Bankruptcy may be best solution when facing foreclosure.

As interest rates have gone up, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have risen as well. This has brought out the vultures.

An article in the Wall Street Journal (5/30/06) details two businesses that feed on [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Paypal offers free identity theft protection

If you use Paypal to buy things on the web you are entitled to some free protection.

Paypal now offers free Equifax Credit Alerts to its users. They’re an early warning detection system that monitors [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Americans shifting debt from credit cards to home equity.

It is possible to pay 18-25% interest to a bank on your evolving credit balances, or you could apply to the same bank for a home equity loan and pay 6-9% for the same money. [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Identity theft affects millions.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 27 million Americans suffered from some form of identity theft over a recent five year period, and that this cost consumers more than $5 billion. It also created $48 [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

IRS auditing credit counselors looking for phonies.

Credit Counselors say they will help you manage your debt and clear up old debt. As we have pointed out on the page on Credit Counseling, we have found most of those with whom we [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Some banks making it easier to get a mortgage.

As we’ve been reporting, the housing market is softening. In response, some banks are loosening their standards for mortgage loans.

A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank found that 11% of banks responding said that they [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Third world loans have lower default rate than US credit cards.

It’s called “microlending.” It was pioneered in the 1970s by firms like Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, says the Wall Street Journal. “[It] has since spread all over the world. As many as 10,000 microlending institutions [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Harvard Professor studies cause of increasing debt load on Americans

It’s not what you think, according to some research done by Professor Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School. Echoing a study done by “The Center for American Progress” Professor Warren claims that flat wages [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

“Phishers” are often pretty obvious

“Phishing” is the practice of sending out emails that try to trick you into providing credit card or bank data that the phisher immediately sells or uses to steal your money. We all get these phishing [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article

Homeowners paying more for less.

Mortgage interest payments rose 15.8% last year as adjustable rate mortgagees saw their rates go up substantially. So home mortgage payments are an increasing burden on all Americans.

*****************************************************
Get Smart! Learn the Mortgage Basics.
*****************************************************

At the [...]; . . . → Click Here to Read the Full Article