This little trick forces a mortgage lender to respond quickly.

 If you are having trouble getting a response from your mortgage servicer (the people you send your mortgage payment to) you may need to try sending an old fashioned letter. Not just any letter however, but a RESPA "qualified written request" letter. Under federal law (12 USC 2605e). Within 20 days of receiving a written correspondence a loan servicer must acknowledge receipt of the letter and within 60 days must take such action as appropriate, meaning that they either have to correct your account, respond to your inquiry, or provide you with a written explanation as to why they are not going to answer your inquiry or take any action.

The key to sending this letter is that it has to be considered a qualified written request. A qualified written request is a written correspondence that includes the borrower's name, the borrower's account number, and a statement detailing either the information sought or giving the reasons for believing the account is in error.

For help constructing the letter see our template.

Does your credit card company want to keep you as a customer?

You've had that credit card for years. It has a pretty good interest rate, and you have been paying above the minimum monthly amount owed as often as you could. Yet inexplicably the company raises your interest rate and lowers your credit limit to just above your balance. The company does not even bother to give you sufficient notice they lowered your limit and you risk facing penalties for exceeding that new limit, which not so coincidently is right above your outstanding balance.

So what should one do? After deciding whether you want to continue to do business with this company, the next step may be to complain to customer service about the change. If you have been a good customer, essentially holding up your end of the agreement you should call customer service and insist they lower your interest rate back down, and restore your credit limit. You have the power to cancel the card and take your business elsewhere and that is a strong negotiating tool.

Put the ball into the credit card company's court and say you should decide between keeping a good customer or losing a good customer. As consumers we have a choice of who we do business with and maybe it is high time some of those too big to fail companies felt a little push back from their customers so that maybe they will realize customers are too important to abuse.

It is not as if it is wrong to expect the company you do business with to adhere to the terms of its contract regardless of whether it reserves the right to change those terms at any time.

The Consumerist and the LA Times are both reporting that Chase Bank is taking a new approach to charging its customers more money. Instead of raising interest fees and earning extra over the long term, Chase is raising the minimum monthly balance of loan payments. At a time when people are struggling financially is Chase trying to force its customers to default and incur fees and charge the "default" interest rate. How long before the other banks and credit institution adopt this strategy (if they haven't already) to put more of a strain on the public.

I realize the financial institutions are upset about the recent legislation but how is making credit unaffordable to the public really going to help fix the economy, sure it means more money for Chase in the short term, but even Chase must realize that harming the public in the short term will continue to have a long term impact.

Every day you are likely hearing advertisements for loan modifications, but there are other options available that you should at least consider depending upon your situation.

Forbearance: a written agreement between you and your lender allowing you to either suspend or reduce monthly payments for a period of time until you are able to make payments to bring the loan current.

Ask your lender if interest will continue to accrue during this period. The answer is likely yes. It means you will owe more money over the life of your loan, but will get a bit of a reprieve until you are able to make payments again. If you are behind on your mortgage it may be worth asking if you can forbear your current monthly payment while you catch-up on your late payments. However, your monthly payment will likely be hirer over the remainder of your loan because of the accrued interest.

Repayment Plan: A repayment plan is used after you fall behind on your monthly payments. You and your lender agree that you will pay the past owed amount in monthly installments in addition to your monthly payment.
However, you have to ask if I fell behind in my monthly payments will agreeing to pay more per month really get my caught up on my payments.

Short Sale: A short sale is an agreement between you and your lender where you sell your home and the lender agrees to accept the amount you sell it for (assumed to be less than the amount owed on the mortgage).
There may be tax consequences to engage in a short sale, both for selling your property and for the loan forgiveness.

Deed-In-Lieu/Walking Away/Jingle Mail: You voluntarily give up title of your home to the lender in exchange for loan forgiveness. Thereby saving you and your lender (more your lender) the burden of going through the foreclosure process.

Military Relief: If you are a member of the military you have additional rights and protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and/or the California Military Families Financial Relief Act.

There are still a few other options available if your mortgage is an FHA loan or a Frannie or Freddie owned loan. 

Regardless of who you talk to about your mortgage ask to hear about all the available options to you so you can make an informed choice.

Be careful in researching the new "Cash for Clunkers" program. A lot of sites are popping up with a lot of information and some of them are trying to get your information. When in doubt use the official government site http://www.cars.gov/ to learn about the program and see the list of car dealers registered to participate in the program.

San Diego County has applied for at least another $5 million from the Federal government to implement a second Neighborhood Stabilization Program

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is intended to make funds available for homebuyers, nonprofit agencies, and developers to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed and abandoned homes.

As part of its recent proposal the plan is available for public comment between June 26, 2009 and July 5, 2009. You may review the entire plan at http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/sdhcd/docs/nsp2_application_final.pdf

If the funds are awarded an application should be made available on the county's website for Housing and Community Development.

The Credit CARD Act has passed, but we are still waiting for its provisions to go into effect. In the meantime credit card providers are beginning to send notices to their customers that their interest rates are going up and applying retroactively to past debts. UCAN wonders how high everyone's rates will go before the Act goes into effect.

Let us know:  Is your company changing your rates? Has the company completely changed the contract terms and interest rate to which you originally agreed? Where do you expect the average rate to sit when the companies can no longer raise your rate at any time for any reason? Finally, please also let us know if and when an annual fee is implemented when there was none before. 

There has been a lot of discussion about the Credit CARD Act recently signed into law. The discussion revolves mostly around the consumer protections put into place by the legislation.

Some of the provisions being discussed include: the notification requirements established, the restrictions on credit to those under 21 years old, whether a cap should have been placed on interest limits, and how the credit card companies may strike back against the new regulations by restricting credit or limiting who is approved for credit, imposing new annual fees, and shortening or eliminating the grace period before interest accrues on a purchase.

Whether or not the credit card companies will take such actions remains to be seen, but missing from the discussion are the miscellaneous provisions which include: studies and reports, procedures to timely settle estates of card holders who pass away, a review of small business credit plans, a review of current financial and economic literacy, and FTC rulemaking on Mortgage Lending. These provisions will not have an immediate (if you can call next February immediate) impact like the other provisions, but as long as Congress continues to feel protecting consumers is important good regulations could result.

Studies and Reports
Studies will be conducted with the results reported to Congress in the next few years. One study with report on the relationship between fluency in the English language and financial literacy and to what extent, if any, those whose primary language is not English are impeded in conducting their financial affairs. Another study will report on the marketing of consumer products with credit offers focusing on who is targeted and the predatory nature of the offers. A third study will report on the cost effectiveness of making available emergency PIN technology at some ATMs to allow users when under duress to alert and summon local law enforcement to the ATM. Lastly, a study will report on interchange fees charged by credit card companies and their impact on the use of credit and its effect on consumers and merchants.

Review of Consumer Credit Plans and Regulations
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("Board") must in two years review the effectiveness of this and other consumer credit regulations and the impact that the regulations have had on the companies, consumers, and the relationships between the two. The Board must report its determinations and any changes to regulation to Congress.

Report to Congress on Reduction of Consumer Credit Card Limits
The Board in consultation with the other federal regulators of the financial industry must report on the extent to which creditors have reduced credit limits or raised interest rates on consumer credit cards based on the geographical location of the transaction or identity of the merchant, the type of transactions a consumer makes, and the identity of the mortgage creditor who holds a mortgage loan on the residence of the consumer. The report should determine the number of creditors engaging in the practices, the extent to which the practices impact minorities or low-income consumers, and other relevant information. The report should also include recommendations on any regulatory or statutory changes that are needed to restrict or prevent the practices.

Small Business Credit Plans and Recommendations
The Board is also required to conduct a review on the use of credit cards by small business and the credit card market for small businesses including the terms of the agreements, practices of the credit card issues, and the adequacy of protection against unfair or deceptive practices. A small business information security task force will also be formed to identify the information technology security needs of small businesses and the government and nongovernment organizations that serve those needs.

Financial and Economic Literacy
The Secretary of Education and the Director of the Office of Financial Education of the Department of the Treasury in coordination with the President's Advisory Council of Financial Literature shall evaluate and compile all existing federal financial and economic literacy education programs and develop a strategic plan to improve and expand financial and economic literacy education.

Though these provisions are more research and fact gathering and less direct action, the results and recommendations could have a much greater impact on the credit regulatory landscape then the other sections of the Act. If nothing else, they may generate a lot of important information about credit card companies practices that you the consumer should be aware of.

A new federal law provides a minimum 90 days' eviction notice to most tenants affected by residential foreclosures. This is 30 days more than the current California law which provides 60 days' notice.

This allows month-to-month tenants about three months to find a new place or work out a rental agreement with the new owner.

More information can be found at http://www.tenantstogether.org/article.php?id=723

Foreclosure consultants advertise they can Stop Foreclosure now! and We will save your home guaranteed! plus Free Consultation. These offers sound promising but most of them are scams where you are charged up-front fees, but they do nothing to help. They have you sign over your property to them and kick you out when it is convenient to them (they might charge you rent for awhile first), or they file bankruptcy in your name, which is one of the things you went to them to avoid.

So what can you do, how do you avoid these scammers? After all, they take out ads in the paper, have very professional-looking Websites, and claim affiliation with the government and the Making Homes Affordable initiative.

The first step is to say NO to fees. If someone wants to charge you money or have you sign legal documents that mention your property, walk away. The only organization whom you should deal with regarding your property is your lender.

You can get help for free! That's right I said FREE. You can receive free foreclosure avoidance counseling from a HUD-Approved Counseling Agency. The list of California agents is available on the HUD Website. Just type the address in your address bar or follow the link.

Second, foreclosure consultants have to start registering with the California Attorney General on July 1, 2009. You can contact the Attorney General's Office to find out if the consultant you want to work with is registered. You can also file a complaint with the Attorney General's office if you have been the victim of one of these frauds.

Third, if you have been deceived by one of these organizations there may be remedies available to you under California's Foreclosure Consultant Law. (CA Civ. Code 2945).

Most importantly though is getting the word out. Let us know if you have you interacted with any of these less-than- reputable organizations. Have you seen a Website for one one day only to have it disappear the next, and how have you handled the situation?

"Foreclosure" by Flickr user etgeek used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical 2.0 license.