Should I Pay Off My Mortgage With My Inheritance? Dallas Morning News

Answer:

Marcy, you ask a very good question that many people tend to ask when confronted with a windfall like yours. After all what you do with this one time money can have a dramatic impact on the quality of life you have during your retirement years ahead.

I have some concerns because you are not that far away from retirement and you mention that you have no current savings and are living paycheck to paycheck. Everyone needs at least 3 to 6 months worth of monthly living expenses socked away in a liquid and safe place such as a money market account in case of emergencies. This amount actually grows to as much as two years as you get closer to retirement since you are living on a fixed income at that point. The money left over after paying off your mortgage may not be enough to fulfill this requirement.

You also mention that you have that college debt. What is the interest that you are paying on that debt versus the mortgage. Is it higher? If so, you may want to consider paying that off first.

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Citizens Advice service subtitled and in British sign language video about who we are, what we do and what we can offer Deaf and profoundly Deaf ...

I need advice about an old debt and my bank account?

I found out today that a hold was placed on my bank account with a large debt amount in my balance. When I went to the bank to inquiry about it, they said that a law firm put a hold on my account, that I must owe someone money. They gave me the number to the law firm, to speak to them when I called they said that I owe $1000 and change for an old credit card that I thought I paid up. My question is that can the legally do that put a hold on my bank account with out even contacting me first, I moved since I had that credit card but if they could find me and put a hold on my account, they could have spoke to me first I feel. Could anyone give advice on this matter and point me to sources where I can find out about my rights and legal options in this type of situation?


It sounds like they were able to obtain a judgement against you, after which they can take legal action to sieze assets or get money taken out of your paycheck. They found your bank account using your SS# but that doesn't mean they found where you live.

Call you bank and ask what authorization was used to put the hold on your account. They should be able to give you the information as to where the hold came from. Then its time to deal with the company to make arrangement to pay the debt. If there is a judgement, you will probably have to pay it before the hold is released.

Good luck!


unless card was secured by funds in bank I do not think that's legal most credit cards are unsecured funds and your bank account can not be seized for non-payment call a local attorney for more info unless you know credit card was secured by bank funds


Since YOU chose not to give them a current address then it is your fault you never got notice, not theirs.

They probably went to court and got a default judgment against you and have atttached your bank account to satisfy the judgment. Perfectly legal.

You can talk to the lawyer and negotiate a possible payment plan if they indeed do have a judgment against you. I am only guessing.

looking for advice about a debt settlement company?

I enrolled with Renaissance Debt Solutions out of MD and paid the initial $349 start up fee to help me with credit cards and a repo that I have been paying on for 3 1/2 yrs. I was not behind in anything at the time but am now. Checked with the BBB (after the fact) and the company has an unsatisfactory rating. Does anyone have any further information about this company before I just cut my losses and try to get back on track with my creditors myself?


wow, that sucks. have you tried taking out a loan at prosper to consolidate your debts? maybe its not too late.

Good Luck
http://savingmoney.iblogger.org


It sounds like you're been scammed. You might check with Consumer Credit Counsellling - as far as I know, they are actually an honest place for debt help.

Good luck.


Contact Consumer Credit Counseling Services, they are the oldest credit counseling service in the Country and are non-profit.

I used them several years ago and they lowered my monthly payments as well as my interest rate and I was debt free in 36-months.

You can contact them at 1-800-388-2227.


i would cut my losses and run and tell them that your law firm of "shallwe, cheatum and howe" will be contracted them and also you are going spread the word far and wide of how they dupe you. look you can do it on your own with time and hard work -- good luck.

Can anyone give me any advice about getting out of debt?

I am so tired of applying for loans and getting turned down even though I have the ability to pay. My credit is horrible, I file bankruptcy 2 years ago, which to me means I obviously now have the money to pay on the loans that nobody wants to give me. Should I have just let my house go and lived in a cardboard box instead of trying to save evrything? I think I would have been better off. I almost need to file again but then what's the point if it doesn't help you or accomplish anything?


First of all you cannot file bankruptcy again so you're stuck with the debts. The last thing you need is a loan... you need a plan. I don't know so much about the cardboard box but maybe you should have considered downsizing your home to something you could have afforded because there is life after bankruptcy but you have to live within your means. Your only options now are to increase income or reduce expenses but don't take on new debt trying to get rid of old debt. If you have the money to pay on the loans that nobody wants to give you, apply it to the debts you are trying to get out of. Add to that additional income, reduce your costs, and build your credit over the next eight or so years. Consider getting a roommate, a part time business venture, an automatically funded savings plan, selling things you no longer need, and shopping for value on things you do purchase. Again, it all starts with a plan.


i found my self in the same place could not pay off my debts????so i put them all together and now i pay one sum every month..........you can try what i did ...carnt do you any harm to find out ...try hamilton locke....tel..0870 4446386
see what they can do for you worked for me ..good luck


Honestly, to get out of debt you have to pay all your debtors on a monthly basis while not accumulating any more debt on top of it. Consolidate debts and cut up all your plastic. Pay for things only in cash and watch what you spend. Buy only necessities until you are out of debt.


No, you would not be better off letting your house go. My ex bought a car and didn't have any credit at the time, since I had great credit I had them put the car under my name thinking it would be easy to change. Well come to find out you couldn't do that, and every time we fought he would tell me he wasn't going to pay for the car. The car got repoed and my credit went to hell. Some of my credit cards were taken away from me even though I was paying every month. I guess the credit card companies check periodically and they saw the repo. I had 1 Mastercard that stuck it out with me, but my credit was shot for 7 years. Sometimes I would receive a letter from a credit card saying I was pre-approved so I would fill it out and it was always rejected. Stick it out and it will get better.

I need help and advice about debt, help?

I really have lots of questions, and I dont know who to ask. I have been off sick from work and am getting barley any money, I have so much debt that I cannot pay, let alone the usual bills phone, electricity, rent etc. Also the debt people are phoning constantly and now the phone has been cut off...... will they send someone round? What do they say? what can I say to them? I have no money.... Will they be adamant and not leave? will they try and take stuff from my house? does anyone know the process? and how to handle the situation?,,,,,any advice would be so helpful to me,,,, thank you


The Citizens Advice Bureau will be able to give you good advice


you should call your creditors and explain that you are not working at the moment ask them to accept reduced payments of a set amount each week/month depending on what you have coming in. you'll find these people are willing to accept any payment rather than none! good luck


They won't send anyone around unless they're local. They can contact you but harassment is illegal. They can call friends, too. You probably had to give 2 or 3 contacts when you took out the loan. Borrow a phone and call everyone. Do it on a regular basis. This will cut out the need for them to contact you or friends. Live on no more than absolutely necessary and apply the rest to the debt. If you are working, you keep in touch with your creditors, and you pay what you say you will (even though it's very little) when you say you will, most creditors will work with you. That doesn't answer all your questions, please go to daveramsey.com.


Creditors often use the tactic of harassing their debtors, presumably in the hope that they will suddenly and miraculously find a large lump of cash that they had forgotten about. Sit down and sort out what you owe and to whom. Contact each company and explain your situation. Try to arrange reduced payments. If you are in the UK contact the CAB and make an appointment to see them, they are excellent about advice and will even write letters for you. they can also advise about benefits to which you may be entitled. Whatever you do, don't ignore any letters from creditors. If any creditors have passed your debt onto a collections agency don't worry they have no right to remove anything from your home or even to enter your home despite what they might say. the only way items can be removed from your home is by court order and if proceedings have been issued you will be informed by the Court. There is a load more advice I could give you, if you need to know anything else please leave a message for me under your question


Don t panic !there is help avaidable . it does take time to sort out . i found the consumer credit counselling service really helpful.you do have to try and sort out priority arrears like rent first.


if you pay for your home, and utilities.
and pay ZERO to all unsecured crditors.

they will charge off the debt as bad. then they sell the debt to a third party for about 10 cents on the dollar.

they will just wait around until you get solvent again then try to collect.

if you can live on cash and have no debt again , in ten years it will all just go away.

find a way to be self employed, like cleaning nice offices at night. only wages can be garnished, not revenue from a company you own.

after a messy divorce i defaulted on 60,000.00 in credit card debt, and ten years later it all dissappeared from my credit report. of course i learned my lesson and only live on what i earn, no debt, it feels great !!!


www.creditinfocenter.com


you could try and remortgage your house... I hope all goes well, its no fun with no money, i know all about it.

Best wishes


First of all get to Citizens advice bureau if your in UK

They will make sure you are receiving all benefits you are entitled to...eg rent...council tax

They will also refer you to a money advisor/specialist. You will be advised to stop paying all the non priority creditors and make sure your priorities are paid eg.. rent gas elec etc etc

When the creditors phone you tell them you will be seeing the CAB and if they dont back off state that their contacting you is harrassment...( that works)

No one can take anything from your home unless a court has said they can....baliffs

where can i get advice about debt consolidation?

my account was closed down after i have lost my job and i had a loan to pay


The best place to go is the Citizens Advice Bureau, the number varies according to where you live but you can find it in your local directory.

Alternatively you can visit:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/debt/help_with_debt.htm


your account doesn't get closed for losing your employment there must be another reason you haven't disclosed


Citizens Advice

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/


Debt And Consolidation A Path Towards A Debt Free Life
By: Talbert Williams
Here is a good article to start with. You can use this site to learn more about debt and finance.


Ways to Consolidate Debt
http://www.debt-explained.com/category/Ways-to-Consolidate-Debt.html

Online Debt Consolidation
http://www.complete-debt-info.com/category/Online-Debt-Consolidation.html


Try

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com

for UK advise on so many financial matters


Please do not use any of the advertised firms as they will charge up to 10% of DMI. (disposable monthly income) you need to got to CAB or C.C.C.A they are free..most people and banks will not deal with you if you use a fee charging company cause the 100 or more that they charge could be spread over your debts... you need to do a financial statement.... then from that take out the necessity like mort etc... then list all other outgoing down to fags and beer.. you will be surprised there is a government min you are allowed to put in these that a bank can not question and ask you to remove to increase you dmi..with you dmi you need to then portion it out to all your creditors with largest getting the most.

there is a calculation but for the like of me i can not remember I'm sorry... it something like... dmi x single complain debt / total number of creditors..

Where do you go to find debt advice?

We all know that debt advice should be impartial. Other then government organisations, who do you trust to give you reliable debt advice?


Go to the public library and read a few books on getting out of debt. You can solve your own problems without spending money you don't have on "credit counseling." This is a very empowering option and you will use your new-found financial management skills for the rest of your life.

There are no "government organizations" offering financial services, debt counseling, etc.

There are non-profit counseling organizations, but be careful as many organizations claiming to help people become "debt free" or manage your credit card debt are organized as "non-profit organizations" but are expensive and hazardous to your financial health. There are too many and new ones crop up too frequently to track their names and too many ways to scam people to begin to list them all.

Question about medical debt, need advice?

My stepmom had surgery 1 year ago and was in debt since then, we can't afford health insurance.

now one of the doctors forwarded our case to this debt collection agency when we clearly made payment arrangement with them 1 year ago. they basically stopped sending us statement for 3 months and now we are seriously past due.

this debt collection agency is threatening us they will do whatever necessary to collect this money and threatening they will screw my stepmom's credit. Can they actually take our asset or whatever we had in our bank account? is this legit since we have already made payment arrangement with the doctor and we have NEVER missed a payment until they stopped sending us statement on purpose? We have to deal with 10 seperate doctors and we didn't realize this doctor hasn't sent us any statement until we got this letter from debt collection agency.

any advice on how to deal with them will be appreciated.
What i really want to know is.. are the debt collection agency abusing its power and do they have legal right to do what they are threatening us with since we never missed a payment?


I used to work for a company where we had to look at peoples credit. Now I was told that when we were passing or failing credit that under no circumstances were we allowed to fail a persons based on delinquent medical accounts. You can not help that you get sick. Now, as far as them abusing the power, yes they do in a sense but from personal experience, they can put something on your credit but they are supposed to specify what it is for. Now whether they do or not is another story.
What you should do is send them what you can. they are not going to turn away payments.
They can not touch your bank account at all. If so, no one would be in debt. Nor your assets.
They can threaten all they want. I have been in that position before and I actually stopped paying them, It eventually was turned over to another agency and I then was offered a lump sum settlement. ( i am not suggesting you do that, that is my temper.) Do not let them push you around.

I am in debt and would like advice about bankruptcy, who is the best person to speak to?



How about develop a plan to get out of debt and not file bankruptcy? Bankruptcy doesn't solve the problem. Many people that file bankruptcy just end up in debt a few years later because they didn't address the problems that caused them to go into debt.

For most people, the problem is just not managing their money well.

I would suggest you checkout Dave Ramsey (see link below). He teaches a course (Financial Peace University) that has helped thousands of people get out of debt and manage their money better.

My wife and I went through this course 2 years ago and it changed our lives. We're now debt free and helping others (by teaching the course) do the same.

Need some advice about debt.?

I have tried every avenue know to man. I called several of my creditors to try and get finances charges lower as to which only one lowered and the other said I qualified for a loan of 50.000 dollars and they said they would have given me the loan if my debt would not have been lower by 5000.00 dollars. Then one agency wanted me to stop paying my debts and send them 975.00 dollars for 6 months and then they would pay my bills. Which I refused to do. The rest says I have to pay late so my creditors will consider me a hardship case. But what if that does not pan out. I have no idea what to do.The others want so much for a payment that I just can't afford it...Any advice?


If I understand correctly, you have overextended your self on credit cards and are trying to pay off the debt yourself. DON'T go into debt to pay of debt, that is even worse... and that company for $975.00 is bs. stay away from it... here ya go:

There are several steps you should take to get out of credit card debt. Paying off several thousand dollars or more in credit card debt takes time, so you must discipline yourself.

1) If you have several cards, your first goal is to pay off the card with the highest interest rate. This process is called laddering.

2) Pay more money toward that credit card and slightly less toward the other cards, and eventually you can rip it up. Then you move onto the next card, and so on, and so on...

3) One proven way to pay more toward the most expensive card -- and to get rid of it faster -- is to make a separate payment every 14 days to the credit card company. Mark your calendar every 14 days and write that check or send your online payment that day. Making a payment every 14 days equals one extra month's payment you've made at the end of the year. Work these payments around your statement cycle to avoid paying lates fees.


For help during the process, contact the NFCC at nfcc.org or call 800-388-2227. And, for more help getting out of debt, check out the book Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life by Marc Eisenson.

Where can I get free legal advice regarding credit card debt?

I'm searching for a web site or phone number to get free legal advice for credit card debt. I need a place that will give me an immediate answer. Thanks for your help.


In most areas, attorneys will give you a free consultation. As this is a credit card debt, you may want to look for someone who does collection work for companies, as they are more experienced in debt law. A lot of "general practice" lawyers have not impressed me on their knowledge.

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