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Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.
Thomas Edison Categories
Tag Archives: mortgages
Heard Off the Street: A Return to Normalcy … Relatively Speaking
Over the last few weeks, we have started to think that things might work out better here in the US than most people currently expect. This brighter future would emerge from the confluence of two unrelated, but equally important, developments. Read More
Consumers still pay credit cards before mortgages
It’s not just mortgages that are upside down. People are staying current with their credit card payments even when they are behind on their mortgage, continuing a trend first seen three years ago. Read More
Foreclosure activity up across most US metro areas
The foreclosure crisis is getting worse as high unemployment and lackluster job prospects force homeowners in an increasing number of U.S. metropolitan areas into dire financial straits.
In Seattle, Houston and Chicago, cities that were relatively insulated from foreclosures early on in the housing bust, a growing number of homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments and finding themselves on the receiving end of foreclosure warnings. Read More
Baby boomers near 65 with retirements in jeopardy
Through a combination of procrastination and bad timing, many baby boomers are facing a personal finance disaster just as they’re hoping to retire.
Starting in January, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for the next 19 years.
The boomers, who in their youth revolutionized everything from music to race relations, are set to redefine retirement. But a generation that made its mark in the tumultuous 1960s now faces a crisis…read more Read More
Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust
As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving.
To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people’s living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry. Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms…read more Read More
Economy recovering, but recession’s shadow is long
Layaway, once the province of the poor, has gone mainstream. At the Mall of America in Minnesota, shoppers dart in for just one or two things. In New York, socialites do the unthinkable: They wear the same ball gown twice.
During the Great Recession, people made drastic changes in how they spent their money. They stopped treating credit cards as cash. They learned to save and learned to wait . . . read more Read More
Fed boss: Regulators looking into foreclosure mess
Federal banking regulators are examining whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when they moved to foreclose on people’s homes, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday, October 25.
Preliminary results of the in-depth review into the practices of the nation’s largest mortgage companies are expected to be released next month, Bernanke said in remarks to a housing-finance conference in Arlington, Va.
“We are looking intensively at the firms’ policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures,” Bernanke said . . . read more Read More
Overdraft Protection: How You May Be Affected
The phrases “Electronic Funds Transfer Act” and “Regulation E” may at first blush sound like complicated banking speak, but they are actually simple to understand and important to make note of, as both could affect your current overdraft protection choices.
In November 2009, the Federal Reserve issued final rules amending the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, also known as Regulation E. The new rules limit a financial institution’s ability to charge overdraft fees on ATM and one-time debit transactions that overdraw a consumer’s account, unless they have obtained the consumer’s affirmative consent, or “opt-in.” The new rule applies . . . read more Read More
