Mortgage & Real Estate Tips and News "Better Informed & Educated Moving Forward"

Added Safety Measures You Can Take

to Protect Your Credit from I.D. Theft

• Never carry your Social Security card on you and never give out your S.S. # over the phone, without first asking "what happens if I don't give it?" Usually the answer is "nothing".  And Never, ever give it in an email. 
• Don't use your mother's real maiden name or your real city of birth as identifiers. 
• If possible - Have your mail delivered to a locked mailbox.  Identity Thieves  frequently go mailbox to mailbox down Main Street, USA.  Right after mail delivery (before you return home from work) to intercept your credit card and bank statements.
• Which leads in to; cancel your paper statements and retrieve them monthly online.  Ironically it's much safer than paper mail.
• Buy a cross cut shredder and shred All credit card unsolicited pre-approved credit card offers thru the mail. And those checks that come attached to your credit card statements every month.
• And last but not least - Ask you Doctor's office, Dentist office, Attorney, Accountant, etc.  How do they dispose of their trash? Do they run it through a shredder first?  Over 80% of Identity theft in the U.S. is still being done the old fashioned way; off-line by dumpster diving behind medical and legal buildings and stealing your mail, and even careless ATM usage.

•  I will expand on the ATM sneaky tricks thieves use in an upcoming Blog so stay tuned, More tips to come.

The worsening mortgage market is nothing new to those of us in the real estate field, however the possibility of the government "freezing" ARM’s is a new twist. Over the past few weeks, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush have introduced the idea of allowing the government to freeze the rate of adjustable rate mortgages that millions of consumers have. More recently it appears as if this deal will be coming to fruition and will be bailing amount a large number of consumers (who fit into one of three categories) struggling to make their current payments. But not those currently in default, mind you.

The plan for this program is to allow a subset of consumers who received ARM’s between 1/05 and 7/07 to have their rates locked in or Frozen. By doing this, numerous homeowners would not face the threat of their rates increasing by figures as high as 30% and being able to maintain their home, which they may not have been able to do without this plan. This could reduce the number of possible foreclosures in the coming months (and years) and in turn keep the real estate market level, as opposed to sinking even further. Many homeowners who have ARM’s feel like this is their saving grace but many others who went with more traditional fixed rate mortgages feel as if the government is bailing consumers out who took a risk and that they are being penalized for taking a less risky approach.

The possibility of this happening obviously will have profound impacts on the real estate market.  I would love for you to chime in on this and hear your feedback - Especially from the Realtor and home-owner perspectives. Please click on the Comments button on my blog to offer your feedback & opinions