New Jersey bankruptcy Article The New York Times By VICKIE ELMER Published: October 20, 2011 REFINANCINGS made up 79 percent of all 2011 mortgage applications as of early October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, about the same level as last year but well above the 54 percent average of the last decade. Many of […]
Identity Theft Site Aims to Sort Through Hype
New Jersey bankruptcy Article The New York Times ANN CARRNS Published: October 5, 2011 Identity theft is an anxiety-provoking topic, and one that seems to spawn a lot of hype and misinformation. To help both consumers and businesses sort out fact from fiction, the Consumer Federation of America has opened a new Web site, idtheftinfo.org. […]
For homeowners in trouble, a tough decision to make
New Jersey bankruptcy Article September 27, 2011 By Michelle Singletary The time is limited for homeowners who want to ensure they aren’t hit with a big tax bill because they had to walk away from a mortgage obligation. At the height of the housing crisis, when foreclosures across the country began a troubling increase, Congress […]
Seven New Rules For the First-Time Homebuyer
New Jersey bankruptcy Article The New York Times By RON LIEBER Published: September 11, 2009 Too many people bought too much house for too many years. Yes, the financial system almost collapsed because mortgage bankers and brokers told lies about loan terms and loosened standards in dangerous ways, and investment bankers packaged those loans into […]
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors
New Jersey bankruptcy Article May 17, 2011, 3:45 pm By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD Credit reports have increasingly become consumers’ passport to the financial world. Whether you want to rent an apartment, get car insurance or apply for a credit card, the data in your credit report will be one of the crucial measures used to […]
A Red Flag on Reverse Mortgages
New Jersey bankruptcy Article The New York Times By RON LIEBER March 11, 2011 It is the saddest of paradoxes: a government-backed financial maneuver intended to free up extra money for struggling older people turns out to have left some widows and widowers on the brink of foreclosure. This week, AARP sued the Housing and […]
Healing a Wounded Credit Score
New Jersey bankruptcy Article By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD Published: February 18, 2011 Millions of consumers have fallen out of favor with the credit scoring gods. Some lost their jobs or were just overwhelmed by mounting debt. Others got caught up in the real estate bubble or had major medical bills. Whatever the reason, the rising […]
The Worst and Best Credit Cards of 2010
New Jersey bankruptcy Article By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ January 13, 2011 The editors of credit card comparison site CardRatings.com recently announced their take on the worst and best credit cards of 2010. The cards rated the worst included those with high rates, high fees and little disclosure while those rated the best “bucked a trend […]
In College, Learning About Money
New Jersey bankruptcy Article By RON LIEBER Published: January 7, 2011 One of the more difficult questions of the mortgage collapse was just how much blame individuals should take for signing up for loans they didn’t understand. Yes, many mortgage brokers steered people into harmful products. All sorts of banks, meanwhile, paid the brokers more […]
Debt Collectors Face a Hazard: Writer’s Cramp
New Jersey bankruptcy Article THE NEW YORK TIMES By DAVID SEGAL Published: October 31, 2010 When Michael Gazzarato took a job that required him to sign hundreds of affidavits in a single day, he had one demand for his employer: a much better pen. “They tried to get me to do it with a Bic, […]
