What is an Anticipated Tax Refund Loan? Annually many Americans find themselves needing their income tax refund now causing them to obtain an anticipated tax refund loan as a quick and simple method to get their tax refund quicker.  Anticipated tax refund loans are essentially a short term payday loan made against their anticipated income tax refund. The consumer typically applies for an anticipated tax refund loan through a company that prepares tax returns. The anticipated tax refund loan amount is determined by the expected amount of their tax refund. One of the many dangers with obtaining an anticipated tax refund loan is that the lender may intentionally increase the expected income tax refund amount in order to increase the amount of fees they charge.  This creates problems for the consumer when their expected income tax refund they actually receive is less than anticipated since the lender has already contracted for and deducted their fees from the consumers income tax refund.  Additionally, this puts the consumer at risk of being audited by the IRS for filing an incorrect income tax return.  These and other risks are reasons the government is considering legislation to restrict anticipated tax refund loans because they promote fraudulent activities. A Car Title Loan is an Excellent Alternative Though anticipated tax refund loans may sound like a quick and easy way to obtain your income tax refund sooner, obtaining a car title loan from a title lender provides you greater benefits. Most title lenders will discloses all of their rates and fees up front.  There is no leaving it up to a third party to calculate what your income tax refund will be.  Thereby reducing the opportunity for higher and unnecessary fees being charged to you, putting more money in your pocket, and the chance of a false income tax return being filed, increasing your risk of being audited by the IRS. Some Car Title Loans providers allow you to pay off the loan over a 32-month term.  Better than that is that you may not penalized if you chose to pay off your loan sooner. Whereas in an anticipated tax refund loan the fees are automatically taken from your income tax refund before you receive your refund.  And fees are never waived with an anticipated tax refund loan. Establishing a relationship with a Title Loan company allows you to build a financial partnership that will allow you to obtain future loans after you have paid off your loan instead of only during tax season each year.  Obtaining a car title loan from a trusted Title Loan company helps restore or improve your credit and provides you with the comfort of knowing you have a partner with your financial needs.  It is clear to see how a good Title Loan company provides you more options and benefits than an anticipated tax refund loan.

There has been a lot of talk lately about predatory lending in the mortgage industry, but not much talk about what it is. Predatory lending covers a lot of area and some of the practices that are used in it are somewhat difficult to understand for the average consumer. Here are a few aspects of predatory mortgage lending that might be of interest.

The first thing consumers should understand is that predatory lending does not begin and end with the lenders themselves. It is true that there are several lenders who are guilty of bad loan practices, but there are others just as guilty. These include appraisers, mortgage brokers, home builders, and home improvement contractors to name a few.

Some of the things that you want to watch out for when you are considering a home purchase include:

Always think twice before working with someone who will sell properties for much more than they are worth by using false appraisals that inflate the value of the home.

Never work with anyone who wants you to lie about your income, expenses, or job history. They may also want you to lie about the amount of cash that you have on hand.

Stay away from lenders who encourage you to borrow more money than you know you can repay. This is one of the fastest ways to foreclosure known.

Some predatory lenders will charge high interest rates to home buyers based solely on their race or national origin. The black community is especially hard hit with this one.

There are also some lenders and other professionals who will charge high fees that are not normally a part of the home buying process. If someone asks you to pay a fee for a product or a service make sure you understand what it is you are paying for.

Be very careful when working with anyone who tries to pressure you into taking a home loan that contains high-risk factors. These include things such as balloon loans, interest only payments, and steep pre-payment penalties.

The elderly seem especially vulnerable to those predators who use high-pressure sales tactics to sell home improvement projects or work and then finance them at very high interest rates.

Lending predators are good at their work. If they were not, there would not be such a problem with them. Some of the cons they use to pull people in include such things as telling a home buyer that they, and only they, are the only ones who will finance the home. They may also try to convince you that the home you are looking at is worth much more than surrounding homes even though there is no physical proof that it is. Many of these folks want home buyers to sign contracts or other documents that have blank spaces. Home buyers should never sign these types of documents.

Another crafty tactic is to hand over a higher than expected bill at closing. They understand that after all you have been through to get to this final stage you are more likely to pay the added charges. Do not pay them unless it is proven that they are legitimate charges.

The best advice is to be careful and to be wary. Take your time and do not allow lenders or others to pressure you or to push you into a contract that you do not fully understand.

Credit card companies across the board are beginning to impose higher fees for late payments. For some companies, higher late payment fees are just the beginning of what they can do to you when you drag your feet on paying them.

The amount of money that a credit card company will charge you as a late fee is pretty much up to the company. Some will charge less than others, but some will happily charge more. It is not uncommon to find some credit card companies demanding as much as $39 or so as a late payment fee.

What might surprise some consumers is how quickly some of the companies are issuing these late fees. For example, your payment is due on the 29th of the month and you make an online payment to the company at 1 AM on the 30th. In other words, one hour late. Well, don’t be surprised if you get hit with a late payment charge.

Paying a late fee can be annoying but the credit card companies can do more if you are late on your payments. One of the most common tactics is to raise your interest rate on the card. Some consumers who have been late once or twice have found that their interest rates were increased to as much as thirty percent or higher, just for being late on those payments. No other financial issue has to come into play here. If you pay late, you may find yourself with a much higher interest rate on that particular card.

Depending on how late you are and the company that issues the card, you may also find that your tardiness is being reported to the credit agencies. This, of course, can alert issuers of other cards you may have that they, too, may need to increase your interest rate with them. In case you are wondering, yes, they can do this to you.

If you do find yourself with a higher interest rate because of paying late, you have a few options. Some of the credit card companies will reset your interest rate to its original level if you make on-time payments for a certain amount of time. This is usually six to twelve months without a late payment. Other companies may reduce the rate if you agree to sign up for an automatic payment system through your checking account.

Another option is to put that card away, pay off the balance, and move to another credit card company. Many consumers seem to like this one best. However, consumers should also understand that credit card companies are getting tighter on new accounts so it may not be as easy to get a new card as it once was. This can be especially true if you already have that late payment logged into your credit report.

The best advice of all is to simply pay on time. Even if it means making a short-term sacrifice on something else, get that payment into the mail so that it arrives on time and you can avoid all of these late pay problems.

Regardless of the type of credit card that you are using, chances are excellent that it carries with it some form of finance charge. Unfortunately, many credit card companies do not spend a lot of time explaining, in clear language, just how these finances charges affect your monthly bill. Most accountants can probably figure it out, but average consumers often have a harder time with it. So, what exactly are finance charges?

A finance charge as it applies to a credit card is the amount of money that the card issuer is going to charge you when you use the card to make purchases. There are other monetary values on a statement as well such as the purchase amounts of things you charged during the billing period. These other values are used when the company is calculating your finance charge for the monthly bill.

One of the best tips for using credit cards is to either reduce or even eliminate the finance charges. You can eliminate finance charges altogether by simply paying your balance off each month within the grace period allowed by the company. If you do not carry over a balance, you will not be charged interest. It is only when you do not pay off the full amount and some (or all) of your purchases are carried over that you are charged the interest on the amount carried over.

A good way to reduce the amount you have to pay on finance charges is to reduce the amount that you charge each month. This is only common sense, but many consumers can save a lot of money each month by simply paying cash for many items, especially if they are in the habit of carrying over a balance.

Finance charges are calculated by using the amount of your outstanding balance and the APR that applies to the card. The APR is the Annual Percentage Rate. Consumers should understand that the ARP can vary from one company to the next, and it can even vary within the same company.

There are several ways that credit card companies can calculate the finance charges that they apply to consumer credit. In addition to using the cards with the lowest APR’s you should also use the card that best suits your needs in terms of finance charge method.

Some companies will use one billing cycle for figuring out finance charges, others will use two. Some companies may use the previous balance as the basis for finance charges while others may use the average daily balance. Still, some companies will either include or exclude new purchases on the current balance. All of this makes a difference and consumers should investigate the method that their credit card uses as this can save money over the long run.

You will normally find that you have a lower finance charge when the company uses what is known as one-cycle billing and uses the average daily balance method which excludes new purchases. Much of this, however, depends on the balance and the time of the month that you make purchases and payments.

The next lowest finance-charge method that some companies use is the adjusted balance, followed by the previous balance method. You can see which method the company is using by reading the bill that you receive. This information is written on the reverse of your statement.

It is also important that you understand that some companies will have a minimum finance charge system. When a credit card company uses this system you will be charged that minimum amount even if your finance charge is less than that amount.Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Loan and Credit Cards
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Have you ever heard of credit card blocking? Do you know what it is and how it might affect you? If you are not sure what blocking is, this article may be able to clear up some of the mystery.

If you were ever told that you were over your credit limit (when you knew you were not over the limit) you may have experienced credit card blocking. This seems to happen a lot when consumers are paying for hotels or rental cars.

When you use your credit card to check into a hotel or to rent a vehicle, the hotel or rental company will normally contact the company that issued your card in order to give them an estimated total of your transaction. The credit card company will then either approve or deny the amount. If the transaction is approved, your available credit is immediately reduced by this amount. This is a block.

An example might clarify the way this works. Assume that you are using a credit card when you check into a $100-a-night hotel and you are going to stay for five nights. At least $500 would be blocked ($100 x 5 nights). Here is where it can begin to get tricky.

If you pay the hotel or rental bill with the same card that you presented earlier, the final charge from the hotel or rental company will replace the block in a day or two. If you decide to pay the bill with a different card, however, the credit card company you used at check-in might hold the block for up to 15 days after you have checked out of the hotel or paid the rental car company. This would be done because they were not notified of the final charge from the hotel or car rental company and therefore would not know you had paid another way.

The reason blocking is used is to make sure you do not go over your credit limit before checking out of a hotel or returning a rental car; both of which would leave the merchant unpaid.

For those people who are well below their credit limit, blocking is usually not a problem. However, if you are getting close to your limit you will want to be careful. Not only can it be embarrassing to have your credit card refused, but it can also present big problems if you need a room or a car and do not have cash in your pocket to pay for them.

Here are some tips to help you avoid being blocked.

Always consider paying your rental car, hotel, or motel bills with the same card that you use at the beginning of the transaction. You may also want to ask the clerk or rental rep to tell you the full amount that they are going to request from the card company. In the event you choose to use another payment method when checking out or paying the final bill for rental make sure you ask the clerk to remove the block.

You may also want to call your credit card company and ask them how long they block credit lines for these types of transactions. If you do a lot of traveling, you may want to find a company that use shorter block times.Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Credit Cards and Mortgages
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