Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer, On Friday March 19, 2010, 11:25 am EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some homeowners who sign up for the government's mortgage assistance program are getting a nasty surprise: Lower credit scores.
For borrowers who are making their payments on time but are on the verge of default, the Obama administration's loan modification program can reduce their credit score as much as 100 points. That makes it harder to get a loan and can present a problem when applying for a new job.
Housing counselors say it's unfair, especially because the news often comes as a surprise to homeowners.
"Why should people's credit be hurt even worse when they're trying to do the right thing?" said Eileen Anderson, senior vice president at Community Development Corp. of Long Island, a housing counseling group in New York.
And many homeowners are angry that a program designed to help carries such a penalty, said Kathy Conley, a housing counselor with GreenPath Inc., a nonprofit group in Farmington Hills, Mich.
"It's a feeling of being duped," she said.
Still, the impact is far less severe than a foreclosure, where borrowers typically find their credit is in tatters for years. That's due to the cumulative impact of many months of missed payments and the foreclosure itself, which drags down a homeowner's' credit by 150 points or more on a scale of 300 to 850.
To enroll in the Obama administration's $75 billion "Making Home Affordable" program, borrowers enter a trial period in which they make at least three payments. But some are finding out that their credit score takes a dive during this trial phase. It happens once their mortgage company notifies the three big credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
For delinquent borrowers, the damage was done when they fell behind on their loans.
But for homeowners who are having financial troubles but managing to pay their bills, a request for a loan modification is the first sign of difficulty. And that means a sharp drop in the borrower's credit score.
The credit rating industry defends the practice. People who sign up for loan modifications would not be asking for help unless they were having severe money troubles, said Norm Magnuson, spokesman for the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group in Washington that represents the credit bureaus.
"The consumer is going into the program because they're in a financial bind," he said. "Other lenders would need to be aware of that."
The Obama administration acknowledges that enrolling in the program can hurt credit scores. But Meg Reilly, a Treasury Department spokeswoman, said that foreclosure "brings far more serious financial consequences for borrowers and their families."
The credit score issue is an unexpected consequence of the program that has been plagued with problems and disappointing results since its launch last year. Only about 170,000 homeowners had completed the process as of February. Hundreds of thousands more are still in limbo.
Jim Owens, 46, of Harrisburg, Ore., was accepted on a trial basis for the Obama plan last year.
He and his family were in bad financial shape. They were barely able to pay the mortgage and utility bills.
The main reason: After being laid off and unemployed for six months, he took a job as maintenance director at a retirement home. But it paid only around $25,000 year, about $10,000 less than his former job in a city public works department.
He and his wife were also struggling with debt, after taking out a second mortgage four years ago to pay off debt and medical bills.
Late last year, he was searching for a used sport-utility vehicle. He got a 30-day approval for $2,000 car loan.
But that time ran out before he found a car, so he had to reapply for the loan. He was shocked to learn that, after signing up for the Obama plan, he was denied.
"I should have been told," that this might happen, Owens said. "Without credit, you can't do a whole lot in life."
A Citi spokesman, Mark Rodgers, said the company follows the Treasury Department's guidelines for reporting to credit bureaus. "We do not determine credit scores," said Rodgers, who declined to comment on Owens' case.
The impact is worse for borrowers who enroll in the Obama program and are then ruled ineligible.
If homeowners do manage to get accepted into the Obama program and have their loans permanently modified, lenders update the credit bureaus. The new status neither hurts nor helps the borrower's credit score. Over time, they can see their score increase.
"The best way to build credit back is to continue to pay bills as agreed, to use credit wisely," said Tom Quinn, vice president of scoring solutions at Fair Issac Corp., which designed the well-known FICO score system. "As time goes on, the score gradually increases."
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Burned Out
There is one thing that is hard to do. Working and schooling at the same time. I never noticed it before either. When I moved to Boise, I started to work at The Reel Theater. I was going to high school then. I was working a minimum wage job that didn't require me to be there all the time.
I started to attend University of Phoenix when I was between jobs. I didn't notice anything, I had plenty of time to do school work. Then I get the new job. They have been scheduling me to work overtime for weeks.
I keep getting an email, higher call volume than expected, be patient. I am patient, however, they schedule me to work six days in a row. I think I was there for a full six days once. This is probably where I am looking like a bad employee. I had to schedule a day off for court twice. I had to leave to make sure things went smoothly while making Zack leave. There are some things about the law that Paul doesn't understand, you cannot change the locks and keep someone from getting their things. I had a day when I woke up with a sore throat, I called in, and it turned into a no call no show.
Wednesday, I was scheduled to work again. I had a project to do for school. Everything is becoming virtually impossible to do ahead of time. I have been running late on bills, I don't have enough time to pay my freaking bills. I have been waking up at about 3 in the morning freaking out thinking that I didn't get an assignment done. I submitted an accommodation so I can sleep. I will still work 40 hours, I don't need to physically go to school. I just need some time to do some school work and go to work.
I was up all night working on my project. I go to work the next morning. I am very tired. I sign in and my eyes hurt. It got worse and worse. I started to feel sick. First break, I tell the boss I can't stay today. Another day where I left work, I don't think I have a good track record so far.
I made it home, I was surprised I made it. My head hurt really bad. I went straight to bed and slept until about three or four. I check on the project I was working on. It turns out I put in too much effort. I misunderstood the assignment. On the other hand, my essay is nearly complete. Grr.
I started to attend University of Phoenix when I was between jobs. I didn't notice anything, I had plenty of time to do school work. Then I get the new job. They have been scheduling me to work overtime for weeks.
I keep getting an email, higher call volume than expected, be patient. I am patient, however, they schedule me to work six days in a row. I think I was there for a full six days once. This is probably where I am looking like a bad employee. I had to schedule a day off for court twice. I had to leave to make sure things went smoothly while making Zack leave. There are some things about the law that Paul doesn't understand, you cannot change the locks and keep someone from getting their things. I had a day when I woke up with a sore throat, I called in, and it turned into a no call no show.
Wednesday, I was scheduled to work again. I had a project to do for school. Everything is becoming virtually impossible to do ahead of time. I have been running late on bills, I don't have enough time to pay my freaking bills. I have been waking up at about 3 in the morning freaking out thinking that I didn't get an assignment done. I submitted an accommodation so I can sleep. I will still work 40 hours, I don't need to physically go to school. I just need some time to do some school work and go to work.
I was up all night working on my project. I go to work the next morning. I am very tired. I sign in and my eyes hurt. It got worse and worse. I started to feel sick. First break, I tell the boss I can't stay today. Another day where I left work, I don't think I have a good track record so far.
I made it home, I was surprised I made it. My head hurt really bad. I went straight to bed and slept until about three or four. I check on the project I was working on. It turns out I put in too much effort. I misunderstood the assignment. On the other hand, my essay is nearly complete. Grr.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Getting Warmer
I haven't been home much. When I am home, I am working on homework. For the past couple of days, I had the day off. The only school work I had was a quiz and discussion. I should be working on my projects, but I have been working a ton of overtime. I'm tired.
I am trying to get my job situated. I already spend all this time over there. I commute, spend ten hours at work, and do confusing classwork. They decided to change how everyone submits their time. No training and no notice. If there was notice, I would have received the message. The thing is not letting me register or contact anyone. I can't fix it until Monday, when I submit my time card. Isn't that nice? I think I will be looking for something while these guys are driving me to drink.
Yesterday, I hung out in the backyard. The whole entire backyard was covered with cigarette butts and garbage that the neighbor kids keep throwing into the yard. I will be raising a commotion. We will wait and see what happens when I purchase a hot wire. Stay out of my yard, you stupid little shits.
I picked up all of the garbage. Then I saw something a little surprising. I bought some bulbs during the fall. Zack's stupid dog dug holes everywhere. Lo and behold, there were three sprouts coming up from the ground. I'm excited because I haven't been successful at growing flowers. I went to the back of the yard to see if my garlic was growing. Yep, it is growing. I love garlic, I'm pretty happy about that. Home made salsa, here I come!
Paul and I decided to go out yesterday. I wanted to do something different. We went to Tuscanos Brazilian Grill. It's pretty cool. Need money to go. They have a salad bar that has all of these random things. I tried quail eggs for the first time. I prefer chicken eggs, they have more flavor. These people walk around with meat and pineapple. There is a thing on the table that has a red side and a green side. You flip it over to the green side and they come by with this big metal stick of meat. Very nice place, if you go bring some money.
In case you haven't heard, Paul's little girl is in limbo. Her mom was arrested for using meth. She supposedly signed off her rights to her sister and told everyone that Paul signed off his rights. Right, and he just paid child support. Her sister is trying everything in her power to keep Paul from getting her and also in hiding to keep the girl from getting a drug test. She stated that she knew that she was test positive. His daughter is in a bad place. The sister just got her kids taken away, she is pregnant, and she is drinking.
Fortunately, the girl is in a different jurisdiction. She is not in Blaine county anymore. The police over there have been crooked enough to not do anything and lie to Paul about what they were doing. The supervisor at Health and Welfare stated that it doesn't mean someone is a bad mom if they do drugs. This person is saying that it is okay to do drugs when you have kids. She is five years old, asshole.
Who here remembers that guy who killed a family and kidnapped two children? Does anyone want that to happen anymore? No, we do not. Health and Welfare in Blaine county appear to support child molesters,kidnappers, and drug addicts. Hopefully, child protection service helps Paul save his little girl.
In the mean time, we look for items to gather in case we get her. Hopefully, Ada county will be as helpful as they seem. The cops in Boise went all over town looking for her. I hope that Paul gets as much cooperation as possible to make this lifestyle end. I hope he gets custody of her. I also hope he gets help finding employment.
I am trying to get my job situated. I already spend all this time over there. I commute, spend ten hours at work, and do confusing classwork. They decided to change how everyone submits their time. No training and no notice. If there was notice, I would have received the message. The thing is not letting me register or contact anyone. I can't fix it until Monday, when I submit my time card. Isn't that nice? I think I will be looking for something while these guys are driving me to drink.
Yesterday, I hung out in the backyard. The whole entire backyard was covered with cigarette butts and garbage that the neighbor kids keep throwing into the yard. I will be raising a commotion. We will wait and see what happens when I purchase a hot wire. Stay out of my yard, you stupid little shits.
I picked up all of the garbage. Then I saw something a little surprising. I bought some bulbs during the fall. Zack's stupid dog dug holes everywhere. Lo and behold, there were three sprouts coming up from the ground. I'm excited because I haven't been successful at growing flowers. I went to the back of the yard to see if my garlic was growing. Yep, it is growing. I love garlic, I'm pretty happy about that. Home made salsa, here I come!
Paul and I decided to go out yesterday. I wanted to do something different. We went to Tuscanos Brazilian Grill. It's pretty cool. Need money to go. They have a salad bar that has all of these random things. I tried quail eggs for the first time. I prefer chicken eggs, they have more flavor. These people walk around with meat and pineapple. There is a thing on the table that has a red side and a green side. You flip it over to the green side and they come by with this big metal stick of meat. Very nice place, if you go bring some money.
In case you haven't heard, Paul's little girl is in limbo. Her mom was arrested for using meth. She supposedly signed off her rights to her sister and told everyone that Paul signed off his rights. Right, and he just paid child support. Her sister is trying everything in her power to keep Paul from getting her and also in hiding to keep the girl from getting a drug test. She stated that she knew that she was test positive. His daughter is in a bad place. The sister just got her kids taken away, she is pregnant, and she is drinking.
Fortunately, the girl is in a different jurisdiction. She is not in Blaine county anymore. The police over there have been crooked enough to not do anything and lie to Paul about what they were doing. The supervisor at Health and Welfare stated that it doesn't mean someone is a bad mom if they do drugs. This person is saying that it is okay to do drugs when you have kids. She is five years old, asshole.
Who here remembers that guy who killed a family and kidnapped two children? Does anyone want that to happen anymore? No, we do not. Health and Welfare in Blaine county appear to support child molesters,kidnappers, and drug addicts. Hopefully, child protection service helps Paul save his little girl.
In the mean time, we look for items to gather in case we get her. Hopefully, Ada county will be as helpful as they seem. The cops in Boise went all over town looking for her. I hope that Paul gets as much cooperation as possible to make this lifestyle end. I hope he gets custody of her. I also hope he gets help finding employment.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The "IT" People
Who do you go to when nothing is working? I.T. The guys who have it easy. They don't have to deal with the public. Just people who work for companies.
For about a month or so, I haven't had a desk that I normally sat at. Then, one fine day, I was given one. One where no email or chat room work. Which is great, since the job depends entirely on the Internet. The computer guy comes along and works on my computer. I get to sit around for a little while without speaking to anyone. It was fine, I was working on overtime. Now, I have email and chat. Yay. No more talking to the evil witch lady. She is having a serious power trip when she doesn't realize she is at the bottom of the food chain like everyone else.
When I came home, I had to renew my anti-virus software. My trail expired yesterday. So, I went and paid for it. The darn thing was telling me that it was still expired. I called them, and I was hold for a long time and my phone dropped the call. I clicked on chat. The person tried transferring me to another chat room. It was really weird, how do you get transferred to another chat room?
The technical person did some kind of a remote troubleshooting. I let him view my screen. I'm sure my thesis on Abraham Lincoln was interesting, I wonder if he found it interesting. He took control of the screen and clicked away on different things. Removed my anti-virus software. When he rebooted my computer, he was still there when I got back. He also highlighted different areas for me to pay attention to.
It was kind of an interesting day. One more day until my weekend. Then the overtime crap starts again.
For about a month or so, I haven't had a desk that I normally sat at. Then, one fine day, I was given one. One where no email or chat room work. Which is great, since the job depends entirely on the Internet. The computer guy comes along and works on my computer. I get to sit around for a little while without speaking to anyone. It was fine, I was working on overtime. Now, I have email and chat. Yay. No more talking to the evil witch lady. She is having a serious power trip when she doesn't realize she is at the bottom of the food chain like everyone else.
When I came home, I had to renew my anti-virus software. My trail expired yesterday. So, I went and paid for it. The darn thing was telling me that it was still expired. I called them, and I was hold for a long time and my phone dropped the call. I clicked on chat. The person tried transferring me to another chat room. It was really weird, how do you get transferred to another chat room?
The technical person did some kind of a remote troubleshooting. I let him view my screen. I'm sure my thesis on Abraham Lincoln was interesting, I wonder if he found it interesting. He took control of the screen and clicked away on different things. Removed my anti-virus software. When he rebooted my computer, he was still there when I got back. He also highlighted different areas for me to pay attention to.
It was kind of an interesting day. One more day until my weekend. Then the overtime crap starts again.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Checkin In
Hello, people! It's been a little bit since I have been here. I have been working, working, working. Yep, making money, sick of working and it's lack of professionalism.
I don't get a chance to give information on when I can work overtime. Three times, I was sceduled so I would work six days in a row. I am sick of asking people anything. I made one person look like a complete idiot. It was unintentional, but nobody asks any questions. They just assume. They roll their eyes at me?
I have been working away at school. I'm very confused. One of my teachers is hardly around. My papers do not get graded until the end of the week. This makes it more difficult for me to understand anything. I would like to make sure I understand. Which I don't. I know I'm going to freaking fail. Workshops are not my thing and confuse me even more.
I got my taxes done. A huge chunk was taken by H&R Block. I had a huge heap of paperwork to go through. I will make enough to possibly get rid of my car payments. One less bill and a reason I will be permitted to find liability.
What's going on in the news? I have no idea. I read an article about a mother who sold her children for about $175 and a bird. Are people really that desperate? I don't get what is going on with people. Seriously, if you don't want children, don't have sex. We have yet to hear back what is going on with Paul's little girl. Baby mamma has caused some drama again.
I don't get a chance to give information on when I can work overtime. Three times, I was sceduled so I would work six days in a row. I am sick of asking people anything. I made one person look like a complete idiot. It was unintentional, but nobody asks any questions. They just assume. They roll their eyes at me?
I have been working away at school. I'm very confused. One of my teachers is hardly around. My papers do not get graded until the end of the week. This makes it more difficult for me to understand anything. I would like to make sure I understand. Which I don't. I know I'm going to freaking fail. Workshops are not my thing and confuse me even more.
I got my taxes done. A huge chunk was taken by H&R Block. I had a huge heap of paperwork to go through. I will make enough to possibly get rid of my car payments. One less bill and a reason I will be permitted to find liability.
What's going on in the news? I have no idea. I read an article about a mother who sold her children for about $175 and a bird. Are people really that desperate? I don't get what is going on with people. Seriously, if you don't want children, don't have sex. We have yet to hear back what is going on with Paul's little girl. Baby mamma has caused some drama again.
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