If you have consumer debt, you’re probably looking for a strategy to pay it off. Some people use a home equity loan as a way to get a lower rate, others use 0% balance transfers, still others just call their credit card company and ask them to lower their rates.
banking
WaMu Doesn't Care That Your Email Address Is Listed On Some Random Guy's Account
By 12.13.07
I was hoping I’d never have to write to The Consumerist about a company giving me grief. I never expected that it would end up being a company that I have absolutely no connections to that forced my hand.
Bank Of America Plans To Lose An "Unknowable" Amount Of Money
By 12.12.07
Losses from the subprime meltdown are going to hurt Bank of America, but they won’t say how badly. They just want investors to be prepared when the 4th quarter numbers come in, says the NYT.
The Subprime Meltdown From The Perspective Of A Housing Counselor
By 12.11.07
Coppedge saw it coming in slow motion. Around this time last year, she was mostly dealing with renters who were behind on payments. Rarely did she counsel at-risk homeowners. When she did, they were usually suffering a one-time setback such as job loss.
Failure: H&R Block Shuts Down Subprime Lending Operation
By 12.4.07
H&R Block has decided to admit defeat after a plan to sell its troubled subprime lending operation to Cerberus Capital Management LP finally unraveled.
Bush Subprime Mortgage Plan Will Be Finalized Soon
By 12.1.07
ABC News has an interview with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in which he says that the administration’s plan to help subprime borrowers is nearing completion.
The Long Johns Explain The Subprime Meltdown
By 11.29.07
John Bird and John Fortune are British satirists who, as The Long Johns, explain in eminently practical terms exactly how the subprime meltdown came to be.
Report Says Property Values Could Decline By $1.2 Trillion
By 11.27.07
An especially gloomy report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors says that property values across the U.S. could decline by $1.2 trillion next year, slashing tax revenue by $6.6 billion.
Phishing Scams Hurt The Brands They Target
By 11.27.07
Ars Technica reports that “42 percent of adults in the UK feel that their trust in a brand would be greatly reduced by receiving a phishing e-mail claiming to be from that brand, according to an online survey conducted by research firm YouGov.”
Mortgage Related Losses Could Reach $300 Billion
By 11.23.07
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is predicting that mortgage-related write-offs could reach $300 billion, says the New York Times. Although major U.S. financial institutions have placed their estimates at around $50 billion, the OECD says that “a rougher period may yet await financial markets.”
Subprime Meltdown Continues: Citigroup To Take $15 Billion Hit?
By 11.19.07
Goldman Sachs has downgraded Citigroup, the nation’s largest bank, estimating that it will have to take a $15 billion hit due to its exposure to the subprime meltdown. Two weeks ago, Citigroup estimated that its mortgage related write-downs would total from $8-$11 billion as its CEO, Charles Prince “resigned.”
HSBC Says Subprime Meltdown Spreading Into Credit Cards, Other Loans
By 11.14.07
HSBC warned today that the subprime meltdown is spreading into credit cards and other types of consumer loans, says the NYT. The bank announced that it will be taking a larger write down than it forecast, due to the spreading delinquencies.
Commerce Bank Might Have Given Out SSNs And Account Numbers, Not Sure
By 11.13.07
Commerce Bank isn’t sure whether it accidentally gave out your SSN and account number, so its going to write you a letter to offer you some free credit report monitoring.
By 11.12.07
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It’s looking like E*Trade may, in fact, go bankrupt. The stock lost more than half its value in trading today and half of E*Trade’s deposits are in accounts that are above the $100,000 FDIC insurance limit—making a run on the bank more than likely. [New York Times]
E*Trade: We're Not Going To Go Bankrupt, Honest
By 11.12.07
Analysts have downgraded E*Trade after the online broker announced further mortgage-related losses. E*Trade has responded with a message to their customers claiming that they could absorb a loss of $1 billion and still remain “well capitalized.” Translated, the message reads, “Please, please don’t pull your deposits!”
Citibank CEO Resigns, Additional $11 Billion In Subprime Damage Predicted
By 11.5.07
Citibank’s chairman and CEO Charles Prince announced his resignation Sunday, citing the subprime meltdown as the reason for his departure.
By 11.2.07
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Citibank downgraded by analysts. “They don’t have enough capital, pure and simple,” says one. “They will have to address that, ASAP.” The subprime meltdown rolls on.[BusinessWeek]
New York Sues First American For Conspiring With WaMu To Inflate Home Appraisals
By 11.1.07
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, announced today that he’s suing one of the nation’s largest real estate appraisal firms for conspiring with Washington Mutual to artificially inflate appraisals.
