If you’ve got a mortgage on your home, it needs to be insured. So if you stop paying that insurance premium, the bank will often go out and get insurance for you. Problem is, according to Bloomberg News, those policies cover less, cost more and will likely just end up putting you into foreclosure anyway. [More]
recession watch
Burglaries Are Down, So Why Are People Buying More Safes?
By 5.3.12
Over the last 20 years, the burglary rate in the U.S. has dropped by around 45%, according to the FBI. And yet, manufacturers of safes and other devices to protect folks’ valuables have gone up as much as 40% in just the last few years. [More]
Try Your Hand At Stabilizing The National Debt
By 5.2.12
Everyone agrees that the U.S. debt has risen to scary heights. What not everyone agrees on is what needs to be done to keep the debt from going past the point of no return. Now comes a new interactive tool that lets you try your hand at deciding what sacrifices we all need to make. [More]
Lack Of Snow In 2012 Was A Financial Windfall For Some
By 5.1.12
All that snow that failed to fall during the winter of 2012 didn’t just save you from straining your back while shoveling. It also helped cash-strapped state and local governments save millions of dollars that would normally have been spent plowing and salting. [More]
Your 401(k) May Actually Be Worth Something Again
By 5.1.12
We know a lot of people simply stopped looking at their quarterly 401(k) account statements a few years ago, hoping and praying the market would eventually recover and they would someday see all that money lost when the economy went SPLLLAATTT!!. Well, it may be time to take a peek at your next statement, as the latest numbers show very positive signs of recovery. [More]
Average Foreclosure In NYC Area Now Takes Longer Than 3 Years
By 4.27.12
Aside from being the title of a totally rad Olsen Twins movie, the phrase “New York minute” implies that things move rapidly in the Big Apple. One exception is the home foreclosure process, which can drag out to more than 1,100 days in the NYC metro area. [More]
Mayor Calls For Boycott Of Gas Stations In His Town
By 4.25.12
It’s a common occurrence for a town’s mayor to make a public plea for residents to spend their money at local businesses, rather than driving a few miles outside of town to save a couple bucks. But one mayor in Illinois is so fed-up with the price of gas in his town that he’s asking residents to go elsewhere when it’s time to fill up their tanks. [More]
Gas Prices Drop For Second Week In A Row, Still Dang Expensive
By 4.23.12
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released its weekly report on the nation’s average gas price, and for the second week in a row the number is down. Even better, this is the first noticeable week-over-week drop of the calendar year. Unfortunately, at $3.929/gallon, filling up your tank is still expensive. [More]
26% Of Working-Age Americans Went Without Health Insurance In 2011
By 4.19.12
Having health insurance is not only too often tied to having a full-time job, it also usually requires that you be in that job for weeks or months before coverage kicks in. So with so many Americans either without staff jobs or starting work for a new employer, it’s perhaps not surprising that a new study claims that 26% of working-age people in the U.S. went without coverage at some point in 2011. [More]
Trimmed-Down IRS Staff Means Fewer Audits This Year
By 4.17.12
We certainly don’t want to give comfort to tax cheats — and we’re not trying to imply that any of our beloved readers are anything less than honest when filing their tax returns — but for those who dread a random audit, there’s some good news: Budget and staff cuts at the IRS will likely mean fewer audits. [More]
Former Goldman Sachs Staffer: Company's Mortgage Mod Process Was "Total Disaster"
By 4.11.12
In 2009, tens of thousands of homeowners with mortgages serviced by Goldman Sachs subsidiary Litton Loan Servicing entered into trial loan modifications. But fewer than 12% of those same people ever received permanent adjustments to their mortgages, not because they didn’t qualify, but because Litton’s system for handling paperwork was a horrendous mess. [More]
Let The Gouging Begin? Gas Prices May Have Finally Peaked
By 4.9.12
When people think of price gouging, they tend to think of people raising prices opportunistically. In fact, the most common type of gouging happens when gas prices stay artificially high after a spike. Still, we suppose the beginning of gouging season is better than nothing. But is it really here? [More]
Report: Banks Treat Foreclosed Homes Better In Mostly White Neighborhoods
By 4.4.12
While Americans of every possible ethnic and racial group were hit by the massive foreclosures when the economy went KABOOM! a few years back, a new report claims that banks are often giving short shrift to the upkeep and marketing of foreclosed properties in areas with predominantly non-white residents. [More]
Fed Orders Review Of Thousands Of Morgan Stanley Foreclosures
By 4.3.12
Yesterday, Morgan Stanley finally finished selling off its one remaining unit involved in servicing subprime mortgages. Today, the Federal Reserve gave Morgan Stanley some unwelcome news: It must review thousands of foreclosures processed by that now-former subsidiary. [More]
Bernanke: "Far Too Early To Declare Victory" Over Recession
By 3.27.12
For the last two years, all upbeat statements about the economy have been followed with a huge “but,” and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben “Feel the” Bernanke isn’t going to buck that trend. [More]
Bank Of America Tests Converting Delinquent Homeowners Into Renters
By 3.23.12
Because there’s more money in being a landlord than there is in going through the lengthy foreclosure/auction/short sale process, Bank of America is testing a program that will let homeowners with delinquent BofA mortgages stay in their homes as renters. [More]
FTC Cracks Down On Bogus Mortgage Relief Lawsuits
By 3.22.12
If you live in an area hit hard by the collapse of the housing market, you might have received a letter from a company promising that if you join other struggling homeowners in filing lawsuits against your lender, you can get mortgage relief, a cash reward and maybe even the title to your home. What it doesn’t mention is that you could end up being scammed out of thousands of dollars. [More]
Scammers Tampering With Pumps To Score Cheap Gas
By 3.20.12
With the average retail gas price nearing record levels, some less-than-scrupulous people have begun to tinker with gas station pumps to hide the fact that they are stealing thousands of dollars worth of fuel. [More]
