The Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grants States with High Levels of Foreclosures with this program. Many counties in MI qualify. The purpose is to fill vacant and foreclosed homes with families again.

Vacant homes pose a great risk to the stability of neighborhoods, often becoming a site of vandal's and drug dealer among other things. The decrease in their value also affects property values of homes in the surrounding areas.

This program assists a person who wants to purchase a home as their primary residence. The program works like this. A buyer contacts the local Housing Authority, they apply for the program. The housing counselor will pull their credit report and talk about credit counseling and budgeting income for a purchase, they will then continue to go through several counseling sessions.

They then look for a vacant/forceclosed property and negotiate a sales price. They then contact a lender and get a pre-approval. The Housing Authority visits the property with an appraiser who then lists the amount of repairs needed. Contractors are chosen and they apply for the mortgage.

Guaranteed Home Mortgage Company, Inc. is considered an "Informed Lender", because we are qualified and currently fund these types of mortgages. They are called FHA 203K loans.

The grant program finances the rehabilitation of the home and the buyer may get in without anything out of pocket. It is very exciting. Contact me directly for more details. Read all about it here http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/neighborhoodspg

Yes, it appears that this new program may help desperate homeowners to move out of foreclosure, but if you agree to the program, you have to sign a note promising FHA that they will receive 50% of the equity gained in the house. It just doesn't feel right to me.

Sharing equity with the government is taking away our private property ownership rights. Now the government is going to have ownership interest in private property. Does this sound like a free country to you anymore?

The deal is good for lenders and the government, not for the American People. So you get out of foreclosure, but the goal of having a "nest egg" for savings is gone. 50% is allot!! I just hope that Loan Officers are able to fully explain the parameters of the program and that people are clear about what is at stake here. If your home does ever experience appreciation again, this makes it very tough to move up to a bigger or better home. You may be lucky to walk away with anything after the government takes their 50%. 

I want to help homeowners too, don't get me wrong. I am just concerned about the future generations and when they may inherit property they will be sharing it with the government. What are the long term effects of this policy going to be? 

Start with contacting your lender, if you are really behind on your payments you may contact a State Agency for assistance. Many lenders are offerring loan modification agreements to retain your loan. These may include changing your interest rate or reducing your principle balance. If you need a place for resouces, call me direct to better assist you, or go to www.hud.gov

Yes that is right, Free!! I have been bombarded by credit repair companies lately. They will give you referral fees, promise to improve credit scores and even remove foreclosures and bankruptcies. Let me say first, this isn't my first blog on the subject and may not be the last.

Yes it is an opportunistic theme these days. Look around, credit guidelines are tightening, tiered pricing based on credit scores went into effect June 1st with Fannie and Freddie. There is a huge market of people who need these services, no doubt. I don't want to block the road to opportunity, I just want people to know the truth.

You can, I have and my clients have, gotten items removed off of their report and improved their credit scores for free. All in a matter of 3 weeks. If you go to, or advise clients to go to www.annualcreditreport.com and order your free credit reports (all three from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and review the report.

 If you see something that shouldn't be there, dispute it. I had a late car payment made one time on 1999. Due to the time that has passed, it was removed and my score went up.

If you want to dispute something negative, go ahead and try. Click on the item to be disputed, state your claim and see what happens. I have had clients go there and it works. They had a response in 3 weeks and the score went up!

These credit repair companies want money up front and a monthly membership, they admit that their members are usually involved for 12 months with a monthly fee anywhere from $50 to $100 per month.

Come on, this is convenience really. If you are truly lazy and rich, pay the money. Otherwise, do it the free way yourself. Or try it yourself first, it is free and good info to have anyways, and then advise them on the process based on your own experience with the site. They have staff available by phone to assist you, which is really helpful.

If folks have serious problems with credit, refer them to Hud approved non-profit credit counseling agencies, find one in your area

www.debtadvice.org/takethefirststep/compinfo.cfm?agency_id=10931

Finally, only refer your truly lazy clients to credit repair but for your more astute client's give them this information and they will appreciate your resourcefulness and honesty and probably refer you to all their family and friends like mine do. Good Luck on your Score!!

What is up with these credit repair services anyways? I have been wondering this for about 1 year now. I see the ads, both on tv and in print ads, everywhere! What is it that they are doing? Honestly, it is what you or I can do for ourselves. If you don't know where to start, ask me. I will tell you exactly what your first steps will be.

This happens to be a re-accurring conversation that I have with people all of the time. What you really need to do is subscribe to more credit to create tradelines on your report. Make those payments on time, by the way. This will help you to build credit. You can start really small. You can access credit to purchase everyday items and retain your payment until it is due, which could be 30 days ahead of your purchase.

Gas cards, low credit limit credit cards, etc. You really need activity on the report, this is what comprises a report. I know that I always want to pay cash for everything. In fact, I feel a bit shameful paying for groceries or gas on credit. The goal here is not to pay interest on these charges, but to pay them off monthly and create a history.

Pride is paying cash.......this philosophy is out, old school. Remember Donald Trump leveraging credit to the max and laughing all the way to the bank.

If you want better credit terms, you have to get a better credit score! bottom line

If I can give you all of the information and you want to pursue your own restoration, I will be with you to assist in any way that I can. We can not allow others to decide our future, if only, they have our record, but not our truth or destiny.