By msnbc.com news servicesThe delinquency rate on U.S. home mortgages fell in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2008, though the share of homes in the foreclosure process inched higher, an industry group said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on all loans fell to 7.40 percent from 7.58 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and down from 8.32 percent a year ago, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. It was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2008, matching the record set in the fourth quarter of last year. "The delinquency picture is getting better. It's been getting better for some time and this is another important step in that," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA's chief economist. The delinquency rate includes mortgages that are at least one payment behind but does not include loans in the foreclosure process. That rate peaked at 10.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010 in the wake of the housing market collapse. The number of loans that were one payment past due fell to 3.13 percent from 3.22 percent, bringing it in line with the long-term average of 3.1 percent, said Brinkmann. The percentage of homes that were 90 days late or more or in the foreclosure process - considered in serious delinquency - eased to 7.44 percent from 7.73 percent in the fourth quarter, and down from 8.10 a year earlier. But the number of loans in the foreclosure process edged up slightly to 4.39 percent from 4.38 percent in the previous quarter, though it was down from 4.52 in the first quarter of last year. The inventory figures are not seasonally adjusted. As well, fewer homes saw foreclosure actions initiated in the first months of the year. Seasonally adjusted foreclosure starts fell to 0.93 percent of loans from 1.04 in the fourth quarter and 1.03 a year ago.

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New FICO Score eases bad credit repair as FICO Corp. 'relaxes' scoring model Bad credit folks who sign up for Credit Counseling or Debt Consolidation plan hear this a lot: "your Beacon score is too low...", "you must improve your FICO score...". Little do they know that their FICO score may've improved already without them noticing. Every 5 points up counts! According to Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FIC), the new FICO is a more predictive and consumer friendly score now... And forget about the Beacon score - the name is NextGen now! What? You didn't know? According to research done by Screwedup-credit-repair.com, it's true, most people don't know that three major credit agencies TransUnion, Experian and Equifax are now using the new and more friendly NextGen scores. How people with bad credit history can benefit from these new and improved scores? They can get better rates. And more people will get loans, and for larger amounts... It would also help their credit repair! FICO NextGen scores go easier on Sub-prime loan seekers! On their web site, FICO Corp. states: [new scores] "... allow for more scoreable files (credit reports), updated treatment of mortgage and auto inquiries to better reflect consumer rate-shopping (low interest rates), and more consumer-friendly treatment of finance trades(!) and low-balance collections(!) and public records(!)." Why these improvements? Bad screwedup-credit-repair thinks that FICO Corp. is trying to meet sub-lenders requirements for more applications processed and better interest rates offered. With such low rates, sub-lenders are making all the money by giving 'great' deals to people with bad credit history. The new scores let more people in the range of allowed FICO scores, thus creating more business for lenders. And keeping the housing industry strong. This thought may be very close to the real thing... as FICO Corp. states on their web site: "Lenders want to price appropriately, and lend safely, while making more credit available to more people and effectively managing their operations costs." In layman terms, the NextGen scores loosen up scoring criteria so more people can get better credit rating and borrow more money. But make no mistake, FICO Corp. claims these new scores are even more predictable - which works for lender advantage. Plus, the latest score version NexGen 2.0 allows people with short or dormant credit history to get loans! So, does this all mean that we can now have more unpaid medical bills, have more inquiries on car and mortgage loans, get a car loan at the age of 18, get better interest rates after a recent bankruptcy ...? I guess we are to find out ... when we'll see more bankruptcies in the years to come. Or will we? screwedup-credit-repair.com suggests we remain calm and keep our credit score as high as possible. On a serious note, they said, this relaxing in credit scoring presents great opportunity to dispute more items on your credit report than was possible before and improve your credit score more substantially! Own a website submit a link

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Even death is not enough to shake off student loan debt. One New Jersey family learned this in the most awful way imaginable.

When Amanda Greenhalgh died at the age of 24 in 2010, her father and grandmother were on the hook for more than $100,000 in loans used to pay for her degree at Penn State University, The star ledger

Greenhalgh, who was was earning $74,000 a year, hadn't missed a payment. Her loans were with Sallie Mae, reportedly one of the few lenders that has a death and disability policy -- which allows family members to discharge student loans if they can provide a death certificate for the student.

The family contacted Sallie Mae several times, but they were re-directed to call centers in the Philippines with no one available to oblige the request, the family toldThe Star-Ledger. Sallie Mae did not forgive the loan amount until after the family contacted Bamboozled, a consumer affairs column for The Star-Ledger, the paper reported this week. Repair your credit issues now

Most lenders do not have a clear policy about what happens to a co-signed student loan when the borrower dies or becomes disabled. After Rutgers University student Christopher Bryski passed away in 2006, leaving behind a $50,000 student loan balance, his family, who had originally co-signed his loan, paid off 40 percent of his debt and engaged in a lengthy battle with loan provider KeyBank before getting the remaining balance cleared.

As a result of the Bryski family's struggles, Congressional legislators introduced a bill known as the Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act. The bill would have required lenders to make it clear to students what will happen to their loans at the time of their death. It passed the House in 2010, but didn't make it through the Senate.

With the country's student debt load now 25 percent higher than it was in 2008, many young Americans are facing the mounting pressure of their loan payments in the still weak job market. Based on reported data from nearly 100 schools, the Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt has estimated that 90 percent of students from the class of 2010 carried an average amount exceeding $35,000 in student debt, according to USA Today

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Getting Twitter Followers by TwiterHero: 5072+ Top Free Twitter Followers To Get 14May12

Getting Twitter Followers by TwiterHero: 5072+ Top Free Twitter Followers To Get 14May12

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Challenging the right to collect. Note that this includes the "validation" process. If the debt is not valid, the validation process itself may be enough to get rid of it, or at least give you the legal leverage you need to do so because the debt collector doesn't have the right to collect on a debt that they cannot validate under the FDCPA. Other methods suggest simply asking what law gives the collector the right to force you to do business with them. These are your legal rights and we know just what to do for you. Learn How To Repair Your Credit Issues!!

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FHA Streamline : No Verification Of Job, Income, Credit In April 2011, while the rest of the world was making it harder to get approved for a mortgage, the FHA was making it easier. In a sweeping guideline update, the FHA abolished verification for practically everything on an FHA Streamline Refinance mortgage application. Now, as written in the FHA's official mortgage guidelines, the mortgage approval process for an FHA Streamline Refinance says : Employment verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance Income verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance Credit score verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance And, as mentioned earlier, there's no need for a home appraisal, either. Repair your credit issues

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