Most people understand what happens when a bank or lender forecloses on a home: the homeowner (borrower) essentially stops paying the mortgage and the lender has the opportunity to take back and then sell the home to someone else through the process of foreclosure. But high foreclosure rates are just one of the problems facing the housing industry. Another problem for both banks as well as homeowners is the large amount of home equity loans and home equity lines of credit that are also being defaulted on as home values drop and the job market stagnates….

Home sales are lagging ever since all the special government home buyer incentives and tax credits dried up, so banks are pushing down mortgage interest rates to lows not seen in the past 30 years. Many people, especially those who bought their homes in the last 10 years or so, are asking themselves, “Should I refinance my mortgage?” and “Should I refinance my home loan and pay off other debt with these low rates?”

Only you can ultimately decide if this is the best finance move for you, but are …

There are a number of reasons why you may have a low credit score or be saddled with a bad credit rating, but that may not automatically preclude you from getting a home loan or mortgage if you need one. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that some of the very things that have ruined the credit of many people are the same things that have made homes much more affordable over the past couple of years.

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