Qualified written requests
If you're trying to get your mortgage modified or just a question answered but find yourself stymied by your loan servicer's slow or lack or response, you can write what is termed a qualified written request (QWR) under section 6 of Respa,
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Under federal law, they have to acknowledge the letter within 20 working days and respond in 60. Inside, a template to follow for drafting a QWR...
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christmas
Apparently there's some debate about whether or not it's more eco-friendly to buy a
real Christmas tree every year or a fake one once every billion years or so.
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food
First it was guacamole with hardly any avocado in it. Then, Capri-Sun's "All Natural" label came under-fire. Now it looks like "Real
Kraft Cheese" isn't so "real" after all. From Crain's:
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ipod
"It plays on iPod!" "You can play it on iPod!" "Put your Real Audio files on your iPod!" Enticed by a dizzying maelstrom of assurances and come ons, Ogilvy PR director John Bell bought an iPod and tried to port his Real Audio collection to his new, glistening white brick. Try as he might, he couldn't get the Real Audio files to play on his iPod.
92 steps and four hours later, after following tech help from Real Networks and driving to the
Apple store, he still can't get it to play.
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shophacks
God bless this no-nonsense column over at CNNMoney that explains with a minimum of cruft
when exactly is the best time to buy everything—if everything is airline tickets, televisions, houses, cars, videogames, and toys. Here's the bit about airline tickets that you can put in your pocket right now for it is as simple as the organism sure to infect you on your next flight:
For all the seeming complexity that goes into the price of airfare, the answer to when some of the cheapest tickets can be found is surprisingly simple: Wednesday.
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drm
• Confused by the whole 'Sony Rootkit' debacle and don't know which CDs might install malicious software that leaves your PC vulnerable to compromise? Sony BMG has a list of the
50 CDs with the MediaMax DRM, making it easy for you to avoid purchase. You'll just have to get your 'YoungBloodZ' fix elsewhere.
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Consumerist
