Current Mortgage Rates

Monday, October 06, 2008



You see the advertisements in newspapers, on TV, and on the Internet. You hear them on the radio. You get fliers in the mail. You may even get calls from telemarketers offering credit repair services. They all make the same claims:
  • Credit problems? - No problem!
  • We can erase your bad credit - 100% guaranteed.
  • Create a new credit identity - legally.
  • We can remove bankruptcies, judgments, liens, and bad loans from your credit file forever!
Do yourself a favor and save some money, too. don't believe these statements. Only time, a conscious effort, and a personal debt repayment plan will improve your credit report. So, if credit repair agencies don't have a secret formula for repairing your credit, or some legal loophole they can use to have accurate negative information removed from your credit, how are they removing negative items from your credit file? They aren't. Too often consumers pay up front for credit repair services that are never performed, and when the consumer goes looking for their money back, the company has disappeared, changed its name and set up shop somewhere else. Other types of scams include credit repair services which dispute every item on your credit report.

When some items aren't able to be verified within 30 days (and this is inevitable at times), the item(s) are removed from your report, but later reinserted when they're able to be verified. Still other scams include the creation of a new taxpayer identification number and the establishment of a new credit record - an illegal action. No matter how bad your credit is, you can take steps that will make it better by yourself.

* Pay all of your bills on time. Late payments (payments that are 30 days late or more) have a negative effect on your credit rating.

* Reduce the number of credit cards you carry. Write to your creditors to request that they close your accounts and report this status change to all three credit-reporting agencies.

* Avoid bankruptcies, tax liens (a lien for not paying state or federal income taxes or property taxes) and collections. A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years. Collection accounts and paid tax liens stay on for seven years, and unpaid tax liens will haunt you forever.

* Request in writing that your creditors reduce the credit limits on your accounts to lower your amount of available credit. The total amount of available credit is considered by lenders even if you owe nothing.

* Ask a family member or friend to co-sign on a small loan or credit card to help you re-establish credit. Make your payments on time.

* Get a secured credit card to help reestablish your credit. You will have to keep a designated amount of money in an account that will be sufficient to cover your charges. Make payments on time.

* Get a yearly copy of your credit report to catch any errors.



Get Current Mortgage Rates
From Top Lenders

Property State
Type of Loan
Home Description
Your Credit Profile
Note: Your credit profile will not be run for this inquiry.

Mortgage Resources



Current Mortgage Rates*

Loan Type
National Average
30-yr. fixed6.12%
30-yr. fixed jumbo7.62%
15-yr. fixed5.88%
15-yr. fixed jumbo7.12%
7/1 ARM6.38%
5/1 ARM6.25%
3/1 ARM6.00%
1-yr. ARM5.50%
1-yr. LIBOR ARM6.25%
10/1 ARM8.25%
40-yr. fixed7.12%
*Mortgage Rates Updated: 10/05/2008