Many people consider refinancing their mortgage when interest rates seem to fluctuate frequently causing high interest rate payments. However there are many factors to consider before refinancing your mortgage.

It is often thought that a loan should not be refinanced unless the interest rate is two percentage points lower than the original interest rate. However, with lenders offering zero point loans and low cost refinancing, the prospect of refinancing seems that much more attractive. You should speak to lenders to find out about refinancing costs and any associated fees. Then you will need to determine what your new payment will look like. You can then make an estimate of how long it will take to clear your refinancing cost by dividing your closing costs by the difference between your new and old payments.

To get a clearer idea of how much you will be paying you can use a refinance calculator that will enable you to calculate more accurately the initial refinancing cost. A useful calculator may be obtained using this site http://www.timevalue.com/calculators/refinance-calculator.aspx .

When deciding if you should refinance your mortgage you should consider the points being charged. Each point is reflected as a percentage of the loan that will go toward the total refinancing amount owed. For example if your mortgage is currently 250,000 and there is an associated 4 points on this loan then you will pay an additional 10,000 on your refinancing amount. These points are the bank’s way of covering the charge of doing business with you. Some banks offer zero points however you should be careful to verify the interest rate amounts as they will usually be higher than normal to compensate for the zero point system. It is therefore important that you shop for points and interest rates simultaneously.

The most important factor that will play the greatest role in your decision to refinance should simply be that it is more affordable than the mortgage you are currently paying. If you are willing to go through the process then it should be of some advantage to you. Do not be fooled by attractive offers that will not be to your benefit in the long run. Compare the rates being offered by several institutions and be ready to negotiate the terms to suit you. Once you have done your research and reviewed your calculations this will help you to determine whether or not to go ahead with refinancing your current mortgage payments.

When using credit cards, there is always the risk of human or computer error on the part of credit card companies. With the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), however, there are some safeguards put into place just in case credit card companies mess up. With these safeguards, consumers have recourse to correct errors – and if necessary, they can correct these errors through legal means.

Some examples of errors that the FCBA (full text available here) covers are clerical errors, such as incorrectly billed amounts; charges for damaged goods; and charges the consumer never actually made. These are not by any means the only things that the FCBA covers. They are, however, some of the most common.

How to Resort to the Fair Credit Billing Act

Hopefully, you won’t ever have to resort to the FCBA to resolve credit card disputes. Unfortunately, however, you may need to do so at some point. Challenging a credit card dispute with reference to the FCBA is not a difficult process, although it is a precise one. There are some clear steps that you should take if you have dispute an item on your credit card statement.

• Send a written dispute. You need to send a dispute, in writing, to your credit card company’s “billing inquiries” address. Make sure you send it so that the credit card company receives it within 60 days of the original credit card statement. Also take special care to ensure that you send it via the United States Postal Service. The dispute should make clear not only which credit card item you are challenging but should also state reasons for the dispute.

• Wait for a response. The credit card company will have 90 days to investigate the dispute. If the credit card company decides that a refund is necessary, then it will both refund the money to your account and will also charge back the vendor with whom you have the dispute. If the credit card company decides that your dispute is not valid, then it must say so in a written response to you.

• Ask for proof. If you dispute the credit card company’s decision, then you can ask for written evidence of their decision. This documentation will include receipts, invoices, and other such documentation.

Other Relevant Information

Resorting to the Fair Credit Billing Act certainly isn’t fun, but the question that a consumer should ask is: “Compared to what?” If the process of dealing with the FCBA (and the Federal Trade Commission, the enforcer of the FCBA) will result in the reversal of an unjust or improper charge to your credit card account, then it is certainly worth the hassle.

Keep in mind, however, that under the FCBA, you can only sue a company for a charge of $50.00 or greater. The consumer must also at least try to resolve the dispute with the vendor before resorting to legal action. These restrictions are in place in order to cut down on frivolous lawsuits.

Hopefully, no one will need to resort to the FCBA, and all disputes can be handled without a mediator. This is not always the case, however, and – imperfect and arduous though it may be – the FCBA is often the primary method by which consumers can protect themselves against improper charges on their credit card statements.

By following the aforementioned steps, consumers can protect themselves against unnecessary charges. In fact, the very existence of such a law means that credit card companies often preemptively run quality control to make sure that all charges are valid and just!

A data-trading criminal apparently sucked up some bad data recently in an online chatroom devoted to selling identities. Among the identities available.... Herman Munster's personal info, including his address at 1313 Mockingbird Lane and 1960s-era birthdate. Of course Herman was a fictional TV character on the Munsters and not a big spender at that.

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Experian credit bureau is offering a new service which was covered on National Public Radio the other day. It's called Collection Triggers and it gives collection agencies a new lease on their older debts by forwarding information from individual credit reports - positive information such as paying off debt, or a rising credit score. Collection agencies are very glad to hear that things are going better and immediately demand payment on older debts. So a barrage of phone calls usually accompanies any gain in credit status. Some consumer groups are crying foul.

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Behind that top heavy exterior lurks an insatiable lust for real estate, finery and baubles for her “boyfriend.” Now the note just kicked up on the beach house and Barbie is juggling madly trying to keep Ken in tasteful earrings.

A just released survey by the Identity Theft Assistance Center finds that the main way to know when your identity is stolen is through a contact from your financial services company - as in, credit card or bank. Almost 62% of people polled learned of ID theft this way, and another 23% were notified by another financial services company (presumably not their own). The lesson here appears to be with a little proactive effort (like checking your credit report) in addition to standard notifications, you can likely reduce your time-to-discovery to a bare minimum.

Other ways people found out included:

     credit purchase denied, stolen purse/wallet,
     during loan application process, checked online
     account, reviewed credit report, burglary,
     contacted bank for general information and was
     informed of activity...

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