All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Mary Ann, you are the type of real estate agent I seek out. If I were buying in your area I would be (figuratively) camped out on your doorstep to work with you.

If anyone on here is buying in that area, I encourage you to sit down with her and see if/how you can work together.

Originally posted by Alina Nicol:

I am not arguing that a consumer will never see the same scores as a finiacial institution or the like pulling their credit. It states on most sites in the disclaimer that these consumer websites use their own scoring modules based on the public information provided by the bureasu to generate their own credit scores.

Which makes the whole credit score worship by consumers pointless.

As far as being an expert on credit, that is just spurious on its face. Again, go read what I actually wrote. Lenders are the ONLY ones who can attach any valid meaning to credit scores. Everything else is just feel good noise.

But, here's the thing, it does not really matter. The days of desktop underwriting are gone. Sure there used to be a time when underwriters used the FICO as the sole determiner of credit worthiness. Not any more. The underwriters are actually looking at the credit reports. The full ones that contain information you thought was "removed". They are eliminating from consideration items that game the system.

This is another little bit of information the so called credit experts either don't know or intentionally don't share. Nothing is ever "removed" from your credit file. It is flagged to not be included when someone pulls the consumer's credit file. But, there is a more in depth pull available to mortgage lenders and credit card companies. The uncensored pull includes EVERYTHING with the notation of the flag status AND WHY IT WAS FLAGGED.

BTW, why don't you explain to the readers here the differences between ...

Consumer Credit Report

vs

Merchant Credit Report

vs

Standard Factual Credit Report

vs

Investigative Credit Report

Two hints, two of those are the same just called different things by different providers and as a lender we use the 3rd one.

Originally posted by Corey Williams:

Technically if you jump around looking at different houses each listing agent represents both the seller and you, the buyer.

In almost every jurisdiction, representation follows the commission. In other words, if the seller is paying the commission the agent(s) represent the seller.

The best thing for the agent is that they get the entire commission.

The complicating part is that they have confidentiality requirements to both parties.

Yes, but one of them is enforceable and one is probably not.


This is the crux of the struggle between investors and agents. An experienced investor knows the agent is not their "partner" and is usually required to share anything they learn from the buyer with the selling agent. The really good real estate agents who work with investors on a regular basis know how to walk that tightrope and the really good ones don't let the investor share information that would be a problem. For example, the agents I work with regularly NEVER ask what my highest offer would be on a deal because they know better.

Some deals could be a walk in the park and others could get very heated depending on how trustworthy the agent is.

The way I see it, it doesn't cost you anything to have an agent as a buyer since the seller pays the commission. You might have to work with 1 or 10 until you find an agent willing to work with you on a number of deals, but at least they are looking out for your interests during the negotiation.

It may not cost you financially from the standpoint of the commission but unless you are very careful with the information you share with that buyer's agent it could still cost you a higher price.

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:

If you want to be angry about something here, but angry about the complete lack of financial education in our school system. Kids graduate from high school with little understanding of how finance works, and with a huge industry set up to prey on them.

AMEN!

Originally posted by K Smith:

Besides being a nation of democracy.

We are NOT a democracy and God help us if we ever devolve into one. We are a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC based on the rule of law not the rule of man or "fairness" of the outcome, only the opportunity.


They used to do just that, then community activists organizations started suing claiming illegal discrimination.


There is no dual standard here. Make the payments and enjoy the peaceful benefit of living in the home. Stop making the payments and the lender seizes the collateral pledged for said loan. It is pretty cut and dried.


I kind of agree with you here, but the problem is who is responsible for stepping in and preventing her from conducting her personal financial affairs as she sees fit?

Originally posted by Alina Nicol:

Exactly... thats what I was saying... FICO 08 isnt implemented yet.

No, we aren't saying even remotely the same thing.

A consumer will never, ever, not ever, not under any circumstance see their real FICO score. What's more the score for a mortgage lender is NOT the same as the score a utility will see or a credit card or a department store instant credit or even an employer.

The credit scores offered to consumers by the credit bureaus uses their own algorithms. The one offered to consumers by Fair Issacs on myfico.com is the generic one no lender uses.

No problem. I am a very patient man.

Let's get something straight, I don't give "advice" on credit. I pointed out some factual errors in some posts here.

Qualifications huh? Let's see ...

I have been a major shareholder in a private lender for almost 20 years. I have served my normal rotation as the managing member of that lender four times. I know lending from a lenders perspective. When we signed up with Fair Issacs, I am the one who negotiated the first contract and decided on the criteria to be used in "our" model.

I have been an active investor in real estate for over 24 years. I know lending from an investors perspective.

I am the publisher of a private site catering to the needs of investors. We employ a full-time research staff as well as real honest to God non-guru Subject Matter Experts, some of which just happen to have legal and accounting degrees.

I'll be happy to compare my CV with yours should you desire to pursue this line.

Originally posted by Alina Nicol:

Taz.... you are completley inccorect. FICO 08 has not even been implemented yet and my cstomers authorized user accounts are still showing up on credit reports. I recently had my husband add me to 3 of his cards and as of last week they not only reported by my scores are higher.

You seem to be confused as to the credit scores calculated by each of the three bureaus for consumer consumption and the one and ONLY one proprietary FICO algorithm used by lenders.

The score you see with your consumer report is absolutely NOT a FICO score and NONE of them claim it is.

Each of the three major bureaus are trying to get their algorithms accepted as the standard but so far no joy. The FICO score is what lenders use. Each of the bureaus licenses the FICO model from Fair Issacs, they have absolutely no control in how a FICO is calculated. It is a proprietary model owned and controlled by Fair Issacs.

Then it should be trivially easy for you post links to verifiable data to prove that hearsay incorrect.

You also seem to forget FICO is not monolithic. Most of the lenders out there don't even get the FICO from Equifax, Experian or Transunion, they use a customized version from Fair Issacs run against the raw data in the credit files.

NBCE is the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

I can't find any details on your National Board of Credit Education. Care to provide some details?

Originally posted by Alina Nicol:

First off, no offense Taz but the advice you keep handing out is as usual not based on fact rather than opinion. The fact is that once a debt is handed over to a collection company the original creditor WILL NOT deal with you. You will have to deal with the collection company reporting it.

Hmmm, maybe you should read what I wrote. I never said they would deal with you once they sold it to the collections agency.
I really think you have confused me with someone else. Please show where I said anything about a credit consolidation company being a good idea.

Originally posted by Ali M:

Well K Gold, doing what is "right" is an interesting dilema these days.

Think about it, collection agencies are third party companies. If I have a delinquent cell phone bill with at &t and I do not pay it and they send it to collection well, they have violated our contract. I have a contract with at &t , not an outside party.

Absolutely not true. Read your contract with AT&T, they can assign their rights any time they want. You agreed to it when you signed up.


True, they sold your defaulted account to a third party. It was their right to do so.

Lets say I break down and eventually pay off the debt to the third party and what do I get in return??? My credit score severely drops and the collection stays on my report for 7 years!!!

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND "RIGHT"??

Yes, actually it does because you did not pay the account as agreed. You defaulted. That increases the risk to anyone granting you credit in the future.


That is bogus.


There is a grain of truth here.


This is completely not true. One of the subject matter experts over at the Field Guide is an insider with collection practices, especially on the unsecured credit card side. Your statement above is total Bovine Squeeze.


The collection process is designed to collect on defaulted debts.


Conversely, why shouldn't those of us who pay our bills on time as agreed get the benefits of lower interest rates and better offers? You act like there shouldn't be any consequence to bad financial decisions.


Care to share the verifiable stats to prove that?

I have a client who is a young single mother. She was being harassed by collection agencies pretty badly. She tried to reason with them ( the worst thing you could do) and they told her that if she could not pay her bills then she was not fit to be a mother and that they were going to call Child protective services and have her child removed. She was a wreck!

I helped her and we got the calls stopped.

She needs a lawyer. If that behavior can be proven, she can get all of the debt wiped away AND get punitive damages from the collectors.

It seems doing what is right is not an option anymore. That option is being taken away from us.

"Right" is always an option.

Originally posted by MikeOH:

The other big problem with making a major change to the tax code is the effect that it will have on business. Unfortunately, many businesses are structured around the tax code. For example, the rental business depends in part on the ability to depreciate the property and deduct operating expenses. If the income tax were suddenly removed in favor of another type of tax, it could significantly alter the profitability of the business. Could you imagine paying a 15% sales tax on rental property? Would services be taxed or just profits? Would rents be taxed (with a sales tax)? These things could destroy the rental business as it exists today. The same is true of thousands of other businesses. Of course, we could adapt, but the metrics of the business would certainly change.

It sounds simple, but the unintended consequences would be HUGE!

Mike

Please read the books, because the points raised here are fiction in relation to the Fair Tax. It is applied on the first sale of a product or service ONLY. If you buy an investment property from a homeowner, no sales tax paid. In fact, even if you bought an investment property brand new you would not pay sales tax on it.

As for losing the tax deductions, what good are deductions against income if the income is not taxed?

Rents would be taxed but since you are not paying income tax on the income the net on rents like every other product would stabilize at the levels they are now without the fair tax.

You are already paying this, it is just embedded in the current price.

Get the books, go to http://FairTax.org and learn about how it would be applied. It is so much better than guessing.