C G Barbeau

Protect Your Assets and Credit from Hackers

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PROTECT YOUR CREDIT AND ASSETS from HACKERS

Your social security number should be kept private. The easiest way for a criminal to steal a social security number from you is by going through your trash. Mail sometimes has your number, name, address and account numbers.

Reduce the amount of mail that comes to your home. 

Throw away junk mail in your recycle bin, envelopes and items that are not credit card, brokerage, or asset related. All asset related items should be shredded and separated half in the recycle and half somewhere else.

Pay your utility bills by auto pay online.

Opt out of junk mail and soft credit offers.  HERE is link: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi  
My eighty two year old mother has been a victim twice. I reviewed her habits and we came up with a plan to change. Mom likes the comfort of receiving stock statements and saves some for ten years. This information is available without keeping all that paper in her garage. I took the statements and scanned them and put on labeled CD's that she keeps in a secure place. Then I shredded the three boxes and discarded a third in the recycle, a third into my office shredder and kept a third to discard the next week. Seven years ago her brokerage accounts had her social and the full account numbers prominently printed on each page. It wasn't quite as easy to convince her to change her habit of paying for gas with a card at the pump. She doesn't like to carry a pile of twenties in her small wallet. She even dangerous used stand alone ATM machines which are often skimmed. Solution was to open a checking account at a bank down the street whereby she could easily walk up (during the daytime) and withdraw a hundred dollars, and the account doesn't have a large balance. Inconvenient, yes, but she hasn't had the problem occur again.

TIPS: 

Don’t close your existing accounts, that can lower your FICO score. 

Look at the monthly bills and mid month look at the charges online. 

I suggest you DO NOT signup for any service that monitors your credit. DO Not pay for any service that runs your credit every month. This is another source of possible fraud.

There are many ways bad guys can get your information.

Superhero Captain Credit Saver at the Turkey Trot in Dana Point

·         Never give out your social security number to any third-party unless you know they need it (e.g. a credit application or mortgage loan). Medical offices should not be using your social as I. D.

·         Before handing over your social security number to any company, ask if it will ever appear on a document they send you in the mail. Also find out how it is securely stored on their servers so it will be protected in case of a hack. All systems can be hacked (Target is an example, and many banks don't publicly report being hacked.)

·         Avoid entering your social security number online unless you are absolutely sure you're on a secure connection and dealing with a company you trust. If you're not, call them to verify or don't do it.

·         Set up activity alerts on your accounts. Most bank and credit card online accounts let you set text or email alerts for activity, such as charges over a certain limit.

·         DO NOT USE BILL GUARD, CREDIT SESAME, FREE CREDIT REPORT.com, Mint, Life lock, TRUSTD ID… none of these services are there to protect you. They hold your information in the cloud, on paper and are just as likely to be hacked as anyone else. Some guy in Kazakhstan and Mongolia will be able to get in with your user name and password tomorrow.

·         DO NOT USE A CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD EVER AGAIN AT SHELL and CHEVRON gas pumps. Perhaps all gas stations are targets of the Armenian Mafia and organized crime in India and elsewhere. CHEVRON and SHELL will tell you a bogus story about how they have identification bar code tape covering the computer box on every pump thus preventing skimmers. This is a joke. The criminals can get your debit code password by a remote camera and the electronic strip on the card is duplicated sometimes thousands of times. Use cash at gas stations. IF you MUST use a card, pay inside. The register inside the store is manned by a person, and assuming they aren’t the gangster at least there is some protection from skimming your card.
    If you use a debit card, NEVER leave a large balance sitting in the debit account. Don’t choose overdraft protection. Transfer small amounts from savings or deposit small checks as needed.

·         CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS.
    Don't carry your social security card in your wallet

IF you have been compromised:

Notify the police and FTC, and keep the report

Notify your banks, credit card companies, the IRS and social security office IN WRITING and call.

Putting a fraud alert on your credit with Trans Union, CBI and Equifax will slow down a thief but it doesn’t stop the pretty teenager at Bloomingdales from opening a fraudulent $1000 line for the criminal to buying a Chloe purse and then return it for cash.

Identity theft is painful, messy and time consuming. It can crash your FICO score and make it difficult to get a mortgage.
As always I am happy to answer your questions and help you fix your FICO for free.

International Borrowers Mortgage Loans in United States

Closing a mortgage from another country as a non citizen of the United States on a castle, a house or a condo

When buying a home in the United States, foreign buyers often pay cash because it's an easier, quicker process. Foreign nationals can negotiate a lower price and faster closing with cash. We offer a cash out refinance within weeks after closing. The cost for a cash out refinance is slightly higher than a purchase money loan.

Mortgage rates are low in the United States. An international borrower will not get the same rate as a U. S. citizen with excellent credit buying an owner occupied home. There are risk pricing “adds” or pricing increases for non-owner or rental property, type of property, credit, and for foreign nationals. International buyers can opt to finance their purchase. Patience and understanding of the U. S. process is required. Buyers must supply all paperwork requested. Compile your asset and income information before you make offers into labeled pdf documents.

We can meet the increase in demand for a foreign national loans. Borrowers come from a wide range of countries, but most applicants are from China, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

We offer home loans to foreign buyers. This type of loan is available for your purchase or refinance. All loans are full recourse loans. The loan is taken in your personal name. Only on commercial property, 5-25 or more units are loans in the name of a LLC or Corporation.

When buying a condo in an existing development, buyers who are from Canada, China and South America are finding deals in California. We are willing to offer mortgages for international buyers. Condominium projects have their own requirements: 51 percent owner occupied, no lawsuits and solid financials. A good listing agent should know if a conventional loan or FHA loan was closed in the complex in the past sixty days. We can still loan on unwarranted condos but the rate is almost double.

Requirements to get a mortgage

A foreign buyer should expect to pay least 25 to 30 percent of the value of the home as a down payment, depending on property type and credit of the borrower. The borrower will be asked to provide documentation to show sufficient income in the past two years, bank statements for the past sixty days, paychecks for the past 30 days and two forms of identification, existing mortgage statements, HOA bills and existing fire insurance policies are required.

The foreign applicant should be aware that it is extremely important for the lending institution to know their borrower. This knowledge comes predominantly from paperwork. Information in other languages will require translation services.

The lender is required to conduct detailed reviews of a borrower's income and asset documentation. Bank statements will be verified with the home bank, and deposits over five hundred dollars that are not payroll must be provided with a history of where the deposits came from. Business accounts are not used the same as personal accounts. If all the funds are in business accounts an accountant will need to write a letter stating the withdrawal of the funds in no way harms the ongoing business. Some of the requirements of American lenders may seem strange and difficult. Having a loan officer such as Caroline Gerardo who is closing these types of loans for twenty five years will enable smart and quick answers to your questions.

Underwriting Review is looking for transparency from borrowers, getting an understanding of how income and wealth is generated why financial assets may transfer around. It is best to be detailed and frank about your situation before you apply.

Online mortgage application starts here: http://eaglehomemortgage.com/carolinegerardo/
I am here to answer your questions.

NMLS 324982

phone (949) 637-8190

Efax: 885- 833- 4303

 Edward Hopper

Thomas Seawell Front Door

HELOC In Trouble?

TransUnion's completed a research study on Home Equity Lines of Credit in the United States. Study here:
http://www.transunioninsights.com/helocstudy/

There are almost eight billion dollars outstanding on HELOC loans. Fifty percent of the total were originated from 2005 through 2007 at the height of the mortgage boom. Most have a ten year draw period with interest only payments until the end of the ten years. 
Some lenders in 2007 closed down HELOC available lines of credit. For example Bank of America reviewed Countrywide HELOC’s that they took over and on borrowers who were not using lines available, they arbitrarily closed the balance down, or decreased the line to the existing balance. Reasoning for this was most HELOC’s were underwater. Lenders used Broker Price Opinion valuations and online appraisal tools to mark properties with at risk HELOC’s. Many of those HELOC’s are now coming into time framed in the promissory notes that require principle and interest payments and catch up clauses. Will Americans be able to handle the jump in payments? Is there trouble ahead?
Certain market areas: Coastal with view, California Bay Area, and states where there was not a big bubble in property values will not be at risk. Borrowers can refinance the second into a new low rate first. 

Borrowers in pocket areas where the value has risen back to 2006 levels, can even find HELOC products that are amortized over thirty or forty years rather than the standard HELOC that will roll to a principle and interest payment amortized over fifteen after the ten year interest only time period. 
Others in markets that still have a long way back to valuations of 2006 (Arizona, Florida and Michigan) may see defaults.

If you have a HELOC that is adjusting and you want free advice how to fix it, please contact me I am happy to help