loans
Am I Responsible For My Parents' Debt?
Jay's parents have gotten quite, uh, spendy with their retirement income, and now they've got a lot of debt they can't pay off. This has become Jay's problem not because he's a party to any of the debt, but because they've put him down as a reference and now bill collectors are harassing him. More »
When To Buy A Home And How To Avoid Screwing It Up
Are you hitting that stage in life where you're thinking of becoming a homeowner? Morningstar has published two home buying articles that together offer some good, concise advice to the prospective buyer, especially if you're a first-timer. More »
40 States Ask FTC To Crack Down On Debt Relief Companies
Attorneys general in 40 states just asked the FTC to step up the fight against debt relief companies that mislead and overcharge consumers, like Credit Solutions of America (CSA), reports Consumer Affairs. More »
How A Disputed Item On Your Credit Report Can Screw Up Your Home Loan
Thanks to federal regulations, when you dispute an account on your credit report and the dispute is resolved in your favor, the credit reporting agency is required to remove or correct the account. Credit reporting agencies often don't do this, though, and the Washington Post notes that it can come back and interfere with your next home loan application. More »
What's The Difference Between A HELOC And A Second Mortgage?
Guest posting on the personal finance blog Budgets Are Sexy, Robert Sommers explains the difference between home equity lines of credit and home equity loans, which are also known as second mortgages. More »
Consumer And Banking Scholars Speak Out In Favor Of Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Earlier this week, a group of 70 law professors from universities across the country released a 16-page Statement of Support (pdf) detailing why they're in favor of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Act. You can read the statement yourself via the link above, but we've summarized them below. More »
Homeowners With Good Credit Are More Likely To Strategically Default
Here's an interesting discovery about mortgage defaults from the LA Times: More »
Consumer Financial Protection Agency Gets Watered Down
There's been so much resistance to the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency that Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed a less powerful version of the agency in an attempt to get it passed. Here's what's changed: More »
Banks Cling To Overdraft Fees Because They Need Them To Survive
Banks now make more on debit card overdraft fees than credit card penalties—they'll rake in about $27 billion in 2009 alone, according to the New York Times. They obviously have zero incentive to curb the practice. In fact, one economist told the paper that "45 percent of the nation's banks and credit unions collect more from overdraft services than they make in profits." More »
Brooklyn Judge Rejects Improperly Documented Foreclosure Motions, Shocks Banking Industry
There's a judge in Brooklyn, NY, who has tossed out nearly half of the foreclosure cases brought before him over the past year, because the lenders have such messy paper trails that they can't prove ownership anymore. More »
Bad News: Yet Another Record Month For Foreclosures
For the third time in the last five months a new record for foreclosure filings has been reached says foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac. July saw an increase of 7% from June of this year and, even more telling, a 35% increase from last year. More »
Poor Customer Service Preventing Home Owners From Modifying Mortgages?
There is currently a $75 billion program called MHA or Making Home Affordable, which aims to modify mortgages so home owners can stay in their homes. According to a new report by the Treasury Department, some banks are starting off so slowly that they've yet to modify a single mortgage. Others, like Bank of America, have modified only 4% of the eligible mortgages in its portfolio that are 60 or more days delinquent. More »
Banks That Reap Fees From Bad Loans Won't Want To Help Beleaguered Homeowners
The White House has asked mortgage executives to come up with the manpower to stop precarious loans from becoming foreclosures, but a New York Times story says finance experts say a lack of bodies isn't the problem. It's greed. More »
Mortgage Mod Scams Using Paperthin Lawyers As Legit Front
"Let me put it this way. It's like food stamps," said the mortgage modification telemarketer trying to talk consumer advocate and Red Tape Chronicles blogger Bob Sullivan into a new loan. Following the trail of who this guy works for lead Sullivan to discover a new kind of mortgage modification scammer. More »
Study Shows People Take Out Loans At 400% Even When They Do Know Better
Why would you ever take out a loan at 400% interest? Because you're absolutely desperate, or because you have no idea what 400% interest actually means. Well, many people do it every two weeks. It's called a payday loan, and Slate has an article discussing the findings of a recent study on these "storefront loan sharks". More »
Most Payday Loans Are To Repay Other Payday Loans
Listen to the payday loan industry and their apologists and they'll try to tell you that their customers are savvy and just need of a break to tide them over. But a new survey (PDF) shows that most payday loans are to repay other payday loans. Of the 80% of borrowers who take out multiple payday loans in a year: More »
Lender Makes Borrowers Pledge Their Souls
Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors to get its money back if people refused to repay, and promised no physical violence. Signatories only have to give their first name and do not show any documents. "If they don't give it back, what can you do? They won't have a soul, that's all." More »
Obama To Call For Financial Watchdog Agency
Tomorrow, President Obama is expected to call for the creation of a new watchdog agency that would help protect consumers from abusive credit card, mortgage, banking practices. The banking industry is not happy about the idea, reports CNN. But hey, they're just looking out for us: "It's bad for consumers," a banking industry lobbyist told the network. Oh, well, never mind then, and pass me some more delicious subprime! More »
