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We lost our home to flooding multiple times and used up our entire nest egg rebuilding and finally raising the home (unfortunately we were the 1st ones in town to do so and were not as fortunate to get the grants that are being given out now). Since then we have saved up some savings and retirement money, but it won’t be enough to retire with in the short amount of time we have left.
Given that fact, we purchased a home and a barn to renovate and rent out as the beginnings of retirement income.
We were promised a construction loan from the same mortgage broker which got us the loan on the property, but after over a year’s worth of time, and multiple deceptions and lies, we never got approved. In the midterm we put all the work being completed on the property on credit cards, as suggested by the mortgage broker, with the guarantee of being able to pay it back with some of the proceeds of the construction loan once the loan was approved, to which it never was. Unfortunately, the current amount of debt, $55,000.00, on the cards has been slowly sinking us (-$700.00 per week), has tanked our scores, and we recently experienced one late payment because of the ongoing struggles. We don’t want to continue down this road further jeopardizing our credit rating, and further sinking after working so hard to be where we are today.
We have used up all our savings and a great deal of our newly saved retirement savings keeping afloat, but as stated above, this credit card debt ($55,000.00) is slowly sinking us. Unfortunately, with our scores being tanked by the multiple hard pulls by the mortgage lender, the high card balances, and now the one late payment, banks and credit unions won’t be an option. So presently we are considering a consolidation loan to cut down on the stifling credit card percentage rates but are not sure which company to turn to because many of the ones we’ve researched which would take persons like us in our situation seem to be scams to lure persons like ourselves in, only to cause more havoc in our situation. And we can’t just apply to multiple ones in order to see whether it’s doable or not, since each time we do, it will be a hard hit on our credit reports further lowering our scores and making us even more ineligible for any type of financing.
We have some retirement savings (401'k's), but they're landlocked by government stipulations and can't be touched.
We tried refinancing our initial home for a cash out as there's equity in there but were denied because it appraised lower than anticipated (which makes no sense given the market), and we can't remortgage the second property, even though that's got equity in it, because it's in a state of construction half done.
We are extremely good with our money, have budgets in place, live modestly, and don't waste money on frivolous things, which was what allowed us to build enough to buy the property initially after losing our whole nest egg raising, and has allowed us to survive as long as we have during this whole process, but we can see the end looming as there's just so much we can do under the current strain.
Our ages are 53 and 48, and our scores are anywhere between 600 and 639. We have tried the soft pull pre-screenings from Discover, Prosper, and Lending Club with no success.
What company will work with persons in our situation without further ruining us by either a ridiculous percentage rate, tremendous upfront cost, or other detrimental aspects?
We've worked extremely hard to get to where we are and don't want to throw everything away.
Marcus/Goldman Sacks, American Express, Sallie Mae and countless others pester us all the time for debt consolation loans. Don't have need so into shredder they go.
Your credit scores are sort of low which means debt consolation loans with a "good" interest rate may be out of reach. That and since you are considered "sub prime" may limit your choices.
Good thing about credit reports/scores is time heals all wounds. You are correct in wanting to avoid multiple hard pulls of your credit report in a short period of time. That can trigger all sorts of consequences beyond just a denial.
If at all possible I'd continue making on time payments for several months or even a year, put some space between that one "thirty days late" payment to build up your credit score.
Other standard advice is to try and find ways of getting extra funds that can be used to pay down debts which will also increase your credit score. By this mean a job or selling any asset not needed, or whatever it takes to get some cash.
If you truly have equity in your home but can’t get approved for lending your only option is to sell. Or file for bankruptcy, but I really don’t know the criteria for that. I commend you for wanting to do right and pay your debts but survival is more important. Whatever mortgage broker told you to finance construction with credit cards gave you really terrible advice. Good luck.
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