RECAP............

Credit: Pull your credit report for FREE every year at Annual Credit Report! Select one "Bureau" every 4 months, instead of all at once. Better opportunity to catch something "slipping" in! If you want to see your scores (they tend to be a little higher when YOU pull them as opposed to a "Lending Instutution") try MYFICO. Watch out for "Credit Repair Organizations"! You cannot legally remove accurate data from your credit report.

Mortgage: Get 3 "Good Faith Estimates" and compare. Only let ONE of them pull your credit and give you a copy, with scores! Tell the other two to base their quotes on it. Go to Freddie Mac and see where 30 year rates are currently! Demand your "settlement statement" ( HUD-1) at least two days before closing, these are the "final" numbers and "closing" is the LAST place and time you want surprises!

Foreclosure: Talk to your Attorney Generals office and find out if they can help talk to your Lender or recommend someone. If you are still suffering whatever issues got you to this point, the Lender will probably not try and help. Talk to your Mortgage guy about "FHA SECURE", it may be an "out"!  

Divorce: Never come away with "Joint" debt! "Close out" joint cards and move the debts that are yours to your own card and have them do the same. Also if you are the one leaving the house, get your ex to refinance in their "name only" and get you off the "Note" (it can be done before the divorce), until that happens do not give up your ownership rights with a "Quit Claim"! Do these things before you "settle" and sign the Decree, never trust them to do it later! There is a reason they are called "EX"! Trust isn't one of them! Again, monitor your credit report, they probably know your SSN and it wouldn't be the first time that they applied for credit in your name AFTER the divorce!

Bankruptcy: Send your BK paperwork to all three Credit Bureaus immediately: Transunion, Experian, and Equifax ! Monitor your credit with Annual Credit Report for at least two years to make sure the "old stuff" is off and nothing else "slipped" in, like a judgement! If you do see a judgement and it was part of your BK, get it "removed"!

Identity Theft: The new kid on the block! Go to www.ftc.gov and find out what to do. Don't hesitate, it only gets worse. You could sign up for "credit monitoring". Lots of them out there! The three "Bureaus" above can help. You can also "Freeze" your credit, inconvenient and costs money, but no one will "get in"! Takes about 3 -days to take it on or off, if you are applying for credit.

As Always your Mortgage and Credit Coach,

John

PS. This "stuff" can be tough! But if you face your "fear" , it dies!