Democratic Party

A social security number is one of the most important number you could have. This number not only identities you to the government for tax and social security payment purposes, but it is also used for credit purposes. Without a social security number, it would be very difficult or even impossible to apply for loans, credit cards, and bank accounts.

Perhaps once in your lifetime you may have lost your social security card. Although losing your card may feel like a pain, you need not worry so much about it. As long as you remember your social security number you should be fine.

If you lost your social security card, you can easily get a replacement for free. It is good to have a social security card since you never know when you may be asked for it.

You are allowed 3 replacement cards every year and you can replace at most 10 in a lifetime. You should keep your social security card safe. Do not carry it with you.

By carrying that social security card with you, you are allowing yourself to be a victim of identity theft. If someone stole your wallet or purse and took your social security number, they could use it to open accounts and potentially ruin your credit.

To replace your social security card, you have to have the documentation to prove your identity. Documents that you can show are passports, certificates of naturalization, driver?s license, and employee work cards. Documents have to be the original or a copy issued by the agency.

Download a copy of the application for a social security card online. Fill out the form and send it to the social security office along with your documents. You can also go to the office directly and give them the application with documents.

Once the social security office has seen your documents, they will return them to you. They should also issue you a replacement social security card if everything checks out.

Jessica Latoya enjoys giving tips on filling out government forms. For more information on how to get a replacement social security card, please go to her website.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to ask for, and receive, a free copy of your government credit report once a year. The FCRA serves to promote accurate information, held in privacy, by consumer reporting companies

Contained in your credit report is personal information like how you pay your bills, any arrests, bankruptcies or legal actions, as well as your full name and address. The consumer reporting companies authorized by the government sell these reports to people interested in your security risk when you apply for a loan or insurance, or as an employee or a tenant.

There are a few reasons why you would want a copy of your credit report. You might want to make sure the report contains accurate and factual information before you apply for a loan, for insurance or new employment, to make sure that there isn’t anything incorrectly in the report that could affect your approval chances.

Other reasons people get their free annual credit report include protection against identity theft or if they have been refused credit and they need to find what is in their credit report that could have caused the refusal.

There are currently just three nationwide companies that are credit reporting agencies, and they are contactable through a combined website, a toll-free phone number and a mail address. You can request one credit report from each company within any year. Remember, that you do have rights under the FCRA.

Go to the website at annualcreditreport. Com to get all the information you need. You will have to download an application to fill in and send back, or you can call the toll free number and ask for one to be sent to you. You will need to supply information like name, address, date-of-birth, social security number. If you have moved recently, your old address should be included. Before your request is filled, you may be asked to identify yourself by answering questions only you know the answer to.

There are websites claiming to be able to get your credit report for you, but the only legal and genuine website is annualcreditreport. Com, so don’t waste you time with any other sites. The scam sites might ask you to subscribe or sign up for something, and you will usually end up paying money for nothing. Other sites direct you to another site where they try to sell you something related to credit. These sites have no access to credit reporting.

You privacy is assured under the FCRA, and you will never receive emails or letters from the authorized website when you apply for your government credit report.

For information and tips on credit report score and get my free credit report , visit Free Online Credit Report

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to ask for, and receive, a free copy of your government credit report once a year. The FCRA serves to promote accurate information, held in privacy, by consumer reporting companies

Your credit report contains personal information like your address, your bill-paying habits, and your status as far as bankruptcy, arrest or any legal action against you. This information is of interest to companies who may be creditors, employers, insurers, lending institutions and landlords, and the consumer reporting companies sell the reports to them.

There are a few reasons why you would want a copy of your credit report. You might want to make sure the report contains accurate and factual information before you apply for a loan, for insurance or new employment, to make sure that there isn’t anything incorrectly in the report that could affect your approval chances.

Checking your credit report annually is also a precaution against identity theft. Also, if you have had credit declined, your credit report could contain information that will tell you the reason this happened.

There are currently just three nationwide companies that are credit reporting agencies, and they are contactable through a combined website, a toll-free phone number and a mail address. You can request one credit report from each company within any year. Remember, that you do have rights under the FCRA.

The website is at www. Annualcreditreport. Com; the mailing address is ACRRS, PO Box 105281, Atlanta. GA 30348-5281; and the phone number is 1-877-322-8228. You need to first request an application form which needs to be filled in and sent off by mail or email. The information you will need to provide on the application is your name and address; your Social Security number; your date of birth and details of any recent change of address or name. You may be asked some personal questions to identify yourself.

This is the only website legally authorized to provide your government credit report, so beware of other websites that try to lure you into giving out personal details or handing over some money. You will not need to “subscribe” to anything to get your free credit report, so any website that asks for you to “sign up” is not genuine. These websites have no access to your credit report anyway.

Under the terms of the Act, your privacy is guaranteed, so any emails or letters asking for personal details are a hoax. When you apply for your government credit report, you will not be asked for any details except for what is on the application form.

For information and tips on credit report scores and my free credit report , visit Online Credit Report

In these bad economic times I see property owners searching with difficulty to seek info on the Internet to save their homes from going into foreclosure or save it out of foreclosure. The common question that most loan holders have is can the Obama foreclosure plan work for me.

Lets look over the options that loan holders have that are about to drop behind on their home mortgage or are already behind in their note. Most of the options are pretty much set in stone and you might not qualify over the simplest of options.

Aid for people looking for refinancing

This part of the Obama program specifically is for borrowers that have kept up to date their notes. Many of the homeowners in this group have been unable to reduce their home interest rates through refinancing because of sinking home prices.

Today, if you’re underwater on your note, owing more than the dwellings market value, forget about qualifying for a refinance. Also, at least 20% equity in your home is now a must, unless you have an FHA loan.

The new guidelines should help. Even note holders with debts that surpasses home value by 5% could be eligible And no prepayment penalties. To get this plan you loan must be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The Obama Administration thinks that this plan will enable up to 5 million homeowners to obtain lower interest mortgages.

Who’s not going to qualify?. Homeowners whose house values have dropped severely, putting them down by more than 5% are out of luck.

Homeowners with “jumbo” loans also don’t qualify only those with “conforming’ mortgages do. To be very sure what kind of mortgage you have, you need to contact|check with your servicer or lender. But in general, until the past year, loans above $417,000 were known jumbo notes, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not allowed to buy and guarantee them at all.

All borrowers will have to prove they have sufficient income to keep up their loan payments on a timely basis, however it was not mentioned what would be sufficient proof.

Mortgage modification help for at risk borrowers

Homeowners in default or at risk of going into default may qualify for mortgage modification, which restructure the terms of loans. Any person with high combined mortgage debt compared to income or who is drowning may be eligible for a loan mod. Property owners with high levels of other debt, such as car loans, RV loans and credit card debt exceeding 55% of their incomes, may still qualify for a loan mod but they’ll be required to accept debt counseling in a HUD-certified program for an extended term.

If you qualify, your servicer or lender will reduce your monthly mortgage payments to 31% of your gross income. The payment would stay there for five years and then gradually revert back to the conforming loan rates that would be current five years from now.

Who wont get this

Those who bought homes for investment purposes, will not qualify for assistance the homes must be owner/occupied.

The Obama program will also not reward those buyers who were irresponsible in their borrowing. All applicants will be closely examined by lenders and those who acted irresponsibly by, for example, misrepresenting their incomes in no doc loan applications, would not qualify. Also, in order to protect taxpayers from excessive expenses, no loans will be modified unless it results in a net savings compared with the costs of foreclosing. Finally, rates would not be lowered below 2%.

That will disqualify many note holders who simply can’t afford any reasonable mortgage payment because of sickness, for example, or out of work. The Obama Plan will not reward folks who bought homes they knew they would never be able to afford, said Obama. “In short, this plan will not save every home.” No mortgages for amounts above conforming loan limits would be eligible.

This pretty much lets you know all the questions I have been getting asked lately about Obama’s mortgage bailout program and it’s requirements. Economic times are rough and if you find you don’t can’t get the Obama plan the best course of action is hire a foreclosure defense attorney to represent you to protect your home and assets.