Most buyers want to make sure they get a ‘good deal’ when they purchase something. Purchasers of real estate are no different. That is why many decide to buy a distressed property (a foreclosure or a short sale). The National Association of Realtors (NAR) last week reported foreclosures, on average, sell at a 22% discount and short sales at a 17% discount. It sounds like a pretty good decision to buy a property at those levels of discount.

However, the purchaser must realize that there are added obstacles in these type of transactions. Many foreclosures are left in less than pristine condition by the previous owner and some have title issues that must be corrected before they can change hands. Many short sales have multiple loans that must be negotiated before an offer is accepted by all parties to the transaction. This

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If you’re a borrower in the UK, you may be confused about the right debt relief option among the plethora of options that you may have to choose from. The 2 most common ways of repaying your credit card debts in the UK are debt management or debt consolidation. Consolidating their debts through debt consolidation loans in the UK is sometimes a strategy that is used by most borrowers to make their debt more manageable. On the other hand, debt management is an option that is resorted to by those borrowers who are on the brink of filing bankruptcy. Though there are some striking differences between debt management and debt consolidation, yet most financial expert recommend borrowers to take resort to debt consolidation loans while repaying their debts. R

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Debt settlements with credit card companies and other creditors have become more common as people look for debt solutions. Having a creditor approve a debt settlement plan can allow you to completely wipe out credit card debt and make a fresh financial start. But with the deadline for filing income taxes looming, it’s important to understand how a debt settlement may affect your taxes.

What is debt settlement?

Debt settlement usually occurs when a creditor agrees to accept a lower payoff than what you actually owe to them. For instance, if you owe $15,000 in credit card debt but are able to make a lump sum payment of $9,000 from savings or a windfall you receive, your creditor may agree to forgive the remaining debt and you would not have to pay it. M

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Experian, a credit bureau specializing in consumer credit reporting, scoring and financial services,  released a survey indicating that San Antonio, Texas is the city with the most per capita consumer credit card debt with an average of $ 5,177 in credit card debt as compared to the national average of $4,200 as of December 2010. The survey only considered balances on bank issued credit cards; cards issued by retail establishments weren’t included in the survey. Although survey results provide entertaining reading, they don’t help much if you’re drowning in credit card debt.

Finding debt solutions requires understanding the problem

Whether you live in San Antonio or Kalamazoo doesn’t matter if you can’t see past the pile of bills and late notices piling up. If you’re i

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April is coming, so taxes are on most people’s minds. You may be asking yourself about forgiven or canceled debt. I am not a tax professional, nor do I claim to be one. So please, seek the help of a qualified professional to prepare your taxes. But we can still talk about the T. word.

It is still a jungle out there, in terms of the recession. With the tougher new bankruptcy laws, debt settlement is a better bankruptcy alternative for many consumers. Why? A trained debt management professional fights for you and often, the debt reduction is usually about half of the original debt. The remainder is forgiven, but in some cases you may be responsible to pay taxes on the savings.

Don’t panic, but canceled debt is considered taxable income. Creditors are required to report forgiven debts greater than $600. You

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The newly formed government agency, U.S. Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, reports that the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD)Act has caused the U.S. credit card industry to revise policies while reducing and eliminating some penalty fees. Highlights of the report include:

• Over-limit fees have all but disappeared.
• Prior to the CARD Act, 15 percent of credit card issuers reset credit card interest rates annually, but now approximately 2 percent of issuers are resetting interest rates each year.
• Assessed late payment fees fell to $427 million in December 2010. This represents a decrease of more than half of the January 2010 amount of $901 million.
• Since the inception of the CARD Act, credit card late fees have fallen from an average of $35.00 to $23.00.

These developments are a step in the right direction toward helping consumers with debt management.

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