Sign Idaho Banking Business Letter Template Secure

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[Music] welcome to MoneySmart lesson plan number six keep it safe and keep it safe we will show you the methods for financial preparedness that will help you protect your assets provide valuable consumer information about your rights and explain how to spot predatory lending techniques identify theft and other financial abuses our objectives with keep it safe are to provide guidance and instruction about laws and regulations that protect your money and deposits laws and regulations that protect you when you are applying for a loan provide the information you need to help guard against predatory lending practices and identity theft provide valuable information to help you guard against financial crisis the financial reforms in the United States that have been enacted recently due to the financial meltdown of 2008 have created some new consumer protections however it should be noted that these improvements have also caused banks to have to work more diligently to get a larger share of your income we caution you to carefully consider all information presented to you by the banking industry and strive to understand it independently before making any banking decisions as they may prove to be expensive if they are not thought out carefully enough we will do our best to explain the various facets of the new laws here and how they will affect you deposit related federal consumer protection laws and regulations truth and savings Act T is a the truth and savings Act enables consumers to make informed decisions before opening a deposit account because of this law banks must provide account information to consumers when they ask for it the information needs to be clear and in writing so consumers can use it to shop for the best account some of the required information that a bank must give to consumers includes interest rate information balance requirements the information if a consumer telephones a bank to ask for interest rates on deposit accounts the bank must state the annual percentage yield APY that reflects the affects of compounding use the APY when making Harrisons among different savings accounts electronic fund transfer act EFTA the electronic fund transfer act establishes rights liabilities and responsibilities of customers who use electronic fund transfer services and the banks that offer these services electronic fund transfer services include the use of automated teller machines or ATMs debit cards and telephone or computer transactions EFTA requires financial institutions to limit consumer liability if ATM cards are lost or stolen and protects consumers against electronic transfer errors expedited funds availability Act EF AAA the expedited funds availability Act limits the amount of time a bank and holder check deposited into a checking account FDIC deposit insurance regulations FDIC insurance protects your money if the bank fails however the FDIC does not insure non deposit investment products such as stocks bonds mutual funds and annuities non deposit investment products some banks sell non deposit investment products such as mutual funds annuities and stocks since these products are not insured by the FDIC keep the following tips in mind to protect your money how to protect yourself before investing in non deposit products have enough emergency money in a savings or other readily accessible account to support you and your family for two to six months do not use this money to buy investment products never invest in a product you do not understand be sure you have enough information before making an investment ask questions until you are satisfied investments always have some degree of risk understand the risks before investing be sure your sales representative knows your financial objectives and risk tolerance find out more about your registered sales representative or Broker Dealer by calling the national association of security dealers NASD at 1-800 two eight nine $99.99 or by visiting WWN ASD calm what lending laws protect you before applying for a loan the Truth in Lending app T ila requires lenders to disclose the total cost of your loan including the finance charge and the APR in addition it gives consumers the right to cancel certain types of home loans within three days a Truth in Lending disclosure will include the following information annual percentage rate the yearly cost of your credit expressed as a percentage finance charge the dollar amount the credit will cost you a mount financed the amount of credit provided to you or on your behalf total payment the total amount you will have paid when you have made all scheduled payments Equal Credit Opportunity Act before applying for a loan the Equal Credit Opportunity Act II CoA protects consumers rights throughout all stages of the loan process ECOA promotes the availability of credit to all credit worthy applicants without regard to the factors also called prohibited basis listed below for example lenders cannot discourage you from applying for a loan or deny your application based on these factors race color religion national origin sex marital status age receipt of public assistance income exercise of rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act example you cannot be denied alone because you have filed a complaint against the bank during the loan application process ECOA restricts the lender from requesting certain information during the loan application process in general the lender may not ask for information about a spouse or former spouse unless your spouse is applying with you if you are jointly applying or if the loan is secured the lender may ask your marital status but may only use the terms married unmarried and separated if you do not qualify on your own lenders may require a cosigner or guarantor may not require that it be your spouse please note if you live in a community property state a lender may request information concerning your spouse Arizona California Idaho Louisiana Nevada New Mexico Texas Washington and Wisconsin are community property states as is Puerto Rico for income derived from alimony or child support unless you want to consider it as part of your income the lender cannot discount or refuse to consider consistent part-time income annuities pensions alimony or child support payments a lender may not ask about birth control practices or intentions of having children however a lender may ask about the number and ages of your dependents about whether you are male or female courtesy titles mr. mrs. MS or MS may be requested but these are optional for your race color religion or national origin note in most cases lenders cannot request the information above however for certain home loans lenders must collect some of the information race sex marital status and age the lender must notify you in writing within 30 days of the date of the loan application if you have been approved or denied the loan if you are denied the notice will contain the name and address of the lender the name and address of the federal agency you can contact if you feel you have been discriminated against either a statement of the specific reasons for denial or a notice that you may request the specific reasons for your denial Fair Credit Reporting Act during the loan application process the Fair Credit Reporting Act fcra requires that the lender notify you if you are denied a loan or credit because of information in your credit report this notice is usually combined with the notice denying the loan or credit the FCRA notice should contain the name address and telephone number of the credit reporting agency that provided the credit report to the lender a statement that the credit reporting agency did not make the decision to deny your application a notice of your right to a a free copy of your credit report within 60 days of receiving the notice a notice of your right to dispute the information in your credit report the MoneySmart module to your credit covers credit reports and how to correct inaccurate information Fair Debt Collection Practices Act after you get your loan the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA helps eliminate abusive debt collection practices under this law debt collectors other than your creditor cannot contact you at any unusual time or place contact you at work if you have informed them not to call you their use threat or violence or other criminal means to harm you or your property call you with the intent to annoy abuse or harass you call you without identifying themselves use deceptive or misleading methods to collect debt if you feel the FDCPA has been violated contact the appropriate federal regulatory agency these agencies are listed in this participant guide under resource lists Fair Credit Billing Act after you get your loan the Fair Credit Billing Act FCB a requires creditors to promptly credit payments and correct billing mistakes for open-ended accounts such as credit cards it allows you to withhold payments on defective goods note the electronic fund transfer Act and the Truth in Lending Act also have methods for correcting billing errors examples of billing errors include a charge for something you did not buy a charge that is different from the actual purchase price an error in math for example the total does not add up or an interest miscalculation if you think there is an error on your bill you should within sixty days of receipt of your incorrect bill notify your creditor in writing and keep a copy of the letter you should always include your name account number and what you believe is the error the lender is required to acknowledge your letter within 30 days within two billing cycles no longer than 90 days the lender must either correct the problem or explain why it believes the bill correct resolving complaints by writing to the regulator's if you have written a letter to the bank that does not produce desired results you can write to the bank's regulator for assistance sometimes that means writing to the FDIC like the complaint letter on the last page include the following information to help the regulator's investigate your complaint number one state the problem briefly in a letter explain what occurred and how you would like to see the matter resolved to include your full name address and daytime and evening telephone numbers with area codes number three provide the complete name and address of the financial institution along with the names of employees who have worked with you on the problem four include pertinent account information such as account numbers and the type of product you have a checking account savings account home equity loan or home loan number five include important dates such as the data transaction took place or the date you contacted the financial institution about your problem 6 send copies of documents that may help explain your problem keep the original documents 7 sign and date your letter additional lending laws service members Civil Relief Act the service members Civil Relief Act SCRA provides important legal rights to active duty military members and reservists or members of the National Guard called to active duty and in limited situations dependents of military members for example in certain eviction actions the Act provides protection pertaining to civil judicial proceedings residential rentals mortgage loans consumer loans and credit card interest rates for example the interest rate on loans a service member received before entering active duty status is capped at 6% if the service members military service materially affects his or her ability to pay in addition a service member on active duty may be able to successfully ask a court to postpone civil or administrative hearings that the servicemember is unable to attend due to his or her military duties the Act also provides protection in the event of a foreclosure or repossession that occurs during active duty service if you claim such eligibility under the SCR a notify your creditors by phone and in writing attach a copy of your orders and visit your local military installations servicing legal office for assistance with any specific questions concerning your rights under the Act Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act RESP a requires that lenders provide you with accurate and timely disclosures of the costs of settlement such as loan organization fees or points broker's commissions and title charges RESP a was designed to prevent abusive practices such as kickbacks for loan referrals Fair Housing Act the Fair Housing Act FHA prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color religion sex national origin familial status including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians pregnant women and people securing custody of children under the age of 18 or handicapped disability in housing related transactions consumer leasing act the consumer leasing act CLA requires clear disclosure of leasing terms so consumers can compare leases disclosures must be made before a lease is signed and must be available for the consumer to keep privacy notices by law lending institutions are required to provide you with privacy notices these notices will explain how the institution shares your financial information with other companies or people it will also explain in detail what information they collect from you they are also required to tell you how you can limit the sharing of that information and what can be limited pay particular close attention to these notices as they can protect you from identity theft as well as other banking nightmares there are several types of notices you may receive one an initial notice when you first open an account to an annual notice which would include any changes three notice of changes in the privacy policy in some cases you have the right to opt out of certain information sharing and participation typically these opting or opt-out opportunities require you to do so within so many days so make sure you're reading the privacy notices carefully when you get them as they will explain the rules and the deadlines this is very valuable information to understand and will alleviate headaches down the road predatory lending following are several indicators of possible predatory payday lending practices one the company advertises terms that it does not actually offer - you are not given disclosures listing terms such as the finance charge and APR three waiting period between the time you repay a payday loan and the time you are allowed to obtain another loan for you can get a payday loan even if you currently owe payday loans to other companies at the same time five you can obtain as many payday loans as you want each year six you can get a payday loan to finance unpaid interest and fees seven the company threatens to prosecute you criminally for writing a bad check even though it knew you had insufficient funds in your account to pay the check and you paid it a payday loan fee indicators of predatory mortgage lending excessive fees points and fees are costs not directly reflected in interest rates because these costs can be financed they are easy to disguise or downplay on predatory loans fees totaling more than five percent of the loan amount are common abusive prepayment penalties borrowers with higher interest subprime loans have a strong incentive to refinance as soon as their credit improves however most subprime mortgages carry a prepayment penalty a fee for paying off a loan early be careful of prepayment penalties that last more than three years or cost more than six months interest kickbacks to brokers yield spread premiums when brokers deliver a loan with an inflated interest rate for example higher than the rate acceptable to the lender the lender often pays the broker a fee known as a yield spread premium this payment makes the loan more costly to the borrower you can avoid this by shopping around for the best rate loan flipping a lender flips a loan by refinancing it several times within a short timeframe to generate free income without providing any net tangible benefit to the borrower flipping can quickly drain borrower equity and increase monthly payments sometimes on homes that had been previously owned free of debt unnecessary products sometimes borrowers may pay more han necessary because lenders sell and finance unnecessary insurance or other products along with the loan asset based lending predatory lenders may approve a loan based on the value of a customer's equity in the home instead of his or her ability to repay the loan the lender may later encourage the customer to default so the lender can get ownership of the home steering and targeting predatory lenders may steer borrowers into subprime mortgages even when the borrowers could qualify for a less expensive typical loan vulnerable borrowers may face aggressive sales tactics and sometimes outright fraud how to avoid predatory mortgage lenders pay your bills on time to ensure you have a good credit history make sure your credit history is accurate by reviewing your credit report every year be an informed consumer make sure you shop around for the best deal if a lender is unwilling to give you the information you need to comparison shop you probably do not want to do business with him or her ask friends family and credit counselors for advice take someone along with you when you talk to a lender take your time before deciding on the best loan or lender do not let lenders pressure you into a decision before you are ready be careful of lenders who tell you they do not care about your credit history or how much you earn many of these lenders charge higher interest rates and higher fees do not respond to advertisements that make lending sound cheap and easy be careful of offers to refinance your loan shortly after you just refinanced it make sure you really need the loan or the loan makes economic sense for you be careful of home improvement contractors that promise to get you alone read and understand all documents before you sign them keep copies of what lenders give you most credit insurance is optional lenders cannot require you to purchase credit insurance from their company there may be better alternatives to credit life insurance such as a life insurance policy purchased separately ask if your mortgage has a balloon payment most or all of the loan amount is due on a specific date if so make sure the terms make sense for you ask if your mortgage has a mandatory arbitration clause if so understand what it means for you if you think you are a victim of a predatory loan contact your state's Consumer Protection Division or an attorney many communities have legal offices that provide free legal services called pro bono programs to individuals with limited income to find a local program look in the community services pages of your phone book or look in the white pages under legal services what to do if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen the Federal Trade Commission the FTC suggests that you file a report with the police as soon as possible keep a copy of the report in case your bank or insurance company needs proof of the crime cancel your credit cards immediately get new cards with different numbers place a fraud alert on your credit report by calling any of the major credit reporting agencies you can call Equifax at one eight hundred five twenty five six two eight five TransUnion at and Experian at one eight eight eight three nine seven three seven four to report the loss to your bank you might want to open new checking and savings accounts and stop payment on any loss checks contact the major check verification companies to request that they notify stores that use their databases not to accept these checks you can also ask your bank to notify the check verification service with which it does business two of the check verification companies that accept reports of check fraud directly from consumers are telecheck at one eight hundred three six six two four two five and Sergi at one eight hundred four three seven five one two zero finally get a new ATM card with a new number and password elder financial abuse what is elder financial abuse elder financial abuse is using an elders money or assets contrary to the elders wishes needs or best interests for the abusers personal gain elder financial abuse covers a wide range of activities including taking money or property forging an older person's signature getting an older person to sign a deed will or power of attorney through deception coercion or undue influence using the older person's property or possessions without permission promising lifelong care in exchange for money or property and not following through on the promise committing confidence crimes or cons against older people using deception to gain their confidence scamming older people through the use of fraudulent or deceptive acts committing fraud against older people through the use of deception trickery false pretense or dishonest acts or statements for financial gain using telemarketing to commit scams against older people perpetrators call victims and use deception scare tactics or exaggerated claims to get them to send money they may also make charges against victims credit cards without authorization who are the perpetrators of elder financial abuse family members including children grandchildren or spouses they may have substance abuse gambling or financial problems stand to inherit and feel justified in taking what they believe is almost or rightfully theirs fear that their older family member will get sick and use up his or her savings depriving the abuser of an inheritance have had a negative relationship with the older person and feel a sense of entitlement have negative feelings towards siblings or other family members whom they want to prevent from acquiring or inheriting the older person's assets who is at risk the following conditions or factors increase an older person's risk of being victimized isolation loneliness recent losses physical or mental disabilities lack of familiarity with financial matters family members who are unemployed and/or have substance abuse problems how can elders be less of a target here are some lifestyle factors that will help you assess if an elder is at risk for financial abuse does the elder live alone does the elder still drive if so he or she may be prone to crashes or to being victimized by driving related scams does the elder spend a lot of time on foot in public places if so he or she may be targeted by exploit or who search for elderly victims at places such as banks stores parks malls and libraries how many local friends does the elder have does the elder have information about housing options care choices and support groups have the elders outside activities decreased over the past few years does the elder have family members in the area do they maintain weekly contact who regularly checks the status of the elders bank accounts charger credit accounts or investments where and from whom is the elder getting financial and medical advice who oversees the elders power of attorney does the elder seek advice of fortune tellers or psychic advisors does the elder know when and how to call the police for emergencies and non emergencies such as a suspicious person hiring caregivers for your elders how can I be more careful in employing caregivers consider these factors when employing caregivers is the caregiver hired from a reputable agency have the caregivers references been checked has a criminal background check been done on the caregiver are the elders checks credit cards etc locked up is there a written service agreement signed by the caregiver and elder specifying duties and pay is there a log of workers hours and cell repayments and is there a weekly review of caregiver expenses lastly think about what could happen in the event of a disaster do you have adequate insurance against a flood or a hurricane these are things that should be contemplated as a safety issue what if a pipe burst in ruins the inside of your home are you protected what if there was a fire and you lost everything what would it cost you to replace everything you own sometimes it is best to cover these types of losses with insurance to make sure the impact of a catastrophe is minimized you