News

2011

January

26

• EEUU: Venta de viviendas nuevas en su punto más bajo en 47 años. Los estadounidenses compraron en 2010 el menor número de casas nuevas en los 47 años desde que se llevan registros, dijo el miércoles el Departamento de Comercio. Las ventas para todo 2010 llegaron a 321.000 unidades,

24

• What's new in 2011 tax law. Thanks to a little-known holiday in Washington, D.C., taxpayers will get an extra three days to file their 2010 federal tax returns this year. But some of them will get a late start. Congress made

• Mortgage giants leave legal bills for taxpayers. Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. The cost

23

• Chase spends $2M to fix errors on military mortgages. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is issuing checks totaling $2 million to 4,000 service members after discovering overcharges and errors in their mortgages. "We made mistakes, we deeply regret them and are working to fix it in the hopes

22

• Lower interest deduction better for deficit. Are you worried that the mortgage interest deduction will go away? After all, it's a high-profile, high-cost target for federal budget-cutters and was prominently featured in the report of the presidential deficit-reduction commission late last

20

• What’s Good for G.M. is good for homeowners. We have been fully conditioned by now to expect that the rich and powerful will get the biggest slice of whatever pie is being served, while those less fortunate — and less well connected — will get

16

• FHA extends anti-flipping rules. For years the federal government prohibited the use of Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing by buyers purchasing homes from sellers who had owned the property for less than 90 days. The idea was to prevent speculators

13

• Investors get on borrowers' side over mortgage losses. The fight between big banks and investors who lost a fortune on mortgage-backed securities is shifting from private litigation to the public arena. As Congress begins discussing potential mortgage servicing legislation, and as the group

10

• In search of perfect credit. In the enigmatic realm of credit scores, 850 is frequently the magic number* — the almost mythical perfect score. But how possible is it really to achieve a perfect score, and is it worth the effort? MyFICO

09

• Fannie Mae is jacking up mortgage fees. Here's mortgage giant Fannie Mae's sobering New Year's greeting for home buyers and refinancers in 2011: Give me more money! If you want a loan this year, you're going to have to pay more — thousands of

• Changes are likely for FHA insurance refunds. Homeowners who trade in loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration could be in for a big payday, and not just in the form of a lower interest rate and correspondingly lower payments. If your

• Come up with a financial plan. My grandmother, Big Mama, was a stickler for order. From Big Mama I learned to look at a financial situation and come up with a plan. I try to pass on that wisdom to readers,

08

• In college, learning about your money. 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

• Home loans will cost more in 2011. Here's mortgage giant Fannie Mae's sobering New Year's greeting for home buyers and refinancers in 2011: Give me more money. If you want a loan this year, you're going to have to pay more - thousands

04

• Water-line insurance could be money down the drain. Thousands of California homeowners recently received official-looking letters from a company called Home Emergency Insurance Solutions informing them that they face the prospect of thousands of dollars in unforeseen costs because they lack coverage for

• Big lenders may be first to settle foreclosure probe. he five largest loan servicers, including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., may be the first to settle with the 50 state attorneys general probing foreclosure practices, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said. No

02

• A little know strategy for cutting mortgage payments. Homeowners looking to lower their monthly mortgage payments and also save some on interest may be able to do so without all the hefty fees and daunting credit requirements of refinancing. A little-known strategy, called “

01

• Remodelers decry cut in tax credit for energy savings. The $858 billion federal tax bill signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 17 was a mixed bag for homeowners, with elements of both the Grinch and Santa squeezed into the same bulging package. The goodies

2010

December

31

• Happy New Year!. Newsflash! Consumer Action wishes you a Happy New Year. Please stay in touch in 2011, as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary.

30

• Banks open loan spigot. Some big U.S. banks are starting to increase their lending to businesses as demand for loans rises and healthier banks seek to grab customers from weaker rivals. After declining steadily for most of the