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02 12th, 2010| 
Obtaining a loan in the 21st Century is not always a straight forward exercise. Most people will apply for a loan at some stage in their life, be it a mortgage, a car loan, bad credit car loans, a personal loan or a credit card.
Finance providers such as banks and building societies always reserve the right to refuse credit and do so regularly.
Their decision can be based on any of a number of criteria. Unemployment or bankruptcy are the two big black marks but missing loan payments, holding overdue accounts, exceeding credit limits or applying for too many loans at once can also be held against you. In many cases lenders decline a loan application without providing the applicant with an explanation.
In the same way as car insurers charge high premiums to people with a poor driving record, lenders will often lift interest rates to reflect the risk of the borrower. ...
MORE than 1.5 million Australians have notched up black marks on their credit records because of overdue bills and debt.
Hundreds of thousands of Victorians are among those risking finance knock backs for taking too long to pay telephone, gas, electricity and water bills or missing loan and credit card repayments.
The revelation comes as financial counsellors expect to be swamped with households struggling to pay higher water and power bills this year.
Figures released to the Herald Sun reveal about 350,000 Victorians are red-flagged for not paying utility bills, skipping loan repayments or being made bankrupt.
Cuts in the Federal Government’s incentive for first home buyers are being attributed with a bigger-than-expected plunge in the number of new home loans taken out in November.
Seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show 59,516 new loans for owner-occupied housing were taken out in November – a 5.6 per cent drop on the previous month.
The average economist forecast was for a 2.3 per cent fall.
The number of new loans for the construction of dwellings also slipped 6.5 per cent, and those for the purchase of newly-built dwellings fell 5.1 per cent.
Beware the many pitfalls that come with purchasing property before it is built.
YOU’D never buy a pair of expensive jeans without trying them on first. After all, the cut could be unflattering and sizes are not what they used to be.
But somehow, property investors feel comfortable risking a lot more than the cost of designer clothes when they buy an apartment without having stepped inside.
A NEW generation of lenders are set to challenge the major banks, with three players flagging big moves on discount home loans.
Leading wholesale mortgage funder Resimac is to launch a new retail lending business next week that will trade as Hemisphere Financial Solutions.
Resimac has been piloting Hemisphere since late November and has decided to proceed with the venture as its first direct lending business to home borrowers.
The head of independent market research firm Mozo, Rohan Gamble, said the home loan sector was on the cusp of a new wave of competition.
“We’re seeing new players come in to the market with serious backing behind them,” he said.
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THE Reserve Bank’s decision last week to leave the official cash rate on hold has put a new spin on the “fixed or variable” debate.
Financial markets have gone from pricing in a cash rate of 5.5 per cent by the end of the year to pricing in a rate of less than 4.5 per cent.
That means variable rates are unlikely to rise by as much as was feared, and also that fixed rates are due to be repriced downwards.