Time to Clean Yourself Up for the Future!

No more risky real estate loans:

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, said it lost $1.2 billion over the summer, as the amount of money it set aside to cover losses from loans gone bad skyrocketed. Angelo Mozilo, the chairman and chief executive of Countrywide, said the changes in the mortgage market over the summer were "unprecedented," and the company is eliminating nearly all but the safest loans from its product menu. It is also in the midst of cutting 12,000 jobs.

For potential mortgage borrowers, the comments paint a sobering picture of the difficulty in getting a new home loan in the coming months. "If your credit scores are low, your access to mortgage money has all but vanished," said Dan Green, a certified mortgage planning specialist and author of TheMortgageReports.com.

Footnote: "This week the local paper published figures for the Bradenton/Sarasota Florida market where we live: The median home sales price has declined by $109,000 since October of 2006, just one year ago."

A young, 20-something financial associate originally from California and now living in Florida said to me 1 1/2 years ago: "Real estate never declines in value." I said: "Let me tell you about Texas 1984-1985, young man." Now I've seen it twice in my 55 year lifetime.

It's time to clean up your financial house if you have too much debt of any kind.

55 New Clients Save $3.3 Million

55 of my new clients served in 2007 collectively are saving over $3.3 million by being a part of the Shepley Law program. This savings comes from breaking the habit of paying off their credit card and other secured debt with minimum monthly payments which can take 15 to 25 years depending on interest rates.

With Shepley Law arbitrating the client's debt, and the arbitrated amount being paid off with no interest or penalties added, my average client will save over $60,000 each, reduce their debt to income ratio substantially, and significantly improve their credit score in 18 to 39 months.

Reduce Your Debt to Income Ratio to Improve Your Credit Score

Your Debt to Income Ratio is your total debt divided by your income. If your total debt is $40,000 and your income is $40,000, your debt to income ratio is 100%, meaning it takes a full year's worth of income to pay off your debt.

If you have a mortgage of $120,000, you have added 3 more years of income or 300% to the ratio.

Most people do not realize that your debt to income ratio has a heavy effect on your credit score, even more than on-time payments. Paying off debts has a very positive effect on your credit score.

Clients in our program are getting completely out of their unsecured debt load in 18-39 months and seeing much higher credit scores as a result. Get on our MMA Mortgage Reduction program as well, and see your score go much higher in just a few years. The mortgage reduction program can been seen at: http://www.u1stfinancial.net/achieveunlimited

Why is this the case? Logically, if someone has debt which will take years to repay, they are at much higher risk of a negative life event: loss of job, disability, etc., and a higher credit risk.