GB Taken - Up The Creek Without A Paddle: Take Control Before You Go Under

Up Consumer Creek Without A Paddle:

Take Control Before You Go Under

By G. B. Taken

Smashwords Edition

Dedication

To all the consumers who have went up thecreek.

Table of Contents

Up Consumer Creek Without A Paddle

It is every family for themselves and the odds areincreasingly against them. We are all being swept up in the currentand stench that is Consumer Creek. Ahoy! And good luck to all thatshoot the rapids.

Folks with credit lines smashed, carsrepossessed and in fear of foreclosure will be left to litter thecountryside. The consumer landscape will be different after thiseconomic storm ends and no one really knows when this will be. Notsince the 1930s have Americans encountered such an economicdisruption. We are entering into a consumer dark age that threatensto destroy homeownership, the middle class and family stabilityitself.

Survival is the only thing that counts when youfind yourself up the creek without a paddle. It is literally wherethe tough get going and the not so tough are devoured by themonsters from the bottom of the creek. The issue of survival haseverything to do with how you react to your problems; will it be amatter of fight or flight?

Half of the battle is making sure your creditorshave the details of your accounts correct and are following the lawthroughout the transaction. The other half of the challenge is you,as a consumer, must change your ways. Your best defense is to spendless and save more.

All The Presidents Plans

The housing collapse of recent years has produced anumber of responses by both the Bush and Obama Administrations. Themost common complaint about these programs is that they dontassist those who are unemployed or too far behind in payments.There are other shortfalls as well.

The Hope Now allianceinitiated by the Bush team has proven to be severely limited in whocan qualify . HOPENOW was a joint effort by HUD approved counseling agents, mortgagecompanies, investors and other mortgage market participants toprovide free foreclosure prevention assistance.

Created in 2007, proponents of the idea claim ithas assisted 1 million homeowners. The objective was to allow folksto reach an agreement on a repayment schedule or if this was notpossible a loan modification. The problem is it was left to thediscretion of mortgage companies if they wanted to participate ornot.

Another program offered by the Hope Nowcounselors is the HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) program that wascreated by Congress to help those at risk of default andforeclosure to refinance into more affordable, sustainable loans.The program will be in effect from October 1, 2008 throughSeptember 30, 2011. For borrowers who refinance under HOPE forHomeowners, lenders will be required to write down the size ofthe mortgage to a maximum of 90 percent of the homes new appraisedvalue. HOPE for Homeowners will only offer 30-year, fixed ratemortgages. To qualify your mortgage must have originated on orbefore January 1, 2008.

The Federal HousingAuthority's FHASecure program offers refinancing options to helpdelinquent ARM borrowers get reasonable,fixed-rate loans. FHASecure targets owners whose mortgages havegone delinquent due to the increase in payments after interestrates have reset. Since that doesn't happen for at least two yearsfor most hybrid ARM loans, those written after December 31, 2006will not qualify for the program.

The Making Home Affordable Program PresidentObama started will help you refinance if you are a homeowner who iscurrent on your mortgage payments but unable to refinance to alower interest rate because your home value has decreased. The mostrecent foreclosure remedy introduced by the new administrationalso offers more incentives to banks to become involved.