Last February the Obama administration announced new foreclosure prevention programs.  One of them allowed refinancing of some homes where the mortgages exceeded the value of the house,  We wrote that “…four to five million homeowners …

In a typically close 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that national banks (those that choose to be regulated by various agencies of the federal government) cannot simply ignore state consumer laws …

Cable TV has many ads for organizations that say they can help modify your mortgage and prevent foreclosure.  We went to one web site we saw advertised and found a deceptive pitch.

First they did not …

As we have reported before, Congress killed the bill which would have given bankruptcy court the right to adjust the principle on residential mortgages (they can already do it for second homes and even yachts, …

The New York Times reports that with credit card delinquencies approaching record numbers, the credit card companies have come up with a new debt solution:  Make a deal on the principle.

Up until recently, credit card …

It is illegal for creditors to seize or attach your payments from social security, disability, veterans or children’s’ survivor benefits.  However, if you have the money wired to your bank and deposited automatically, as so …

The Wall Street Journal reports that the average mortgage interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage just jumped up to 5.44%.  That is a fast jump.  It was only a few weeks ago that the …

The new credit card law, which I discussed in the last BLOG entry, is probably going to cause some changes in the types of credit cards issued and the rules applied to them.

For example “rewards …

The Senate has passed its own version of the new credit card bill and everyone expects that the House and Senate reconciliation will become law within a few weeks.   The law goes farther than the …

The Obama administration has promised debt help for consumers in at least two important areas.  One is mortgage debt and the other is credit card debt.    They have moved forward in both areas in the …