Bank of America’s profits are down 32%, prompting CEO Kenneth D. Lewis to make some angry promises.
loans
Verify Extra Payments Are Applied To Your Principal
By 10.19.07
The Chief Family Officer blog outlined her strategy for paying off student loans faster.
Virgin Money USA Helps Americans Lend To Family & Friends
By 10.15.07
VirginMoneyUSA, which launches today, is a lending service designed to manage personal loans between friends and family, by taking care of documentation, repayment schedules, and reminders. At first glance, the service sounds like an intrusive middle-man; however, anyone who’s ever been on either side of a personal loan knows how delicate the situation can be, so we can understand the appeal of putting some distance between the personal relationship and the fiscal one.
By 10.11.07
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Risky mortgages weren’t just for the poor and financially unsophisticated, spikes in high-rate loans were seen across the income spectrum. [WSJ via Consumer World Blog]
No More Home Equity? Bust Out The Credit Card, Consumer Borrowing Is Up
By 10.9.07
With home equity harder to find these days, one might suspect that there would be a drop in consumer borrowing. Nope.
The Non-Fancy Way To Buy A House
By 10.5.07
With all the talk about people finding out their no-money-down, interest-only, and option-ARM mortgages weren’t such a great deal, it’s refreshing to hear these pieces of advice about the fiscally conservative way to buy a house, via Moneycrashers:
Michael Vick Sued For Not Paying Car Loans, Bank Repossesses Cars
By 9.29.07
Vick signed loan agreements as the CFO of Divine Seven, which bought at least 130 vehicles, including many Kia Spectra and Ford Taurus cars, through 1st Source Bank loans, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in South Bend on Wednesday.
5 Ways Credit Cards Can Make You Happy
By 9.28.07
The ways that credit cards can make you unhappy are legion. Fees, balances, crazy interest rates, universal default, the list goes on. But, even though we just saw Bank of America digging a pit in your backyard, and word has it the zoo is missing 3 tigers and a crocodile, there are a few ways that a credit card can make you happy. (Not all of these tips are unique to credit cards, so check to see which benefits your debit card has.)
8 Personal Finance Lessons Learned From Monopoly
By 9.27.07
Remember those cold winter nights when your family stayed up late and fought to bankrupt each other? Recall the number of times you cheered a little metal dog (or hat or thimble) to move around a square board quickly? Recollect regularly screaming “come on seven!” only to roll a six? Who knew that all that time you were really learning about personal finance? Well, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity now knows this was the case. He’s detailed eight personal finance lessons he learned from Monopoly.
By 9.24.07
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How one blogger paid off $11,500 in 10 months using the “debt snowball” method. [No-Credit Needed]
Borrowing From—And Loaning To—Friends And Family
By 9.21.07
Ah, what an awkward situation—over the phone, or whispered at your desk, or asked face to face over beers at your weekly hangout. What’s the best way to respond when someone you love (or at least like to some degree) wants to borrow money? And what if you’re the one in need? Betterbudgeting.com offers some advice on when to loan and when to figure out whether you’re just enabling a bad habit.
In Wake Of Fed Cuts, Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly
By 9.20.07
Bankrate has a really interesting article about the effect that the Fed’s rate cuts are having on the mortgage industry. As constant readers of the site are already well aware, the subprime meltdown has lead to a crisis in the secondary mortgage market—investors are no longer interested in purchasing non-conforming loans.
By 9.19.07
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If you’re upside down on your home mortgage, don’t be afraid of losing your house. It could be the best thing to happen to you. [Bankrate]
By 9.7.07
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A mortgage maker that positioned itself as a “Christian” lender wasn’t immune to secular market forces and fired employees are learning to turn the other cheek when it comes to their severance pay: a $20 supermarket gift card. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
New Hampshire Bankruptcy Receivers Forced To Use Credit Cards
By 9.7.07
The main parking garage for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Hampshire only accepts credit cards, reports Credit Slips.
By 8.29.07
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; bad credit is now the biggest near-term threat to our nation’s economy, the National Association of Business Economics reported in survey results released Monday. [Associated Press]
Brokers Lured Naive Homebuyers Into Mortgages They Couldn't Afford
By 8.20.07
The core of the subprime meltdown are homeowners not paying their mortgages. A contributing factor to the default rate are people who signed up for loans with low teaser rates that ratcheted up afterwards, and now it’s time to give the devil his due. Why would people do such a foolish thing?
By 8.20.07
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Easy credit of dubious worth isn’t some new and unparalleled scandal; in fact, our nation’s economy was built upon it. [New York Times Magazine]
