Welcome to Bankrate's annual house of financial horrors. No one will be shocked by the terrifying tales our readers e-mailed to us this year. Housing woes, job loss, credit card surprises, lost savings in failed banks -- they're the truths we've been living with.
What's frightening is that any of these dreadful events could have happened to any of us. So read through these chilling stories and take care not to fall into the traps.
Muahahahahaha!
1. Co-signing evils
It was a dark and stormy night. The phone rang; I picked it up. "Hello?" I answered tentatively. A faraway voice responded, "Hey, it's me, what's going on?" It was my sister. The evil Department of Education in collaboration with the unpredictable Sallie Mae had denied her enough funds to live for the coming semester. "Help!" she begged.
She'd been offered a private loan from the magical land of Wells Fargo. They promised her treasures beyond her wildest dreams. She just needed one thing: a co-signer. "Oh," I replied, "I don't know. What happens if you don't pay it back?"
An impossibility, she said. Of course she would pay it back with interest and on time. Hesitantly, I inked the application and sent it off to the land of plenty.
Years later; the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Hell-o" was the recorded response. "This is Wells Fargo and you are 90 days past due on your loan repayment."I telephoned my sister. My credit was melting, melting before my very eyes. There was no way to redeem my good credit. I sat on the floor muttering, "Never co-sign a loan!" -- Kim B., FloridaNext Page>Bankrate.com is the Web's leading aggregator of information on financial products including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Visit Bankrate.com to get the tools and information that can help you make the best financial decisions.
