Homeowners
Insurers keep a secret history of your home
A huge database not only tracks claims, it also looks for risks such as toxic mold. That’s why homeowners with even minor water damage are being canceled — and are sometimes unable to sell.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Orifinally published in MSN Money in 2002 http://moneycentral.msn.com
You probably know that it’s not a good idea to make too many claims on your homeowners insurance policy because your insurer could drop you.
What you might not know is that making a claim could make selling your home more difficult down the road. What’s more, you could find your home’s value damaged or a sale jeopardized even if a previous owner, and not you, made a claim.
Insurers increasingly are using a huge industry database, called the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange or CLUE, to drop or deny coverage based on a home’s history of claims or damage reports.
Insurance companies are terrified of rising losses from water and mold damage. So a single report of water-related problems may be enough for insurers to shun your home.
Jan and Kevin Garder of Bremerton, Wash., discovered this the hard way. The Garders thought they were doing the right thing when they told their insurance company, State Farm, about some minor water damage caused by a rainstorm last year.
Consumers held hostage
The couple, who say they had been with their insurer for 30 years without filing a claim, ultimately decided not to file one this time, either.
That didn’t stop State Farm from dropping them as customers, they say. Not only that, but they say State Farm also shared the damage information with the CLUE database. When the Garders applied for coverage elsewhere, the other insurers cited State Farm’s damage report as the reason they wouldn’t write a policy, Jan Garder said.
“Until then, we didn’t know anything about the CLUE database,” she said. “We really didn’t have a clue.”
State Farm declined to comment on the Garders’ case, citing privacy concerns. Spokeswoman Lisa Wang said the insurer shares only claims information with CLUE, not damage reports.
But the company that operates CLUE, ChoicePoint of Alpharetta, Ga., said that the database collects damage reports as well as claims. The information stays in the database for up to five years, said James Lee, ChoicePoint’s chief marketing officer.
The Garders say they finally secured bare-bones fire coverage for about $1,000 a year, more than three times what they paid previously for full homeowners coverage.
What’s more, the problem is derailing their plans to sell their home. The Garders say they have been told by their real estate agent and others that they may have a tough time getting a good price for a home that’s already been rejected by many insurers.
“You are totally blackballed,” said Jan Garder, 49. “They should not be able to hold a consumer hostage like this.”
Insurance companies get aggressive
In previous years, insurers used the CLUE database in large part to watch for fraud and for consumers who had a history of filing numerous claims.
After losing nearly $9 billion on homeowners insurance last year, however, insurance companies have become more aggressive about screening for other risks — including damaged homes that could spawn future claims.
State Farm, which lost $5 billion last year on its various insurance lines, has been among the most aggressive in weeding out unwanted risks. The nation’s largest property insurer has dropped thousands of policyholders from coast to coast and stopped writing homeowners insurance in several states.
So far, insurers’ increased use of the CLUE database has not caused serious problems for the booming real estate industry, said George Tribble, a member of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers’ board of directors.
But Tribble said he has heard a number of anecdotal reports of residential sales falling through at the last minute because of CLUE-related problems in securing insurance. He fears the problem could get worse if insurers begin to shy away from homes that have had even minor damage.
“Right now, it’s still a pretty isolated problem,” Tribble said, “but that could change if they (insurers) continue to do this. … If you’re not able to get insurance, you’re not able to close the deal.”
Tribble thinks it’s particularly unfair that a home could be blackballed because of one claim, let alone a single report of damage that didn’t lead to a claim.
“Insurance companies want to keep their costs down, which is understandable,” Tribble said, “but this is what you have insurance for — to cover you for accidents.”
The insurance industry is notorious for its manic-depressive cycles. In profitable years, companies will slash premiums, boost coverage and take on big risks in hopes of gaining market share. When those risks start costing real money, the companies sound the full retreat — hiking premiums, dropping customers and shunning risk.
What’s notable about their most recent mood swing was how quickly it happened, spurred in large part by last year’s losses and the massive increase in mold-related claims, especially in Texas and California.
How to protect yourself
While you can’t do much about insurers’ overreactions, you can do something to protect yourself in this particularly difficult time. Among them:
- Keep your home in good repair. A solid, watertight roof, good plumbing and a decent paint job can protect your home from various water disasters — the kind of damage that’s scaring insurers the most these days. It’s a good idea to regularly check the hoses on your clothes- and dish-washing machines, since cracked or burst hoses often lead to serious water damage.
- Keep your deductible high. Pay for smaller expenses out of your own pocket. Homeowners insurance should be reserved for the big disasters, not the little problems you can easily pay for yourself.
- Think twice about water-related claims. This is especially true if you plan to sell within a few years. You could be better off paying to repair the problem yourself rather having your home be branded as high risk.
- Don’t tell your insurer about problems unless you’re sure you’ll file a claim. This last piece of advice is unfortunate, because insurers and insurance agents can be a decent source of counsel on whether it’s worth filing a claim. Since any damage you report could get passed on to the CLUE database, however, it’s smart now to err on the side of caution.
- Consider getting a copy of your CLUE report. If you’ve been denied insurance, you can get a copy of your home’s CLUE report for free; otherwise, you’ll pay about $8. You have a right under federal law to dispute any erroneous information on the report. To get a copy, contact ChoicePoint (see link at left under Related Sites). Currently, you’ll need to mail in your request, although the company hopes to have an online version by the end of the month.
Continue reading about What insurers shouldn’t know about your house
You can borrow too much or prepare too little. You can misjudge terms or overestimate your credit. With so much at stake, it’s no wonder so much can go wrong.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Original article in MSN Money in 2002 http://moneycentral.msn.com
Applying for a mortgage can be a daunting experience.
It’s not enough that you’re agreeing to take on the biggest debt of your life, one that represents two to three times your annual income. You’re also confronted with piles of paperwork, flurries of fees and a tidal wave of terms, from amortization to title insurance, whose meaning is fuzzy at best.
“Whether it’s a professor at Stanford or a ditch digger,” said San Francisco mortgage broker Leon Huntting, “most people don’t understand the loan process.”
In this confusing and pressure-filled atmosphere, it’s easy to make some mistakes. Here are some common ones that lenders and mortgage brokers see, and what you can do to prevent them.
Not fixing your credit
Mortgage brokers say they’re confounded at the number of buyers who apply for a mortgage with their fingers crossed, hoping their credit will allow them to qualify for a loan.
Before you even think about applying for a mortgage, obtain copies of your credit report and your FICO credit score. Your FICO score is the three-digit number that’s used in 75% of mortgage-lending decisions. You can order your FICO score on the Web for a fee of $12.95, which includes a copy of your credit report. (See link at left.)
Doing this at least six months in advance should give you plenty of time to challenge any errors on your report and ensure that they’re removed by the time you’re ready to apply for a loan. You can also see the legitimate factors that are hurting your score and do something about them, such as paying off an overdue bill or paying down credit card debt.
Not looking for first-time home buyers’ programs
These programs, typically sponsored by state, county or city governments, often offer better interest rates and terms than you’ll find among private lenders, said mortgage consultant Diane St. James. Some are tailored for people with damaged credit, while most can help people with little saved for a down payment.
Some of these resources are listed on St. James’ educational Web site, ABC Mortgage Consulting (see link at left). You can also call the housing agencies for your state, county and city to see what they offer.
Not getting pre-approved for a loan
Many first-time borrowers confuse being “pre-qualified” with being “pre-approved.” Pre-qualification is a pretty casual process, where a lender tells you how much money you probably can borrow based on how much money you make, how much debt you already have and how much cash you have for the down payment.
Getting pre-approval, by contrast, is a much more rigorous process and involves actually applying for a loan. You typically submit tax returns, pay stubs and other information. The lender verifies the information and checks your credit. If all goes well, the lender agrees in writing to make the loan.
In a hot or even warm real estate market, the house hunter who is only pre-qualified is a cooked goose. Home sellers and their agents give much more weight to offers being made by buyers who already have a loan lined up.
Borrowing too much money
Many people take out the biggest loan they possibly can, figuring that their incomes will eventually increase enough to make the payments comfortable. But few first-time buyers have any clear idea of how expensive homeownership can be. Not only will you shell out more for mortgage payments than you probably did for rent, but you’ll also need to cover property taxes and homeowners insurance, as well as higher bills for utilities, maintenance and repairs than you faced as a renter.
Lenders are perfectly willing to let you overextend, knowing that you’ll probably forgo vacations, retirement savings and new clothes for the kids rather than default on your mortgage.
“Mortgage money … is way too easy to get,” said Ted Grose, president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. “People tend to overbuy … and that can really stress family life. It’s also a formula for foreclosure.”
Instead of going to the edge of affordability, consider limiting your housing costs — mortgage payments, property taxes and homeowners insurance — to 25% or so of your gross income. That’s a much more sustainable level for most people, financial planners say, than the 33% lenders are typically willing to give you.
Not shopping around for rates and terms
Mortgage broker Allen Jackson of Bristol Home Loans in Bellflower, Calif., sees too many borrowers with decent credit getting stuck with loans meant for people with poor credit. So-called “subprime” loans are often more profitable, so less ethical mortgage brokers may push them.
If the borrower doesn’t know what the prevailing interest rates are for someone with their credit standing, Jackson said, they can easily pay thousands of dollars more than they need to. You can see a listing of loan rates by credit score at MyFico.com, and a comprehensive listing of prevailing rates and fees can be found in MSN Money’s Banking area.
Even people with a few dings on their credit can often qualify for better loans than they’re typically offered, said Grose of 1st Mortgage Advisors in Los Angeles. He believes most of the people being shunted into government loan programs, such as Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, would pay less if they used mortgages now being offered by private-sector lenders, such as Wells Fargo.
“The FHA loans are more profitable for the broker and they don’t have to disclose their fees,” as they do with many other mortgage loans, Grose said. “My mortgage broker buddies are going to send me hate mail, but it’s true.”
Paying junk fees
Lenders can boost their profits by adding on a variety of fees. Some may be legitimate, some may be inflated and others may be pure fluff. Lenders may charge for “document preparation,” for example, when all that involves typically is having a computer spit out a form. Or they may charge $150 for a credit check that cost them $15.
The time to challenge junk fees is not when you’re about to sign the loan papers. Use a mortgage broker or call a number of lenders to compare their loans. Ask about the interest rate, the “points” charged to get that rate (each point is 1% of the total loan amount) and any other fees the lender charges. Then you can compare terms.
Once you’ve selected a lender, you’ll be given a good-faith estimate of closing costs, which should include any fees being charged. Ask about each fee, and try to negotiate down the ones that seem excessive.
If the lender won’t negotiate, “take that estimate to someone else,” St. James said. “I’ll bet they can beat it.”
Unfortunately, this doesn’t absolutely guarantee you won’t face junk fees when it comes time to sign the loan. Many borrowers complain that they still face higher costs than were originally estimated, and so far the federal government has done little to prevent the practice. You can try challenging junk fees at this point, but most likely you’ll have to bite the bullet and pay the fees to get your loan.
Not planning for closing costs
The day you’re scheduled to get your loan, known as closing, you’ll also be expected to write a check for a number of expenses, which typically include attorney’s fees, taxes, title insurance, prepaid homeowners insurance, points and other lenders’ fees. Together, these are known as closing costs, and the total can be eye-popping: somewhere between 2% to 7% of the selling price of the house.
“Usually, when people see the closing costs, they’re like a deer in the headlights,” said mortgage broker Huntting, who works for Pacific Guarantee Mortgage. “It’s much more than they ever think it’s going to be.”
Plan for closing costs by getting a good-faith estimate from your lender as early in the loan process as possible. Make sure you have the cash on hand (or rather, in your checking account) and that it doesn’t “disappear” before closing because of sloppy bookkeeping or a last-minute emergency.
Not having enough cash on hand after closing
After borrowing too much, and scraping together every last dime for closing costs, many home buyers have nothing left in the bank to pay for anything unforeseen happening –and something unforeseen always happens.
“It costs so much just to move in,” Grose said. “Then the water heater breaks.”
Some people are so tapped out by the process, Jackson said, that they’re not able to make their first mortgage payment on time. That’s why “more and more lenders are requiring [borrowers have] three months’ reserves after closing,” Jackson said.
That’s a smart idea for borrowers, anyway. Having three months’ reserves, which means a fund equal to three months’ worth of expenses, will help you handle the added costs of homeownership with much less stress.
Continue reading about 8 big mortgage mistakes and how to avoid them
