Legislative Update: House Bill 868

Important Update for New Hampshire Home owners and REALTORS.

Yesterday members of the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS attended a public hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee in an attempt to fight the proposed House Bill 868.

The battle waged was important and like all thing in life there were many twists and turns along the way. Yesterday a few of us attended the hearing or ventured to Concord to sign and register our opposition and the outcome was not what we wanted because there was an unexpected change/amendment to the original bill…however the new amendment which would require an increase in the Transfer Tax by some 4% is something we also strongly oppose! You can read more about this important issue on my blog.

Below I’ve re-printed the announcement by the NH Association of REALTORS.

Special Announcement

Legislative Update: House Bill 868

Thank you to all REALTORS® who took the time to call members of the House Ways and Means Committee following Wednesday’s Board of Directors meeting, and particularly to the 20 who attended Thursday’s public hearing to oppose House Bill 868, the proposed increase in deeds recording fees to support LCHIP.
In a turn of events, the prime sponsor of HB 868, recognizing the flaws in the bill’s original language, offered an amendment which, rather than increasing the deeds recording fee, would increase the real estate transfer tax by 4 percent.
Despite the amendment, REALTORS® remain fundamentally opposed to the legislation, as it would still mean an additional real estate tax and a dedicated fund. NHAR testified in opposition to both the original and amended bill at the hearing.
The House Ways and Means Committee will now schedule a work session for next week to further discuss the legislation and the concerns of NHAR and other interested parties.

We’ll continue to keep you informed as to the bill’s status and how you can help as this legislation works its way through the process.
Thanks for your continued support.

Monika McGillicuddy
Prudential Verani Realty
Hampstead NH
603-548-7728

Skiing at Gunstock in Gilford New Hampshire

Skiing at Gunstock in New Hampshire.

Skiing is one of New Hampshire special delights and our state is fortunate enough to offer a wide variety of skiing for every level and every budget.

Gunstock is located in a town called Gilford near the popular town of Laconia. It’s location is ideal and very easy to get to. The Gunstock website has a pretty neat interactive trail map…they didn’t have this kind of stuff when I was skiing!

Recently my son Michael took his 11 year old son skiing for his first time. I was pretty nervous about it but realized how ridiculous that was of me because when my son was little…we used to take him skiing all the time. I think he could ski before he could walk!

I wrote a blog called New Hampshire’s White Powder and the little blond haired boy in the picture is my son when he was a LOT younger…wasn’t he cute? My oldest son and step son are also shown in that blog…it was a family affair to be sure!
Michael and his son had a great time skiing together…a father and son special bond. My little grandson took some lessons and his dad tried to get his ski legs back after many years of non skiing. My son took all the photographs used in this post.

New Hampshire…We have it all come for a visit and make special memories….ones that will last a life time.

All photos courtesy of Michael Gosselin 2007

Credit Scores…Oh my!

Another great post by our good friend George Suto from McCue Mortgage Co. in Ct.
George knows his stuff and is an excellent writer in my opinion.
Jay and I are fortunate that he allows us to share his articles with you.
Thank you George

Why Are Credit Scores Different Between Credit Reports & Reporting Agencies???

The three most important things in obtaining a mortgage are Income, Debt, and Credit Scores. The first two are self explanatory, but the third �Credit Scores� are not as easily defined. This is why it is important for those of us in the Mortgage and Real Estate Industry to be well informed on how Credit Scores work, so that we can better assist our Borrowers and Buyers in obtaining the house of their dreams.

Last Friday I started my first Post �Credit Scores Where Did They Come From & What Are They???� in hopefully helping others become a little more familiar with this very important component in the mortgage process. The first Post dealt with some of the history of �Credit and Credit Scores�, as well as an introduction into some of the �Credit Score Models� that are in existence today. Some of the better know models are the Consumer Models also know as Educational Models, Collection Models, Bankruptcy Models, Auto Models, and the one that those of us in the Mortgage and Real Estate industry are most concerned with the Mortgage Models. In this Post I want to go a little more in-depth into the two models that most affect the Mortgage and Real Estate Industry, Consumer Models/ Educational Models, and Mortgage Models.

How many times have you heard a Borrower, or Buyer blame a Loan Officer for having significantly lowered their Credit Score because they pulled a new Credit Report on them? They are convinced that the lower score is the Loan Officer�s fault, because when they ran their own Credit Report it was 30 to 60 points higher. Therefore the Loan Officer has to be at fault, that is the only explanation that they can see for their Scores dropping that much. It is understandable for a Borrower or Buyer to feel this way, however, they are incorrect. Credit Scores do not drop by huge amounts just because a Loan Officer pulled a new Credit Report, in fact the change is minimal if any at all. The reason for the difference is because of the different Credit Report Models that were used by the Borrower/Buyer and the Loan Officer to pull the Credit Report.

When someone pulls their own Credit Report through one of these �Free Credit Report Sites� the model that is used is a Consumer Models/Educational Model. But when a Loan Officer pulls that same persons Credit Report the model that is used is a Mortgage Model. Even though the information used by these two models is the same, the weight that is given to each �Trade Line� is different. A Mortgage Model is going to place a higher weight on �Trade Lines� that have a greater impact on a mortgage then a Consumer Models/Educational Model will. Also a Mortgage Model will be more conservative in its Scoring than a Consumer Models/Educational Model.

There can also be a big fluctuation in Credit Scores even between the three major Credit Reporting Agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The reason for this is because not all Creditors report their information to all three Reporting Agencies, so a Reporting Agency might be basing its score on incomplete information. Even when the information is the same the Scores are slightly different, because each one used a slightly different formula in arriving at their score.

It is also not unusual to see a Creditor reported on more than one Trade Line. For example Equifax, and Experian might be reporting on the same Trade Line, but TransUnion on a separate one. One of the main reasons for this is that Equifax, and Experian might leave out the last four digits of an account number, while TransUnion might show the whole account number or even just the last four digits. The Credit Limits and Balances will be the same, but the account number will appear differently. So since the account number is not being reported exactly the same by all three, it will show up on the Credit Report in more than one Trade Line. To someone who does not know this it will appear to be a duplicate amount on the Credit Report, when in fact it is not.

There is a major effort under way to correct the discrepancy in Scores between Reporting Agencies, by implementing a system by which all three major Reporting Agencies will use one scoring formula. This new Scoring system is known as VantageScore, and has been under development since 2005. VantageScore will have many advantages over the present Credit Report System, because VantageScore will be more consistent, and easer to understand. I will discuss VantageScore in more detail in my next Post.

I hope this Post has helped to clarify some of the mystery surrounding Credit Scores and Credit Score Models, as well as eliminate some of the myths about the cause for the fluctuations in Credit Scores.