Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for May, 2009

Bad Credit Home Loans May Work For You

The buzzword bad credit home loan almost sounds like an oxymoron, but they do indeed exist.  We often hear them referred to as a subprime market loan, B, C. or D credit lending.  Many people blame the subprime market for the condition of the current economy.  Although that may indeed be a contributing factor, it […]

Student Loan Forgiveness on the Chopping Block

An article in the New York Times  today put fear into the hearts of many people trying to get their student loans forgiven. Basically all across the nation, programs designed to entice people into low-paying but very important jobs like teaching and community health are being cut or reduced due to the current volatile economy and […]

Small Business Lending Increasing

The New York Times has a interesting article today about how to get a business loan in the current environment. With national lenders facing a liquidity crisis and business credit card issuers not accepting new users, it’s easy to see why some think it is impossible to get a loan these days.  The SBA however […]

Commercial Loans Seen As the Next Big Problem

The National Association of Realtors is quoted as saying” commercial real estate is the hardest hit industry outside of the auto industry.  A recovery in commercial real estate always lags a general economic recovery but with the right policy prescriptions we can recover more quickly.” It appears there is little liquidity in the commercial loan […]

Help For Small Business Owners

Because this is National Small Business Week, I decided it would be more than appropriate to post about a new loan program for struggling small business owners. The program is the American Recovery Capital Loan (ARC) program. I ran across an article on the Valley Business Blog, which provided me with the information for this […]

Credit Card Bill Punishes Responsible Borrowers

Once again financially responsible Americans are being forced to take one for the team. The U.S. Senate voted 90-5 Tuesday in favor of a law that would put tighter restrictions on credit card companies, in an effort to keep unsuspecting borrowers from being duped into higher fees and rates. If the bill becomes law (and […]

Used Car Loan Legislation May Hurt Dealerships

In an interesting article on the News and Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, website, there is discussion on used car loans in financing.  Right now, with the way the economy is, getting a loan of any kind can be a tough proposition.  Getting a used car loans can be a nightmare experience. You have no […]

Considering A Reverse Mortgage

People tend to get creative in times of trouble.  The last couple of years have been a real nightmare financially for a lot of people.  There is every indication that is only going to get worse.  Chrysler and  GM have slashed a record number of dealerships, putting a record number of people out of work.  […]

Senate Strikes Down Credit Card Rate Cap

A proposal by Vermont independent Bernard Sanders to put a cap on credit card interest rates at 15% went down hard to a bi-partisan coalition.  The proposal got only 33 votes while 60 senators voted against. Major credit card reform is still in the works and some who voted against the proposal said they were […]

Go for Credit Counseling, Not Debt Settlement

Dire economic circumstances bring out the desperate side of a lot of people. And there are plenty of companies ready to take advantage of that weakness. Enter debt settlement companies. They make promises that they will cut your debt in half, or otherwise greatly improve your financial situation. Many sources recently have cried foul when […]