Clark’s next book, Clark Smart Real Estate, is slated to come out next year, and the section on financing has grown by leaps and bounds. That’s because financing a house is such a difficult and risky task these days. The Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed regulations that would require mortgage companies to tell you the truth about every fee and charge on your bill. But banking lobbyists worked the halls of Congress and got them to turn HUD away. You need to cut through the clutter when you’re getting a mortgage because companies will try to rip you off. That is especially true for black borrowers. Recent investigations show that lenders rip off black homebuyers more often and other groups. It’s disgraceful and wrong. If you are black, you need to know about this and be prepared. Lenders are telling you that your credit is not sufficient enough to get a loan and you have to take on a high-risk loan with higher rates. So, before you buy a home get copies of all three of your credit reports and your credit score, so you are prepared. You can do that for free now at annualcreditreport.com.