How can I lower my interest rates on my credit card and mortgage?
As it happens, this is an excellent time to, yes, just ask your lender about what is called a “workout“. It’s the simplest kind of mortgage readjustment and does not (necessarily) involve refinancing with a new mortgage and closing costs. Lenders are under intense pressure right now and if they foreclose on you they will not receive any money and they may be stuck with a property that will not sell for months. They have also been given federal incentives that mitigate some of their costs and are intended to encourage workouts that keep homeowners in homes and banks in business. There are a number of NPOs that will act as advisors/brokers with your lender to help you out. Some of their terms differ (e.g. your rental property may disqualify you).
With the credit cards, it is indeed possible to just call and ask for a lower rate — at least it’s not unheard of. You may run into them just saying “no,” however, for whatever reason — if you’ve been late on a payment, they may turn you down. But if you have good credit, you can just get another card — this site has a good list of different types of cards, breaking them down by who has the best rates, best rewards points, etc., and it also links straight to each card’s application. Again, getting another card and transferring the balance is your best move if you have good credit but the card company still isn’t lowering the rate. I had a card whose rate shot up to 19% just because they wanted to, and they wouldn’t lower it — and I have super-boffo credit, so I went to that site, found a card with a rate of only 6%, applied and just transferred the entire balance of that 19% card to the 6% card.
I called B of A, politely explained that I was working on my finances, and asked them to lower my rate. I explained that I knew I had late payments, and was resolving the problem by embracing online bill-paying. I was prepared to say I was going to get a better rate from another company, but did not have to. Just call them. If one rep says No, call again later.
