
          EZ Loan Manager 2002, Version 7.00
-------------------------------------------------
               (Released: August 4, 2000)

		 http://go.to/EZSoft/



1. Introduction:
================

EZ Loan Manager 2002 (Version 7.00) is a money saving program that provides you a very easy and flexible tool to choose, evaluate and manage your loans and mortgages.  The program is for anyone with fixed, adjustable or biweekly loans, or like to save interest money with early extra payments.  The program allows you to analyze various combinations of loan amounts, interest rates, loan terms, etc. to determine the best possible loan for your budget.  This program is excellent for anyone who wishes to see the effect of making extra payments on the life of a loan and the total interest paid.  This program could help you to choose the right loan and save thousands of dollars through careful loan planning and managing.

Free upgrade for registered users.  A one time registration fee is only $20.


2. Major Features:
==================
  a) Easy to evaluate and manage various loans and mortgages: Fixed, Adjustable, Biweekly, Reverse Mortgage.
  b) Help you to evaluate how much you would save with various extra payment options.
  c) Loan Prequalifier: An easy tool to estimated how much you can afford to purchase your dream house, based on your monthly income and debt, etc.
  d) Best Loan Selector:  A money saving tool to select a best loan.
  e) Buy vs. Rent: A tool let you decide whether to buy or rent a house.
  f) Loan History Chart:  You can visually see how will your loan be paid off.  The gap between the red and green curves is proportional to how much you would save.
  g) Loan Summary Chart: Another visual tool to show you how much you could save with the extra payment.
  h) Various examples make it easy for you to start use the program.


3. Requirements:
================
System requirement: Windows 95/98/2000/Me, NT 4.0 or later.
 
Before continuing, please be sure that you have a copy of Microsoft Visual Basic run-time library VB40032.DLL installed in your \Windows\System\ directory (or \System32\ for NT user).  If you don't have it, the installation program won't run.  VB40032.DLL is available as vb40032.zip on our web page (http://go.to/EZSoft/).


4. Installing EZ Loan Manager 2002:
===================================
 Run the Setup.exe program.


5. Uninstalling EZ Loan Manager 2002:
=====================================
 Remove EZ Loan Manager 2002 from control panel.


6. Changes:
===========
Version 7.00 (August 4, 2001)
 1) Added "Buy vs. Rent", a tool to help you decide whether to buy or rent a house.
 2) Added "Reverse Mortgage".
 3) The new loan calculator is more versatile.
 4) Added "Back Ratio" and "Front Ratio" to "Loan Prequalifier".
 5) Payment date may be manually changed.  Note: Sending your regular loan payment to your lender earlier than the due date does not save you any interest.  Only the extra payment included in your regular payment will save you money.

Version 6.00 (March 11, 2000)
 1) Added Best Loan Selector, a money saving tool to help you choose the best loan based on your loan term, how long you will stay in the house and whether you plan to pay off your loan early.
 2) Redesigned loan data file structure, which allows fast and flexible display and manipulation.  Loan data file created with previous version will be automatically converted to the new format.
 3) Added printing function for Loan History and Summary Chart.
 4) Added various options for easy inputting extra payment.
 5) Added recent file option for easy reloading recent opened files.
 6) Added option to display amortization table based on calendar year or anniversary year.
 7) Added escrow payment.
 
Version 5.2 (January 2, 1999)
 1) New mailing address and web page address.
 2) New registration code is required.

Version 5.1
 1) In the loan calculator, you can calculate any unknown by giving
    three knowns.
 2) A few minor bug fixes.

Version 5.0 (November 10, 1997)
 1) Added Loan Prequalifier, that estimate the max loan for your dream home.
 2) Added Loan History Chart.
 3) Added Loan Summary Chart.
 4) Bug fix for adjustable loan that pays off early.
 5) For adjustable loan, the monthly payment automatically changes when you change interest rate in the amortization table.  You can still manually input the monthly payment (do it after you change the interest rate).
 6) Added Software Upgrade function, that allows Internet users to get on our web page and download the latest version.
 7) Moved <Update> button on the up-right corner and add the <Undo> button.
 8) Better display in the amortization table.
 9) Better printing options and some minor printing bug fix.
10) Now loading the program at the last opened position.

Version 4.20 (June 5, 1997)
 1) Major upgrade in the 16-bit version (now equivalent to the 32-bit version).
 2) A few bug fixes.
 3) More convenient to input data in amortization table.

Version 4.12 (March 8, 1997)
 This is a maintenance release with improvements in inputting loan information.

Version 4.11 (February 11, 1997)
 1) Allow to input loan term in biweeks in Biweekly loan.
 2) A few bug fixes.

Version 4.10
 1) Added biweekly loan type.
 2) Added drag and drop support.
 3) Added easy loan amortization table navigation function.
 4) This Year's amortization table now loads automatically for registered users.
 5) Added function to easily input monthly extra payments for a year.
 6) Added many "Easter Eggs".


7. Frequent asked Question:
===========================
 1) How To Do A Fixed Rate or Biweekly Loan Calculation?
  a. Select "Fixed Rate" or "Biweekly" in the Loan Type box.
  b. Input Amount of Loan, Starting Interest Rate, Starting Date (in MM/DD/YYYY) and Term in Years, Months or Biweeks.
     Note: Double click in the Starting Date box will put today's date in the box.
  c. Input any other information in Loan Description for you to identify the loan.
  d. Do the calculation by click the <New Loan Calculation> button.
  e. You can now view amortization table by clicking a numeric button.

 2) How to Do An Adjustable Rate Loan Calculation?
  a. Do the same as in a fixed rate loan calculation, but select "Adjustable Rate".
  b. Go to the amortization table of a particular year by clicking a numeric button.
  c. Change the interest rate, press Enter and your monthly payment will be adjusted based on the new rate.  You may also manually input the new monthly payment.   

 Note: Monthly Payment in this program only include regular interest and principle payments and does not include extra payment and escrow payment.

 3) How To Do A Loan With Extra Payments?
  a. Go to the amortization table of a particular year by clicking a numeric button.
  b. Input extra payments in the amortization table or through the Extra Principal Payment Option button.
  c. You should see how much interest you would save with the extra payment.

 4) How is the "Interest Saved" calculated?
  The "Interest Saved" is calculated by comparing the interests with and without extra payments.

 5) How to quickly navigate the loan amortization table?
  a. Press <Home> button to view first year's amortization table.
  b. Press <End> button to view last year's amortization table.
  c. Press <F12> button or click the Blue Year Banner above the amortization table to see This Year's table.
  d. Press <Page Up> button to view previous year's amortization table.
  e. Press <Page down> button to view next year's amortization table.

 6) What type of loan is best for you?
  With EZ Loan Manager, you can easily determine what type of loan is best for you.  The following is a comparison of various loans.
  (Included with the program)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
File Name        Fixed 30     Fixed 30      Biweekly      Adjustable
                 Year #1.ezl  Year #2.ezl   20 Year.ezl   20 Year.ezl
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Loan Type        Fixed        Fixed         Biweekly      Adjustable
Amount Borrow    $100,000     $100,000      $100,000      $100,000
Interest Rate    7.25%        7.25%         7.25%         4.25,6.25,8.25,
                                                            10.25,8.25,
                                                            7.25, 7.25, ...
Loan Term        30 Years     30->20 Years  20 Years      20 Years
Pay No./Year     12           12            26            12
Monthly Payment  $682.18      $682.18       $364.53       $791.60**
Monthly Extra    $0           $108.20
Annual Payment   $8,186.16    $9,484.56     $9,477.67     $9499.20**

Extra cost/Year
compare with     $0           $1,298.40     $1,291.51     $1,313.10**
Fixed-0.ezl

Total Interest   $145,584.04  $89,689.03    $89,553.40    $90,173.37

Savings* compare
with Fixed-0.ezl  None        $55,895.01    $56,030.64    $55,410.67
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   * The savings are the differences comparing with a fixed loan,
     i.e. "Fixed 30 Year #1.ezl", not the "Interest Saved" as shown in
     the amortization table.

  ** When the interest is 8.25% or higher, monthly payments are higher
     than $789.82.


 7) How to quickly open a loan file using Drag and Drop?
  a) Double click a loan file (*.ezl).
       Note: In the first time, you need to Create the EZ Loan Manager file type.
  or
  b) Create an EZ Loan Manager shortcut on you desktop, and drag the loan file to the shortcut to open it.

 8) Notes on EZ Loan Manager Data file.
  The loan file default extension is .ezl, which is unique and easy for you to create the EZ Loan Manager file type in the Explorer or other file managers.  The loan data files created with version 5.2 or earlier will be converted automatically to the new format.


8. Disclaimer
=============
EZ LOAN MANAGER IS SUPPLIED AS IS.  THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.  THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF EZ LOAN MANAGER.
  

9. Distribution:
================
Shareware.  The ezl2002a.zip file without any modification is freely distributable.


10. Where To Get The Latest Version:
====================================
You can always find the latest version at our home page:

   http://go.to/EZSoft/

If you have Internet access, you may simply click the "Visit Our Web Site" button to get the latest version.


11. Registration:
=================
***********************************************************************
*  Free for registered users, just send us an e-mail or a self-       *
*  addressed, postage paid envelope with your user and old serial     *
*  number, we will send you a new serial number.                      *
***********************************************************************

The shareware version is fully functional.  If you use it for more than 30 days, you must register it.

A) Registration Fee:
   USD $20 for first user, $10 for each additional user.
   Please add $2 if without a valid e-mail address.
   To purchase the program on diskette, please add $5 for shipping and handling.
   For registered EZ Unit Converter Wizard user, the registration fee is $10.

B) Important Note:
   For company or business users, both company name and each individual user's name must be provided when registering.

   We strongly recommend you to fill out and print the form from the program.

   Price is subject to change without notice.  Please check our web page for the current registration fee.  If you want save money, register now.  This is a one time registration, you will get any future upgrade free.

C) How to Register:

   1) By Credit Card through Internet:
   We accept credit card payment through PayPal (fast and secure!).  Simply go to the following web page:
      https://www.paypal.com/affil/pal=gxc2%40po.cwru.edu
      
      (Note: it starts "https://", not "http://"

   Our PayPal account is: gxc2@po.cwru.edu
   
   
   2) By Mail:
   Please send check, cash or money order, with your e-mail address or a self-addressed, postage paid envelope to:

   Joy Cai
   335 Glasgow Circle
   Danville, CA 94526
   U.S.A.


Registered user will receive a serial number that will make the program even simpler to use without the nag registration information on the start up screen and printed amortization table.



12. Authors:  Kevin Cai and Joy Cai
============  E-mail: gxc2@po.cwru.edu
              Web Page: http://go.to/EZSoft/

For technical support, comments and suggestions, please send email to:
gxc2@po.cwru.edu.