Due to the change in federal regulations the process of closing real estate sales is become complicated and it has already delayed one closing in Steamboat Springs.

It has been said by Ed Allbright, of Columbine Mortgage, that the first mortgage that has been initiated by him since the new truth-in-lending regulations went into effect Aug. 1 was delayed by just a little clerical error by the mortgage underwriters. The error has led to a mandatory waiting period that is meant to protect consumers and due to this the his client’s closing date has been delayed from Aug. 17 to 21.

Although the the clerical error  that doubled Allbright’s estimated closing costs has been quickly recognized by the underwriters, but under the new regulations their computers didn’t let them correct that error, and a new truth-in-lending waiting period was invoked.

Money on the line

Whenever due to any reasons a deal fails to close on time, then the hard-earned currency in the form of interest rates and earnest money is on the line.

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Congress wants that it should be harder for the people under-21 to accumulate a mountain of credit card debt.

Credit card holders shall be affected by a new federal law and it will also affect people of all ages who want to have credit cards. But due to the reason that several provisions don’t take effect until February, so for many college students this could be the last semester of truly easy credit.

A recent survey that has been conducted by student loan manager Sallie Mae elaborates that the average amount of debt that is being carried by undergraduate cardholders is $3,173 which has increased up to 46% from five years ago. And the average number of credit cards that are being carried by these students is five.

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There has been a debate going on for quite some time whether it’s better to pay your credit card bill late and bear the extra charges, or to take a cash advance loan and pay your bills in time. For months there have been talks at Congress about capping the fees for short term cash advance loans. On the other hand, most states have also put laws into place to cap the fee that is charged for the service of providing a short-term loan. These loans are usually given without many inquiries, credit checks or employment verifications. They would only check a person’s checking account and typically, a person would give a post-dated check to a company to hold, while they provide the cash for the check. The borrower then returns within the next two weeks to pay the loan back with their next paycheck and the lender gives the post-dated check back. There are fees for this convenient service, but these fees are often exaggerated quite a bit to reflect a negative point about these loans.

This convenience fee is mostly around 15%, or $15 for every $100 borrowed whereas a credit card late fee is not as regulated and can be around $20 to $50 per billing statement. Moreover, the credit card companies can charge this fee many times in the form of late fees or overdraft. In this way, you will have to pay a lot more than required initially and as compared to a cash advance it will be more expensive.

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