Tag Archives: program
Debt Reductions Companies in Canada – Do Your Due Diligence
When making a big ticket purchase like a vehicle, you do your research right? You check the history of the vehicle, ensure it has not been in accidents, learn about the ownership, check the maintenance record for the vehicle and more. Your personal finances are no different and if you are in financial trouble, before choosing a company to help you, you really should do the same kind of research.
“The banks are offering a program that’s about to run out” or “time is running out on Federal Government Programs”; sound familiar? Debt reduction companies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising per/year to sell you on this message. The question is; is it true? And do they “really” help? Is there really a program that all of the banks collaborated on and is time running out? Is it true that the Federal Government programs that help Canadians get out of debt could end in the near future? And what do they do anyway? Let’s get to the bottom of it.
First of all; all of the banks have not gotten together to offer a debt reduction program, hence time is not running out; because it simply isn’t true. The only Federal Government programs that help Canadians deal with debt are administered under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). The Federal Government has made no announcement that there is a plan to eliminate the BIA legislation and there is no other Federal Government program that we are aware of that helps Canadians get immediate, legislated, debt relief. Seeking debt relief under the BIA does not mean that you have to go bankrupt and Federal Government programs are a viable means to get out of debt when a financial crisis emerges. The BIA offers different remedies to deal with debt, but the principal program offered by debt reduction companies doesn’t even involve relief under the BIA.
Debt reduction companies collect money from you on a monthly basis over a period of years with a promise that in the future they will settle your debt. By way of contrast, debt consulting companies represent you and provide you with a range of options to deal with debt that could include a consolidation or even enrolment in a credit counselling or Federal Government program. Debt reduction companies have one primary goal and that is to collect your money on a monthly basis. This is where the money that they use to advertise to you comes from. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) recently issued a consumer alert about debt reduction companies; you can view the alert here http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?nid=649969.
Before you deal with a debt reduction company, do your due diligence. While writing this article we took some simple steps that any consumer who has access to a computer can take to research a company; the results really scared us.
We visited the first debt reduction company’s website and there were many red flags. First, there wasn’t any information about the company’s ownership. Are they Canadian? American? Who is their president and what does he or she stand for. The company publishes no information about their ownership whatsoever. Red flag 1!
We Googled “who owns [company name]” and nothing came up. Red flag 2!
We went to Linkedin and ran a search by company name to see how many professionals on Linkedin are employees of the debt reduction company. The only profile that came up was an individual page branded for the company – not one employee and not a single name of anyone associated with this company emerged as a result. You would expect that a company that bills itself as a national provider of debt reduction services would have at least one employee with a profile on Linkedin; the world’s largest professional networking site. We would liken this to you not knowing a single person who has a Facebook account. Red flag 3!
Finally, we searched “[company name] reviews” and on the first 3 pages of Google we found no less than 6 pages by companies who represent people and individuals themselves who reported very serious claims about this debt reduction company. Red Flag 4!
Don’t believe everything you hear! Ads are paid for by the advertisers, companies pay the BBB to be members and any company who doesn’t wilfully and publicly provide information about their corporate structure and ownership, may not be a company you should commit to paying hundreds of dollars per/month for years to come. When it comes to debt reduction companies do your due diligence.
FHA Reverse Mortgage Loan-Get a Hang of It
What is an FHA reverse mortgage?
First and foremost of all, the readers should know what a reverse mortgage is. Well, it is a special type of remortgage without any obligation to make repayment till the homeowner lives in the house. Therefore, reverse mortgage is a loan that is secured against a property. The FHA reverse mortgage is a program having a strong backing of the federal government. It is often referred to as home equity conversion mortgage or HECM (abbreviated format). The prime reason why the majority of the elder persons prefer the FHA program to other available reverse mortgages is that it is fully guaranteed by the government of America.
Eligibility criteria for the FHA reverse mortgage
The homeowner who is at least 62 years of age can avail the FHA reverse mortgage facility. The home must be in a fine condition so the borrower can easily avail a myriad of facilities through such reverse mortgage program. There are certain houses that are eligible to avail this remortgage loan. From a single family dwelling to detached homes to townhouses to commercial properties — it is a prolix list of the suitable items that qualify to access the loans through the well conceptualized FHA reverse mortgage facility. There may be more than one family living in the same property. In that case, the borrowers may be more than one. But here lies an interesting kink. If the co-owner is yet to reach the age of 62, he or she must have to sign a proclamation passing the ownership to the aged co-owner. One more criterion is that the aged persons should not have more than 25% mortgage remaining on their properties.
How much can be borrowed through a FHA reverse mortgage plan?
Well, it depends on the amount of equities that are bottled up in the houses. The location of the property, the prevailing rate of interest and the age of the borrower play the vital roles in deciding the amount to be accessed. A cap is also placed indicating the maximum amount that can be borrowed through a FHA reverse mortgage plan and this amount is reviewed on yearly basis.
The advantages of the FHA reverse mortgage planning
The FHA reverse mortgage originated from the idea of improving the financial penury of many an elderly person. Improving the financial status may be the most vital reason for taking such remortgage plan but there are other convincing reasons such as meeting the health care costs or enjoying the vacation that prod a homeowner to take help of this policy. The major advantage is a borrower is allowed to live in the same property that he or she has utilized to arrange the required money. Moreover, there is no need to get worried over the repayment issue if the person is not planning to sell the house and shift your base to another place. In case of the commercial mortgage loans, a borrower has to sign the deal accepting the clause of paying the money back to the lender after a certain period of time. But the FHA reverse mortgage loan is completely a new concept. The lender can never claim the ownership title till the person lives in the property and does not pass away. Even after the death of the borrower, the immediate heirs can take the burden of repaying the loans in due course of time. It is not mandatory to sell the house to repay the loan that a person has borrowed through the FHA reverse mortgage loan. He or she can collect money from any source and pay it back to the lender.