Identity Theft and Real Estate

Obtaining home mortgage these days has gotten a little more involved but is still relatively easy to obtain if your income is in line with your debts and the house you want to buy is in a price range that is affordable for your budget.  The last critical element is good credit.  With good credit you’ll have no problem obtaining a home loan as long as you meet this basic criteria.  Good credit for some however has become more difficult to provide because of an unfortunate case of identity theft.   Recently my wife and I became potential victims when a thief came into our garage, found my wife’s purse, stole her credit card and promptly went shopping at Wal Mart. Fortunately they only took her credit card and not her entire purse otherwise our predicament could have been much worse. Others have not been so lucky when the thief takes more then credit cards. They steal their identity and open numerous credit accounts without the victim’s knowledge.  Many times the victim doesn’t know whats happened until they apply for a credit card account or a home loan.  By that point their dreams of owning that new house are abruptly halted as it can take months to clear up the mess the identity thief created.  How can you prevent such a tragedy? There are several easy steps you can do to practically eliminate the possibility of this happening to you.  For more information on this topic go to the FTC’s Identity Theft website. It’s a great time to buy a house and keeping your credit in order is key part of that process.

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