The number one problem that banks have, is the fact that they lended money to higher risk customers, and those loans are not performing. Everyone deserves a place to live, but not everyone deserves to own a home. Credit became too easy to get regardless of your credit, and now we as a country are paying the price for greed. Having good credit didn’t mean anything over the last 10 years. Anyone could get credit, and that is what has led us into our recession. The banks have a responsibility to make money for their shareholders, and it isn’t until now that our banking system has realized that lending money on high risk consumers the same way you lend money to good credit customers is a poor business practice. Unfortunately the downfall of capitalism is that you have your ups and downs. We are in an extreme down and until we allow our markets to find the natural bottom, our economy will continue to remain unstable. Artificially inflating our economy with billions of dollars does nothing but delay the markets from finding that natural bottom so we can begin our recovery. The bottom line is, your credit should stand for something. If you don’t pay your bills, you should not expect, and it isn’t your right to live above your means by asking for credit to be extended to you.
My husband earns over $150,000/yr and has for decades (used to be more, actually) We have 75% equity in our $350,000 home and less than 15% owing on 3 lines of credit. Just applied to furniture company for a $2,000 bedroom suite and were turned down by Citigroup because 15 years ago their balance was excused on an unfortunate bankruptcy brought on by a client of ours that went brankrupt taking us down with them. Sounds punative to me. Wonder if they would have turned us down a year ago.
I have been recently turned down for a Debt Consolidation loan. The excuse is that I have too much debt…. I only have 4500!!! I make over 45,000 a year too! My credit score is between 670 and 690 too, not bad. So now, I am taking a loan out of my 401k with no penalties. Sucky part is that I won’t get credit to my credit score with this loan. Good Luck to all!!
I am 22 years old and have never taken a credit card offer because I watched my older brother get in debt really bad with credit cards at a young age. So I have stuck to only money that I actually had up until now. I have a $700 spot on my credit due to not dropping a class after finding out how much it would cost.(In TX, where I’m from, you get auto dropped when you don’t pay, but I was in Oklahoma and their policy is that you have to fill out a drop form but I was not aware of that when I told the attendant that I couldn’t afford it and she just let me walk away without filling the form out. The staff would not call me back when I called about it after receiving the bill at the END of the semester) ANYWAY, now I have $700 bad debt following me for a class I never stepped foot in.
So I go to get a new car because my 93 F-150 with 180k miles just isnt cutting it anymore. I have $1500 cash and will get $500 from the dealership for the truck. I pick out a reliable 8k car. This should have come out around $240/month. I make $1800/month. After waiting alllll day and getting excited about a new car they come to me with the bill. Sale Price: $11,800 @ $340 a month. Basically they added $2400 to the sale price because I was sub prime, and gave me a rate of 19%. There was nothing anyone could do. It was “the Matrix” that decided the price. This was an actual quote from my salesperson. Thanks Morpheus!! Way to help a guy get his credit established!!!
I was just rcently turned for a line of credit increase of $3,000.00 and was turned down with Technology Credit Union
My family is trying to start a small business. We had been planning this for several years. Last July, everything finally came together but that is when this financial nightmare started. We have been working with several banks. We have great credit rating, no financial obligations (no outstanding debt), great business plan, and a very sound business potential. Bankers are telling me this. Every banker is very excited about the prospect. All say it is a great deal for everyone, but they are concerned about the risk to me. When the application goes to committee, it is reviewed and eventually denied. Bankers are telling me that they cannot their people to agree, because they are worried about the risk to me. Banks are just not lending and I am a witness to what I am seeing in the news.
Well researched and knowing the crash was on the way, I bought a fixer upper house in Arizona 2 years ago $20,000 under value in a stable market with the intent of refinancing or selling depending on what the market was doing. When it came time, and the housing market indeed went unstable, my numbers still worked
A first appraisal with another company brought it in at $32,000 over what I paid. The first mortgage company folded two weeks before signing the refinance papers.
Four months later and reticent because of their history, I spoke to Countrywide who owned the loan and they offered an FHA loan at a low interest but they had to move fast, requiring that I pay for an appraiser of their choice and it be done in 48 hours. The fellow came and my instincts were triggered immediately. He brought in the house $5,000 under what I paid for it two years ago pre-fix up, with bogus comps. I spoke to Countrywide who refused to investigate and dropped the refinance.
Upon reflection I realized that they are playing a subtler game of low balling houses so they can present themselves at trying to give loans but can not. This exercise cost me $475 with no options and a high measure of caution. Who do I go to now?
I have had a Capital One card since 1991. I have never been late and had
a 7.9%fixed rate. Yesterday I get a
letter which raises the default rate to
24.9% PLUS PRime. The Default kicks in
at 3 days late…or I can close the account. It’s my oldest account and closing the account would drop my credit score 35 points. What a screw job. Another ripoff by the credit card companies. We need an advocate in our government to limit interest to
18%! Usury should be illegal.
Citi Corp pre-approved me for a mortgagfe loan at a very good rate, asked for $750 loan apllication, then disqualified me and took my money with no refund. Then Citi would not even provide me with a home appraisal I paid for! Home apprasiars are so afraid too give any positive judgement due to electronic audits. They are looking for the worst price home in a 5-15 mile radius. The Appraiser excluded any very positive comp homes because of they “own opiinion” or some very detail Fannie May “possible” requiremnets for audits (that no home owner would be aware of). It is just a big mess.
My brother and i have a small tennis business, only about 8 months old. But the business is doing well, and we opened our new big accounts with credit cards, it was our only option. We need a loan to consolidate this debt now, and we have proof of a good payment history and balance sheet. We cannot get any help at all.
I have a 700 credit score, no late payments, 1 car loan and a few credit cards. One of my credit cards is through HSBC. I recently filed my taxes through H&R Block and was told by HSBC that I ‘don’t meet the lending criteria for a refund anticipation loan’. What the…? Turned down for a Tax Refund loan, and through my own bank? Banks are using a wait and see business model.
I am a 49-yr old husband, father, and business owner. Last summer, my credit score was 770. Then, in the fall, American Express cut the limit on my credit cards because I “used the card at establishments where other patrons had bad credit histories”. What a crock !!! The result was that my percentage use of available credit skyrocketed. This made my credit score drop. Other creditors (credit card vendors and HELOC creditors) noticed this change and joined the party. In all, over ten creditors have reduced my credit limit to a uselessly low level. This has “arificially” resulted in my usage of avaialable credit to soar to over 99% – even though I owe less money that I did when the party started. If you look at my credit report, there are almost 30 years of credit history with no late payments whatsoever. Only 35% of my income goes to pay monthly debt. I feel like I’m the kind of consumer that financial institutions would want to lend to. And yet because of this industry overreaction, my credit score has dropped into the mid 600’s and I couldn’t even get approved to buy $5,000 of furniture last week using one of those “12 months same as cash” financing plans. Six months ago I’m sure I could have borrowed several hundred thousand dollars to do whatever I wanted to with. I operate two small businesses, so the lack of available credit would have shut me down had I not had a large amount of cash value in my whole life policies that I can access (tax-free by the way) to cover those random, temporary spikes where I hit a cash-flow bind.
I’ve been trying to get a mortgage for over a month. I have a decent credit score, very strong income, and I’m trying to buy a condo that is less than 2x my annual salary.
The problem? According to every underwriter that has turned me away, I’m considered to be self-employed since I run my own business. I’ve been running this business for years and have three years of tax forms that clearly state over $210,000 of annual income to myself. And yet despte that strong evidence, no one will lend to me because of my self-employment status.
I don’t work for a 3M or a General Mills; the fact that in that stead I have made a better life for myself and yet, in turn, present a significantly higher risk profile is repugnant and renews my fears about the Real Estate and mortgage market. Until we start rewarding people for success in the face of an economic abyss, we’re never going to get out of it.
It seen to be nearly impossible to get a loan these days. I have a credit score of 747 with no defaults on my report. And I was still denied credit to buy a home that was listed for only 59,000. I have work at my job for about 4 years. I have money saved for a downpayment, but I have been denied credit four times. It seem that the only people who are able to get loan here in minneapolis,mn are investors. Which is unfair that people like myself who are looking to live in this area will not get a chance.
I have a 2000 manufactured home(2 x 6) construction on a solid HUD approved foundation. It sits on 3 acres with a two car garage, horse barn, ect. I have ample equity(owe 237000 appraised at 330000) a good job 46000 yr over three years and good credit 720+. I have been told time and time again that the best loan I can get on my home carries a 9% rate!(Can’t shop the loan out too much as it will LOWER my credit score-go figure)I currently have a 8.75% and would like to lower it) I could get 100% financing on a peice of junk stick built house at 5.5% I have also been told that it would be better if I include my elderly mothers income of social security less than 900.00 month(wouldn’t even cover the mortgage) to lower my percentage by 1/4 percent! This is incredible! Is there any help for us hard workers who DO have jobs out there?
I was just in a car accident that totaled car which was recently paid off. Granted, the other driver admitted fault and I was able to get a decent sum for my wrecked car. When I went to purchase my new car, getting a loan was actually easy because I went to my credit union and was pre-approved. This allowed me to determine exactly what make/model of car I could afford. While I got a 2009 model, I was able to use various incentives and the fact I was a credit union member to get a great deal in addition to the money I received for my car. My credit score is not perfect, but it’s not bad either. My cards are all paid off so all I have are my student loans, a mortgage and now a small car payment. It’s critical to know what you can afford and what you can not. It’s also important to get away from the major banks and lenders. They are in it for the money. Credit unions need to keep their members happy which is why you can get better rates on loans and savings than any place else. By the way, my car is from one of the Big Three and yes, even if they do go belly up, my warranties will be covered. I asked and was issued that in writing!! It’s bad, but only as bad as we consumers make it! If you can’t afford it don’t buy it or save your money until you can get it. Don’t live beyond your means. Material things aren’t going to make you happy. Financial security will really make you happy and let you sleep well at night!
I was out of work for a year, kept up my house payments throughout, and have a credit rating over 820. However, in attempting to refinance now that I’m finally working again, I am being rebuffed. I have proven I am a safe bet, my home equity is twice what the bank requires. But thanks to my extended layoff, I can’t qualify. While I do understand the regulations and necessity of enforcing requirements, like so many other people I only hurt myself in being a conscientious homeowner and keeping up payments. Had I defaulted, help is on the way. But I’m penalized for struggling, yet meeting my obligations while unemployed.
My Husband and I have amazing Credit with out Credit scores in the high 700’s and low 800’s respectfully. We have purchased and sold 3 homes in the last 8 years paying all loans off with no late payments ever… not even a day late. We have bought and paid off mulitiple car loans and all of our credit cards have zero balances. With all of that said we both lost our jobs in 2008 (both of us worked in the construction industry) and even though it has been hard we have still kept making any and all payments we have on time never even one day late. Now we may have gone without food and have not eaten out or gone to a movie or done anything for lesiure in the last year but we kept paying our bills on time thinking this was gonna mean something. Well, we were dead wrong. We tried to get a mortgage for $150,000 to build a new home and we were told we would have to put 20% down or no deal. The last home we built we only had to put down 3% and we had credit scores lower than we do now. So, you tell me how the average person is being helpd by all of this so called stimulus being dished out????? I want to know why all of the bank execs get to take fancy vacations while my husband and I — Two hard working people can not get a loan at 3-5% down???? Keep in mind we would have had the money to put 20% down had we not had to use up all of our hard earned savings to just get by because we could not find jobs for over 9 months each. So, take it from me— this bank stimulus is not helping the average hardworking american at all.
My husband and I are scheduled to pay off a construction loan with a permanent loan at Commerce Bank in June. Our credit rate has dropped although we have not been late or defaulted on any credit. Our Home Depot account limit was reduced and we were not aware of it until we went into pick up material to finish the construction. They said they were ‘restructuring their risks’. Our Capital One cards had rate increases this month that will go into effect in May. Both of these resulted in lower credit scores because it appears our accounts are maxed out, although the credit limits were lowered.
I don’t know what situation Commerce Bank is in for lending, we can only pray.
I was let go from my job in Nashville in December 2007. I relocated for a new job in New Orleans in August 2008. I also managed to finish my MBA program during this time. In October 2008 I purchased a new car for 72 months at 5.9%. I could have snagged 0% for 36 months, but I didn’t feel comfortable with the monthly note. On the job for only 2 months after being unemployed for 8 prior and I was still able to get a loan. I am contantly getting offers for lines of credit from my bank, credit union and even other banks. My credit card rate dropped from 10.9% to 5.74%.
People aren’t being entirely honest or they just don’t understand how lenders calculate who is a viable customer.
It’s not just about paying on time and/or credit scores. It’s much more important to have good debt to income ratio. Your ability to pay additional/new debt is finally being considered again.
The banks are not truthful at all:
I applied for a bank loan through Chase bank in June of 2008. They are not truthful at all…..
They have not been honest (at least not with me) my reasons are explained below.
The truth is the truth & a lie is a lie, yes they all looked good during the luncheon, the awards ceremony, all of the presentations about how they were going to help the businesses in Michigan
I simply can’t believe that they put on these events and simply treat people the way that they do. I know that everyone that requests a loan from them will not qualify…. every request will be different
Plain and simple they NEVER considered our loan request… The banker even “forgot” that he had even setup the first meeting with me at the bank to present the loan package to him. I had everything ready.
Well, he finally called me last week (8 months later) and he gave me alot of song & dance as to why we did not get the loan (I met with him in June, and I am just now hearing from him almost a year later.
None of reasons that he gave, which I do not believe simply for the following reasons
1. My personal credit was never checked by Chase bank (which is pretty good)
2. My business credit was never checked by Chase bank (which is also pretty good)
3. At the time of the loan application, I had over $100,000 (our own money) in the bank of which I was will to put $98,800 down as an equity investment for the loan
4. Our company receipts showed positive increases: 2005= $133,186.00, 2006= $295,521.00, 2007= $650,579
5. We are located in the heart of “the empowerment zone”
6. we had over $1,000,000 in collateral that we were willing to put up as a last resort to secure the loan
7. The debt that we had was less than 10% of the requested loan amount
8. We have a solid & honest business plan (you have a copy of it)
9. Even if we did not “qualify” for the $988,000 as they said, well what did we qualify for….. they never even told us
10. Even with the economy in the shape that it is in, we are still doing very well
Thank you in advance
Chuck
Unique Construction Company
http://www.uniqueconstructionco.com
Be Blessed!
I tried to get a loan for 10,000 for my small business, however, I was thwarted by the bank from the git go.
I went into the bank seeking the Branch Manager, solely to discuss what finance options were open to a small business and with my credit score of 726 and no negative items on my credit history.
The Branch Manager was not in and I asked a “Business Specialist” when he might be back.. The Business Specialist then grilled me about the loan I wanted, started punching in numbers asking questions, etc. This was all very quick and I lost site of the fact that I had just gone in “to inquire about my options”. He finished and I was whisked out the door. He held me at bay for 1 1/2 weeks only to turn me down for the loan. He even turned me down for a $5,000 credit card!
This was very humiliating and I then stopped to think of the stream of events. He never asked for a Business Plan, or anything else for that matter.
Needless to say, I am leaving this bank which I have had a positive history with for over 5 years. I will be taking my business plan to another bank which is more local and nearer to my home.
Yes,I tried to get a car loan in Jan. I was turned down or they wanted a big down payment I never had a problem before I trade in my cars every 5 years.
I have great credit. I was going to refinance my car but the credit union wouldn’t give me the lowest rate (4.25%) but I could have gotten 5.25%. This is because the credit union (only people offering 4.25% on a car refinance) doesn’t like my DEBT-to-INCOME ratio and I understand that.
My credit cards are still 7.9 – 8.9 percent (Credit Union and Chase) and I use them all the time but keep them paid off. (1-3% back on all purchases adds up.)
If you truly have excellent credit, this “crunch” is a non-issue. And with my skills, there are still plenty of jobs out there. People in this country are just not getting the skills (or any skills) in demand. So I’m not participating in this recession (or D-process) and have cut back my spending to the lowest level possible.
Banks lend on their deposits not capital on hand, so, the $700 billion TARP bills failed to free up loans. With the vacuous argument in Congress, the White House and the relentless headlines comparing today with the Great Depression, it’s not likely that new deposits will surge soon. Depression? Our leaders just accelerated an additional $800 billion Stimulus Bill without even reading the stimulus-free contents and then adjourned for recess. Around our house we make big decisions with due deliberation. But, government just prints its way out of catastrophe. This is not asset-backed money, it’s paper. So,costs don’t matter any more. Stimulus doesn’t matter either in this generational theft of aggregate trillions with more to come.
With consumer confidence being whittled away by Democrats each day don’t expect loans to become any easier to obtain. If you don’t have money and your job is in jeopardy you don’t think about growing your savings account.
Only government can spend money it doesn’t have.
No surprise that loans are hard to come by.
I have had no problem with getting a loan at all lately. Citibank and Bank of America even raised my credit limit recently without my asking them to. They also have left my interest rates on the card alone.
I had a Lowe’s credit card that had a small credit limit but had been paid off for at least 6 months and was never late on it when we did have a balance on it. next thing I know, I get a letter in the mail saying the account was closed. The reason supposedly was because we had too much credit balances on other cards but none of them exceeding 50% of the available credit line and ALL are always paid on time and twice the min. payment. I also received a letter from another credit card where my limit was 6300 and I have a balance of 700 which I always pay on time and they reduced my credit limit to 1000 which now means my 700 is 70% of the credit limit which hurts my credit score. Total BS. especially since we have never been late and have had the cards for many years.
My Wife and I were trying to refinance our home, Which is a 2007 New Construction purchased in 2007 with 33% down payment. Have credit score above 750, No debt, Never defaulted, 140K+ family income and we have already paid off 45% of current market value. We are legal immigrant, Both Software professionals with M.S. in Computer science but waiting for final stage of Greencard. Our final stage of Greencard I-485 application waiting time is around 5 years due to PRIORITY DATES. After applying I-485 it takes further few years to get the GREENCARD.
Right now we are at 5.375% on 15 year fixed (with a point when we took the loan). As rates are low we tried to refinance and We applied to Wachovia and they locked in for 4.82% on 30 year fixed for 60 days and all paperwork as done. After 3 weeks, as we did not have GREENCARD, we were asked lot of documentation like past 2 years W2, Bank balance, other investments and many other records which were 150K+, Still loan application was turned down with reason.
1) Unable to Verify Residence
2) Program not available
Wachovia did not mention anywhere that as we do not have GREENCARD/US CITIZENSHIP we are turned down. Our home (2007 New construction & Our Primary Residence) current value is between $600,000 to $700,000 and we have only $378,000 Loan which we want to just refinance due to low rates but we feel like discriminated. It is not our fault that the GREENCARD process takes a decade due to retrogression.
Since I am a self employed, and incorporated I.T. Consultant, and pay myself 36K per year, I cannot refinance my mortgage, because the banks will no longer look at stated income or no doc loans, and even look at my corporate tax returns, as they did in the past. My average FICO score is 790, my credit is excellent, and I have a 40% equity in my house, yet because I am self employed, I cannot refinance the remaining mortgage from 6.75 to 5.25 or less. This is not fair
The banks are trying to limit the number of loans that default by having some standards? That’s a novel idea. It seems that we’ve gotten to the point where everyone expects to be extended credit no matter what their history or ability to pay it back. Being irresponsible and making the wrong choices in life should have coonsequences (and these days I guess they do).
My husband and I were EXTREMELY lucky in that we refinanced 2 weeks before he got laid off. The underwriters fought to get my loan passed because of the appraisal being sloppy and completely over the top, but thank god the owner of the lender stepped in and pretty much forced it through. That refinance has saved us hundreds a month. While he looks for a job (which seems to be harder to get than credit)he is renovating the basement into an in-law to rent and bring in more income. Then I got a letter in the mail from home depot credit saying they are taking away all the credit that I haven’t used, which we needed to finish the renovation!
We never thought we could be touched by the recession because we never invested in the stock market. Boy, was I wrong!
My husband and I own 3 homes, excellent credit, income and have had constant money in our PMA at Wells Fargo. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone through our account and our savings is very substantial. Wells Fargo decided our Platinum credit card that is rolled into the PMA account was not worth our having credit in the tens of thousands and now have reduced our credit card limit to 300.00 and that is without us having a balance and having over 40k in savings. We are switching banks if they don’t give us our credit back!
There is a deeper underlying cause here. Some very well qualified borrowers have been decimated by no fault of their own. It’s called the FICO score. For no good reason a bank can drop your $10,000 credit card limit to your outstanding balance, say $1,000. This HAMMERS your credit score. Then the next creditor comes in and sees the hammered score and does the same thing. Which HAMMERS your credit score again. And again. And again.
You don’t think so? I am proof. My score dropped over 200 points in a one month period becasue of this. Keep your outstanding credit to 30% of your avaialble. Sure, until the bank drops your limit.
You play by the rules and still get screwed. Banks should have had to go through a prepackaged bankruptcy. Executives should have been removed, shareholders should have been wiped out, debtholders should have become the new shareholders and the new executives should have had the bulk of their salaries in deferred stock options – until they repaid their TARP loans.
I am a single real estate developer. I have a good project, low loan to values, great credit scores , a flawless credit history. My last loan denial (well actually it was an approval with conditions). I am finding that this is a popular way to deny someone. You approve them but give them an impossible loan condition – that way it almost guarantees that you won’t be able to satisfy the condition and therefore never able to close on the loan. My last condition was that I need to have a second source of income. It pretty much makes it impossible to be in business by yourself. I don’t wish to be a huge company or be in a partnership, and that is why I do business on my own. However, with the bank’s condition, it makes it so that I can’t be a single business owner. Maybe I should go get a second job at the mall. But think about it. If I’m working 40 hours a week somewhere to meet the bank’s requirement how then will I have time to then develop a successful project? So for the few of you that indicated you were getting loans without a problem…. Do you want to co-borrow on a loan? LOL I think this is a stupid condition as I don’t think there is anyone in the world that is willing to co-borrow on someone else’s development deal. But heck- maybe there’s someone out there who is willing to do such a thing. Here’s my e-mail if your out there…. rpsinvestments1@verizon.net
My Husband and I have our home loan with Wells Fargo and have above 700 credit scores. Wells Fargo called us and said they could save us money with a refi. Our current home loan is at 6% and they offered us 6.5%!!! What are they talking about! When we asked they said that is the rate right now, but on their website it was 5.2%. Needless to say we went to another bank and got 4.5%. I believe this bank is really ripping people off!
What action will the Goverment take for those who’s Credit score is excelent and want to refinance and can’t because their house value is less than what they owe?
I recently went to Cadillac to purchase a CTS. No credit issues on my report, as I checked before going. I was told that GM would only carry 90% of the loan, the rest would be out of my pocket. No wonder they can’t sell cars. And yet, they are begging for bailout? Try selling your product before asking for tax money.
My wife and I both have very good credit scores, we always pay our bills on time. We, like many others, have gotten screwed by the oil companies by having to pay 300% increases on gas, home heating bills, etc. We were recently turned down for a refinance on our mortgage because our debt-to-income is too high. It’s messed up because the refinance would have allowed us to pay off the debt quicker, thereby reducing our overall debt.
The bottom line is that although the banks got this bailout money, they’re not going to use it to help people who are on the edge, they’re going to use it to help people who aren’t capable of paying and they’ll wait for the rest of us to fall down that slope.
I own my own home and my own business. My credit score is approx 750. I applied in the fall for a home equity loan and it was approved. I pulled some money down and was going to use the rest to help my daughter with her home mortgage issue. The bank (Chase) notified me that the loan was frozen. I called and was told all equity loans were frozen. I said how can you do this. I am paying you to use my own money! All the equity loans owners apparently have equity in their homes or would not be elibible for this loan. These are the people that can give you horrific rates of interest to use their own money. Makes no sense.
Hello. I don’t unusually post comments on blogs; but I must say that I feel this one warrants a posting. I applied for a small loan to make repairs on my house; and was turned down credit due to my credit score. Apparently my credit score has dropped 100 points in the past year which is preventing me from getting a small loan. Here is my issue: We (the taxpayers) were able to “Loan” the banks Billions of dollars; including myself; and I’m being turned down for a loan. So basically, I can loan the bank money; but the bank can’t loan me any money. Does that sound fair? Ok, now I do know that the banks cant just go out and give everyone a loan; but I do think they should relax and help those who do need it and who have a decent amount of collateral. You thoughts?
My husband and I had no problems buying our first home with a 5.5% fixed interest rate 30 year loan. We have no outstanding debt outside of my student loans and found a bank to work with us.
We recently applied to increase our credit limit on our home equity line. Our first mortgage and the line combined are still much lower than the value of our house. We make over $100,000 combined and have both been at our jobs for over 15 years. They turned us down. Our credit score is in the good range. They are lyng – not lending!!!
Ours is a typical nightmare story. Due to an accident that was not my fault 3 years ago, we were almost bankrupt because the insurance companies didn’t pay out everything and we were left with thousands of dollars in medical bills. That combined with one of us loosing our job (thus late payments on bills and mortgage), our credit score dropped over 100 points. When we went to refi our car which was leased, we were declined credit and were told only those with 700 or better credit scores could qualify. That’s not us – and most people we know at this time. We have five close friends who are unemployed right now and barely surviving. My husband and I have good jobs, try to pay our bills on time, have managed to keep our house, and are barely surviving.
A few years ago, I had some credit problems, but have steadily been rebuilding that credit since. I opened a Best Buy rewardzone mastercard through HSBC. I was approved for a $700 limit which I’ve held for the past 2 years. Every month, I charge every expense to the card and pay it off in full. My payment has never been late. Now I wanted to take a trip which cost $865. I wanted to put it on my credit card and asked for a limit increase of a couple hundred dollars. DENIED! Not only denied, but they also slashed my cash advance limit down to $125.00. When I inquired, they said they were doing that to everyone and since I had never used my cash advance option before, I shouldn’t be affected by it much. Thanks for telling me what will affect me HSBC!
Since CNN didn’t ask did you get a loan, I’ll tell it here! I got a car loan, a credit card and a consolidation loan, all with Bank of America, But of course I have good credit!
IS anyone out there who is denied a loan because of visa? My husband & I who are on a work visa here since a long time, recently went to a credit union to refinance our car loan. They denied us telling that since our visa expires in some years, they can grant us a loan for only till the visa expiry. Many of my husband’s colleagues have got a house loan being in the same visa scenario. Moreover, we got our initial loan for a longer term than our visa status based on the same papers. We have a good credit score and are very diligent with our payments. Has anyone faced a similar problem?
Here’s a good one for you. My wife and I are moving in June for her to take a job post-medical residency. We will have a substantial jump in income. We have to sell our house to move to our new location. We have listed with a realtor and have been told to expect at a minimum to lose $11k on a $130k house. Not a huge deal, since we’ll get a better deal on a house where we are going. Our credit scores are 720+ and we are good at managing debt. However, Bank of America (who seems to control most of the credit cards in the US) just closed 2 of my credit cards due to inactivity. In one fell swoop, they eliminated one-third of our available credit and 14 years of good credit history. That’s not going to help those scores. To top it off, since we don’t have enough equity and will lose money on our sale, we haven’t found a bank that will give us a loan to buy a house in our new location. We are about to almost double our combined income and we can’t get a loan?!?
I think it is all a fraud. My wife and I own our home, no mortgage, appraised at 500,000.00. We have been trying since Nov to get a home equity loan to make some improvements to our home and all banks have turned us down. Benificial, PNC, Wells Fargo etc…. We even tried going to lending tree, every bank that was on there shot us down. I make 150k per year and we by no means are a high risk loan. The answer given to us by all banks, because of the “new rules” we are unable to grant you a loan at this time. Its a crock
These stories have the wrong focus. The truth is that millions of Americans currently have mortgages that amount to more than 5 times their annual income. They believe they are homeowners but they are RENTERS of a mortgage until the next interest rate increase, divorce, job loss, illness or such event that happens every 5-7 years on average. Because of this unusustainable debt load they may never be homeowners. There are trillions of $ in unsustainable debt and the sooner Americans get RID of it and walk away the sooner we can BEGIN to fix the credit system. Continually propping up this unsustainable system by encouraging more debt will destroy us all.
I have a mortgage bought by Wells Fargo. I am 21 years into a 30 year 10.5 Percent interest rate loan. I OWN my own business and like many others have recently had hard times with my business.
I have repeatedly ASKED Wells Fargo to abate the interest, but instead get counter offers of ARMS, Rolling missed payments to the end of the loan and any and ALL of the stuff that has caused this mess.
They seem determined NOT to do the right thing …
The banks got a hand-out at our expense without having to produce a credit history. Why are they exempt from denial if they have financial woes? There is always a disconnect from business to consumers. Contracts always favor businesses, courts always favor business over labor, banks always get favored treatment. In the meantime, their executives spend lavishly on both business and personal expenses while charging us usurious rates in order to maintain their lifestyle. Politicians promote fear to argue for aiding and abetting these criminals while getting under the table rewards… any wonder why we are in the shape we are in?
I’m a student and had no problem getting the money to go to college. Yesterday my second term loan was due to finish and I was denied by every bank. Now I have to drop out find a job (in this market yea right) and I they expect me to pay back a loan for higher education but I can’t get my degree to make the kind of money that it takes to pay back a loan that big. I have no degree but a debt for a degree this is not fair, what happened to America.
I have a client with an 800 FICO score, is putting down 50% on a $310,000 purchase (appraised at $310,000)Has a 5 year contract for $5000 a month net income and the lender is questioning everything and leaning towards not commiting. I had another client with a 780 score was putting down 25% on a $145,000 REO property (appraised at $153,000) making $72,000 per year and was denied. To say banks are lending is an out and out lie!
I have a credit score of 728. I had no problem getting a loan for my new car (Toyota financial). I always spend what I can afford..Other than a couple of revolving bills, I have no credit card debt. I have a 30 year fixed mortgage with chase.
I am 24 years old trying to refinance my I/O ARM. I have excellent credit (783) and decent income (at the bottom of my career potential) at a company who is recession proof. I was working with TD Bank who at the time had the lowest Interest Rate (4.99%). After being intially accepted and paying a $300 appraisal fee, I turned down other bank offers to move forward. I then locked my rate at TD Bank for .5%. After 3 weeks of submitting all my documentation and verification I was turned down for the loan because I was living in a Condo and not a PUD, townhome, or Single Home. The first question I answered was “I am trying to refinance my condo.” My appraisal never happened, so I was refunded my money. I spun my wheels for 3 weeks and now rates are higher. Why can’t TD give a loan for a Condo? It’s unbelievable. now I have to find a bank who will not only give a loan, but to give a loan to someone in a condo.
With times getting harder, recently tried refinancing my mortgage with the same lender at a lower interest rate to be able to keep the mortgage, but was denied. Was only asking for a 1.5 percent difference and the new mortgage would have been lowered $300 a month. Was told they could not help. I have excellent credit
Everyone should know that the banks make the rules…we ask them for money and we must live by their rules….remember asking mom or dad for money? It always came with stipulations….Remember the “GOLDEN RULE”…HE WHO HAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES!!!!
Someone should check out the RV sales industry that first got hit last year.
A week ago a couple with $120,000 yrear income; owned home; 720 score….was turned down to purchase a motorhome.
NO bank is approving any loans in this industry whatsoever.
My name is Mario RIvera and i’m customer ok Bank Of America. Well three weeks ago i called them for my credit card and asked them for a better rate. Guess what? they told me from now on my credit card is being canceled. So Bank of Americ CANCELED MY CREDIT CARD LIKE NOTHING!!! after i used it for more than 5 years..What was my mistake ??? Yes, to call them.
They are lending money? Please!!!!
I don’t have a problem getting credit. I just purchased (2/13/09) an engagement ring from a jewelry store at Mall of America, by opening a store credit card from them and putting 20% down on the ring. The jewelry store credit card was issued by Wells Fargo. I also got an auto loan for a new 2009 Subaru WRX at the local Subaru dealership last month. I was approved by Wells Fargo and Chase at a rate of 5.5%. I decided to use Wells Fargo for the auto loan, because Chase is not in my state. So what’s with all you cry babies here complaining you can’t get a loan! If all these banks are denying you credit, then the real problem is you!
I’ve seen a few posts here about going to small community banks, and I can attest that that is totally true. I just got a loan with fantastic terms and a great interest rate, and it came from a small midwest community bank chain. I was approved with no problem whatsoever.
Just stay away from the mega banks. Let them hemorrhage and die like they should.
Very occassionally it isn’t that a person is truly a credit risk, it’s just that the person LOOKS like a risk in the credit reporting agencies’ matrix when they do seemingly responsible things such as closing accounts voluntarily, not having many loans, paying debt off early. I have had to learn to “play the game” to boost my credit score; my husband is an Army officer and military/government employees generally have an easier time financing, even with student loan debt between both of us we purchased a home six months ago at 5.38% which we consider very fair for us. Our little area in Central TX(populated with military and other govt employees) really hasn’t felt as much of this credit crunch as govt salaries are so stable. I have heard of a few people with credit blemishes having problems getting home financing, otherwise it is business as usual in this little bubble.
I am a retired principal and have some very sound rental properties. One mortgage is an ARM with a solvent bank and scheduled to end in Sept, 2009 I called the bank to modify the loan to avoid some of the charges for a new loan. Staying with the bank and taking the one time change was always an option,,,”We don’t do that anymore” I was told. I then tried to get a favorable rate for a new loan and I was told that I could not qualify even though I have never been late with any payment, and have an excellent credit score. I have done business with this bank for over 30 years. No matter,unless I paid points, and fees and closing costs as well as a much higher interest rate “NO DEAL”. Who can get a fair loan if I can’t?Bank rep says that the Fed is checking them constantly so they have to be extremely careful. I and my peers are paying the price for the banking industry’s incompetence and recklessness and the TARP money being given away with no strings attached. That fund has become a dowery for the banks some of whom received it and never had a need for it…WHOARDERS.
All I can say is I have a very keen memory. I cannot wait until this credit crisis is over so I can take all my financial business elsewhere.
Although I’m not late and paying a little more than the minimum payments, my credit cards have, one by one, been sending me letters that they’re decreasing my credit limit. They decrease it down to just a little above what I owe. I cannot charge anything else, which is fine with me, but that affects my credit rating. My debt to available ratio has shrunk, so it looks like I’m now maxed out. Additionally, I used the credit given to me knowing what annual percentage rate I had. They’ve increased those, too, to their maximum…just because they can. It’s not because I’m late or not making minimum payment. It’s just because they have “the right” to do that. I can “decline” it, of course, but then I have to pay the balance in full. How is that fair? It should be a contract. I should only have to pay the interest rate at the time I charge it, not whatever they feel like raising it to afterwards. Lastly, one of my credit cards with a zero balance sent me a letter saying, “We’ve noticed that you haven’t used your credit card in some time, so we’re going to close your account.” Again, this affects my debt to available credit ratio. For all these reasons, I’d like to give a thank you to all those bank executives collecting bonuses and millions in salary for their support of the American People.
U.S. Bank turned me down. I was attempting to buy a new car. I had checked my credit score before I settled on a car. My score, between the three bureaus, was 750 – 760. I have never had a late payment on anything. The credit manager at the dealership said it was not an issue for getting credit. But I guess U.S. Bank thought differently. I was able to get the car finanaced through a different bank, but cannot understand why U.S.Bank turned me down. Weren’t they given TARP money for exactly this reason?
I get a kick out of people who complain about credit card rates increasing.. The simple fact is that no one should carry credit card debt. It is probably one of, if not the most, expensive ways to borrow money, other than going to a loanshark.. No matter how good your credit score is or whether you’ve never made a late payment, the simple fact is that if you carry credit card debt, you are being financially irresponsible. The banks know this. That is why they are raising your rates. If you carry credit card debt you are financially irresponsible and there is a very high chance that in this lousy economy you will not be able to continue making your payments… You want the solution to high rates?? DON’T SPEND MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE.. If people did this they wouldn’t have anything to complain about.
I had a HSBC credit card for about 4 years. Always paid on time and never missed a payment. Then I decided to pay off the balance and not closed the account. I like to keep it for emergency. I have not use it for about 5 or 6 months. They closed the account without warning. I called them why they closed my account, they said due to INACTIVITY! My god, what if I have an emergency!! Lucky I did not run into any problem where I need this credit card for emergency. The banking world is crazy and now we can’t trust them anymore.
To start, my background before the economic mess was a credit score in the 700s, annual income of more than 6 figures, 1 mortgage (Countrywide), 2 vehicles (Capital One), 2 credit cards with Washington Mutual (now Chase), 2 with Household Bank, and a Midas card.
About 8 months ago I was notified that one of the WaMu cards was slated for a rate increase and that I could call or write for an explanation. Long story short, they couldn’t tell me why and I cancelled the card to keep the current rate. (Unknowingly I blasted my credit score as well since it was my oldest card.) This card was never paid late, never went overlimit and I always paid more than the minimum (usually double or triple).
2 months after that, Midas sent me a letter in the mail (owned by GE Money Bank) stating that they were cancelling my card. The card was paid off, never late, no explanation.
In January, I got a letter on the other WaMu card stating that my second card was being hit with a 5% interest rate increase. Again, never late, always more than the minimum…I mean, wth?
I tried to apply for a different card to transfer the balances of the WaMu cards to so I could be rid of them, but got declined. So far, Household Bank is the only one that has not modified my credit agreements, but does not support balance transfers on my accounts.
I have tried a couple of times in the past year to refinance my home to reduce the interest rate, and was declined every time. First was for LTV (which I immediately corrected) and the second time was for not being in my commissioned job for more than a year. I completely understand this, but its still frustrating.
I guess my point in all this is that, if the banks are being given all this money, where is it going? Instead of helping existing clientele, the banks are raising their rates AND taking the bailout money. Double jeopardy anyone? And, as far as I can tell (and I’ve talked to several people where I work), no one has had the slightest “give” on mortgages, credit cards, etc. even though not yet in trouble.
Discriminatory credit is understandable; penalizing “good customers” is outrageous
In Jan 2009 Wells Fargo bank approved refinancing our home loan at 4.875 % plus a point. As a separate action following this, we applied for a Home Equity line of credit with intent to upgrade our 45 year old kitchen. While the Home Equity loan approval is still pending, WF notified us of some rather ridiculous factors listed by credit agency Experian of Allen, Texas: 1) Too many inquiries last 12 months; 2) Too many accounts with balances; 3) Too many accounts opened in last 12 months; 4) Lack of recent bank revolving information; 5) Amount owed on accounts is too high; 6) No recent revolving balances. We keep our number of credit cards to an absolute minimum, have never paid a late interest charge on credit cards or mortgage, and always pay our bills on time. Up to now I have never dealt directly with a credit agency, and just took care of my financial matters in a responsible way, figuring that the rest will take care of itself. I now feel compelled to plant my heels and find out how this Texas credit agency conducts its business.
The statement: “Credit still remains available for those consumers with a high credit score, a stable job and plenty of equity in their home, he notes. In other words, banks may be trying to minimize the number of loans that may actually default.” is wrong. We have a good credit score (780), stable jobs, no credit card balance, and we have paid off the mortage on our house. Yet, when we went to our credit union to ask for a equity line of credit, then for a city sponsored 0% loan for home improvement (we are installing a solar water heater), we were twice denied. The bank did not even ask us how much we wanted to borrow! Both denials were for a too high income to debt ratio. All we have is 2 small car loans for about $500/ month total and we make $3,000 / month salary. Yes, it is not a high salary, but it is enough. Our house is estimated around $450,000, but the bank thinks that it is still not enough equity. The only way we get them to give us a loan was to secure it by the same amount blocked in a saving account. So yes, banks loan to those who don’t need it. We could have used the cash collateral to pay for the heater straight.
Wachovia is junk. I own three properties. Wachovia refuses to give me an equity line to fix up the one home that needs a roof and a couple new renovations. The reason my debt ratio is too high because of my credit cards. Well I wouldn’t have to put anything on the credit cards if I can get an equity line like I’ve been asking for the past 6 months. What am I supposed to do let the roof cave in and get sued by my tenants. They give Corporate idiots vacations, and myself a headache.
I had an adjustable mortgage rate with Countrywide that I tried to refinance recently. After jerking me around for two months, they ultimately turned me down because I had “too much debt”. The debt they were referring to was an auto loan–the same auto loan that I had when they originally purchased my loan. The only difference was it was now lower. I had never been late on the mortgage loan or the auto loan.
I’ve had a Capital One credit card for ten years that is used for emergency expenses such as a car repair. Monthly payments have always been made on time and the balance remained at or near zero for most of the ten years. Capital One informed me last week that the interest rate for a cash advance (which I’ve never used)was increasing to a whopping 29% versus the current 15%. And, if any two monthly payments during the next twelve months were overdue by 3 days, the interest rate would jump from 15% to a staggering 24%! The response from Capital One was they valued my years as a customer (sure they did) but were instituing these new interest rates for all customers in these “economic troubling times”. The message is Capital One does not want credit card customers!
Automakers whining about nobody buying. Here’s a newsflash for ya. The VAST majority of us, with jobs, with credit that has always been good enough before, are SOL in getting a loan now. I’m talking loans for $10,000, you can FORGET about anybody getting a new loan for $30,000!??? (typical starting price range for new offerings from GM/Chrysler).
FUGGETTABOUTIT…
I applied for a car loan and was turn down, I have good credit and also paid my bills on time. Jax Federal Credit Union here in Jacksonville Florida they told me my BNI from Equax Fax was holding me back. This was the first time I heard about BNI. Is this another reason to tighten the credit on comsumers or a way for Jax Federal to stop loaning credit. I been with this bank for over 30 years and also had no problem getting loans in the past, but past history doesn’t make no good business dealings between you and the bank. I would recommend when the credit crunch is resolved down the road remember who was there for you and not the banks that couldn’t care less!!!
I am a small seasonal bussiness Owner That has grown a great deal since I started 6 years ago. My current bank over the years has been great. Lending what ever I need to keep up with the growth. I have had a three hundred thousand dollar line of credit to handle my start of spring working capital,and to carry my recievables that sometimes take 90 to 120 days to get paid.Well this last dec. I went to the bank to raise my line of credit to match my average recievables during my busy times because I know collecting recievables are going to be harder then ever. And I was denied by the bank Ive been with since day one with out even one late payment on anything. There reasoning essentialy was that unless I had 600,000 dollars in the bank they could not raise my line of credit. My thinking is if I had 600,000 sitting around I wouldent need to extend my line in the first place. Theres a good chance My company wont make it through this year becuase of this but the banks will keep giving morgateges out of there bail out money on homes that in my area are decreasing in value every day and my company that accually from a work under contract stand point is sitting with 3 million. That doesnt make a whole lot of sence to me.
We tried to get a $100,000 home equity loan from Wells Fargo and were turned down. We have 85% equity in a million dollar home, a high cradit score, make over $150,000 a year and have only moderate credit card debt.
Yep, we are experiencing the same thing as others have written. Three credit cards that we have had for 7+ years, all in good standing, have raised the APR. We can either accept the terms or cancel the cards, losing all the points and any perks associated with the card. One (US Airways Mastercard) is going up to 29.99 APR in April unless we close it – which we will be doing, obviously. We have over 100,000 dividend miles on this card, the equivalent of two round-trip tickets to Europe – so we’re going to get the short end of the stick either way. We’ll close all the cards that are raising their APRs. No choice.
My credit score is around 780, i make 100k as a State Engineer, I am trying to remodel one of the 2 rental properties i own. Even though i have over 100k in equity in the rental property i can not get a HELOC or a construction loan…
Due to the fact I can’t get a construction loan, there are atleast 10 guys sitting at home without a job…
Every lender I’ve talked with says they “don’t offer construction loan any more”
I was recently denied an FHA loan because the bedroom windows were 2″s higher than HUD guidelines. Funny thing is that same property has a current FHA loan on it from 2003. These people are looking for any excuse not to loan money.
I am 31 year old that makes a decent income 45k. I lost my job about a year ago, and had to extend my credit to pay for well just about everything. I contacted my Bank(Bank of America) to try and just consolidate my debts into one decent interest rate load. Promptly denied one time and offered 27.99% on the other attempts. They tell me i have really good credit, but they cant loan me money. My own bank! I have been with them and have taken loans in the past and paid them off and this is how I am treated? This whole thing is a joke. Let’s give a little more money to companies that will use it improperly like they did before. They are goign to make it where I have to default on their line of credit, simply becauase they were not willing to work with me.. I hope everyone does this. What is the point of having a good credit score if you cant even use it? I for one am starting not to care about my credit anymore.. Good luck trying to get your money BOA
I was recently turned down for a mortgage because inaccurate information once again surfaced on my credit report. My credit bureau info is 85% inaccurate, despite years of trying to fix it. Collection agencies relist and reage accounts illegally to coerce money; the consumer has very little control over correcting inaccurate info. I’ve started working with attorneys; I think it is time to reexamine the stranglehold the 3 credit bureaus have on our economy and the ability to get financing
We tried to refinance our house. The appraisal came in at $220k. The loan was for $190k. We both have credit scores over 800, have debt obligation (payments) less than 10% of our income, and make over $100k per year in income. The loan was turned down because “the bank didn’t like the property?.” What is going on? There is not a better risk in the US than us.
Wells Fargo is the ABSOLUTE WORST!!! Cancel your cards(this will be a hit on your credit, but it’s worth it), move your loans, STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM WELLS FARGO AS POSSIBLE!!!
They will treat you, a loyal, always paying on time customer like trash, belittle you and provide absolutely no reasoning whatsoever.
If Wells Fargo wants to be ONLY the bank for the Rich and Wealth, let them, go F yourselves Wells Fargo.
My wife and I decided to apply for a loan so we could build a new deck for our house since the previous owners didn’t take good care of it and it’s falling apart. We were denied. We live in Nebraska where the cost of living is fairly low, we have a house with a decent amount of equity considering we’ve lived there just over 6 years, make over $100,000 a year combined, and have tons of credit which helped us both achieve credit scores of just under 800. All that and we get denied a loan of $5,000-$10,000. I guess the article was correct in saying the only people eligible for these loans are those who don’t need the money.
What everyone seems to be missing is not the fact that the banks aren’t lending. The fact is that underwriting guidelines have pulled back to a 70%-80% Ma Loan to value. Most Americans just do not have enough equity in their homes to qualify for a mortgage today because their home has lost so much value. If congress wants to fix the housing problem they need to let borrowers with good credit refinance their existing mortgage into a 40-50yr loan at a low interest rate at 100%-120% of the value of the home. Until that happens all the rest of the money they are throwing at housing is a waste.
I recently applied for a mortg loan to consolidate my primary Mortg [which was already 5.125%] and my home equity line [6.75%] combined balance of about $350k. My credit score is great! [820+] and my combined income is fine.. However, I found the circumstances had changed significantly since my last re-fi [5 years ago].
First: My Home Value had dropped by 20%. Second: my home is a two-family and there are new rules related to paying points simply because it’s a multi-family home. Third: Now, if I have a Home Equity line {which was not used to initially purchase the home} the re-fi is being treated as a cash-out re-fi [75% L-V ratio max!].
I got the loan, but had to come to the closing with $37k for my ‘cash-out’ re-fi. [But the rate I got was 4.875% fixed for 30 years and no points had to be paid] my payments dropped by over $800 per month.
I have a $10K unsecured loan and pay everymonth with direct debit, never late and I asked for an additional $2500.00 and I was denied! I am currently refinancing my FHA loan with a FHA streamline which requires no credit check by the way.. I don’t pay my bills/mortgage late EVER and I can’t get a loan because credit restrictions are tighter. There is no more loyalty from banks or credit card companies to the people they service. You can pay for years on time and they still don’t care. I think we do not need to bail out those who were stupied and took home loans out and knew they could not afford them, the government should be helping those of us who have done the right thing…where is my bailout? I will never see a dime but I will pay more than my fair share of someone else’s mistakes..
I am in my 20s. In the last two years, I’ve opened 3 credit cards, purchased a car, and a home with only 3.5% down. I’ve never had trouble getting a loan, I still get a credit card offers.
Banks are lending less to the people likely to default during a time when default rates are high. Doesn’t that make sense? Isn’t the alternative that banks keep lending dangerously and become insolvent? How can we complain that banks are being more strict about loans, and then complain that they used to offer negative amoritization loans to squeeze people around lending standards. Squeezing the standards is what caused this problem. People are just upset they are no longer allowed to live beyond their means. Eatting the medicine isn’t always pleasant, but we can’t complain about the problem and then complain about not getting to continue the abuses.
And who cares about executive pay? A CEO making $20 million only funds 100 loans for $200,000 if he made nothing. There are only a couple dozen of these earners anyways. Do we think an extra 1000 loans would change the greater market? As a shareholder I’m upset, but why can Congress complain (unless the bank took TARP money and Congress IS a shareholder).
My wife and made an offer for a lot purchase in Myrtle Beach SC for a measly $115,000. The initial terms of the loan was 75% LTV with a 25% down. I explained to the Bank Officer that I was not trying to pay cash for the lot, but just needed to tie up the dirt so I could get my plans designed and approved.
After little negotiation they agreed to an 80 LTV with a 20% down [which I still considered ridiculous] for the lot. No here’s the crazy part. The Bank pulls my credit and my FICO score comes back with a score of 816. On my Personal Financial Statement I was liquid $151,000 with a net worth of $2.6 million. Now here’s the kicker. I own a business and my take home pay after taxes and expenses was $27,000. I have ZERO CREDIT CARD DEBT, I OWN my cars and have a mortgage on house that has never been late. Long story short, they called me back up and said that although I have “EXCELLENT credit” and no debt, they could not approve me for the loan because I didn’t show enough income. Needless to say, the Banks right now are the bottle neck to healing this mortgage crisis. There are so many deals out there right now and folks willing to purchase the properties, but the Banks look at the paper and refuse to look at the individual Buyers on a case by case basis. The Customer has literally been thrown out the window with the bath water. Stop bunching everyone into the same group. There are still fiscally responsible individuals out there. I am one of them.
We have been at our bank for over 30 years and they are giving us all kinds of trouble. Not one problem area with our credit; solid credit scores and strong history with bank. They are attempting to use everything we own as collateral for a $250,000 loan that is backed by real estate. In essence they want around $700,000 in collateral to cover this loan. Plus we can’t sneeze personally or with our business without our bank sticking their nose into it. It has become a joke to us and we are searching for another bank that actually wants our business. So much for loyalty.
We have an excellent credit rating, plenty of home equity, and a very low debt to income ratio. We do have an outstanding credit card balance of around $12k but we could easily pay that off if we wished. We do like to keep a small amount of outstanding debt at all times rather than none.
So just to see how tight the credit markets are I applied for a new Visa credit card to transfer the debt to a lower interest rate card. It was approved immediately. The company then followed-up by offering us a new car loan. Our bank has also called several times to offer us a home equity line of credit. My reply, “no thanks”.
So if you really don’t need the money it is still extremely easy to obtain credit. In that sense, it looks like nothing has changed.
We are trying to buy our dream home. We’re holding on to our current home–we almost own it–to rent it. (It just appraised for $750,000 and we only owe $135,000 on it; It’s a 15-year mortgage and we’ve only got four years left.)
The bank turned us down on the new mortgage because my husband started his own company 18 months ago and they want to see two years worth of tax returns. Meanwhile, we’re so close to paying off our current home and we’re putting 30 percent down on our new home.
We’re now trying to sell our current home, which will mean we probably won’t need much of a mortgage on the new one. Still, if WE can’t get a mortgage on our new home and we have $600,000 worth of equity and $300,000 worth of retirement accounts, how will anyone qualify for a mortgage on the house we’re selling?
Scary times.
In December I was turned down for an aauto loan by 3 banks, although I have a FICO score of 713. The dealer was able to get me a loan at 7.9%, which is very high for current conditions.
I recently retired now making $50 to $75K, down from $150K. I have rental income & asked First Commercial Bank of Seguin to lower the 7.5% on one secured loan which to interest only on another. Our FICO’s are 767. They refused!
I have been trying to get out of this hole for years! I recently applied for Sallie Mae loan (for education) and was turned down (surprise!).
Tried to get a loan to consolidate credit card debt that racked up from purchasing a home last year. Equity in the house plummetted. I got denied for the loan because of high balances of debt or debt to income ratio does not meet the requirements. Helloo?!!?! I need the loan to bring down the debt to income ratio by consolidating it. Yes, my credit score may had dropped because of the high debt to income ratio, but at times like this, who’s credit score hasn’t dropped?!? I’m trying to rebuild my credit and none of these banks are being helpful. I’m keeping up with payments, plus making sure my family has a roof over their heads and food on the table. All while these high level execs at financial institutions are spending on luxury items like there isn’t a recession going on. The working class doesn’t get any respect at all. The employees at these banks turn away from you and have their noses held up high as if they are much better than you. Social class profiling?!?!
We bought a house 5 years ago and did an 80/20 thing to prevent having to pay PMI. We now have about 25% equity in our home (our housing market in the area has luckily been better than most), never been late on a payment (in fact, pay more on the 2nd mortgage part), and have excellent credit ratings (mid to higher 700’s).
However, when we tried to refinance the 2nd mortgage, neither our 1st mortgage company nor our 2nd mortgage company would refinance the loan. What is up with that? We have no balance on our 2 credit cards, always pay things on time and one of the companies is USAA.
We have mortgage with Chase Home Finance at 6.75%, my husband had Prostate Cancer and had surgery 2008, and was out of work without pay, therefore we fell behind in our monthly payments and is still trying to catch up and is having a very hard time, so we reguest modification with them, submitted all the requested documents to Chase onlh to get a letter last week telling when our income increases we can reapply, Is these people for real, they have no compassion towards the needy.
We have had our mortgages with Countrywide Home Loan for over 13 years. We have no blemishes on our credit, have the highest credit score possible. About 3 years ago we used our dormant Home Equity credit line to fund wood flooring on our 2nd story. We were told that it was good to use the line and pay it down verses leaving the line dormant which could ding the credit rating. I called Countrywide the other day to consolidate the minor amount we owed on the equity line into a new refinanced 1st mortgage and was told that we didn’t have enough equity to do that. I checked the comps in the area and we do have at least $50,000 in equity…way more than what we owe on the equity line, but Countrywide said we needed to have 20 percent equity in our home. I said, “but your website says to call if you have good credit to refinance”. I was again told that we needed 20 percent equity. I said, we’ll then I guess we’ll just pay off the equity line and I was told that could ding our credit score! So basically those of us with good credit are absolutely screwed no matter what we do. I sarcastically ask the Countrywide rep “if I was in foreclosure would you refinance us?”. His response was “probably.”
I had the opposite problem. I was paying my bill on the phone – citibank and was offered a “check” – did not have to pay any interest on it for 9 months. Was told initially that there was no penalties, etc. I called back again to confirm and was told there was a 3% transfer charge. It would have been a substantial amount of money if I cashed the check. I called the executive offices about this – they said they would check into it and I would receive a letter from them. Still waiting for the letter – over a week. I have good credit. So, they are passing out money, charging interest, and passing it off as if it was a great deal. It was not. I didn’t want to get stuck paying for money I had not asked for in the first place.
My wife and I went to buy a couch at Rooms to Go on President’s Day. They were having a no-interest sale, so we figured, hey we can pay this off in a couple of months, and we have 4 years to do it!
When I handed the lady my Rooms To Go card, she ran it and said the account had been closed by Citi. I called them, and they told me they had closed it that day, but blocked it in November. I was never given any notification. They said they closed it after credit review, but I have no delinquent accounts with anybody.
This ticks me off because it is going to ding my credit, even though I made all my payments with them in the past.
I haven’t applied for any loans, however my wife and I both recently applied for, and received credit cards (Discover and American Express). It seems to me that for most of the people who are unable to get credit, there is a reason.. Maybe they don’t admit it or even realize it, but if you have a strong credit history you shouldn’t have a problem..
My husband and I bought a historic house in an urban neighborhood of one of America’s cities. Our intent was to help revitalize American cities, save on fuel by taking bus to work, and live in a more diverse environment. In spite of the fact that we have excellent credit ratings, have no debt, and have an excellent annual income with no problem paying the monthly installments, we have been turned down when seeking a rennovation loan. In fact on many occasions we were laughed at. We own the property completely, and paid all demolition fees and architectual design cost out-of-pocket.
So, our historic house just stands vacated…
We paid off all our debts 3 months ago in full and had a full range of debt the credit agencys like to see when doing there scoring.We have a 100,000 plus income now with no debt.We could not get our credit scores about the 750 point and the reason was we didn’t have enough Platuim cards on our files and we need to get new cards to help our scores.ALso in that same period 3 of our credit cards raised our rates because we paid them off.So we went for a home refi loan and could not get the 4.75 rate they advertise ,but got offered 7.5 % and we have a home that is paid off.Now we have done nothing wrong and have 740 credit scores and paid our bills off and we get treated like we had bad credit in the first place.It really burns me that we give the banks taxpaper money and they turn around and screw us.It doesn’t matter if you have good credit or done all the right things anymore.It’s time to seize one of these big ,so called to big to fail banks and teach them all a lesson.Better yet put there feet to the fire the same way the car companys have too.
I have owned and operated a dry cleaning business for 6 years and during those six years we have received loans from our bank, National City Bank in 10’s of thousands of dollars. All those loans have always been paid on time and have been paid off. Just about 3 months ago we applied to get a $6,000 loan and they turned us down so we had to pay it with a credit card. Now we’re looking to change banks.
These banks are not helping the home market one bit. Sellers out there with buyers chomping at the bit, but cannot get good credit rating. It seems the only people this stimulus is going to help are those that are delinquent, not those that are struggling to stay current, but need relief.
I say, walk away from your home, rip it to pieces and then mail the keys back to the banks. F them.
What is not being talked about is the root of the problem and that is Fair Isaac. Below is part of a Bill that I am working on to submit to my legistator.
Below are the irrefutable problems and injustices of the Fair Isaac system:
1). Score Monitoring:
A). Engaging in creating products for profit that are useless and misleading to the consumer. The credit agencies continue to roll out new products, such as Vantage Score that are inaccurate and so varied from other scores that it’s purpose is not valuable to the consumer, but more egregious forces the consumer to spend even more money in his/her search for the most accurate and valid score. The citizen is not able to access his/her score without first writing to some institution, by which they must pay a fee to retrieve their score. This fee can vary as much as can the score can vary. Fees are from 6.99 to 49.99 and higher depending on the product. The consumers’ score may vary as much as 100 points or more depending on the agency by which one purchases his/her product. And even more disconcerting, that score can vary within an agency depending on the agencies, or they agencies themselves term as products. Each agency has more than one web page (product), or business affiliate to sell their product. Each of these are designed so that the consumer can find what they believe to be the most accurate source, but it is just a clever way for the three major bureau’s to make a profit on the consumer by creating multiple sites to sell the same useless product: THE CREDIT SCORE. Transunion alone and in affiliation with Mightynet, and Equidata own Creditreport.com, Truecredit report.com, Freecreditreportinstantly.com, My3creditreports.com, Privacymatters.com, Free3creditreports.com, Gofreecredit.com, Annualcreditreport.org, Freereportcredit.com, and Creditpm.com. Experian owns Freecreditreport.com, CreditCheckTotal.com, and Creditreporting.com. Equifax owns, or in affiliate with Equidata, Mightynet and Transunion owns Creditreport.com, Identityguard, Equifax.com, and MyFico.com With so many different sites and so many different scores, it is not only confusing to the consumer, but it temps and sends the consumer on a mission to try a different site to get a different score to see which score is the most accurate, or correct. One’s credit report, like one’s bank statement, is a financial record that is the right of the citizen to have access to at all times and possess at all times immediately and without charge. The consumer has a right to scores that are exact and based on accurate data.
B). The most fraudulent practice is Equifax, Transunion, and Experian knowingly selling consumer scores that differ from scores run by the banking institutions. A consumer sends money directly to these bureau’s requesting their credit scores rightfully believing that the scores coming directly from these institutions will be accurate, only to have a banking institution run their scores and find out that their scoring system is different, and the money spent by requesting the scores from Equifax, Transunion and Experian was throwing money away. This is directly related to another practice in the scoring system called the “inquiry”. Each time a lending institution runs a consumer’s credit it triggers an inquiry, which in turn lowers your score. So, if the only way a consumer can get an accurate score is by having a lending institution run their credit it also backfires on the consumer creating a decrease in their credit score. This is a direct violation of consumer protection laws.
C). A citizen has no way of knowing how much his/her score will go up, or down with any given credit action.
D). A citizen does not know exactly what action, or sum of actions will create a score change. One can have no change to his/her report, but his/her score may go up, or down due to some mysterious collection or compilations of credit actions, seen or unseen. Even an attempt by the citizen to acquire credit leads to a credit inquiry, which leads to a drop in one’s score. The very institutions that benefit by charging higher interest rates are in complete control of the scoring system.
E). It takes far too long (60 to 90 days) for a citizen to correct errors on his/her report once discovered. A citizen should be able to check for alerts to one’s credit report without paying an arbitrary institution for that privilege, as it is a constitutional right. A citizen should be able to correct his/her own report by dealing directly with the creditor and only the creditor, not some arbitrary agency like Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. There should be a direct relationship and a private and single relationship between creditor and debtor.
F). A practice known as Rapid Rescoring by which a credit report score is updated within 72 hours is available only to lending institutions and their agents, whereas a private citizen’s request for a rescore can take up to as long as 60 to 90 days, violating a citizen’s rights to request and receive their rescore in a timely manner, and address their reports directly.
2). Checks and Balances:
A). Credit scoring is in the hands of the credit bureau’s and banking institutions and the citizen has no way of disputing his/her score, or checking it for errors. The credit scoring system is a mystery to the citizen, and the citizen is dependent upon the credit institutions for accuracy and fairness. The citizen has no rights, and he cannot be assured that the credit institutions are acting responsibly and ethically if he/she cannot monitor his/her own score.
B). The Fair Isaac system leaves far too much room for errors and gives the credit bureau’s and banking institutions far too much power.
C). Under the Fair Isaac system, the FTC will not attempt to resolve a complaint from a single citizen, but will only address a class action lawsuit, leaving the citizen with NO REPRESENTATION.
D). Fair Isaac completely takes the control of individual finances out of the hands of the citizens. The citizen has no control over his/her score, as he/she is not privy to the scoring tool, as such is necessary for allowing the citizen to monitor his/her report and check for errors. It is unconstitutional to create a system that directly affects a citizen’s financial health, and not allow the citizen to monitor his/her own records.
E). The individual American citizen should own his/her report and the policy effecting a person’s credit score must represent the right of the individual affected and not an arbitrary agency.
F). Civil Code 1785.26 requires that a consumer be notified of any derogatory reporting to the credit bureaus 30 days prior to this action. This notification must be by first class mail. There currently is a practice of third party institutions throwing a net out and selling any outstanding credit information to the Credit Bureaus. This is unconstitutional, but because the whole system is not being fairly monitored this practice continues. This is just another result of the consequences of the government turning a blind eye to the ills in this system.
Noreen A. Cardinale
Author
I’ve had a Citibank Mastercard for close to four years with a $20k credit line….never a late charge. I used $15K for a major purchase about two years ago and paid it down….now I typically charge $2-300 monthly and pay it off each month. Last month they reduced my line to $3500 with no good explanation after I called them. I also have a Chase Visa with a $13K reduced rate balance for a previous balance transfer….also never a late charge. They recently sent a notice that they are raising my rate for new purchases from 13.24 to 19.99. In addition, I had a Washington Mutual card that I used rarely but sometimes. Wells Fargo recently cancelled it claiming I didn’t use it enough to warrant keeping it open. Bottomline, the banks that are getting my bailout taxpayer dollars are rewarding me by increasing their rates and fees….I’m getting hit twice now. Congress needs to address this issue.
The problem I don’t understand is–lets say banks really do begin lending;half of the population now has poor credit beacons due to lost jobs. Therefore, when they do get a loan, if they can get a loan their rate is out the roof and here we go again.
I have all the credit I need! As your article describes, if you do not need credit, the creditor is willing to offer you credit at very good terms.
My husband and I refinanced our mortgage in January to a 4.875%, 30 year fixed with no points and closed on it in 15 days.
We both have credit scores over 800 and our mortgage is only 70% of the value of our home (even after the huge hit the real estate market has taken). Our loan was bought by Wells Fargo before the first payment was due.
This proves that you can get a loan now, but we have been very responsible and conservative with our money.
They are lending money, but they are not making dumb loans. If you cannot afford it, cannot put anything down, they are not going to give you the loan. if you can afford it, make your payments on time, and are able to put down payments on your loan then they will give it to you.
The real weapons of mass destruction are the big three
credit reporting agencies. The relationship these powerful companies have with lenders needs more transparency.
Who owns these credit reporting companies. Is there a need for more oversight ?
My wife and I have been trying to get a construction loan to build a house. We are both registered nurses and both have been at our jobs for years. Our credit scores are about 800. We have very little debt. We were preappoved, then told we were denied, they didn’t give us a reason. We tried wells fargo and were told we needed 25% down to even start the process. This would be our first house, so we dont have one to sell at a profit, not that this is possible these days.
Well the biggest problem is appraisals.
If we can have refinancing for good mortgages and bring their interest rates down, its an automatic stimulas.
Need appraisal free refinancings.
Citigroup strikes again… I have been a customer since 1988(very loyal if you look over the amounts I have financed over the years). From my last statement to this one, they raised my interest rate just under 7%. Their reason..the “type of card that I hold is too costly for them”…hmmm I pay my bill on time, etc. They would move it back to the original rate, but won’t renew the card when in expires (2010!). Go for it. In the same breath they offered to move my balances elsewhere for only .99% Explain that one!
I am selling a condo in a four unit building. Offers have been made, but no one can obtain financing. Most of the prospective buyers are trying to obtain FHA financing. Under FHA guidelines FHA cannot back more than one mortgage in the building. Another unit was refinanced last year with FHA, therefore none of the prospective buyers are able to obtain financing. I am not sure what the solution is; ease up FHA regulations allowing more financing for potential buyers?
I’m very certain the people who aren’t getting loans are those who are not likely to pay it back. I just bought a $300,000 house a few months ago, and my small business leased a new Ford truck in November. The banks issued both loans without an instant of hesitation. This is because my business and I both have a good credit history.
I am a credit analyst at one of the largest banks in the country. There is a lot more to credit that most people think. I see a lot of different scenarios everyday. I am still giving out money but if it was my money that I was giving out then I would not be giving it myself. It is very scarry seeing what many people’s situations are right now. Many people start complaining or yelling that they got a higher rate or that I declined them because they feel that they have great credit. We as analyst really do not even look at a credit score. Just because you are a high 700 today does not mean you will be tomorrow. You might have a high credit score but it really does not mean that you have good credit in my eyes. I see people everyday that have high credit scores but they are carrying 35k in credit card debt on total of 50k of income. I do not care if you have an 800 credit score and you are in that situation because unless you have a ton of money in the bank you are never going to be able to get rid of that debt. It will eventually catch up to you. In the past people would always switch balances over to lower rate promo offers but customers are not that smart for doing that. These low rate promo offers typically only last 6 months and then the rate sky rockets. People are just delaying the debt by switching them around. They are also being charged fees to bring the debt over. Most of these customers that switch to the low rate promo rates make the min. payments on them and do not get the benefit of the promos because they are not paying enough.
Banks and consumers are both to blame for what is going on. Banks for giving it away in the past and consumers for spending out of their means without thinking about a payback plan. Credit cards were not designed to carry balances but yet people are carrying way too much. At the very high end someone should only be carrying 30% of their income and like I said that is the very high end.
Before you complain about not being able to get a credit card or an unsecured loan take a look at yourself and ask would you give someone like that your money.
Credit is also all risk driven. You are completely viewed with people in your same situations and if history shows that they defualted then the banks are going to look at it like you might default so you will pay higher rates or not be approved.
Why focus on credit at a time like this. Stop putting any money into your retirement accounts and 401k’s, and begin investing in paying off all your debts, Credit Cards, Car Loans, and Home Mortgages. YOU will quickly see the credit markets open up. Right now too many people are still putting money in investments. STOP…Pay down your DEBTS…It will send a jolt in the credit markets and free them up. Remember Banks must lend money to stay afloat!!! It’s there core business model, Deposits and Lending…
i have a home i need to get refinced and i was told that i cant do to they have no money for that and my det is to much. ok thats is a good one.
We have never ever had a late payment with our mortgage and have good credit. We tried to refinance to a lower rate and were told no because our house value went down.
Well- DUH! Everyone’s house value went down. I have no faith this will get better….the rich will STILL get richer.
My wife and I bring home around $130k a year but I had to move to a central location between our work places. My wife needed her car replaced to make the 60 minute commute. We tried to buy at $11k used truck but multiple lenders said we had too many recent late credit payments and too much revolving credit. My credit report does not show any recent late payments and I have a total of $6k limit in credit cards. It appears that the lenders are making shady excuses to avoid lending.
I think one of the great issues here is the overextension of credit. My wife and I were buried in credit in the 1980’s and 1990’s we paid all that off finally in 2000. Just last month we bought a new car financed through M&I bank at 6.7 percent, applied for and received a credit card from citibank with an 11,000 dollar credit limit. I was offered an American Express credit card, for my business, with a limit of 25,000 and zero percent interest for one year and 5.7 percent plus prime after that.
We also have a 125,000 line of credit with Citibank for our business, the full balance is still available for our use with no threats to lower the limit.
I think people are blaming institutions for their own poor credit worthyness.
Get a life and take some personal responsibility.
No Loans? Ha. What a joke! The banks I do business with are still loaning however, they did not and are not loaning against bad deals. Houses: 20% down, Cars: 10% down. Between two big banks here in Springfield, they had a total of 7 foreclosures when I asked a couple months ago. Normal everyday good banking practices. People seem to forget that loaning to people who are not invested in the loan is and has always been a bad idea for both the bank and the borrower. Call us conservative in this area. Our banks aren’t folding or begging but we are still able to borrow here.
I have a good paying job as does my wife. We carry a high mortgage payment but make payments every month on time.As well as any credit card paymnets too.Our credit scores on all three major reports are mid to upper 700’s which is great. We are trying to refinance to obviously get a lower monthly mortage payment like everyone else is doing these days. Our house was appraised well above and beyond the amount of money we are asking to borrow. Usually as long as you are asking for 80% or less then the appraised value of your home then there should be no problem. Well the bank did not accept a third party appraisal and decided that there appraisal(which they did not come to my home and attempt to do it themselves) is better then a hired third party appraisal…therefore my loan with a great interest rate has been declined…..Why?
I tried to refinance my 6.7 percent fixed mortgage. My credit score is 780 and I have never missed any payments, mortgagage or otherwise in 30 years. I was denied my refinance.
I have a credit score over 800 and make over 60,000 a year. I have under 4000 in credit card debt, pay above the minimum ever month and rent a home. I attempted to get a Citibank American airline mileage card and was told I needed to send them 3 utility bills, a copy of my w2’s and a littany of other information. In the past, they would just look at my credit score and information. I’ve also had another citi card for 13 years.
hahaha, you get denied if your credit card balances are high and you use them, even if paid on time, and you get denied if your credit card balances are low and you don’t use them!
They get to have their cake and eat it to seems to me.
Voters should be disgusted with handing out our hard earned tax payer dollars to these financial terrorist, we should be fire bombing these institutions, not asking them for more.
My husband and I bought a Toyota Camry in 2003, never missing one payment. It was a lease option to buy. In 2005 we had to file bankruptcy because of an identity theft and then my company was bought out and I was laid off.
When it was time to refinance the vehicle, no one would loan us the money because our bankruptcy payoff isn’t over until 2010. We’re very discouraged now and are more selective in everything that we do. We were able to pay off the car and now don’t owe anyone anything.
If it is difficult for you to get a loan or credit there must be additional underlying factors. I just refinanced my house with no costs and cannot go near a car lot without someone begging me to buy a car with several loan options. I have good credit and did not overextend when lending was loose and you were given more money than you needed. Restrictions on lending are similar to what they were in the mid nineties. Unfortunately this buy now rather than save and buy when you can afford it has to be purged from a majority of peoples habits.
We were cancelled 5 days before closing escrow on a home loan here in Key West. Our scores: 800±. Our car and credit card debt $0. Income: close to $200K. Why the cancellation? We own a house in Santa Barbara which we rent out. Because we purchased it in the last two years, it falls under a plan called “buy and bail” created to keep people who own a home that has depreciated significantly in value, from simply purchasing an identical (think tract homes) home down the street and then bailing on their current home. Unfortunately, in America where all the rules are created for the lowest common denominator, we lost a great home purchase opportunity. – AB
The idea that the banks should get the bailout money and then come back to start doing the same old business that got them in the mess in the first place is simply ludicrous.
People should learn to live with what they are actually worth. That maybe true for the country at large.
I live in a very small house I paid off in 10 years, by sacrificing many things. I save 10% of my income and live well below my means. last week, I bought a new Ford truck with roll-up windows, manual door locks, power-nothing. Loaded, the truck is $40K. Stripped like mine it’s only $19K. It still gets me there….it still is a new vehicle….it’s just not flashy, because I’m not in a race with the Jones’s. Result of my frugality: A 780 beacon score, instant approval for my zero down, 48 month, 5% Bank of America car loan, and credit card offers flooding my mail box……none of which I’ll accept.
Do you see a pattern here? If your FICO/Beacon is under 700, you have a problem of your own making. If your car is financed for 72 months, you have a problem of your own making. If your mortgage is 30 years and you have zero equity, you have a problem of your own making. Only you can provide a solution, not the banks or the taxpayers. I know this may sound foreign to you, but try taking responsibility for your poor decision making processes and get to work on fixing your financial duress. Live less like a king and more like a king’s humble servent. try reading the book, “The Millionaire Next Door”. Try saving some money. Worry less about form and more about function. Worry less about jet skis/boats/snowmobiles/fancy sports cars/season tickets/european vacations and try taking a walk with your family. Try playing ball in the park with your dog. try sitting on your front porch relaxing with a glass of cold tea. Try learning how to live and forgetting how to spend…..you’ll be happier.
This is what I sent all of Florida’s Elected Officials and President Obama:
I would like to direct your attention to the results of the Financial Bailout…My wife and I work hard, we pay our bills, we have a fair credit rating. I recently went to Milton Dodge to purchase a new 2008 Ram 1500 pickup truck that lists for a little over $26,000, they offered a $10,000 rebate combo, and offered a $10,000 trade in amount on my 2006 Ford Crown Victoria that I owe $22,166.77. Doing the math, that puts me financing just over $28,000.00. The banks said they wanted $8000.00 down because they fear the truck value is not sufficient to cover the loan…PLEASE tell me what I am missing?
2006 Ford Crown Victoria Paid $30,000
Worth $7,000 in February 2009
2008 Dodge Ram 1500 SXT List $26,000
Worth ???? Dealer/Banks $16,000 to $8,000 ????
2004 BMW 325i Paid $26,000
Worth $22,000 in February 2009
The BMW is 2 years older than the Ford and worth 3 times the amount!!!
WHY IN GODS NAME BUY AN AMERICAN MADE CAR????!!!!
I am going to spread this type of information as far and wide as possible, and I hold YOU the elected Official responsible for these problems. I will NEVER buy an American built car again, and if I can help it neither will anyone I can convince to do otherwise. Your beloved Bailout has done absolutely nothing for us, the people who decide whether you get elected or not. By the way, I could finance this endeavor with either of my credit unions, but why bother investing in garbage? Also, please do not bother with an automated response, it only proves you have no regard for the matter.
We are a small business in Silicon Valley. After being profitable for three out of our four years we went to Wells Fargo for assistance in order to expand.
While in-branch bankers were positive, our application was rejected. The branch banker resubmitted the application twice only to have it rejected again.
We’re looking at alternatives, and will keep moving forward. It’s ironic that here in Silicon Valley – a profitable company that is trying to go the route of a direct loan instead of investors/equity is rejected.
In August 2008 I was able to get approved for a $50,000 loan with no hicks, mainly because I was told I have a good credit history. Come this January this year I was to consolidate all my small credit card loans in to one so I applied for a ten thousand personal loan and got denied!!! Why? My debt to income ratio is too high. Sorry excuse if you ask me.
My son is in his second year of college. We had no problem obtaining loans to pay for the first year now we can’t even get a student loan for $1,000. Both of our debt to income ratios have gone way down as we’ve both paid off loans in the past year. So our credit scores have increased but we can’t get a loan. We don’t know what we are going to do. The financial aid office said nobody is getting approved for student loans right now.
People with good credit and established credit history can still get credit – as it should be. Anyone who has not established history, or is associated with a business or industry that is or will be impacted by the current housing collapse (e.g., builders, people who supply builders etc.) or those slightly extended on fixed income will have a hard time because the banks don’t know when it will be your turn to default. Housing prices are still falling and demand still slowing. Basically, if you NEED the loan to get by, you can almost bet you won’t get it because you are a risk. Credit was way too easy to get in the past. Since nobody is buying your loan from the bank, the bank holds the risk. So the bank wants to make sure it is a good loan. It is not rocket science and not everyone deserves credit.
I recently renewed a $120,000 commercial line of credit — no problem. I have a credit score of 807 (Experian).
I had a Citibank credit card for 8 years with a perfect record. When the rate jacking went into effect my interest went from 6% to 13%. I was told I could reject the rate and when my card expired, the account would close. That didn’t happen. When I rejected the rate the account closed immediately. If you have a cardholder who is paying their bills, why would you drive them away? They say the rate jacking is to survive the current financial climate, but when it is costing you dependable customers how smart can it be?
They can’t cry they aren’t responsible for the mess they are in. When I got the card the limit was $10,000. Even then more than I wanted or needed. By the time it was closed they had kept upping the limit until it was $25,000. I am smart enough to know I could not support that type of credit card payment. Why aren’t they?
What I can’t figure out is how any of this helps the people that because of the bad economy are struggling. The economy is bad, people are trying to just make ends meet so they get behind in bills and so forth. Now their credit is shot but can’t get any help. The ones that have money don’t need the help it is the ones who have gotten behind on many bills but now lenders won’t help by refinancing their loans. So again, this helps who and how?
I had a Wells Fargo Financial credit card with them for almost 4 years. I never sent my payment late, never. I would send them extra cash when I could. So what happend to me was that I decided to pay off the card and close the account. So I did, right. Then the next day I learned that it’s better to pay it off and not close the account. Better for me to keep my points up. So I call Wells Fargo Finance and they told me that in order to resuse my old card with my old account again I had to apply again. So I did. They told me to wait 48 hrs. and they would give me a response. 48 hrs passed I called to get my answer and to may surprise I was denied. Can you believe that. She said it was in both parties interest that my account remain closed. I got no reasons nothing, real cold shoulder. The banks are not, I repeat are not lending money to anyone.
Whoever is saying “we should play by their rules” is a typical apathetic American.
Why should your credit be gouged for closing an account? Why should your credit be gouged for applying for one of the many “pre-approved” deals we receive each day? Why do they send them as pre-approved if you are not really pre-approved. Why should your credit be gouged for paying off you credit balances to zero?
These things are all WRONG!! It’s the basis of what’s WRONG with this industry and needs to be changed. Don’t roll over like a typical apathetic American, stand up for yourself and lets take these financial terrorist to the cleaners.
I cheer everytime I hear about a bank failure. I hope the big ones get nationalized, lose ALL shareholder value and NOBODY EVER INVESTS A PENNY IN A BANK AGAIN!!!
Don’t waste your time trying to get a loan from the mega banks. Try going to a small community type bank, you may have much better success. As an employee of a small bank in the midwest, we are lending money the same as we always have.
I recently applied for a personal loan through mu credit union. All I asked for was $1300 and they denied me; not based on credit history, but because my credit cards are payed off and I do not use them. What a bunch of B.S. I was really looking forward to purchasing a laptop for grad school, but now I’ll have to stick to the library. But what I don’t understand is, they have approved me for a loan in the past and I payed them off faithfully?! Go figure
My wife and I see no credit crunch at all. We just recently refinanced our house without a problem and with FANTASTIC Rate, PLUS just bought a new car with 0% financing. Not sure why people are having problems. Additionally, last month I bought a used car from CarMax and was financed at a great rate with them.
We were turned down for a refinance on our mortgage. It was because of the new guidelines for Fanny/Freddy that have risen the credit score limit to 740. My credit is okay, we had a few problems with my wife not paying on credit cards and that problem has been fixed. But, I have had a loan with the same bank for 10 years and have been ahead on payments. But the new regulations rejected me for refinancing. It doesn’t matter that the three biggest payment’s I have(house, truck, and school loan) have never been deliquent, but they are talking of helping out those that don’t or haven’t made their mortgage payments. Explain to me how that makes sense?
I have a signature loan that is 100$ per month payment, I have not missed a payment
I wanted to extend the loan, which would result in the same payment amount, and was denied. This makes no sense to me
My husband and I have fair credit and we were denied a refinance loan. We have plenty of equity. Citigroup has our mortgage and they won’t even talk to me about refinancing. Thier reply is we don’t refinance. Our current rate is 9.25%
I recently applied for a loan for a small business I own. I was denied for the loan which upset me. I have a great credit rating and have never been turned down before. I need some
working capital to stay afloat. Where’s my bailout package………
I recently explored a possible loan from Countrywide/bac and while they agreed to make a loan at 5.35%, the additional collateral involving three properties for three loans totalling $110,000 would have cost about $8,100.00 in fees, title insurance, etc. My take, too costly.
I’m 30 years old, living paycheck to paycheck with no savings. I figured what the hell.. I’ll give it a whirl with a small loan for a car two weeks ago. HAHA! I was denied in a heartbeat!
Ive been in a downward spiral since I graduated college in 2003. My student loan debt is so high and I make less than 30K a year. The forebearance time on my private loans from Key Bank/Great Lakes higher Education are done. I had to use it all up when I got a job in my field. I took a major paycut from my job at Pizza hut in college getting a job in my field after college! (yeah go figure). Money is a bit better now than 2003. I fell behind on student loan payments because gas last summer was a mortgage in itself. I use to get upset about it. But now I really just don’t care anymore. I’ll save the “keeping up with the Jones’” game for the millionaires now.
The problem I have is with a lady try to buy my house. She can’t get the financing even though she has excellent credit. And I’m only talking 139K! Now my home sits as I pray another buyer comes along. I had to relocate to MO from NC why, cause job loss of course! So now I have my apt here in MO and still my house in NC!
I just refinanced at 4.5% and took out a 100K HELOC at 2.75%. I also upped the credit limit on one of my cards and have had two preapproved offers at under 5.5%. My home value is down about 30% from the peak, but I didn’t finance 100% on an ARM and HELOC.
Banks are lending, but are apparently trying to avoid the mistakes of the last three years. Should the feds require them to make more subprime loans?
This is utter non-sense, if you are a good risk banks and mortgage companies will loan you money. Case in point my 23-year old daughter recently earned her masters degree in teaching and landed a good job in a local school district. After working only two months and on her own (without dads help) she applied for a home loan and purchased a modest home with 5% down. If you have a good credit score and behave responsibly past and present, purchase within your means, banks and other lenders will take the risk. While she had to jump through some hoops to qualify she did it.
i had no problem getting an auto loan at 2.9% and im 22 years old..I have an excellent credit score, don’t let your credit go down and you shouldn’t have a problem. you should be giving up more to start..if you can’t save the money to put down banks look at it as you don’t have the means to pay.
“Bush should have included mandatory stipulations to those institutions who received “Bail Out” money. Those institutions should have been required to lend to so many individuals each month, and not just to individuals in a certain income or credit range.”
That type of thinking is what got us into this loan mess, i.e., loaning money to people without jobs or loaning to people because “everyone should be a home-owner”. About 98% of the population is making their house payments on time. It appears that I get to help the other 2% that cannot make their own house payment!
My house is payed off and I can’t get an equity line of credit! We recently did some home improvement on the second floor of the house and I had to use personal loan I had from last year and my credit cards to finish the work. Now I can’t get a debt consolidation loan/equity line of credit to pay my loans/credit cards off because they say I owe too much on my credit cards! Duhh, that’s what the equity line of credit IS for dummy!!!
My wife & I recently were car shopping recently. When we tried to get a loan, we were turned down by the company that we had the previous 2 car loans with. We were never late with the previous loans and our credit is actually better now than it was before. America First CU was more than willing to loan us our money with a better interest rate. I’m pulling my $$ out of Chase Bank immediately.
Not just that if Wachovia gives you a loan. They calculate all the intrest into your loan. If you ask for the priciple balance, they give you the whole amount with intrest. When you ask for the payoff priciple balance. They act as if they have no idea what your asking for. Why pay all that intrest back if you can get it payed off sooner. Who made it legal to collect all of the money like that. I financed $4000.00 for two years, I asked for the pay off shortly after and it was over $7000.00 I asked for the priciple bal. and they told me $7000.00. I asked again they told me oh no we calculate the intrest into your payments, and thats how we do it. Are they to lazy to calculate what the priciple will be so I can pay it off??
My wife and I have a real estate investment company where we buy houses and fix them up and either rent or sell them. We have a total of 20 rental and all but one is rented and we are rehabing the empty one. We have short term mortgages on a couple of houses that we bought to sell but decided to keep as rentals. We need to refinace these two short term mortgages but all of the banks we have talked to say that they can’t loan to us because we have 4 loans in our names. We had to put the loans in our names because banks wouldn’t loan to my company. How is this supposed to allow small businesses to continue to be successful. We have allways bought our properties at a subsantial discount and have never exceeded a 80% LTV(loan to value) even in this depressed house economy. Punish the bad but not the people who continue to make all of their payments. Now we are looking at private financing to make up for the banks unwillingness to loan.
Wells Fargo blowhard BS about customer service is DISGUSTING! Wells Fargo has the WORST Customer service EVER.
I have my mortgage with Wells Fargo, never a single late payment, have my same job I always had $115,000/yr + bonus and cannot get them to either consolidate my existing Interest only mortgage and 2nd, nor to approve a home equity loan.
In trying to deal with them directly, it seems I only rated talking to some sophomoric arrogant biatch who couldn’t explain why I was denied coherently nor why I shouldn’t just take my business elsewhere.
Wells Fargo is the WORST. I will be moving any business I have with them from them ASAP.
I need to refinance my home as part of my divorce, for three years I have faithfully paid my mortgage payment. My credit score is in the mid to upper 700’s. I have a stable job…yet I cannot refinance…the reasons vary depending on the lender who has turned me down…the funny thing, I really don’t want to refinance. I just want mt ex’s name off the mortgage…and the only way to do that is to refinance.
I have a credit score over 800 and was putting 40% down on a home mortgage and was turned down as I have not had my business for over 2 years. I have an excellent credit history and my business is in the same field I have been in for over 25 years. It is hard to understand how they see me as such a risk. I just don’t get it.
I just went to one of my banks the other day which I only have about 3k in checking. I asked for a 2k loan for dental work with no collateral and would you believe even with a few thousand in the bank they still denied it because my score is not 720. I don’t have the greatest credit and wanted to build on that. So how does someone making 45k a year get a loan? I bought a trailer outright cause I couldn’t get a loan I don’t know where to go from here I’d love to buy a house but no one will loan me the money. Lets bail the banks out so they can buy out each other while we all suffer for it!
I have leased from Chrysler for the past 10 plus years. I have never been late on an car payment. Now it is time to turn the lease in and I am getting turned down even by my credit union. If I am willing to pay a large car note that is outrageous then they will gladly let me buy one! I do not think it is fair. I have alway paid though Chrysler Finanical and they are even turning me down. I have a stable job and have shown that I do pay. What is the problem! I agree with the previous gentleman. Why are all of the CEO spending our money and still refusing us? We trusted them now they need to trust us!
have had some major upsets in the last 2 yrs, including death in family, helping surviving parent deal with that and the after math, then due to arm, which mortgage co. would not re-finance, had foreclosure, then due to new credit laws, which allow creditors to take everything out of your bank accts, without prior notice, had to file chapter 13. have had 14 yrs of credit history with ford motor credit, never late or missed payments, no matter how bad it got, then when turned in last lease vehicle, no loan for new car, or buy lease vehicle. if i had known that they were going to pull this, i would have dumped lease vehicle at filing of chapter 13, could have cancelled contract and told them to take the car and shove it and saved myself approx. $4,000.00. now i have only 1 vehicle, a 1974 p/up, that has some major problems with transmission, and is not trustworthy on hiway. my 80 yr old dad, lives 165 miles away, and i’m closest kid, and have no way to get there if something happens, because, of course, i don’t have a credit card to rent a car. 14 hrs didn’t count for anything. then a couple weeks later, i see article in cnn about ford ceo thanking someone for purchasing a vehicle.
My wife and I make a combined income of 80,000 and I was turned down for a $1,000 education loan from Wells Fargo. This was with her as a co-signer and the money was for Masters credits.
Being a small business in California, B of A is not loaning nor is any other lender in Southern Cal. We need money to float our company to get through this and have been turned down by several banks. We will end up laying off 30 employees and closing our doors if we don’t get funding. We had perfect credit, never been late and now are facing the worst we could ever imagine. Thanks to Pelosi and Reid it’s about to get a lot worse. I guess when 50% of our country is unemployeed and families are starving and anarchy starts maybe out cheating lying politicans will get a clue.
Banks are not loaning money…but they are taking TARP money to buy companies overseas and increase outsourcing American jobs.
They are doing nothing to help the American People.
It seems the ones who don’t need it can get the loans but the ones that do need it to survive couldn’t get a loan no matter what.
We applied to CitiMortgage to refinance our mortgage. They service our current mortgage. After about two months of dealing with them and sending all the documents they requested and meeting all their terms of their lending, we were denied. Their excuse was they did not believe the Appraisal Report. They said it was unacceptable. How do they justify a reputable Appraisal Company submitting a report they stand behind and CitiMortgage going, nope we do not accept it? Thanks US Congress for giving them Billions and screwing us little guys. What a mess.
This past year my wife and I took in my sister-in-law and three kids. She was out of work and had no place to go so I agreed to let her stay for a couple of months until she got back on her feet. Well a couple of months lead to a year and my income has not been enough to support my family, wife and four kids, and her family. I have had to make decisions monthly on which bills to pay and which ones not too. These decisions have lead to a low credit rating. Now that she has moved out I am trying to get “whole” again and I am finding it extremely difficult to get loans to consolidate the debt I accomulated. I make enough to provide for my family, but the additional burden has put financial pressure on my family.
Why didn’t the article invite readers to share positive stories? Within the last week, I closed on a refinance of my home at 5% and also bought a used car at a rate of 3.9%. I’m not wealthy but I have good credit. While the real estate market is not great in my area, the title companies and lenders are all flooded with refinancing business. It takes weeks to get an appraisal a closing. Certainly, standards are tighter than they were a few years ago (I’m in real estate sales so I have observed this first hand), but there are also many people being denied who had no business getting easy credit a few years ago. That blame needs to be shared by lenders and borrowers alike–but at the same time, when home prices were increasing by the minute, how could you “blame” anyone for trying to finance as much as possible, and then some? Real estate was a real asset that everyone felt compelled to buy into. Lenders and realtors felt like they were “helping” people–not hurting them. The hindsight we have now was not available to us then.
One problem we will continue to see is a lack of available refinancing due to depressed values. Many appraisals are coming back lower than needed for the customer to hit the 80% or 90% LTV needed for good rates. This is where any action to stem the flow of foreclosures would be a big help. Shore up values and the rest will take care of itself.
I am a mortgage underwriter. I have been in this business for over 15 years.
I (unfortunately) don’t MAKE the guildelines/rules under which we approve or decline a loan application ~ it is just my responsibility to make sure that they are followed. Here’s my observations and opinions:
The main reason we are in this mess is greed.
* From loan officers who were making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year…. a large number of which were “coaching” their borrowers to be dishonest about everything from what they do for a living, how much they make doing it to where they are REALLY going to live (yes, occupancy DOES make a difference!) and how much money they have in the bank. There is a reason underwriters referred to stated income/asset loans as “lie loans”…. it’s not by mistake.
* Borrowers who, unfortunately have no business actually buying a home at that stage in their lives. I’m sorry ~ but when you’re selling a little of puppies or taking your pop cans back to the store to cover your funds to close…. you shouldn’t be buying a house!!! (yes, those are REAL situation under which I was forced to approve loans ~ because the investors allowed for it)
* Borrowers who thought they’d get rich by gobbling up mounds of investment properties… but didn’t want to pay the interest rate/price for investment properties.
* Borrowers who didn’t make sure that they actually KNEW what they were getting into. That applies to borrowers who didn’t stop to think that while their mortgage payment wouldn’t be much more than their rent…. but there wouldn’t be a landlord paying the garbage and sewer, and oh yeah, that means I gotta BUY a garbage can! No landlord to replace the lightbulbs, no landlord to paint the building or replace the windows that the kids threw a softball through. Home ownership IS a LOT more expensive than renting!!
* Appraisers who, by “supporting” increasing values with recent sales that were also inflated to cover borrower closing costs and downpayments. You tell me ~ if you were selling your house 2 years ago for $250,000… would you just decide to GIVE someone you don’t know 6% of that value just so they would buy your house? I know I wouldn’t. I would, however, allow my sales price to be increased to cover those costs… thus falsely inflating the value of my home! Anyone seeing a “bubble” forming here?
* Obviously the mortgage brokers who, in my experienced opinion (having worked in the wholesale mortgage lending industry for several years ~ including running a mortgage broker shop as the operations manager) are the worst when it comes to the whole “honesty” thing. Fraud runs rampant in that business.
* Retail mortgage lenders who are guilty of competing with one another to the point where they wound up doing things that made absolutely no sense from a risk-evaluation stand point.
* Upper level “risk management” officers. Hello??? I’m just a lowly underwriter ~ sitting on the front lines looking at loan applications ~ working 55-60 hours a week…. if I could see the risk of these loan programs/products and borrowers…. how is it that the “smart people”, the ones with the high priced educations and, better yet, big-azz salaries, couldn’t see it!?!?!?!?!? I can’t begin to tell you how many times I literally had to put my job on the line to speak up and say “this isn’t right ~ we shouldn’t make this loan ~ and I’m not signing off on it”.
* Then there are the investors. The greed was there too. While I don’t expect Wall Street investors to have fully comprehend the risk involved in the programs they were buying… afterall, they’re not mortgage experts. But, IF SOMETHING SEEMS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE…. IT IS!!! As for Fannie, Freddie and HUD ~ well, that was just a matter of, once again, greed. I can’t even begin to pretent to understand how the management of those investors could possibly explain their decisions.
Okay ~ I will stop. Afterall, I have to go to work (thank God). I hope this gives people something to think about.
I recently applied for a home mortgage as a first time home buyer and was denied. The home cost is 525,000. I was being gifted $100,000 from a family member. I also told the bank I wanted to use my V.A. loan which guarantee’s 25% of the loan value $106,250. The banks risk on a $525,000 is $318,750.That’s basically a 40% down payment.I make over $100,000 a year. I have zero debt. I have a lack of a credit history. the bank suggested I incur debt to build the credit history. This system doesn’t seem to make any sense.
My wife and I were looking to buy a new 09 Pontiac G6 sedan. We had 50% down because of her less than stellar credit. That means a lender would have been financing 9,000 on a car whose wholesale was above 13,000 i.e positive equity. We couldn’t get a lender to touch it. We ended up having to go used and forgoing the side impact airbags, ABS/TC and Onstar we wanted for our family.
BOA is gouging the consumer….after years of working with them, I was turned down for an equity loan. To much on my credit card, used it, my credit card for renovations on my home, have done this in the past,they would rather now gouge the consumer with Credit Card interest than give them the loan. By the way my credit score is 805. I will be paying off BOA and will never do business with them again, this is after 30+ years of working with them…Save the consumer I think not…
Here I am.
Live in NYC, no previous mortgage, no credit card debt, income over 170k/year, credit score over 780.
I applied for a mortgage on a 400k apartment with my father in law, who has numbers similar to mine.
No mortgage because the condo is considered too risky.
This is absurd. Two years ago my cat would have got a mortgage if he walked into a bank.
This is all garbage. I make 60k a year and I bought a new car this year and I financed a wedding band purchase of 1,500. If you can pay it back and got a hold of your finances you will get credit. But what got us in this problem in the first place is lending to risky people (by government coersion). And now what does the government tell us to do? LEND! BORROW! GET IN DEBT! This is a blessing they aren’t lending. You shouldn’t have to borrow to buy your basic needs… That means you shouldn’t be living how you are living and you need to CUT DOWN!
My wife and I have been trying to open a small restaurant. We need less that 100k but so far I have received 17 no’s from banks. Its been super frustrating to be so close and have the banks shut the door on my face.
I moved to Fort Smith to help a family member build out a home that was in disrepair but he bailed and left me to finish the project myself which took my life savings. The home completed went on the market about the time the market downturned. My bank says they won’t redo the construction loan and say that I don’t qualify for a mortgage. As of March 28, 2009 I will loose this home and all I’ve invested even though I’ve paid every payment on time and have good credit. Perhaps I should give up and apply for food stamps, public housing, etc. as it is apparently easier that the hard working route I’ve taken only to be told “No, sorry, and we can’t help”. Pray for our Country before it’s too late!
We were able to refinance our house with a fixed rate mortgage and purchase my leased car in the middle of the crisis and before the bailout with good credit and new jobs. Try Countrywide or New South Federal Savings and Loan.
I have a +750 credit score. I wanted to buy a new TV. I went to Wal-mart who was having a sale. Further, if you applied for a Wal-mart credit card there would be no interest or payments for 2-years. I applied for the card and GE Capital would only give me a $500 limit. They told me that since I was not denied they had no obligation to explain why my limit was low. TV was $1,000.00 so I just left the store and did not buy. I was so shocked at low limit offer (at 24% interest) I got on TrueCredit.com to check my score to see if something might have happened. I found my score was still +750.
Sorry for the double post first one went through without proof reading.
I have a $130,000 loan on my farm land which was used to construct a house. I pay $1,200 everymonth as interest on it. If I were to get a mortgage on the house this payment would drop to $850. So why is it that I dont get a loan?
Solution is simple go to a CREDIT UNION.
Credit Unions are still making mortgage, auto and car loans without interruption.
Credit Unions have been largely unaffected by the credit and mortgage crisis and are poised to fill the gap left by banks
I recently applied for a capital one card to replace my circuit city card, and even with a credit score of 769, they apprroved me for a card with a $500 limit. I had more than that when I was a college freshman with no job or income whatsoever
I am a millionaire (!) with great assets but modest income, who went to refi a property with a 300k loan. I bught it 2 years ago with 25% down. I was turned down due to my income not being sufficient. The irony is, my payment would be lowered approx 400.00/mo, so if the bank that has the loan now (Countrywide) is concerned about my ability to pay based on my income, then they should be less concerned when my payment is 400.00 less. Or you would think…
I’ve been trying to get an SBA loan since November. I’ve got real estate owned free-and-clear appraised at $500,000. The business I’m trying to buy cashflows $18,000 per month. The loan amount I’m trying to get is $250,000. My credit score is decent, but not great, and I have minimal outstanding debt (outside of my mortgage). Even my mortgage is a joke, $384,000 on a property recently appraised at $650,000. I’ve been turned down by everyone, from Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and practically every smaller bank in the area. I’ve had several banks tell me that they are not taking real estate as collateral. I’m sorry I don’t have any gold bars laying around. With all of the real estate equity that I have, it’s worthless to banks who said that this loan would have been rubber stamped last Summer. If over $187 billion has been passed out to banks, who are they lending it to? SBA lending is down 75% against last year. Consumers and small business aren’t seeing these taxpayer dollars, which would actually create jobs instead of giving them to large banks who take the money, don’t lend it, cut jobs, but still manage to buy out weak competitors.
I have been getting the runaround from Chase for a refinance. I refinanced a year and a half ago at 6% and now want to take advantage of a lower rate. I have excellent credit (790), nearly 30% equity in my house and minimal additional debt.
Surprise, surprise when the new appraisal came in. My home’s value dropped 20% in a local market that’s taken only a 3% hit in the past year, AND after an extensive remodel – 50K of my OWN money. I figured decided investing the money in my house would be a better bet than the market…
You do the math. What more qualified person is out there, and in a local housing market that HASN’T tanked? I can afford the loan I have now – refinancing would simply free up some extra cash every month, cash I would end up putting back into the economy. Isn’t that exactly what the stimulus is supposed to do?
Chase will lose out on this altogether as I will refinance elsewhere, and they’ll lose even the current mortgage I hold. Classic case of shooting themselves in the foot.
I haven’t tried for a new loan or to refi my house yet. I am just trying to pay of the 4 credit cards I have ASAP. For some reason, out of of no where, they decided to change my interest rate. I have had one account for almost 6 years at the same low interest rate, 8%. Now it is at 29.99%. That is huge and I called the bank and they will not change it back.
I had NO problem aquiring a 0% loan thru Chrysler for purchase of a new truck. If you have good credit, loans are available in Kansas.
Actually, I have had the opposite experience. Maybe my credit score is high enough, but my recent experience is that Chase is trying to give money away. I recently purchased a car out of necessity, negotiated the price, went on the banks website, applied for the full amount. Was approved in 30 seconds. Went to the branch, signed the paperwork, and while I was there they told me I was approved for another 15000 credit line, which I didn’t accept of course because my wife would have killed me, walked out with the check for the car, went to the dealership and and paid the full amount. Not one penny out of my pocket. I think it depends on where you try to secure credit from. If you go directly to a bank that has some liquid, and you have good credit, you should be able to get a loan.
I applied for a credit card to TJ Maxx and I was surprised to find I was denied. I have never been denied a credit card. I was pretty hyper about it so I checked my credit report & there was no red flags whatsoever…my fico score is 727. I think their just being tight fisted with the accounts they give out until things improve some with the economy.
I have a car loan with Wachovia Dealer Services. I called to see if I could skip one month payment (tack it onto the end of the loan) due to the fact I lost my second job and have several medical bills for my son. When I called and talked to their people they said “Can you make the payment?” I replied no but would the following month. The girl said well if you can’t make the payment every month you are a risk so it is denied. Then I said well “OK” I misunderstood you and “yes I can make the payment”. She replied the second time saying “Well then why are you asking for a payment extension for one month?” A simple “NO” WE WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU AT ALL” would have saved both of us 20 minutes on the phone. Wachovia could save money by just having a recording and not paying the live person wages. Hey, maybe that could be a second job for me….think I’ll apply!!!
I have bad credit which is my fault and it was doing on my part but i have 1 question is why if you have bad credit then why do they raise your interest rate through the roof and then you can’t afford to make the payments when your interest rate is 24% so can you please explain that.
My wife and I recently have seen out credit card interest rates skyrocket. This is even happening to our credit cards that we have had with the same company for years, and we have NEVER been late, or missed a payment. We even pay a lot more on them than the minimum amounts in order to get them paid down.
My wife just got a new job, making a lot more money, and the company is even giving her a brand new company car and even paying for the gas. Our plans to sell her car because it isn’t needed anymore fell through, once our bank (Wachovia) denied us a loan in order to pay off what we owe on the car after selling it.
We also tried to re-finance our home loan, after never missing a payment and always remaining current with our home loan with GMAC. Our interest rate is at 6% fixed, and these jerks wanted me to re-finance at 8% and pay more a month!!!
Here are the facts about banks, plain and simple:
- My last name is not spelled E-c-o-n-o-m-y. The banks tell you that the risk factor with the ‘Economy’ won’t allow you to get any loans now. That is the reason they are not lending out anything, even to those that are more than able to pay off the loan.
- The CEOs sitting on Capitol Hill, telling the committee that they are lending is a flat out lie. Our financial analyst in our bank told us flat out that NO banks are giving out any loans!
Wachovia turned me down because i didn’t have enough revolving credit. They require 6! I have one credit card which i’ve been paying down, a car payment, and student loans since i’ve been getting me masters degree right now.
The only reason i applied was because the credit card i have with them is run by an outside company they are not going to be working with next month, and they kept sending me letters and prompts on their website to remind me!
Recently called Countrywide (now owned by Bank of America) to refinance my almost 4 yr old mortgage. I got a great rate of 7.13 when I purchased the house, and figured I could get at least a point knocked off my current rate. I had an unfortunate incident on my credit report last month that dropped my score significantly becuase I closed a 4 yr old credit card, that was ALWAYS paid on time, and closed it with a 0 balance.
Much to my dismay, I was more or less told that I would have to jump through hoops to justify a couple of things on my credit report, and as it stood they would not do anything on the refinance. Now I am trying to figure this one out…….The mortgage has been paid on time or early, every month for 4 years, and even paid extra principle each month. My tax value is still about 30k above the loan, and EVEN THOUGH they are refi’ing through the SAME bank (Bank of New York) that originated the original loan, they are telling me that it cannot be approved at this time.
Ok, I dont know what these people are smoking here, but if I have a loan that is already held by Bank of New York, and it is being refinanced THROUGH Bank of New York, then why is there even a credit issue? Should’nt I have some kind of credit with the holder of the mortgage? Doesn’t lowering my payment make me less of a risk?ac
I work for a major bank in the mortgage lending field, and I can tell you that no matter how good your credit is, nor how much money you are putting down, the lending institutions are putting conditions on approvals that most people have a hard time meeting. The problem lies in the fact that Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac has one set of rules, the Banks have another set of rules, and thirdly, the Mortgage Insurance Companies have their rules, all of which are not in sync. So you can get a loan that meets Fannie/Freddie guidelines, but the bank puts extra ‘stipulations’ on these findings, and then different mortgage insurance companies have different rules for the exact same area – a common term they use is ‘declining markets’ – so while a mortgage insurance company like PMI or RMIC will offer insurance on 95% LTV for an area, UG, for the same area will not offer insurance on the same LTV, so you have to find a bank that does not use UG in these areas to do the mortgage even though the buyer meets Fannie/Freddie and bank guidelines (Not trying to beat up UG, they ALL have different rules for different areas). Top all of this off with trying to get an accurate appraisal on a property that needs three properties that have sold in the last 6 months a mile or less from the subject property to support the purchase price when there hasn’t been three sales in the last two years or that the recent sales are foreclosures and you can just START to see why getting a loan is so hard right now.
S Houston from Clearwater is incorrect when he says there are no credit agencies overseas. He in the UK we have Equifax and Experion. What makes that bad is that there are TWO and they don’t talk to each other as they are competitors. What’s also bad is that the lender will not tell you which agency they use so you might find you have an issue with one agency and not the other – and you try getting your credit history changed if there’s been a mistake…. It’s a total mess.
Ok from first hand accounts the banks are not lending money…We have had our own business for ten years which is now for sale,but no one can get a loan to buy it and were turned down for a refinance,my friend in Texas went in to open up a small business loan and they told them,” We don’t care who you are we are not giving small business loans they only needed 75,000.00 and her husband was in the service so it was also 85% covered if they defaulted.Our friend went to buy a 33,000 condo in FT.Meyers and he has two incomes and perfect credit,the bank told him they are not giving any loans in the FT.Meyers area because they project further price drops in the next two years….All I know is that from talking to everyday people we are no longer in a reccession,we are for sure in a full blown depression..So the banks make it so you can’t sell a business,you can’t buy a business and you can’t buy property in the hardest hit area for two more years,but without the taxpayers money would have folded..It’s time for the Mortimier and Randolph Dukes to go away…
I am a small business owner and homeowner, trying to sell my house. First, there are no loans for a small business no matter how well we are doing. I tried to consolidate our inventory costs from two federally funded banks with no luck. The same week I was turned down, I got a flyer in the mail from one of these banks talking about how they help women owned business and small business. Well, I’m both. This was a simple consolidation loan in which I had collateral with our inventory or a rental house that is paid for. Even with collateral, the answer was no.
Then, I tried to refinance the home I have up for sale. They told me I needed to default on my loan for them to see that I need help. So, because I am paying my bills and keeping up with payments, the banks will not help me get my payments down for this house that I have for sale.
I am not talking about a LOT of money here. My home loan is 100k and the business loan I wanted was 30k.
It’s very disappointing to pay for these bailouts then see the banks keeping everything for themselves and paying large bonuses to their staff.
I’ve never been late on a payment in my life and have never been turned down until NOW. Last time I checked my credit score was over 750. I’m checking it again.
Have a +750 credit score. Wanted to by a new TV. Went to Wal-mart who was having a sale. Further, if you applied for a Wal-mart credit card there would be not interest or payments for 2-years. Applied for the card and GE Capital would only give me a $500 limit. They told be that since I was not denied they had no obligation to tell me why my limit was low. TV was $1,000.00 just left the store and did not buy. Was so shocked at low limit offer (at 24% interest) got on TrueCredit.com to check my score to see if something might have happened. Found my score was still +750.
I went back and forth with a large well-known bank for over a MONTH about a $30,000 home equity line to completely renovate my home I had just gotten for a steal. I owned the $40,000 home outright (needed work), had an excellent credit score, a low percentage of debt to income, a member of this bank for 12 combined years between my wife and I, and not the first late payment.
I was told it should be a breeze to get that little of an amount, and that they had not been affected like some of the other larger banks.
I basically got yanked around and fed a bunch of BULL.
I went to a local credit union and within two days had been approved for the loan for a lower interest rate than what I was offered at the larger bank.
Needless to say, this large bank and economy is not going to recover by treating customers this way.
Guess what I am doing with all my accounts? Moving them to the local credit union.
My parents, who have perfect credit, got a call from their bank asking them to re-finance with a lower intrest rate. When my mother asked why the bank was calling her, normally she would have to call them for this, the man told her the bank had to show it was perducing more loans. She re-financed.
Wake up people — Your credit score is just a way for banks to instill fear into you for not paying percisely as they want you to. The score actually means very little otherwise.
Example — My networth is much more than average, home and cars paid for, have no meaningful debt, decent income. My ex-wife has a reasonable networth, no house or car payments, but almost $100K in crdit card debt and works 2 jobs to just pay the interest. Her credit score is higher than mine by 10 points. Now tell me that credit scores really mean that much.
Who is going to verify all these stories? Lax lending, liar loans and disregard to proper checks got us in this mess in the first place. What do you want? To spend all these billions of Dollars and same number of defaults? Some one needs to tell the truth that you are not entitled to get loan just because you want it. Wake up to the reality – we can not print money out of this – you need some one on the other side to lend you the money and I don’t see any one with real money
The only people able to get a loan from a bank these days are the people that don’t need one. People like Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg, or Barak Obama. I have a credit score of 730 and my partners score is 810. I make close to 6 figures and my partner close to 80 K and owns 3 properties. We have been refused a SBA loan for various reasons. Each bank seems to look for something so they dont have to loan money. Banco Popular our loan hanged in limbo till we got tired and pulled our application out. A Wachovia loan officer told us in confidence that they are not making any loans to anybody, they are too buzy looking for jobs and preparing to be laid off. Sun Trust told us they are not making any loans to Florida at all. The best was PNC Bank that said SBA did not approve our application on the day PNC laid off 4,000 employees. So now it seems that the banks are trying to blame the government for denying a loan, which is ridiculous. Dillinger used to rob banks because in his words “thats where the money is”, but in today’s economy, its the banks that are Dillingers and the government is turning into banks.
Remember how we got into this trouble in the first place? Congressed asked the banks to make better judgement when handing out loans and now changed their minds. The share-holders of these banks which is the general public, want the banks to get smarter with loan guide lines. Please keep in mind just because you have a great credit score does not guarantee you a loan. If you have a great credit score but your debt to income (DTI) is high (over 40%) you will not get a loan.
Banks also look at your employment history in the same field, income from W2’s..etc. The days of free loans are gone. It does suck but go to other lending institutions that may help you, someone is bound to lend to you, if you meet the criteria. I am just trying to be open minded person here as a share holder of bank stocks and someone who will also need a loan soon. I might get rejected too but I understand. We can blame all of this on the people who have defaulted on their loans or are up to their eye balls in debt. These are tough times and we need to revert to the ways of our grandparents…cash is king and don’t use credit.
I firmly believe the banking industry is largely to blame for the global economic crisis.
I make over 300k per year and had my Amex I use for business cancelled. I had the card for 13 years and NEVER late on a payment. This is despite AMEX being give 3.4 billion in stimulus money the first go round. They are hoarding the money and we will never see a penny.
Applied for a credit card balance transfer for $1000 due to promotional pay off coming due. Steady job as a teacher making $50k. $60k in equity in my home. Credit score 760. Approx $7000 in (other) credit card balances. Have never been denied a loan or credit in my 44 years. Until now.
my ex wife is trying to purchase a vehicle. she has a decent job, but for the past ten years has had no real credit. she lived off my credit. now that we are divorced and she needs a car no banks will put out a loan for her. she has plenty of money to put down even. in discussions with some of the dealerships, some say that if your credit score is under 600 its almost impossible to get a loan. we spoke to a small dealership and he stated its the worst he has ever seen it. banks are not lending. he had a gentlmen with several thousand from a tax return to put down on a car but becuase of one credit card he was completely denied. even though he was paying for over half of the car was going to be paid for upfront. its sad that all you are is a number, and if your number isnt larger than 600 then you are held down. what is a hard working person who wants to get their life in order supposed to do?
I work for a bank, Wells Fargo, and can’t get a loan thru the bank or Wells Fargo Financial Bank. We are the people that need the money it seems (and there are a lot of honest people in this situation) but the banks don’t care, and like I said , I work for WElls and they have written me off after paying off 1 mortagage and 2 other loans….I am not what they want or are looking for………..
I bought my house 15 months with 2 loans, one for 80% of the value of the house and another, from Webster Bank for 10% of the value of the house.
I have excellent credit and the value of the house has stayed the same. I tried to refinance the 80% loan this January and was approved with the condition that the smaller loan from Webster Bank be subordinated to the bigger loan. Now that smaller loan is already subordinated to my bigger loan, so I thought that would be no problem, just a renewal of subordination. Yet, Webster Bank denied the subordination and my refinancing didn’t go through.
The worst part are the answers from Webster Bank. According to them you have to have a 20% equity in your home to get approved for subordination. Yet when they approved my subordination last year they were fully aware that I didn’t have 20% equity. And then they add that if I were in financial distress they could exempt me from the 20% rule. So it has come to this: I need to stop paying my bills to get a lower interest rate!
My wife and I were in the market to purchase a used car recently. We have a good/great credit score yet were turned down by several financial institutions including our credit union that had our previous car loan. Bank of America was willing to loan us the money if we gave them a few thousand dollars up front. Interesting how their CEO makes 1.5 million a year, begs for billions of taxpayer dollars, yet still finds ways to squeeze additional money from the average citizen.
I am an apartment renter. I own my car outright. I have no debt.
I applied for a $6,000 dental loan – got denied. Why, you ask?? Because I have no moveable debt I was told.
I applied for a Macy’s credit card. Guess what?? I got denied BECAUSE, yes, you guessed it again, I HAVE NO MOVEABLE DEBT.
My next “experiment” is to see what I qualify for in a home loan. That should be a hoot.
This is a joke.
I am a builder in Middle Tennessee. Our company’s credit is extremely strong. We have visited every bank in the region to get a loan to build 15 houses and have been turned away every time. When times were going well we could get construction financing for 80% sometimes 90% LTV(loan to value). At the last bank we requested 65% LTV and were still turned away. Most banks we have met with will tell us they have money, they are just NOT ALLOWED to loan it for construction. When the economy first started struggling a few years ago, new home construction was what kept it moving, now someone has killed it.
Invest in companies that produce something, congresspeople. Services such as health care, infrastructure and education are wonderful things, but contribute little to the economy. Invest in production and start wheel spinning with investment, production, sales, taxation, return on investment, etc. Health care, roads and education equal investment, production, stop. Nothing. Where’s the return on our investment? You can’t sell a highway. You can’t tax a highway. When that highway is built it’s built and it contributes very little to our consumption-based economy.
Am I missing something?
Every credit story is different. It depends on MANY factors, not just “I have no other debt” or “My credit score is 746 to 785″ Like anything else people need to get educated and stop looking for the easy way to get money, that is why there are issues now, getting credit was too easy in the past.
Ask questions and talk to people that understand how credit and banks work.
I too was irritated with a credit card company that lowered my limit and raised my rate, “for no reason”. There was a reason, I stopped using the card and paid it off, so they didn’t like it. So they limited their exposure. So I closed the card. Guess what, that hurt my credit score because now I only have one credit card with a zero balance, not two. I thought I was doing a good thing by closing it, WRONG, it hurt me. I learned because I asked a mortgage broker about it.
Understand the entire scope of your credit rating and how banks work before you complain. I am still learning so I can play by their rules, I am not trying to change the game. Complaining gets you no where.
I haven’t tried to get credit that recently, just a Citi AAdvantage Platinum card in December with a limit north of $10K, and got a lease for my wifes VW Eos Lux for $47K this past summer ($19K in payments over the lease term).
What I have had a problem with is Chase. I have a credit card with them that had a 6.9% interest rate all the time with a credit limit they keep raising (currently standing at $16K) and a balance that I keep DECREASING. I recently received a notice from them stating my interest rate was going to go to 11.9% for no reason whatsoever except they wanted to raise it. I haven’t had a late payment on anything in 6 years 4 months (and that was a mistake, lost the bill) and have a credit score in the mid 700’s. When I called to complain they didn’t care. Nobody was mean about it, but when I mentioned canceling the card and paying it off they forwarded me along to somebody to cancel the card. Guess that they don’t really want my business…
I plan to just pay it off or transfer the roughly $4,500 balance to another card that has a promotional 1.9% interest rate and keep it open. I’ve had the card for a while and $16K of un-utilized credit is always good for the credit score!
The real test will come soon as my wife and I are thinking about buying our first home. We have a relatively good income (nearly $150K combined), excellent credit (both have scores in low to mid 700’s), and some money in savings (though a lot went for the wedding this past fall) so hopefully we won’t have any problems.
It’s not even getting new credit that is the problem, it is hanging on to credit. I have 4 lines of credit, 1 was revoked outright, another was reduced, a third one the interest rate was hiked up by 10% and the last one I had a choice, either accept a 15% rate hike or it will be revoked. This is all for someone with a good credit rating that pays his bills on time. If this is helping the public, I would hate to see what hurting the public would look like.
We just got home equity line of credit to remodel our kitchen and got approved. I’m in the Army so no huge bucks here, but good credit ratings and both cars (neither fancy at all) are paid off. We didn’t overextend ourselves in the good times and won’t now.
I live in the UK and just wanted to tell you that we can’t get loans either. I have over GBP£1million in property assets but am not working at the moment. I am a contract worker and the nature of my job means that I don’t work full time and have not for the past 10 years. Neither my Bank or my mortgage company will lend me any money as I am not working. I have never missed a loan payment in my life and my credit rating can’t be anything other than excellent. All I need is some liquid cash but I will be forced to sell my property at a low price in order to release some. I could afford the repayments (interest only) by using some of the money I am borrowing and there is no risk to the lender as the borrowing will be about 30% of the value of one of my properties which is currently not mortgaged. It’s crazy….
Actually, I have not experienced any problems obtaining a loan. I have a house and a condo in Austin, where I currently live, my real estate agent has informed me that it would not be prudent to sell them at this time. Unfortunately, I have to move to another city. I flew out, met with a banker, told him I had two homes I could not afford to sell, but needed to purchase a house in his city, where I would soon be working. The banker’s response was to not only offer me a loan, but also offer to finance any remodeling cost that might be incurred to make the house suitable for my 87 year old mother.
I am a mortgage broker and just had a client with a 720 credit score, 150K in the bank and who makes 110K a year turned down on a loan strictly because the two-family he was keeping and renting out didn’t have 30% equity in it. It had only 17% equity. He qualified on all the other conditions exept this new guideline that was imposed in October. This means that a 400K home wasn’t bought, I didn’t make any money and my company didn’t make any money. This kind of lending will lead to further price declines in the houseing market and worsen an already devasted housing market.
I applied to refinance our current home mortgage. I was approved for a loan with fixed 4.875% APR for 30 years and less then $2000 in loan fees. I was unable to close on my loan because my house value has declined too much in the past 12 months. In short, I have less then 5% in equity in my property. I disagreed with my house appraisal, however, this did not help. Less then 20 houses sold in my area in the last 12 months. Thus, the appraisal was done based on those sales. In order to close on my loan, the lender wanted me to put $60,000 down to bring my house value to loan value below 80%. I can not do that at this point. I have a stable job, perfect credit history, and FICO score close to 800!!! So, I am not sure who’s getting loans and where the bank stimulus money went???
I am in the process of attempting to refinance, but I am running into all sorts of brick walls. I currently have a mortgage @ 6% interest, and I was given the opportunity by Citi to lower my interest rate to 4.5% with points. My wife and I have credit scores of 805 and 800 respectively, and we have a combined income of over $125K. We thought it would be easy to refinance, but the appraisal on our home has dropped, creating an issue with the underwriters. We have never missed a payment, and we are always on time. Our home is appraised @ $100K more than our loan, so I am not sure why this is such a problem.
I took out a home equity loan a year and a half ago with Americafirst Credit Union. I was going to get married so I thought I would be selling the home and didn’t worry about the balloon loan I was getting. Well, long story short, home didn’t sell, not getting married and a single mom. I”m paying $600 per month (totally going to interest) for 10 yrs at 11.75% interest. Americafirst will not let me refinance or look at any options. They did send me a letter saying they could adjust my rate to 11.5%. Wow!!!! I’m sure that will help a ton!!! I have been with the credit union for over 30 yrs.
I recently transferred to the Central Valley, CA area. I make $105,000 a year, have not been late on a house payment in over 5 years. Any bad debit I had has been paid off for years. I have tried 8 different banks including, the Fannies, Freddies, BofA, Citi (who I had a flawless mortgage with for 4 years, just last year), I can’t even get past the phone call to get an application submitted to get a mortgage. Every bank has told me to get a credit card, (yes it’s true, I do not have a credit card) and that will help my credit rating but I can’t get one because of my credit rating. I have been flawless in all of my financial dealings for over a year and my credit rating, FICO score, has not gone up one point in the past 8 months. Have made appeals, to no avail, to all three credit bureaus. When my house does sell in NC me and my family will be homeless.
I was shocked when they said no. I own my $300,000 home with no mortgage. I have no credit card debt as I have only one card which is paid off fully each month. The only negative I have on my credit is an old landlord with whom I have a dispute over a stain on the carpet that was there when I moved in and I refuse to pay the couple hundred dollars for. My salary is 6 figures. I do have a student loan at 8% which I wanted to pay off with a home equity loan at a lower percentage. Bank of America (in which I have accounts totaling tens of thousands of dollars) refused me.
Tried to get a $20k credit line for start-up just for floating inventory so didn’t have to tie up that cash (which was currently invested elsewhere). The rest of the start-up expenses had been paid for with cash savings. Agreed to personally guarantee credit line (800 credit score, $500K in net worth). PNC (a bank doing very well) came back and said they’d give $10K credit if secured by $5K CD. Didn’t see the point in the hassle for such a small amount, so will handle with my own cash. They agreed to $10K unsecured after I pointed out my personal accounts in that very same bank were much much greater than that. Thought I’d be the perfect customer, someone who didn’t really need the money except to prevent tax triggering investment sales.
The only people who are getting rich from the bank bailout are the executives. I tried to get a personal loan from Wells Fargo and they told me no. It is strange, I just financed my house through Wells Fargo.
Recently tried to co-sign for Daughter for a lone through SallieMae on second half Technical College. I was approved for first have last July 08 when I applied. This year I’m in better shape fanancially than last year with credit scores around 700 but now disapproved. Now we have try elswhere or her not finish the the technical school because of the stricter credit requirements from creditors. How does you Daughter finish a school, get a decent job to pay pay back a loan that the origianl loan institiute will not approve now?
Bought a car a couple of weeks ago with no problem. The direct bank loan was approved within 30 minutes and we got a great used rate. Of course, my credit score was 800. I’m one of the 99% of the population that are responsible with my money.
Here’s an example to the opposite extreme that gives a little insight into why we’re in this mess:
I’m a grad student in Michigan, married, no kids. My wife and rent. I work part-time, my wife works part-time. We have been able to make ends meet, but things are tight.
Several weeks back we were looking into making a major purchase that we knew was probably outside our means. But we chose to apply for credit with a local bank just to see where we stood. On the basis of our credit scores (hovering around 800), we were approved for $30,000. The bank, without consulting us first, immediately issued us a credit card with a $30,000 limit.
We have always been very responsible with our credit and we know that at this point in our life, such a loan is not financially responsible (our income cannot possibly qualify us for such a high amount).
Where is the financial responsibility on the part of the bank? And this coming from a bank that received government aid?!?!
I for one am not convinced that the banks have got things sorted out yet and realize the problems with their policies.
When I got the card in the mail, I immediately cancelled it (taking a credit hit) and called them to complain.
I have a building in Boulder Co. I have been dealing with Bank of Omaha. Have a 795 credit score, over 400K in the bank, retirement income of over 140K annually which would pay the mortgage, have the building 60 percent leased. Building appraised at 2.6 and although building three years ago appraised at 3.6M they would only lend 2.2 which is what we owed the construction loan on the build out. However, bank wont make loan BECAUSE regulators and examiners require them to have the building pay entirely by itself and thus I cant get a loan. I was told that a year ago, it would have been an easy decision, but today the examiners are making their lives hell and thus, they have to hold on to their money.
Here’s a new rule from Fannie Mae that I have not heard talked about by anyone but my lender, when turning me down for a mortgage we had already been qualified for:
If you own a home and want to buy another home, and plan to rent out the existing home, you must move out of the house into an apartment for 6 months, and have 6 months of verifiable rental income, before you can use that income as real “income” to qualify for the new house. Then, they only give you credit for 75% of that rental income (that part is not new).
So, we were supposed to qualify for our new house while still supposedly paying a $2500 mortgage for our other house! We had a signed lease and deposits, but they did not accept that.
Also, they require student loans to be deferred for 3 years. Ours had 2.5 years left, but they would not budge.
And, between the time we qualified and two weeks later, the points to get the same rate went up from 1.25% to 3.25%.
And, they don’t do 0% down anymore, so we had to put 5% down.
What started out as me thinking we would do a no money down loan with the seller paying closing costs turned into $20k in closing costs.
I have recently been denied a 3 step loan from Wells Fargo. I have over 778 credit score my loan was for 176k. My house was appraised at 219k. I have about 90k a year income and no debt, except my car that is $350 a month. I have been with them for over 3 years at 6% rate. I locked in at 5.3 on the 3 step paying absolutely zero out of pocket and was denied because my LTV was about 80.4% and to qualify I had to be at 80% or under. I think this is ridiculous and now the rates are climbing. Why? The banks are getting all this money and the Fed has dropped the rate to nearly free for them, and we are not seeing a dime. This double dipping needs to be stopped. The Fed needs to set a standard for the banks that are borrowing the money that they can’t exceed 4.5% on a qualified consumer.
overseas there are no Amerifax or other credit score companies that use a credit score to keep you from being able to have credit so I propose that these companies been done away with.Overseas if you have a job you have credit yet in this country your credit score can keep you down for 10 yrs or longer because of a medical bankrupcy or these companies need to be examined by congress and done away with otherwise there will be millions of people whom the stimulus will not do any good and will not be able to contribute to the financial recovery.This country will need every single person that can to get out and get purchasing.I also do not see the stimulus plan working because it is too little $$$ wise.I suggest a New Start with every tax payer who has a job and is paying taxes recieving a credit for $ 100,000.00 that would get things going and repair alot of the damage that otherwise will take 10 yrs to repair if ever.
Just bought the home last july, 20% down and no late pmts, good credit 670 or so and stable job with better than average pay; no way can i get it refinanced to a lower rate, even my own credit union wanted the same 6.35% to refi.
Banks aren’t lending! Bush should have included mandatory stipulations to those institutions who received “Bail Out” money. Those institutions should have been required to lend to so many individuals each month, and not just to individuals in a certain income or credit range. Furthermore, a team should have been in place to make sure those institutions executed the required stipulations. How does an administration dish out so much money and not oversee its distribution to ensure the purpose of the distribution is being met. We (the taxpayers) are now paying “big-time” to keep the rich richer because the institutions have essentially pocketed the “Bail Out” money. I applied for a new home loan with Citigroup for a FHA loan (FHA only requires a credit score of 580 for a approved home loan) with a credit score well above that, and no past due bills on my credit. I was told I was approved and received a set interest rate. After that initial approval conversation with my loan officer I was never called back. I called several times to get my approval letter faxed to me. Citibank never returned my phone calls or sent my approval letter. The economy will NEVER recover if institutions don’t start distributing the funds for what they were intended for– DISTRIBUTION INTO THE ECONOMY!
As recently as September 2008 I qualified for a $30,000 auto loan. Now I am trying to open a Home Equity Line of Credit for $30,000 and have been denied by Chase, Bank of America and Wachovia.
I have an excellent credit score and plenty of equity in my house.
I don’t want to sell my stocks or mutual funds because they’re worth half of what they use to be.
My sister and I own a coop together in New Jersey. Both of us make over 6 figures, have credit scores over 750 and own another property that is fully paid off. Each of us owns a timeshare and besides that loan and the mortgage, have no other debt. Our interest rate on the mortgage is 6.65%. Our current mortgage lender – PHH mortgage, refused to refinance on the grounds that we had insufficient income! (I am a 1099 contractor, and they said the W-2 income was too low). Bank of America has locked in a 5.25% rate, but says it will be 2 months before closing – by which time, I am sure the house value would have dropped and they will find a reason to deny us. We are too credit worthy – pay our bills on time, don’t default, make good income and have a high credit score – it seems to be refinanced down to a lower monthly payment!!!
I just bought a house in san diego ca and had no trouble getting a loan. we walked right in with good credit and a job and got approved in about 2 hours!
Life is good when you do the right thing!!
I have several credit cards, many I have not activated and primarly use my AMX for purchase. I own two houses and have never been late on any of my payments.
Recently CITI sent me a letter saying ” that due to a negative entry into my credit report they basically felt I was a bad risk”. I checked my credit reports to find out that Equifax had two entires that were incorrect, and charged me $7.95 to get a copy of my FICO ( while I got a free copy of credit report) which showed me a credit score of 640. The other two did not have the incorrect items and showed me with a free score of 740.. Equifax has since squared it away but I am having troublew getting information from them on my revised(?) FICO now.
I think that they the credit reporting agencies are partially at fault due to lack of intergreity in updating your files
Hey Sahai,KS: February 17, 2009
Bank’s can reject your applications if you are not a citizen of the USA or you are not stating all the facts thet need. Look what’s happening in Dubai, Americans, Bristish and Australians are leaving all their new cars and homes and going back to their country of citizenship, because they lost their jobs in Dubai. The bank’s of Dubai are not stuck with these loan defaults. It’s not an American bank thing, it’s becoming a global banking problem. People can just run off to their country of citizenship if they choose to run from their debt. Just my opinion.
My husband and I have a combined income of over $140,000. We have never been late on our mortgage or car payment which are automatically deducted from our checking account each month. We did not pay a $200 doctor bill from when we were out of state (an oversight), other than that our credit is perfect. However, we were recently the victims of identity theft so we closed all outstanding credit cards except for the two that we use on a regular basis. We pay our credit cards in full each month. Recently, we were denied an American Express card. We were informed that when WE closed our credit cards our debt to credit ratio went too low and the act of closing the credit cards lowered our credit score. Big mistake for American Express because we are excellent consumers!
We only owed 68K on a 500K home. We wanted to open up a HELOC and Bank of America took us through the ringer before turning us down. We have +700 scores. We then went to Charter One and was approved with 5 days.
I recently was denied a loan to purchase a mobile home. I have a home already, which is valued at nearly $200,000. I owe $33,000 on it and it will be paid off in 12 years. My income is over $50,000/year and my credit score is 806 IAW Trans Union. In addition, I have $113,000 in a money market account and approximately $10,000 in regular savings. So, money is not so tight? You couldn’t prove it by me.
I wanted a $10,000 used car loan and the bank approved me for $60,000. I went to refinance my house and got 4 5/8%. Then I got some convenience checks from my credit card at 4.90% for life. Oh, I do have an 800 credit score. It is about time all you sorry saps pay according to the risk YOU ARE!
Just got turned down on a refinance for a house that I have been in for 11 years. Details: semi retired, loan to value ratio 60%, credit score over 800, net worth $3M, net liquid worth $550k, house value $350k. Problem: most of my income for the last 2 years was from cap gains. The lender says that “doesn’t count as income”
Wow. I have average credit, (but very good income and low debt-income ratio)and I got a home loan and locked in a great rate, no problem. My boyfriend, who went through a bankruptcy not long ago, has decent, but not great income, just purchased a vehicle (for 12k) in late Jan, and had no problems. We live in Wisconsin. Not sure if our location matters, but our story (among people we know) is not at all uncommon.
First off, we were approved for a refinance, but terms were so bad that we had to withdraw. I think we are probably the poster child on why this won’t get fixed anytime soon. We qualified and were approved for a 4.625% locked rate. We have a high credit score, 790, sufficient income, and good load-to-debt ratio. Our problem was the appraisal came in dropping our home value from 513K to 440K in 17 months. We had put down 100K when we originally closed avoiding the PMI. With the 15% drop in home value, our initial downpayment of 100K had been whittled down to just 40K making a conventional mortgage impossible. We were offered an FHA with PMI. Upfront PMI costs of 8K and monthly PMI costs of another 17K ballooned the mortgage by 25K. That virtually wiped out any signficant savings and made the pay back range balloon to over 11 years. It just wasn’t worth it. If we added all the closing costs in, we were adding around 20K to the cost of closing and bringing us closer to an upside mortgage. Another sustained drop in housing prices and we’d be there. I contend if we don’t qualify, who can?
I have been trying to get a car loan for the past year and a half. I am a 22 year old IT professional and student still living at home with my mother in Houston. I make 2400 monthly and I CANNOT get approved for an auto loan. Every time I get close to aquiring a vehicle the banks come back and say they want something else. I have $2800 saved up so far and I have not even done my taxes yet.
I only wanted to combine a home equity and loan of $67,000; and for that amount they do not even want to talk to me. They want the big $100,000 or over loans.
I have been in the mortgage business since 1994. I am Licensed in all 50 states.
WE ARE LENDING.
Many times a borrower is declined because of LTV or DTI ratios. Just having a high FICO is not a reason for an approval.
Mortgage financing has just reversed itself to be doing waht we did back in the late ’90’s. People now need income, assets, and credit to qualify. Having just 1 or 2 out of 3 is not enough. I am here to help any and all who need mortgages.
If any has problems refinancing/purchasing, please call me at 631-659-2001 or email me at todd.brown@sterlingnational.com
You can’t get credit anywhere. I have a credit score of 720-730 and granted I am only 26 but I have never once missed a payment on any student loan, credit card, telephone bill, etc. and I always pay off my credit card. Recently I decided that I should have a VISA or Mastercard in addition to the American Express I carry. I have applied for over 15 cards and not a single one has approved my application. The reasons range from not carrying a balance on a revolving line of credit (since I pay off my balance every month) to not having worked at my company long enough though I have been employed for the last five years with no longer than a week long lapse between two jobs since I graduated. It is a joke that someone who has a credit limit of $50,000 from American express and a great credit score with no late payments on his credit history cannot get a simple VISA or Mastercard credit application approved. Both politicians and creditors should be ashamed of themselves for taking money from hardworking americans such as myself through these bailouts and refusing to use the money for what is was intended for. Pathetic and Shameful!
It has become harder to secure home financing that ever. No one is interested in helping people with investment properties. I have two rental properties…wait they are rented to my two children…I want to get better finacing for them. But “In order to get a loan, you must first prove you don’t need one”
Banks are lending…if you deserve credit! If this was the practice earlier we would not be in this mess. Here’s an idea…spend less, save more, and pay cash. The US government has you believing you can’t live with out credit, this is our culture. Go deeper and deeper into debt and then wait for someone to bail you out. Make better decisions and take care of your own personal economy, the result will amaze you!
I have been trying to get a loan for more than a year now. With no luck. I developed a property within one of the few thriving areas that has been protected a bit from the national meltdown. The area has high concentrations of oil and natural gas production among other industries which has greatly assisted this community in surviving recession times. I have submitted incredible loan packages to more than 7 banks. Some have sent loan denials right away, some have never called back, some stall and indicate that they are doing loans but are just really busy. But the bottom line is I’m not getting loans and I probably won’t anytime soon. With each loan application that has been denied I have taken the bank’s “concern” and resolved any issue they had. Basically jumping through any hoop they place in front of me. However once I do this, there is still no closing table in sight. To give you an example of some of my loan packages thus far. 30% loan to value (which is extremely below most any bank’s requirements). Scores of 700. 57% of the project has been sold. So this is not a poor quality loan. I am a single developer who also happens to be a woman. When I started this project I certainly knew that I was entering into a field which was dominated by men. However, I didn’t think that would stand in my way. I’ve of course never received a loan denial that says I’m not approved because I’m female. However, many of the banks took my name and before they even looked at my file they asked if I could find a co-borrower. They would hint… maybe your dad,a builder, or a husband? I would hate to think that I meet all loan requirements and just maybe I’m not getting loans because I’m female. I do believe that when in this kind of environment some banks will find anything and everything they can in order to not do a loan. And just maybe although never admitted, the bank’s confidence level of me being a young female developer might be hurting me after all. For my situation, if I can’t get loans to continue forward it will be completely and totally devastating to me and my family. Rpsinvestments1@verizon.net
I recently attempted to get a small auto loan through Chase and Capital One, I earn over 85k per year only have a mortgage, student loan and a small balances on 3 credit cards. I was denied by both.
I assume what I am going to tell you is typical. I was self employed for 10 years with excellent credit but I had to close my business.I am unemployed for 7 months and can’t pay my bills and living on credit. My scores went from 700 to 480. I have never been late on a mortgage payment in 10 years. My story is never ending and I ma not sure how I will be able to regroup.
Well, my credit score is 776, my wife’s is 761 and we both have steady jobs and plenty liquid assets. We called our current mortgage holder (Citimortage) to inquire about refinancing. After about 1hr on HOLD, someone came on the on line just to take down our basic information and instructed us that someone would call us back in 3 days to discuss re-financing. Its been a month and we never heard from ANYONE at citimortage. We at least deserve a call back.
“Credit still remains available for those consumers with a high credit score, a stable job and plenty of equity in their home, he notes. In other words, banks may be trying to minimize the number of loans that may actually default.
“The guys [banks] don’t want are maxing out their credit card lines,” he said. “[Banks] are lending, but lending more selectively.”"
YIKES!!! I’m wondering if Conn. is the only state that is lending money according to Charles Wendel. I earn a six figure income, no credit debt, credit rating just shy of 800, over 30% equity in my home, several hundred thousand $’s in 401K and other liquid savings accounts and was denied a loan by Sun Trust and am now doing the back and forth with GMAC to try and get a re-fi. Somebody let me know if I’m missing something when I say “Banks continue to be part of the problem versus the solution”
Things got so bad that I applied for a loan from Louie “Two Fingers” Panozzi. The interest rate was 39%. which may be high but at least he would give me the money unlike the banks. They call him “Two Fingers” because he takes two fingers every time you miss a payment. They call me Johnny “Two Thumbs” Satrioso because I’ve missed 4 payments already. On the plus side, I no longer have a car payment or have to spend money on gas because every where I walk, people think I’m hitch-hiking and give me free rides. I’d point my finger at the banks as being the big culprit in my current credit situation except I don’t have a finger to point. Two big thumbs down to the banks!!
In lieu of selling and buying another house, we decided to add on. Plans were drawn up and a contract put in place. The bank, BB&T, told us “no problem.” My wife credit score is approx. 790, and my wife’s is over 800. We have assets in the bank, and income to substantiate our request. Because the new loan would exceed 80% of the projected value of the loan, we were told we could not do it. “No company out there will offer PMI in an area that Fannie/Freddie has termed a ‘declining market’.” So, we go to a broker. Broker says “no problem.” The only catch is that BB&T must agree to subordinate (accept a 2nd position) on the loan we already have with them. “Sorry,” says BB&T. We won’t even subordinate because the total mortgage will exceed 80% of what WE think the projected value of your home will be. So – we are stuck.
Moral of the story? Don’t expect anything from your bank. They, like all other banks, are holding on to their existing assets and the TARP assets so that they can bolster their balance sheets, look good to investors, and protect themselves from any possible further loss due to an unknown number of bad assets on their books.
I guess a 10-year relationship with one’s bank doesn’t mean CRAP in today’s market.
The news has focused quite a bit on home foreclosures as well as job losses. There is another large reason people cannot currently obtain new loans – delinquent student loans. I am 29 and I have yet to own my own home. I would love to take the next step and purchase, but with defaulted student loans on my record, it is absolutely impossible. Further more, unlike a bankruptcy, these loans will hang over my head for the rest of my life.
Throughout school, counselors would say, “Don’t worry, you’ll make enough to pay for your student loans and then some. Just sign here.” Looking back, I have to say how absurd. Now I have over $100,000 worth of delinquent loans because I fell through the financial aid cracks of law and reason, attempting to make a better life for myself. I might just be worse off than if I had decided to take another path in life.
Some people might ask, “Why not just pay on your loans?” That would be asking me to take on another rent payment per month. This is just not possible. Others might ask “Why not pay what you can?” – my answer to this is, if I cannot pay the full amount owed each month, I am reported anyway as having bad credit, so what is the point? I have offered partial payments, but these student loan companies always want all or nothing, frequently asking if I can borrow money from my relatives. This is wrong as well as ludicrous on so many levels.
The entire state of affairs is a “catch 22″ which places me in a situation where I will most likely never have the opportunity to become financially stable, even with a good, steady job.
I am the type of person that prides himself on being up to date on my payments, but I am simply in a situation that I cannot get my head above water, and because of our wonderful governmental rules and laws, there is no way for me to rectify this, other than eventually have my wages garnished. I can barely maintain a reasonable standard of living now, with almost 33% of my paycheck being taxed. Place another 25% on top of this, and perhaps it would be best to stop giving to society and build a shack in the woods.
So,mega banks are lending and the community banks are in good shape according to news reports. Tightening standards for loans is appropriate but maybe too late given the debt load already assumed.
Yet, people who exceed the lending standards are being turned away. Maybe the banks see more trouble ahead and can’t say so with confidence. That’s the scary part.
Could it also be that legacy debt is effectively crowding out new loans?
My Bank In Litchfield Connecticut won’t even look at me because I have my own home business. They will not do any stated income refinancing on my home so i can take advantage of the new rates.
And because I fear i make too little, I don’t want to risk the fees and all like appraisals etc, only to get turned down. My credit score is 780. I have never defaulted on any mortgage or made any late payments in the last 25 years, yet my bank won’t help. What’s the point in keeping a high credit score? I should just file for bankruptcy and call it a day.
I recently received a notice from Citi that they were raising my intrest rate to 19.99% for a credit card. I have high credit rating. I was outraged! Here B of A and Citi have taken billions in our tax dollars, and are raising the interest rates on their good customers! Well “opting out” was a no brainer. I called Citi and asked what the payoff was, and sent them a check, and closed the account. I have no time for their excuses. Their mistakes in making bad loans on real estate, or financing buyouts of gaming concerns,or other business’s that are on the verge of filing bankruptcy are not my problem. I intend to be debt free by June of this year. I own a business and I am doing ok. One thing you do in business is not to piss off your customers, otherwise you loose them. I was going to buy a new truck in June, the key word is “was”. I choose to spend $6000 over the next 3 months to fix my 1995 Ford Diesel which has 310,000 miles on it. That is another no-brainer…why spend $40,000 for a new diesel, that won’t last, and have debt? And believe me taking it to a Ford dealership that charges $90 per hour highway robbery labor rates is not in the plan. I have had to lower my prices on my items to keep them moving, I might not make as much as I did, but I am turning product, and showing growth and I manufacture luxury goods. Hey BofA, and Citi…WAKE UP!! Don’t piss off your good customers….Otherwise you won’t have any customers at all!!!
I have not had a problem getting a loan, but I have had a problem with Citi and their so called “Hardship Assistance” Program. In early November they came out with news that they were going to help people before they reached foreclosure by forbearance, repayment plan, or loan modification, fill out the forms and send the necessary paperwork. I did so explaning that I have been out of work since March making over 100k a year and now I am on unemployment getting $340.00 a week. I was asking for a reduced interest rate for 6 months to a year till I got a job and back on my feet. I received a letter on November 26th saying that they were sending my request to a Loan Mitigation Specialist and I would hear from them in 30 days; I am still waiting ( today’s date Feb 17th.) I have called and left message after message and no one has called back. Meanwhile, Citi has asked for more taxpayer money and was caught trying to buy a new jet!
I have/had a capitalone card. I’ve never missed a payment in years. My rate was sub 7pct. Suddenly they raised my rate to 16pct! I called and all they kept saying was that these were extraordinary times. I declined the change and am giving up the card. Seems they want only hi-interest people who have no other choice! I immediately applied with another company for a sub 8pct, and I think I’ll be approved. It was like cap-one was saying ‘don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.’
I sucessfully refinanced my 30 year fixed rate loan through Wells Fargo. I have 50% equity in my home, a credit score of 790, enough income to afford my mortgage payment, no credit card debt and no home equity lines. My rate went from 5.75 to 5.0. I think loans are available to people who are worthy candidates. Should banks not tighten their standards? Isn’t that one of the factors that put us in this mess?
I am a lawyer with income and significant home equity. About a month ago, I had an opportunity to make an investment in some property, so I applied for a home equity loan from Bank of America for about half the equity in my home. I chose BOA because I have banked with them for over 5 years and have a checking account there with a balance greater than the amount of the loan I was requesting. About 2 weeks later, I received not just one, but THREE, rejection letters from BOA all saying the same thing – my loan was denied since I had supposedly previously filed for bankruptcy. I have never filed for bankruptcy. Accordingly, I contacted my local BOA where I had applied for the loan, only to be told that the person there who handles home equity loans was on vacation for 2 weeks, so I should call back when seh returns since no one else there was qualified to help. Of course this was an unacceptable answer to me, so I persisted at finding someone who could help. After more calls from me and more days passing, I finally got a call back last week from the branch manager, who said that she would look into the sitaution. SHe also had no idea why BOA would waste money on postage, labor and materials to send me 3 identical rejection letters – 2 of them sent the same day! I have heard nothing from anyone at BOA since then, and my investment opportunity has now passed. Needless to say, I am disgusted with BOA and can relate to CNN’s headline, “Why you can’t get a loan,” which grabbed my attention for sure.
I run a small business that depends on GE for a commercial line of credit, I have a line of $460,000 that I currently have 102,000 out on, I recently tried to get a large piece of inventory in and was denied, for $13,000 I finally got it through after explaining that the unit was sold and due for delivery in the spring, I was then told no more stock deliveries until my current inventory was more cleaned up even though it is far better than it was a year ago and I still have $350,000 available on what they had approved for us.
Citibank sent a notice informing me that they were bumping my rate to 29.99%.
I called and asked them to reconsider, they said no.
I am working hard to pay it off asap.
I want the government to charge banks the 29.99% on our money.
I recently graduated chiropractic school with my Doctorate. It was a five year education and with that education has come a large price tag of student loans. I am the father of five children. This is my second career but with the economy I am now second guessing my choices.
I have gone to now seven banks for a business loan (US Bank, Key Bank, Bank of America, Citibank etc). I have revamped my marketing plan each time but with each application I have been denied. The last time the Bank said I would be funded in two days so I paid for the build out from my pocket. Two days later the funding was rejected and no further information was given. I have got a part time job to now help. My credit score has now gone down 52 points through the application process. I was asking for only 50,000 dollars. They would not even loan 12,000. I have also been laughed out of numerous banks when they learn of the amount of education costs.
Banks are crooks. This article says it all with “Someone who doesn’t need any money.” Well, only people who need money want a loan. And we can’t get them. And if we can, they are charging outrageous rates. If the government started a program where they loaned $790 billion to small business and homeowners instead of spending it on useless programs, we would get out of this mess quickly and cost essentially nothing. The government would get the interest. And then banks would have to loan money to compete with the government, eventually eliminating the need for the goverment loan program.
Count me as another reader who thinks that this talk of unavailable credit is mostly scaremongering and bank scapegoating. Credit-worthy borrowers are not having trouble getting loans from solvent banks. I’m constantly having to shred credit card offers, and was approved within minutes at an excellent rate for the new car that I just had to buy.
The current crisis is largely the result of a the Fed’s irresponsibly loose credit policy. People have been encouraged to over-consume on credit for years, which has dangerously de-stabilized the economy. As Steve said, the current crunch is mainly affecting people who shouldn’t have been getting the easy credit they have for the last decade or more in the first place. And the only solution to that problem is not to make the situation even worse by printing money and throwing even more easy credit into the system — which will only delay and worsen the eventual and necessary economic correction.
The banks are the drug dealers of money. They let us borrow and borrow then blame us for over extending ourselves. The dealer gave us the addiction and now are holding back the drug. We are in the throws of withdrawl. We need some sort of rehab program not more credit from the same junkies who hooked us. We are partly to blame but that doesn’t fix the problem. Wheres our 12 step program?
I tried to get a $9,000.00 motorcycle loan because I just cant afford gas anymore. The motorcycle shop tried 2 different banks, one was a credit union and the other was GE, both declined. The banks see the motorcycle loans as play toys, not main modes of transportation which it would have been for me.
I have a credit score of 710
So the banker exec’s say they are lending. May I remind everyone that the tobacco exec’s also said nicotine was not addictive. Asking bankers if they are lending is like asking a restaurant if their food is good. Highly selective lending is the only lending banks are doing.
Your story is “BS”. What you advocate is exactly what created the mess we’re all in. If you have good credit and the proper debt to income ratio loans are easy to get. If your cash flow is weak, debt to income, then you are turned down for the loan. If banks had been doing this for the last 10 years, we would not be in the mess we’re in. Now loans go only to people or businesses that can actually pay the loan back. Most of your comments seem to blame the banks…okay lets give loans to everybody….we’ll never got out of this mess. If you think back 20-25 years, loans were hard to get and if you didn’t meet specific guidelines..no loan. This is the way it has to be.
I’ve been trying to get a student loan on my own for school. I have a great credit score, make all my payments on time and have a good paying job. I applied for a loan for college and they said that they couldn’t take any applications and even earlier when I tried I got declined even with my mom as a cosigner. I’m also getting a different car now and I still need my mom to cosign with me even though I make enough money to support myself with the payments. i really need that loan to go to school!!
I tried to refinance my house early last year and my student loans, which are in deferrment as I pursue my Ph.D., were counted against my debt to income ratio. My lender wanted me to have the school guarantee that I would be attending school for at least three years, and not only won’t any school do that, but my Ph.D. program is only three years long anyway. The market was depreciated so much anyway that a reappraisal showed my house had gone down in value too much for me to refinance anyway.
I’ve had rates on two of my credit cards go up multiple times over the last year, even though I regularly pay above and beyond the minimum. The reason I am given is because of my “past credit history”.
On another note, I bought my house in July of 2007, a fixer-upper that I live in. I was going to refinance it to get some more money for additional repairs. I also bought the house before the homebuyer’s credit was put in place. I also bought a car in late 2008, again before this year’s stimulus tax credit took place.
My husband and I together have a annual income of 50k. We tried to refinance our home 2 weeks ago, BB&T and Countrywide told us we had to have a credit score over 720 to even think about a loan. Our credit scores are both low 700’s. At our age (22) we thought that was great but obviously not. Our credit score have dropped due to almost maxing out our credit cards to keep bills paid. Interest on our house is 6.50% and we wanted to over borrow a few thousand dollars to pay off the cards and get back on our feet before we loose everything. We then turned to a home equity line, but we can’t qualify for that because the value of houses has dropped so much, that our home wont appraise for much over what we are loaned at now. So point blank, we are stuck with no options. We had our house for sale, but just to cover the loan on the house and not profit anything, over shoots the neighborhood about 20 thousand dollars. Anyone have any other suggestions?
My wife and I bought a house in nov and we tried to apply for a home depot card to do some repairs and things like that and were turned down then the catch is we just refied the loan last month @ 4.875 for 30 years I can borrow 200,000 twice but I cannot get a 5,000 line of credit from home depot AWESOME
Credit??? Who needs it? I just turned 40 and realized years ago that I was no longer a CONSUMER. Sure I still need food and whatnot to survive, but as a spend happy person that needs ‘things,’ I do without. I’m perfectly content doing so, I have no credit but do have a mortgage I signed onto more than 10 years ago. I get offers all the time to spend my money, either using credit card or fancy vacations, they go into the shredder without ever being opened. Cars run for years today without needing a single repair. I just bought a car 2 years ago and paid with a personal check… Why do I need credit again?
Basically, it now boils down to-if you already had a huge amount of money to begin with then you can have a loan for no absolutely no reason. However, if you are a small business trying to do something with yourself, do everything right by the banks & government rules, and be a productive member of the community then forget receiving any help because you just don’t make enough, no matter how well you are running the business.
I would also love to know when having several hundred thousand dollars or even a few million of your own money suddenly now equates with being poor, seriously? How about the majority of people that earn less than $100,000.00 per year? Where do we fit in?
That’s the other thing that irritates me about this whole housing and credit “crisis”, the “experts” tell you that if you can’t afford a house where you live then you need to move somewhere else but try finding a job that pays decently and that is somewhere where you want to be. A lot of the locations that have expensive housing costs (for places that literally are falling apart only a few years after being built) are phenomenally overpriced. If you want someone to consider buying a house, maybe they should be decent spaces to live in and in the affordable range for the vast majority of the population that would like to own one.
For the past year I have been eyeing a larger home due to the meteoric fall in home prices. Well that meteoric fall caught my own home and in two years my central SF bay area home has dropped in price from 550K to about… if I am to read the MLS correctly….185K.
All 3 of the people across the street from me bought in excess of 500K, I spent a total of 350K on purchasing and remodeling my home. Well, 350K can get you today what 900K would have got you three years ago.
Regardless of credit and income, I am told I can’t get any loans until I sell my current home because the banks assume I wish to walk away from my current mortgage.
Prices continue to drop and are going down because banks won’t loan, which causes prices to fall further until someone either picks the property up for cash or actually manages to qualify. And that is the way they’re being sold. Drop the price until someone can pay cash, then the cash comp sale devastates every home in the surrounding area. Banks are clearly their own worst enemy here. Surely, californias many laws about dumping something for less than what you bought it for. BANKS that currently own the foreclosures should be forced to provide the loans to sell the homes they foreclosed upon rather than saying “we want out of this neighborhood and we’re not loaning any more money to it.” If the banks had a vested interest, ie must provide the mortgage at a competitive rate if they foreclosed on the property would stop the slide of home prices in its tracks.
I was hoping my situation would be an aberration, but after reading many other comments, it is the norm.
I have a 30 year fixed rate of 6.35% on a duplex loan at Royal Credit Union. I have over 20% equity in the property, have credit score of close to 800 and not one financial blemish on my credit report. With interest rates near 5%, I would save close to $100/month. But, I was turned down saying I didn’t have enough equity in the property. This is the same credit union where I bank normally, have had over 5 loans, and USED to have an easy relationship with. If I can’t refinance, who can?
My husband and I have had mixed luck. We were able to be approved for a mortgage, at 5.5% and no points, then I easily was approved for an auto loan but it was a higher percentage point. I am paying 9.9 for a used car. Much higher then offered. I cannot get approved for a credit card for the life of me, and have very few with little to no balance. I am on time with all my payments. I can be trusted to pay a new house in this market but not a credit card? Go Figure
In the last six months I have received two sizeable loans. I have a new car loan and a new mortgage, all this will a 700 credit score. I keep hearing from the media how bad it is but I have not found this to be the case at all.
I own two high investment propertys in Austin Texas that I have been making payments on time for over two years. They where to be quick flips that didnt work out that way due to the crash. As a result I agreed to a high intrest rate only mortgage for a quick sale thinking I was going to be out of them fast. I own my primary resident outright with learly $500k in equity and only owe $220k for both propertys as I put down 10% upon closeing.
I can not even through a broker find anyone willing to re-finance these terriable mortgages. Thankfully they are both rented out but only paying the high intrest every month. Nothing has gone into the principle and the rents do not cover the taxes.
How can I get some relief?
Do I have to behave like I’m in distress to get any relief. I’m just looking for a fair 30 year fixed escrow mortgage.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
SG
I have been denied credit twice recently. First, I tried to get Credit with Conn’s, which is a retail appliance & electronics store. What upset me most about this is that I have been a customer of this store for years, and have several prior accounts that were all paid off in good standing. My credit score is slightly better than it was at the time of my last purchase. It upsets me that they go by score anyway. What they should look at is credit history, revolving accounts, and current accounts. A few unpaid medical bills hurt me somewhat, but it still doesn’t explain the denial. I also tried to get credit recently with Dell. I was going to buy a new computer and was denied credit. Imagine that. What I find to be absolutely stupid is that in August of 2008, I got an auto loan for a New Lincoln. I can drive a luxury vehicle, but I can’t finance a $3,500 computer.
So yea, maybe the banks are lending, to those who have a spotless credit score. For the average consumer such as myself though, they won’t lend a stick of gum. This situation is fueling anti-consumerism, which I believe was a major contributing factor to the length and severity of the Great Depression. Now that I know I can’t get credit to make a purchase, I certainly won’t buy it out right with cash. Something tells me that I may need that money later down the road.
I am very happy to see the banks restricting loans – making bad loans, thanks to Bill Clinton losening restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other lending institutions, is what got us into this mess.
I have a card through Chase that they gave me the option to “opt out” of the higher interest rate. My options were
1. Cancel the card and keep the remaining debt at 12%.
2. Keep the card and get a rate hike to 30%.
I exercised option 3, pay it off.
I’m not an angel on paying down principle but I’ve had one late in a couple years. Credit rating is fair but not poor.
I understand that banks should and have begun managing their risks but it does give one cause to consider the abysmally careless loans they had previously made and whether the rest of their regularly paying good customers should have to shoulder the burden of their ill-made decisions.
I don’t know where some of you people live, but where I live bank loans are very tight. We earn well over $100,000 per year and own over $1m in real estate. (Most of it is farm ground and it is debt free). We have been turned downed by banks for a loan for improvements. (Including repairing the siding on our house). Money is very tight, unless you are willing to mortgage everything “to the gills” for collateral.
I recently tried for several months to get a credit card in order to build my credit, but I had no credit history. I could not get a credit card from anyone even though I explored every avenue possible. They all told me it was pretty much impossible for someone with no credit history to get a credit card right now and therefore impossible for me to build my credit. This is extremely frustrating because I haven’t done anything wrong and haven’t gotten into any debt whatsoever, but yet I’m getting punished for it anyway. If it weren’t for my parents finally giving in and co-signing on a credit card for me then I’d still be here without a credit card, without credit history and without any way of building it up.
Late in 2006 my husband and I took out a home equity line of credit to do some remodeling and to bring our roof and windows up to hurricane code being we live in Florida. We took a break to pay down the money we had taken out and without so much of a notice, we find out the bank is freezing our line of credit citing my credit score (almost 900?!?!) and the decrease in property value in our neighborhood. We sent in a written rebuttal stating that we took the money out in an attempt to increase our property value to no avail. In addition, instead of the measly monthly payment the bank was taking out, we would pay up to 3 times what the minimum payment was a WEEK. Lending, right!
I applied for new auto loan on Bank of America online application. I was approved for the loan, but then in later stage they asked whether I am US citizen or not. And on that basis they rejected my application.
How can a bank reject my application just because I am not a citizen.
I TURNED DOWN A LOAN. We were working with one of the major banks on a consolidation loan, but specifically did not want to refinance the house. We were told that the only way we could make the loan work was to refi at a higher interest rate 8% compared to the 6.125% we currently have, and that we would ultimately “save” money because the new terms would extend the mortgage to 40 years instead of where we are today which will pay off in 18 years. Further, the bank told us that they worked with appraisers who would “set the value of our home to whatever we needed to make the deal happen”. We said no.
I have been a customer with PNC bank for over 10 years. I have savings, checking, and a credit card with them. Several years ago I took out a personal loan to purchase an older used car. I paid that loan off a year early. About a month ago I applied for a loan from them for $8500 to purchase another vehicle. I was denied. DENIED! My credit score is over 700, have never had a late payment on anything, never had a collection, nothing. And I was denied! Their reason, I live out of their service range. That is bull. I lived in the same place the last time they gave me a loan. Yes, there is no PNC in my town and I have to drive 30 minutes to the closest one. But that is because I am a loyal customer. No more. I will be taking my money elsewhere. Screw you PNC.
I have a half finished subdivision of townhomes in a highly attractive area. I cannot obtain financing to finish the project. I would employ about 100+ contractors to finish the project – all are desperate for work. There is a waiting list for renters in the area because nobody can actually purchase a home anyway. The units that are built are fully occupied. I am a developer with a proven track record. Banks are NOT lending money. They are all building new beautiful banks though. Hmmmmm……
I have a small business and I am current with the payment of all my bills, both personally and professionally. GE capital cut my credit line in half, saying they did so “because I wasn’t using it enough”. Both Dell Computers and Hewlett Packard have their sales people call to sell me equipment, which I want to buy to expand my business, but refuse to extend lease terms because “of the current credit environment”. My lease is up on my Ford automobile and Ford Credit Corp is not willing to finance the purchase of the same vehicle and the dealer does not want the car back. So, what are the banks doing with our tax dollars from the bailout? If we don’t pay our taxes we get to go to jail. Does anyone see a moral problem when our money is taken from us by force of law and given away to the same bankers who caused the problem in the first place?
I recently thought re-financing my auto-loan might be a way i can save a few extra bucks a month by hopefully getting a lower rate. I have had this car loan for the past 18 months with no late payments, etc… However, the same institution that approved me 18 months ago for a 30k dollar car loan, denied my 20k refinance. Not sure why yet, still waiting for that to come in the mail. I am a bit disappointed to say the least!
I have 750 credit score payed off 12000 dollars in debt in the last 6 months and have applied for an auto loan and have gotten declined twice. I own a house and two cars. Something is not right. PS my income is not a problem
Yes, Wells Fargo rejected my application of Refinancing eventhough having credit score 774.I had locked my rate at 5.125% but by the time I got rejection more than a month later the rate was 5.75%. They are very tricky. They are taking money from government just to be bold to fight and give hard time to customers and honeowners. Reason they gave me was your DTI is high. Even though interest rate is low but I am still paying 6.75% to Wells Fargo and they don’t want to modify or refinance my home but gladly takes high interest rate and suckign my blood. Other lender says your house value is low so we can only refinace upto 80% of loan that means I have to put more than $100,000.00 in cash which is impossible. So what kind help we are getting from lenders? I am asking the president,congressman,Senators and all other lawmakers to keep track of lending and get feed back from borrowers. Also please let all confirming home loans to refinace at 4.5% with no prepayment penalty. I have deal with Wells Fargo and Countrywide but both of them are very rude and never helps to good customers who pays payment on time and keeps good credit.Please help to home owners to refinance.Thanks and please add more comments on it.
This story that we keep hearing about banks lending money is FALSE. – I have A+ credit – rock solid employment for myself and spouse and yet cannot refinance to a lower rate do you want know what the holdback is???? APPRAISAL. Perfect credit..a new house…this stuff is meaningless unless you can meet the “new” lending requirements. These Banks are paranoid so now underwriting is busy telling you why they cannot approve. Sure the lenders are saying great..yes lets do it – BUT “oh sorry underwriting would not approve..but how about an equity line at 10%?”
Its just a joke..and we (govt) keep throwing money at the problem thinking its going to solve itself. Sooo while I continue to pay my bills on time and pay my taxes I reap NONE of the rewards that apparently are available to me???? I remember the American dream used to represent working hard and reaping the rewards – apparently its changed too get yourself into a corporate position…drive the organization in the ground…cry for a bailout..and then raid the coffers before you leave.
I have a 30 year fixed mortgage with Wells Fargo for the last 2 years (@6.25% with 10% down) and I wanted to refinance the loan to take the advantage of lower interest rates. I have a credit score of over 750 and have never defaulted in a payment (mortgage or otherwise). However, when I applied for the refinance and was promised a 5.125%. However, when I sent in the papers, my application was denied on the grounds that I need to have a minimum of 20% down for a refinance and was short of 6%. It surprises me that its the same bank where I have the loan and all I am asking for is a lower interest rate but was denied. This sucks….
We make 400k yearly, have a very high credit score, banked with the same bank for over 10 years and we have a home equity loan that was already approved about a year ago yanked with out telling us. When I went to reinstate it–they declined us and asked us to pay 2k in “assesors” fees to be reactivated. If we can’t get a loan reinstated that was already in place, I feel like these banks are getting away with games and should be punished not only for their past, but how they are playing with all of our futures. AND GETTING PAID BILLIONS OF OUR DOLLARS and MAKING bonuses on top of it. Puke.
Fees not approval a problem!
I purchased my current house just over a year ago for 6% 30 year fixed from my Credit Union – Approval process took a mater of hours – This January, when rates dropped to less than 5% I jumped at the chance to save around $300 on my mortgage – This time, the Credit Union was not so “easy” to get approved – I was approved for 4.675% 30 year fixed, however, in order to incur NO risk, NuVision FCU declared I would have to pay all manditory Fannie Mae fees required so that if I ever became a risk they could dump my mortgage off to the govt. Wow, slap in the face to me as I have purchased 3 cars, an ATV, a travel trailer, a mortgage, and a HELOC with this Credit Union in the past and paid all the loans off early…. The culprit – My FICO is over 750 but one errant ding on Experian shows my one and only credit card 30 days past due back in Dec which is bogus – I even sent in copies of my CC statments showing no overdue payments – I disputed the charge on Experian but that takes 60 days – I am mad as hell – Turned the bank down flat. It’s a frustrating feeling to know that those of us that pay our bills are the ones suffering for others that don’t and banks that make bad decisions.
nope i tried consolidating my Private Student Loans at more than 3 places, I was either declined or they told me that they weren’t currently running those programs. But i will say my Credit Cards went up on average of about 8-9% for APR, which i think is ridiculous since these companies use OUR TAX money to pay 18 billion in bonuses and then are getting even more money. I think Congress is going about this the whole wrong way. Let’s give companies the tax payers money to stay in business and then they can still be stingy on loans and mark up interest rates to charge the people who’s tax money they are getting more money! Lets increase the tax payers debt even more! a free economy ftw let these greedy, abusive companies fall isn’t that what free economy is about? They obviously aren’t fixing their problems and to stay in business you need to be competitive or someone buys you out. Let all these companies fail and get bought out then maybe they’ll change their management and stop being greedy and lazy.
Being in business for ourselves, with very high credit scores, we were turned down because we don’t show a high enough bottom line. We write off our vehicle, lowers our net, and other legal write offs. We have never been behind in payments. When we bought our home, they had “No Doc” loans, now they don’t. Sooooooo…….people in our position are screwed. Why not Help out the self employed that are not in danger of being fired, laid off or down sized. Who says, if working for a big company you are in a better financial position? They get laid off, lose the job……..but they can get a loan……..we don’t have that problem, make just as much money…..but can’t!!!! Life is grand!! Just not completely fair!!!!
My fiance and I, first-time home-buyers, recently applied for a loan to purchase a condo. Five separate banks either turned us down or offered interest rates between 14 and 17% on 25 or 30 year mortgages.
Our credit histories are pristine, our combined income is nearly $450,000/yr and we have 10% of our target purchase price in cash. (We are seeking a $900,000 loan, 80/10 with 10 down).
I have been pre-approved for a home loan… my first. But my credit is excellent and I’ve saved a 20% down payment. The key is in not living beyond your means and going for an affordable house rather than the Taj Mahal… The problem I’ve seen here is that people haven’t quite recognized that it’s not going to be business as usual anymore… We can’t keep living on credit and bad economic practices.
Yeh the banks are lending right, I have been with my bank for 24 years. I have had 10 loans during that time all have been paid off and I was never late on any of them.
I have no other loans now at all by debt ratio is around no existant and it was denied, no reason given.
I have done follow up after follow up and the bank wont respond.
I am a customer of Bank of America and have a checking and savings account. I applied for a credit card there and was turned down but the bank offered another solution. BOA offered me a secured credit card meaning if I send them $5,000 I can use the card for puchases up to $5,000. I don’t see the point myself since my debit card already does that.
My credit card rates are ridiculously high, despite the fact that I had never been late paying them. So after paying off a small personal loan, I decided to take out another to pay off my credit cards. My local bank, whom I’ve used for nearly 15 years and have had several loans with, denied my application. They said they had rewritten their loan guidelines, and that 2 years ago I would’ve had no problem getting the loan. Only when I came back with a co-signer did they give me the loan, and might I add, at a better rate than my credit cards. Good-bye credit cards.
I am a college student, recently out on my own and lloking for a credit card so I can start building my credit. I’ve been told my whole life to stay away from credit cards, but the simple truth is I have to have some way to build my credit. When I started looking, I didn’t expect it to be that hard because I’ve always heard about how credit companies just throw offers at my age group. However, I have been trying to no avail to find a company that would accept me, even for a tiny limit with a huge interest rate. What’s going on here?
Related to refinancing my home to take advantage of better interest rates (lower payments = economic stimulus) I have run into a problem and Freddie Mac is at the core of it. Due to declining housing values related to foreclosures, houses are now not “worth” what they clearly are worth according to Freddie Mac. Mortgages are a mess right now due to the very quasi-governmental institutions that caused this problem. I have excellent credit, a long, stable job history, and yet I’m not a safe lending risk for my bank? The entire system is lacking common sense right now and causing problems for responsible people like me (and I’m sure many of you). So, yes, credit clearly is a problem right now when banks can’t take on loans themselves because of reasons that make absolutely no sense.
I recently applied to Chase for a 200,000 loan against my home which had plenty of equity in it – Home value being 425,000 with no mortgage except a 30,000 equity line of credit.
It is not true that credit still remains available for those consumers with a high credit score, because mine was excellent at 760. I am self employed and I have had the bussiness for 12years now. So if someone like me cannot get a loan then the banks arent fulfilling their promise to the government!!!!!
It SHOULD be harder to get a loan. You can’t keep having all the things you never earned in the first place. NOBODY OWES YOU ANYTHING
I have one of thos ARM loans and was trying to refinance my home so that I could get a fixed loan and I have been turned down 5 different times. Now my husband has lost his job and even if I could get approved, my income won’t get it. We are in desperate need so I’m not sure what we are going to do. We have two small children and one of them has to go to a private school because she is not old enough to go to the public school. This is absolutely ridiculous. I am trying to lean on my faith but even that waivers when you have creditors calling your home all day about bills you just simply can’t pay…..not because you don’t want to but because you can’t. I sure hope things get better SOON!
My wife and I bought an average house in an average mid-western city 2 years ago, with only 5% down payment and a less than desirable credit score.
Recently, we relocated to another city for a new job. As a part of the new job, it comes with relocation and 2nd mortgage assistance from the employeer. Despite having those assistance from employeer, along with lower debt/income ratio compared to 2 years ago, and downpayment added up to 16% of the asking price, we still could not get a mortgage approval from Citibank, or Huntington bank, or Bank of America.
So, we laughed when we saw them on TV, defending themselves in congress and declaring that they actually give out more loans.
So my question to them is, who are them giving the loans to? Their own friends? People with 850 FICO score? People outside this country?
How about average folks who are trying to better themselves financially and paying their mortgage on time? What’s the point?????
Yes, my sister, brother and I and our spouses purchased a condo in 2006 near the University of Delaware campus. All 6 of us are employed with very high credit ratings. We applied to Wells Fargo. There were no hitches to the application. The builder took until November of 2008 to finish and get the occupancy certificates. Our mortgage had been approved in August 2008, but because the builder took so long, it expired. Now Wells Fargo says they will not lend us the money until the builder sells 70% of the condo units. The builder is threatening to keep all of our down payment money. We have called at least five other lenders and none of them will consider an investment loan. We are a terrific risk for any bank. If they are not lending to 6 people with excellent credit ratings, who in the name of God are they lending to? We stand to lose all of our down payment and now must get a lawyer. The builder plans to try to keep almost $50,000.
I am single, employed full-time and have been a homeowner for 12 years. I’ve never been late on my mortgage and have a stable credit history. Despite the horrific financial markets, I was able to refinance for a lower, fixed interest rate and 2 months later applied for a personal loan to make some necessary improvements to my home. I was turned down due to lack of credit.
I wish these banks would stop saying they have money to lend when they won’t relinquish a dime to their consumers.
I’m a recently seperated veteran and I’m going to be starting college this Summer. I have a credit score of 650 and can’t get approved for any credit cards including low limit cards that range from $500 to $1500 but I can get approved for a car that costs $12,000.
I have done research on the internet with different bank sites and they have a questionnaire you have to go through. So far I’ve been denied on four different banks. All I want to do is consolidate my bills and refinance my mortgage. The banks make it impossible to get a loan.
My father and I jointly own the home that my husband and I live in. It is completely paid for. I was recently laid off from my job, so we decided to apply for a home equity loan to consolidate and lower our debt payments. Since my father’s credit score is the highest of us all – 811 – he applied for the loan for us, and was denied! The home is worth around $350k, no leins. His income is over $120k/year and the only thing he owes money on is about $60k on one of his three houses – no car loans, no credit cards, nothing else. And they say banks are still making loans!?! Please tell me what bank, because I can tell you it’s not First Horizon!!
I applied for a private student loan and was denied. I work full time, make $25K per year and am trying to better myself with an education. Because of my denial, I now have over $5K on my credit card— all school related costs (books and tuition). How are you supposed to get a better paying job if you can’t get a student loan to pay for school? It’s kind of a catch-22, don’t you think?
I have had in the last two months two creditors that have cut my available credit. One on a card with a zero balance. I have great credit, never been late on my payments. I got so mad I called and cancelled the card. They raved about my great payment history and tried to persuade me to keep the card…why I asked when you cut my credit to next to nothing. No thanks, I’ll go somewhere where they will appreciate my business.
I find it incredible that the Banks have taken all that money and still someone like me making a very good wage with a credit score of 700 was turned down by Chase for an auto loan of 9000 for a use Car. I don’t own a home and my rent is a moderate 1100. This is unacceptable. A new banking system is needed as the existing one obviously cannot function. They won’t even lend the money they’ve taken from the public.
I was just refused a student loan by Discover. I have very good credit, so I’m curious to know what ‘reason’ they used when I receive my denial letter.
My husband and I each have credit scores well over 700, and a decent debt/income ratio. (The only “negative” is that my husband has only lived in the US 2.5 years, and yes, legally.)
In late August, we were approved for a small loan ($8,000) that would have enabled us to move our small garage-based business to commercial facilities.
Lender was Bank of America, and this was done in a local face-to-face transaction.
They told us to call a certain number to set up funds transfer. Yet, when we called, the number had been disconnected. Another 20 calls, and we learned the loan program had been dissolved completely. I don’t know what the program was, and didn’t know it was anything special.
We then received letters stating we had been denied credit because of “delinquent” accounts. We are, in fact, not delinquent on anything, and pay most items off early.
Weeks later, we learned that Bank of America had received bailout money and spent it on buying a bank in China.
In the meantime, we continue working out of our garage, which means we have lower sales because potential customers don’t take a garage-based business seriously.
I am an underwriter for a major Bank. The biggest single trend we see is a significant rise in the utilization of revolving debts (credit cards and home equity lines of credit). It is not the banks that are holding up lending it’s the fact that the average american has considerably over-extended themselves. It is not an issue of “I pay my bills on time and have never been late”, “I have a great credit score” or that the banks are “tighter”. It is the consumer who has lived beyond their means. Those who have managed their debt well are largely uneffected. Granted some banks have funding issues however those effects are generally just delays in funding, not approvals.
I tried to get a car loan to buy a Dodge, no deal. My credit has taken a beating but is not all that bad and my household income is over 150k.
All this bailout money is a bailout for the rich. Its the poor taxpayer bailing out the rich. If you want to stimulate the economy,give the money to the consumer, not the banks, and stop charging 20% interest rates on loans and credit cards, stop being so greedy and start loaning money to to people in need. I actually hope the economy does collapse. Its time for the wealth of this world to be redistributed among the poor working class people of the world.
had a credit card for 20 years with BOA
Suddenly, in December, they closed it with an outstanding balance, no warning
I asked if they would then lower the interest rate from 30.99 percent since their risk was lower, having closed the account
they said no, because I am not past due
Give me a break!
Banks don’t want to lend because they don’t want any risk. They are in the business of taking astute risks, now that they cannot sell off the risks any more, they don’t want to lend
I went in to my local credit union with whom I’ve had a car loan with for over 3 years, never missed or was late with a payment and told they couldn’t extend me a new auto loan. Thanks for the years of building my credit with this credit union, maybe I should just defalt, claim bankrupt and keep my truck.
Applied for an auto loan a few weeks ago, no problem. The people having problems getting loans are probably more marginal than they are willing to admit. I say good! Let’s stop lending money to people who don’t understand the word “responsibility”.
We refinanced our home a few weeks ago and were able to get a 15 year loan at 4.25%. We had several similar, competitive rate quotes from various national banks including Wells Fargo, Citi, and US Bank. Banks are obviously lending money, and even with great rates.
I had request a auto loan for $18k and was turn down by several banks. I was told that my credit score of 725 wasn’t high enough and that i still had 6 remaining payments remaining on my current car note. However, if I was willing to downpay 50% of the car value they will consider it. I just walked out .
I recently had my card closed by Chase. The card had just been opened in November. I was never late, never even close to the credit limit. They could give me no reason as to why it was closed other then the account was reviewed and they decided to close it. At the time I was out of town ( it was christmas ) and the hotel I was staying at was being charged to the card. I didn’t find out it was canceled until the hotel’s electronic key stopped working.
I agree with most of the comments already made. Our daughter and son had no problems getting loans — our son with a car in Dec. and our daughter this month for a condo. Both got good interest rates. I think the media doesn’t check the facts, or as Limbaugh calls them “drive by media”. And perhaps some of those not getting loans are either working with a bank in trouble, or are not really credit worthy and shouldn’t have received loans in the last few years. That’s the real problem that made the house of cards fall. Why isn’t there an outcry to investigate the Congressional banking committees, who forced Fanny Mae to give bad loans, who said Fanny Mae was solvent?? This Congress is more corrupt than ever.
I had to buy a car while returning from vacation. Getting a loan was a challenge and pricey! I was turned down by 3 banks before getting a loan. For an industry trying to sell cars, one would think you could get the loans at a reasonable interest rate to do it. And I have excellent credit.
I am a single mother of 3, I have been paying on an auto loan faithfully for 4 years, the engine blew on my car and is going to cost 4-8K to get replaced. I contacted my financial institution in an attempt to get a new car loan. The interest rate they offered me is DOUBLE that which I am currently paying, and they refuse to add the 4K that I owe on the non working vehicle. As a single parent I can not afford 2 car payments so I had to pass and will continue paying on a car that does not work. I have decent credit and no one to give me an auto loan with rates less than 14.25% I am sad by how things are going yet, Thankful that my son has a car!!
I have not applied for a loan but I do not blame the banks for not approving anyone who asks. If a Household is making less then 50k a year what are the chances they will be able to pay back the loan? Why apply through a bank when you should just call Hussein Obama. After all,Obama will pay your mortgage, health care , tuition, car payments and credit cards like he said. He is the messiah and will provide everything to the people who don’t pay taxes anyway.
We are just trying to do a refi, we have never missed a payment, have an 800 score, what we got declined for was because I am self employed, hence I’m more at risk than someone with a job…never mind the fact that I have 60 clients, while someone with a job has 1. So who is at greater risk of losing their income? Meanwhile, was told by my lender that if I was 3 months behind in my mortgage, I could get a refi in an instant.
I brought my 21 yo son into Bank of America to apply for a credit card with a small credit limit. He was declined, due to a lack of previous experience so a month later I went back to co-apply with him. I’ve been a customer of BOA for 30 years. My credit score is 800. I own 2 homes and I have never been late on a payment. The BOA agent told me she was just told she was not allowed to any credit card applications, not even for a co-application for a $500 credit limit. This was in January 2009
I just tried 3 banks in my community to refi. HA.. they are all suffering from Sphinteritis. I requested a 59%LTV. forget it. I have a credit score of 781. Have NEVER missed a payment. Of course my income has been hit (like everyone else) but my property brings in some rental income as well so its almost gauranteed. I went to refi with a “mortgage” company and the bastards wanted over $5,000 in fees. Until we citizens unionized and take it to the streets in protest nothing will happen.
I have had no trouble getting credit. I have a high credit score, my spouse is employed and we live within our means (no credit card balances, equity in our home, etc.). I just applied for an American Express card online and we received our cards in 3 days. I think many people in the past were getting credit or having high credit limits when they should not have…
I applied for a loan and loan is approved becaause my credit score is 800, good job and never delayed a single payment. I am refinancing for a lower rate. just because someone in my nighbourhood sold his house for dead cheap (damaged house), banker says, your house is worth same price. I can not give you this much loan. I had done upgrades spending $100000 in the last 2 years. If I can not get a loan with 800 score and good standing, who would get?
I’ve had some form of a Bank of America account since I was 17. I am 28 now. No credit issues, own a 270k rental building, make pretty good money. Have a full-time stable job, etc. Fico of about 710. My BofA card suddenly went from 13.99% (which was high enough) to 28.49% for no reason at all in one billing cycle. I’ve never been late, no NSF checks, nothing! I contacted them to re-negotiate this rate, and they said “there is nothing we can do for you”. I called a different bank, got approved for a credit line well above the BofA credit line at a nice 6.9% fixed. What gives??
I am not having any problems getting loans! I am refinancing my house, banks are still offering loans to my company and I am buying a new car. There are a lot more requirements to refinancing which is a bit of a pain but that is about it. I have good credit and I quess so doesn’t my business. I have talked with my banks president and he said they are in good shape so they are lending to know customers.
I am a MBNA customer of 5 years, never missed a payment, until recently, missed one payment and my interest rate went from 7% to 27.9%. One late freaking payment, and the company will not change it for me until June. I will be in the poorhouse by then.
Currently, I have a 15 year loan with 4.625% rate, my house is in Michigan. My job was affected by the Big 3 in 2007. I have to take a job in CT. I am paying two sets of housing expenses with two kids in private colleges.
I tried to sell my house, no luck at all.
I need to reduce my mortgage payment in order to pay all of my bills. So I refinanced (30 year, same loan amount, 4.750%)with my current lender which I have been with for over 5 years, never one late payment (always on the first of the month). Superb credit rating (FICO in 800s).
They recommend to decline the loan application since I listed my house 5 months ago. I am still waiting for the final word.
I don’t want to contribute to the housing problem, but lenders are not very smart. If I intent to foreclose my home, I can do it now, why bother to spend several thousand dollars to refinance, and I am not take any cash out.
I am at the opinion now that lenders hold major portion of the housing issue we are facing. They are causing their own misery.
I was just approved for a $35,000 auto loan, which I went forward with and was recently approved to refinancing my $150k home. I make $75k a year. I have found no issues getting a loan at all
Maybe the people getting denied shouldn’t be applying for the loans they are
I recently applied for a small loan with Wellsfargo and was denied. I also applied for a credit card and was denied as well. I have been a customer with this bank since 1995 and have been gainfully employed all my life. Now, it seems to me that the taxpayers are paying for this stimulus bill as well as bailing everyone out of this crisis and yet, the banks who are benefitting are still treating their customers like CRAP!!!!!!
I just refinanced my loan at 4.7% fixed interest rate. I know 2 other friends that have done the same and with good to excellent credit there were no problems. I don’t blame the banks for protecting themselves from the people who got into this mess.
tried to get 75.00 cash off of a 16,000.00 BANK OF AMERICA credit line (after making the monthly 300.00 payment)…and was DENIED!!!
when I called customer service to talk (then explain, then complain) about it, the first service officer HUNG UP on me, then the next service officer read me the contract WORD FOR WORD until I hung up.
to top it all off, on the next month’s statement, the remaining balance of my credit line just DISAPPEARED. gone. bye-bye.
ya gotta LUV ‘em…
I just refinanced with Wachovia @ 5% with zero problems. Also got a HELOC for 75k from a local bank. Banks are lending, they’re lending to qualified borrowers, that’s the difference.
Sorry you can’t get a 400k loan making 50k anymore (should have never happened to begin with). Housing pricing needs to come down from the stratosphere. That 400k house should be 200-250k.
The banks and lawmakers are making a bad situation worse. The problems started with subprime lending and now bank are not lending to qualified borrowers.
My only debt is my mortgage. My wife and I make over 150k/yr and have credit scores close to 800. We have liquid assets over 100k and cannot re-fi our home.
The average property value decline since the peak in 2007 for the area is very low. Less than 10% I believe.
Appraisers in the area are “low balling” home appraisals and banks are asking for 20%-25% equity to get a lower interest rate.
I built my home two years ago and the appraisal now is 18% lower than when I built. I even added a $30k horse barn but was told it does not count towards any value in the property.
My current bank cannot have any contact with the appraiser to question the value and said “too bad, so sad, better luck next time”.
I am now looking into a different lender after wasting $600 and two months with WFC.
I’d like to refi and put a couple hundered extra bucks at the bottom of my monthy budget. I was planning to use the extra cash to justify a trip to Disney with the fam.
Now, I’m planning on tightening the budget, do a couple camping trips, and call it macaroni.
The economy is sinking like the Titanic, Obama is short on life boats, and Geithner is lost in the fog somewhere.
My husband and I own our house, have no credit card debt, make our mortgage payments on time, have a nice savings account and have a decent credit score and income between us, yet I was denied an auto loan for a Toyota.
I don’t know who the bank is lending out to, but it certainly wasn’t me.
I have a 790 credit score.
I rented out my house to live in a foreign country for a couple of years.
I wanted to refinance with the lower rates, but was told that the bank only refinances owner occupied now.
I have an equity line on my home with Bank of America. The line was to allow me to change the dedt to a fixed rate anytime during the period of the lone.I have no late payments on any debt any time in my life! I am 58 years old with a long standing job.My credit score is very high.When I tried to exercise the above option Bank of America told me the interest rate would be 10%. This was at a time when their interest board in the lobby listed fixed rate loans at 5 1/4 %.IM SO GLAD THE GOVERNMENT HELPED OUT BANK OF AMERICA SO THEY COULD HELP OUT CREDIT WORTHY AMERICAN CITIZENS!
The usurious actions taken by banks to penalize all caught in their web is contributing greatly to their woes. The penal interest rates charged are severely hampering the system and are leading to massive charge offs. I being caught, have had varying degrees of success getting my rates reduced. Bank of America has been the absolute worst to deal with. Completely uncooperative and are taking advantage of any angle they can. That is one bank that will never garner any of my monies or faith.
My wife and I were 23 years old making $40K/year combined as she was a law student at the time, we were approved for a stated income, no documentation, 100% financing loan (80/20 to avoid PMI) from Countrywide to buy a condo for $180K. Three years later we have not been late on one payment and can not refinance off our current two ARM loans. I think if they raised this “80% loan-to-value or you have to pay PMI”, deal to 95% that would really help a lot of people to refi who really need that break in their monthly cash flow.
Why you can’t get a loan? Rather, Who in their right mind would want a loan after wide spread greed and corruption from goverment, bankers, wallstreet, have completely screwed everything up for the hole world.
YES, these incompetent,greedy,disgusting, arrogant, so called leaders and big money tycoons completely screwed millions of people worldwide and the only trouble anyone has gotton in to for this mess is bailed out(aka free money) that tax payers have to pay back.
Where is the justice for their wrong doings? Why is it that poeple and companies that lived within their means and payed their debt on time and lived responsibility be punished? Greed and Corruption in high places thats why !!!!
So, take your loans and stick them where the sun don’t shine,and as for me running out and diving into debt just to help this corrupt system back onto it’s feet you are insane to think so. Many hard working americans that played by the rules,live responsibly, and payed their dues when asked are feed up period!!!
My story is not nearly as serious as others outlined here, but nonetheless represents a sign of how bad things have become. I was buying a new computer for my daughter (required for school) when I decided to use the Bill-me-later option when checking out. The reason for doing so was twofold; 1, I was much to lazy to get up and fetch my wallet to get a credit card, and 2, it was basically an interest free 30 day loan. The entire amount that I applied for was just over $1175.93.
Now a bit about myself. I make a comfortable living and I am a great saver. I also have a credit score in the upper 700 level. I own my house outright, have no outstanding credit card debt and have two reasonable car payments. Oddly enough CIT Bank (who is the lender behind Bill-me-later) turned me down for the credit.
It wasn’t devastating in anyway at all as I just need to get up and go grab a credit card. The odd part is that this is the first time I have ever been denied credit.
I cannot imagine what is like to depend on credit to operate a business particularly. It is sad that this credit crunch will cause otherwise viable business to shut there doors. Sad.
Among those that I know, the only ones unable to get credit shouldn’t have gotten credit 5 years ago but did, now they are surprised to find they really are not credit worthy.
This is NUTS–My credit score is probably 750 to 800; I just bought a NEW HONDA Sept. 30, 2008 (been buying Hondas since 1979–if US car companies made a good car, MAYBE I would buy one–My HONDA was built in USA by NON-UNION US labor)got a “loan just like always” at 4.74% interest rate. No mention of “any problems.”
Scare tactics work for Democrats; JUST DO IT (to quote Niki).
Money is available. In October 2008 I purchased a home for $228,000 with no money down and a fixed interest rate of 5.5% for 30 years. I pay no PMI because I used the USDA guaranteed loan program. I payed an upfront fee of 2.1% that I deducted on my taxes this year. I continue to receive credit card offers like mad and have to shred them every day. I have credit scores from 746 to 785. I have almost $80,000 in student loan debt and another $10,000 in credit card debt. I work as an IT contractor and have had three different jobs in the last year. So I do not see that the availability of credit is an issue.
In January I applied for a Bank of America Visa Signature because they are offering 0% APR for 15 months-the best available as far as I know. I have an existing BofA Visa (opened in 2001) with a $19K limit and my bureau score is 801. I applied for the card online and got a crypic message about how I will hear back from them “in a few days.” After 4 days I called their Credit Services department. They treated me like a criminal; asking me about my job, my degree, and what I planned on using the new account for. After answering the very personal questions the rep told me that they would approve the account but that they would have to take some of my credit from my existing account to fund the new one. So technically I was not declined but, wow. I thought having good credit should mean something. The way I was treated, with a high score and an nearly 8 year pre-existing relationship with them, was appalling. They won’t be getting my mortgage business-heck they probably wouldn’t approve it anyway.
I am fortunate. Have a high income and stable job. I have not had any trouble getting a loan from a community bank, member of a smaller regional bank holding company in Texas. I also have a Citi Master Card that I use frequently for both leisure and business travel, and occasionally carry a low 5 figure balance for a couple of months because I charge college tuition on it for one of my children. I do not know what my credit score is, but suspect it is high. But Citi just raised my interest rate on carried balances to 22%. I was outraged and made the call to opt out and let it expire in 2010. I have cash balances in investment accounts (CD’s and Money Market) that are yielding less than 2% and won’t pay 22% for even one month. The way the compute the interest is criminal.
Recently , I applied for a credit card and was turned down. When I started my career, at the age of 23, for the last 14 years I have never been late on a payment. About a year ago my salary was cut by about 40%. I only owe about 152k on my mortgage and the house is worth about 320k ( paper money as I type). The banks are not giving credit to good customers. I was always responsible, and those that are not responsible have been partying it up…and get a reprive on there debt. The banks are lying as usual. Where is all my money the government gave them? It’s in the CEO’s and corporate executives pockets….They raped these companies took all the money and now the government gives the money right back to them. They need leaders who have integrity and morals who have feeling for fellow humans, after all the workers do most of the work. Nobody is worth the amount these executives get….
I made $325k last year, have no credit card debt, $150k in the bank CASH, and a FICO of 802.
I tried to shop for a $235k mortgage and got only one bank to reply, with crappy terms.
I’ve since stopped looking for the loan and postponed the purchase.
And you wonder why people arent buying houses?
I got a loan, but the interest rate was in the 20s. It is good that I can pay it off interest free if within 6 months.
Capital One wants to raise my interest rate about 50%, but you know I will be closing that card. If they want to help,then they need to lower the rates they do charge. Some people get loans but the rate is soooo high, and it breaks these people to try and pay the loan off. Of course we need to pay for the fancy buildings, outsourcing, high high exec pay, fancy trips, expensive cars, and those super parties. The whole system is set up for the rich to get richer, and the poor can live off the streets. Our country sucks and I hope President Obama will be the one to make us GREAT again. bring the jobs home and stop giving our private info to foreign countries. Make American Made mean something to the world again. Get the pay scale to a real level, and away with these multimillion contracts for execs and sport players and movie stars. Let the common person afford to go to games and to the movies. Raising interest rates deters not encourage.
Three years ago we were in terrible shape, with only one income due to a layoff. We were in pre-forclosure and due to lose our home. Other credit accounts were just as bad with some actually being handled by the legal department of the bank where the credit cards were handled. We returned to being a two-income household, but were still barely making it as the second income was contract work. Over the last two years though, we have returned to the normal, pre-layoffincome and did not write-off, ask for forgiveness, or in any way ask creditors to mitigate our debt. Our old car was taking more in monthly repairs than a new car payment would be, but with FICO scores around 600 we figured we were just going to have to live with it. We were surprised when, while just dreaming, we found out that we could replace it with a new one (much more eco-friendy as well) with a loan from the bank which actually had our credit card in the legal department.
I guess the moral is, do the right thing, don’t shirk responsibility, and something good just might happen.
in the past week my wife and have received letters from our credit card companys. capital one and chase bank. the letters state that they are raising our interest rate almost 5 points. why? we pay on time or ahead of time. never paid late or missed a payment. times are hard enough without credit card companys making things even more difficult.
I recently applied for a Home Equity LOC(at my banker’s suggestion) and was declined. My credit score is 838 and my income in ‘08 was approx. $125k. So when the banks say they are loaning money, I’d like to know, “to who”?
I learned a very long time ago, that credit cards were not for me. I did not use them responsibly when I was a young man. I paid the price for it, and eventually my credit recovered. I am now 31, married and have 3 children. Mind you my credit score is not perfect by any means. However since July of last year I have purchased a brand new car for close to $20,000, a used car for $11,200, and I bought my first home (a 4 bdr 2 ba on a 1/3 of an acre) at the end of December for roughly $69,000. I will have no problem paying my loans back because I am willing to do any type of work,no matter how menial the task. My wife does not have anywhere near the credit available to her even though we are in the same household. I was going to try to get the used vehicle (which is actually for my mother in-law) in her name, but no local bank would touch her without some astronomical % rate. The mortgage company we used, said it would be better if she was not on the paperwork. This is completely baffling.
I have had beleive it or not the opposite situation in regards to credit that most people are having. At the beginning of 08 I started paying down all my credit cards-which had substantial credit lines- at the same time I kept requesting higher credit lines from the banks- They continued to increase my credit lines througout the year-at this juncture I have about double the credit than I had at the beginning of 08 -but with no debt- I am keeping all the credit available if I really run into a wall
I own a tutoring center for children ages k-12. Not only are parents being denied loans for services aimed at helping kids attain reading and math fluency, I also was declined for a business line of credit by BoA and Wachovia on the basis that I have not been in business for 2 years. I was offered the alternative to apply for a small business credit card for up to 20k line of credit.
For a small, start up business, whose success is based on consumer ability to pay, extending credit card offers is a sure way to ensure small business failure. Like the ARMs that caused much of the collapse in the housing market, high/variable interest rates are a risk that I should neither be offered nor that I would be in a position to confidently repay.
I need the SBA to find me a bank that can help me see through these hard times. I face closing in the next 3 months if I cannot get cash at a reasonable rate to help float payroll and expenses through these hard times.
All
This is funny- I went for a $20K home equity loan at Wells, $550K in equity, balance on mortage $72K, they offered me a %10 interest loan or I could borrow on one of my CD’s over $50K at
7% interest- with a 720+ credit score. Hows that for cooperative lending
The article talks about the rate of declines for families earning <$50,000 being high.
I am a business banker in Australia and am astounded that you consider it an issue that the decline rate for this group is high. IT SHOULD BE HARD FOR LOW INCOME EARNERS TO GET CREDIT. It is excessive lending to lower income groups that got the world into this mess and you want the banks to continue to lend to these people? This is the height of stupidity.
Moreover, its the high rate of lendng to low income earners creating massive losses at the banks that now makes it difficult for good customers/businesses to get finance. Dont make it worse by encouraging banks to make the same mistakes of the past.
I have been a lender for 10yrs and have never sold a “low doc” loan. Low doc loans in Australia are actually much safer than the NINJA loans you were selling. Why would I not sell them? Because I thought it unconcionable to lend money to somebody who could not prove they could pay back the money and still have sufficient funds to live. When a customer would ask “how much can I borrow”, I would ask them, “how much can you afford to pay comfortably?”. Why, because the banks systems would show a customer could borrow a rediculously hight amount however deeper investigation would show that they could only really afford to borrow 1/2 as much.
I was told by a manager at Wachovia bank that your credit score would not matter, no loans were forthcoming…that bank was in North Carolina….I personally know of no one that has received a loan of any kind from any bank.
I guess i am one of the unique people, i was offered a 4.5% Mortgage loan AND My credit card company expanding my credit limit. My credit score is around the 650 mark. I have friends who all are having trouble with lenders though, some have had their credit card rates magically raise, even though they’ve never been late.
cant get loan because of bad credit from divorce that lead to losing house and vehciles…. credit crushed from past debts and i still cant get loan to buy out my debts… not even payday that can help me.. i really need help to get myself on feet but there is no help available to those who need the most… help that government did was for who those lost thier pocket changes but not for those who lost thier life saving… there isnt gonna be any recovery unless banks willing to open lending to anyone available under government bailout money… its gonna jumpstart everything all over again if bank allow lending regardless of credits and at end everything will be recovered like bill clinton time… hope we all can get back on feet no time
I recently purchased a new Saturn and thought I’d finance it through the same dealership I’d dealt with before. Since I have a credit rating of 835, own my own home and have no debt I never dreamt that I’d be turned down by two banks and offered the wonderful interest rate of 8.69% by the third bank since I have such a fine credit rating. I decided to pay cash for the car.
How many people want to buy cars, have an average credit rating, can’t pay cash and can’t afford the high interest rates offered
by the lending institutions?
Just thought I’d pass this on. No wonder the auto industry is in such big trouble.
Amir, amen! In the nearby town of Conshohocken PA, there are several office buildings that have been sitting empty for YEARS – since they were erected – yet the lease rates for offices remain sky high. There is some kind of disconnect between supply and demand in the commercial real estate market. There are empty commercial and retail properties all over the northern suburbs of Philadelphia, but prices remain at their 2005-era highs. We’re talking $20 to $30 to even $40 per square foot per year for even modest office space. It’s ridiculous.
Also, American Express cut my business credit lines by 80% recently, so I closed my accounts with them. I wonder how much money Amex took from TARP, only to cut everyones’ credit lines.
Some kind of scam is going down with this whole TARP thing. The money is being used to finance corporate mega-mergers and move jobs overseas. The stimulus package is ELIMINATING jobs, not creating them!
People, you all need to get a clue and get on the phone with your representatives NOW and tell them to STOP stealing from your children to finance their political activities. Your childrens’ money is being stolen and given to gigantic left-wing political interests who are trying to shove socialism down your throats. If you don’t stop it NOW, we will end up just like Venezuela.
I used to have an excellent credit score… In recent months I have recieved letters from just about every credit card I have that they have lowered my credit limit to about 100 dollars above whatever the balance happened to be on the card. In turn, raising my debt/credit ratio and lowering my credit score. So of course, when I applied for a credit card from a retail store I was denied. Even when you make your payments on time and keep up with everything properly, you still end up with the short end of the stick!
We’re loaning money! We have money to lend! Open your line of credit with us today!
I see these signs all over the place, yet I see no lines of people. The people who most desperately need a loan do not qualify, with their jobs being moved to third-world nations, their home equity (if they had any) being devoured by the soul-crushing plummet of home valuations, there is no way in hell I’m going to take out a loan any time in the forseeable future. Interest rates are high for credit cards, some are 31% APR, what’s a person to do? I’m dedicating all my income to debt elimination for now, and closing accounts as fast as I can. The banks I dealt with were not willing to help me get back on my feet following Hurricane Ike. I asked my mortgage lender to defer TWO payments to the end of my note, they laughed at me. OK, so instead of making extra interest on those two payments, I accelerated my bi-weekly remittance and now my next payment is due in June. Yes, I had to live in my damaged, leaky home for a few months until insurance finally released some funds (not enough to cover the repairs, but enough for a start), now I am going to pay off my home ASAP, likely in 7 years or less. My line of credit, which stood at $10k, was suddenly dropped to $2400 as soon as I put in a check for $3000 to help finance some repairs. That bank will never see another dime from me, either. Treat your customers like crap, and see what happens. I hope both go out of business, which is entirely possible. I’m done with banks. I am even closing my checking account, and going to a credit union.
Another thing that scares me is the commercial real-estate market. From what I can gather, with all the store closures, retail malls are dying, office space is so bad they can’t give it away. And it is getting worse by the day. Why don’t they just lay everyone in America off, and outsource all the jobs? That’s the direction we’re heading. We could start with the 545 members of Congress and Senate, we could outsource their jobs to Pakistan or North Korea. They would probably do less harm to us than Lord God Obama’s “StealFromUs” plan…
The sooner the people of the USSA regard the banks as the enemy that they are, and take action to marginalize them, the sooner we’ll get to the root of the economic problems we all face. Banks are greedy. I have no problem with a fair profit, I DO have a problem with usury, sneaky fees, and predatory lending! Punish them for their unfair rates, fees, and their arrogance by not opening new accounts, and by paying the bastages off as quickly as possible, thus denying them their usurous interest. Mess with the moose, you get the rack!
The last time I checked two months ago, my credit score was about 750. Yet, I was recently turned down both for a personal credit card and a credit line for by business. I earn near the six figure range, have a low debt ratio, and an excellent credit score, but still cannot find the credit I need to expand my business. I have had to hold off on hiring, delay capital spending, completely scrap plans to open a second office, and turn away business because working capital is nearly impossible to find in this market.
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You’re not alone. My husband make $65,000 a year plus $30,000 from rental property. My husband was denied from 2 lenders. We are trying to refinance cash-out from the house that we have no mortgage. We’re only seeking for $100,000 loan. First lender said, we are not in this house long enough. Second said our debt ratio is too high. We don’t have any credit card debt, no auto loan, only $12,000 in student loan. Both lenders approved the loan initially but declined later.Somethings really went wrong here. Where is the government money that the banks received and promised to lend?