Credit Score

Good to Know: The Role of a Closing Attorney and the Title Company

There are many steps involved in this process. From beginning to end it goes roughly as follows:  When a lender meets with a borrower, for either a purchase or a refinance, the lender requests a title search to find out what, if any, liens have been placed against the property. The title search will also verify the names on the property title.

In a refinance or purchase transaction the lender will order the title search through the closing attorney which is usually the lender’s attorney in a refinance and the seller’s attorney in a purchase transaction.  The closing attorney performs a title search, or abstract, pulling data from the recording body, usually the county the property is located in, to determine what liens are on that property.  If there are unexpected liens, the borrower will be able to address them with the seller before closing.

The Closing attorney will often offer title insurance through a title company the attorney represents.  Title insurance protects real estate owners and lenders against any property loss or damage they might experience because of liens, encumbrances or defects in the title to the property. Once the transaction is ready to go to closing, the closing attorney will prepare the closing documents and reconcile the figures from both sides of a purchase transaction or with the borrower in a refinance. Once everyone is in agreement, the closing attorney receives the funds sent by the lender and then distributes these funds to the parties involved in the closing.

At the closing, the closing attorney will review the documents with the borrower.  Keep in mind though that the closing attorney is unable to give advice or direct a borrower or seller as to a course of action if questions arise. Borrowers should always have either an attorney or someone knowledgeable about the lending process involved. After the closing, the closing attorney will arrange to have the recordable documents sent to the recording body to be recorded.

VantageScore: The New Method of Calculating Credit Scores

The math behind your credit score is getting revamped, with changes big enough that they might alter the behavior of both cautious spenders as well as riskier borrowers. Those with low scores may benefit from the removal of civil judgments, paid medical collections, and any paid collection and tax liens.

The New Method “VantageScore”

The new method has already begun being implemented by VantageScore, a company created by the credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. It’s not as well-known as Fair Isaac Corp., who’s FICO score is used for the vast majority of mortgages. But VantageScore handled 8 billion account applications last year, so if you applied for a credit card, that score was likely used to approve or deny you.

Trending Data

Using what’s known as trended data is the biggest change. The phrase means credit scores will take into account the trajectory of a borrower’s debts on a month-to-month basis. So a person who is paying down debt is now likely to be scored better than a person who is making minimum monthly payments but has been slowly accumulating credit card debt.

Who Is Affected the Most

People with high credit scores may be affected the most since the goal of trended data is to see warning signs long before a borrower actually gets into serious trouble.

Reasoning Behind Removing Judgments, Tax Liens And Medical Debt

Taking civil judgments, medical debts and tax liens out of the equation comes after a 2015 agreement between the three credit bureaus and 31 state attorneys general. The argument was that civil judgments and tax liens -which can significantly hurt a person’s credit score – were often full of errors. Medical debt was being reported on a person’s credit report before there was time for insurance to reimburse.  People with those items on their credit reports now could see a bump of as much as 20 points. But it won’t help much if they also have negative marks like delinquencies and debts that have gone to collection.

Contact MiLEND today and see what all their loyal, satisfied customers have been saying all along. When you combine their level of world class customer service with the benefit of saving money, it becomes clear that MiLEND is the premier lender to use for all your loan and mortgage needs!

How the Fed Rate Hike Impacts Mortgages, Credit Cards, and Auto Loans

The recent announcement that the Federal Reserve Board was going to raise the rate by one quarter point has a lot of people wondering what that means for their wallet. This incremental increase might sound small but it could have some bigger impacts on your money over the long term in some areas. So if you are among the many who are confused about the effect it could have on your financial situation, let’s have a look at the numbers.

Mortgages

Fixed rates on thirty-year mortgages have already risen nearly a full point since October from 3.47% to 4.13%, which equals an extra $75 on a $200,00 mortgage. This increase is due in large part to 10-year Treasury bond yields moving nearly the same percentage up back in September. But for most short and long term rates, the quarter point increase has already been factored in since the announcement from the Fed had already been expected. However, if there are another two rate hikes of a quarter point, that could bring mortgage rates up to the tune of an extra $30 a month coming out of your pocket on a $200,000 mortgage.

Adjustable rate mortgages stand to feel a bigger effect from the increase. While these are usually modified on a year-to-year basis, you could find yourself paying more with a rise of half a percentage point over the next year. That would be very possible with the inclusion of the recently announced raise of a quarter point. What does it all mean in dollars and cents? You would be shelling out another $60 a month on that same $200,000 mortgage.

Auto Loans

This is one area that won’t feel as much of an impact than some others since the quarter point represents a small amount of additional money in relation to how much one might borrow on an auto loan. So if you have plans to purchase a new car in the coming months, many of the current components will remain the same in determining how much your payments would be.

For example, if you borrowed $25,000 to buy a car, the Fed rate hike really translates to little more than $3 extra per month. Over the course of a year it’s $36, hardly a make or break situation for someone eager to get behind the wheel of a new automobile. So when you’re ready to talk numbers, you still want to make sure you meet credit requirements and shop around for the best price, as you would whether the rate went up or not.

Credit Cards

The rate hike is also going to have a small but definite impact on your credit card. The majority of the cards on the market come with variable rates, so the Fed does have power to make some dramatic changes to your debt. With a hike of a quarter point, that breaks down to an additional $25 a year for each $1,000 you have in credit card debt.

Contact a MiLEND mortgage expert today to discuss the available options that will allow you to begin enjoying a lower monthly mortgage rate or term.