Home Equity Loan - Beware Of Bad Lenders

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Many homeowners apply for home equity loan for a variety of reasons. While some want to utilize the money to get rid of unmanageable debt, others want to add value to their existing home by restructuring and repairing. Whatever may be the reason, the home equity loan provides a homeowner the quickest and easiest means to get extra cash to meet unavoidable expenses.

In many cases, lenders are too willing to offer you home equity loan for the simple reason that the loan is secured by your property. The market is flooded with so many loan products from lending institutions that offer you excellent terms and conditions and leave no stone unturned to publicize their schemes on televisions and print. All this may leave you feeling baffled and confused about which home equity loan product to pick. Before choosing which lending institution to go with, make sure to do some research. Shop online to obtain home equity loan quotes from different financial companies.

The problem is that the loan market is filled with reputable lenders as well as deceitful lending companies. While most of the lenders will offer competitive terms and conditions, there are also a few who will try to trick you into a bad loan. When you are taking out a home equity loan, you are using your house as the collateral. In case of any default, the lenders may lay claim on your property. The dishonest lenders work towards this end; which is why they purposely push you into a bad loan.

How can you differentiate between a good lender and a bad one? The bad lenders use certain deceptive tactics to put you into a debt trap and to eventually grab your property. The most common trick is to tempt you to take out more loans or more than you can actually afford. Using forged documents or making you sign on blank documents are some other tactics employed by these dishonest lenders.

It is important to get your home equity loan from a reliable moneylender. But distinguishing between a clean dealer and a shady dealer is a tough job indeed. It is important that you do some research for a suitable lender. Shop on the internet and obtain multiple quotes from different lenders; identify the honest and the dishonest lenders. A sign of a dishonest lender is that it will tend to charge an interest rate that is two or more percentage points above the average.

In a nutshell, compare the loan fees and other costs, choose the best loan term and lock in the lowest rate to seal the best deal.