News

2008

January

25

• Estímulo para el mercado inmobiliario. Un componente del tentativo paquete de estímulos económicos del gobierno anunciado ayer jueves da un empuje inmediato a compradores y vendedores de vivienda de alto precio en el mercado. El paquete, acordado ayer

24

• Time for attention to consumer issues. Congress is back in session and lawmakers have a lot on their plate right now. Clearly, an economic stimulus package tops the list. But a number of important consumer issues that made headlines in 2007 are

• Homeowners deluge mortgage brokers. Homeowners deluged mortgage brokers with calls Wednesday, hoping to take advantage of sharply lower interest rates to refinance into cheaper loans. Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's biggest mortgage lender, said call volume jumped by at

• Cities beg for aid from foreclosures. Facing a collapse in the subprime mortgage market that has pockmarked their cities with vacant houses and crippled their budgets, the nation’s mayors pleaded Wednesday for a huge infusion of federal aid. As more

• La recesión amenaza a los consumidores. Los consumidores y el ciudadano de a pie han comenzado ya a percibir la amenaza de una recesión mientras las autoridades del país y analistas financieros debaten si Estados Unidos está o no

23

• Investors of all ages: Take a deep breath. The stock market is plummeting, the housing market is tanking, and talk of recession has reached a fevered pitch. So what does this mean for the American consumer? If you've got a mortgage, is it

• El Fed reduce las tasas de interés. El Banco de la Reserva Federal (Fed) redujo ayer las tasas de interés en tres cuartos de punto, una acción catalogada de inusual por analistas financieros, pero que denota la profunda preocupación

22

• Feeling misled on home price, buyers sue agent. Marty Ummel feels she paid too much for her house. So do millions of other people who bought at the peak of the housing boom. What makes Ms. Ummel different is that she is suing

• California a merced del robo de identidad. El robo de identidad es uno de los delitos de mayor crecimiento en Estados Unidos. De acuerdo con la Comisión Federal del Comercio (FTC) nueve millones de estadounidenses han sido víctimas de este

21

• Prepárese bien para declarar impuestos. Organizar todos los documentos, datos y formularios de recaudación de impuestos con anticipación, es una manera práctica para evitar que todo se le acumule a último momento para hacer la declaración.

20

• Taxes: Don't think of filing early. Get ready for another tricky tax season. Some last-minute tax legislation by Congress has once more turned something predictable and tedious into something that's confusing and, well, tedious. This time, it waited so long to

19

• What's behind the offers to raise credit scores?. A host of companies have cropped up in the last year that offer struggling subprime mortgage holders quick-fix programs aimed at raising their credit scores. Some of their methods include piggy-backing onto a stranger’s

• Want to refinance: Don't sit around. Is it a refi renaissance? Or a fast-closing window of opportunity? Nobody can say for certain, but there's no doubt about this: Thanks to the lowest mortgage interest rates in a year and a half,

18

• Reverse mortgages aren't for everyone. After her husband died, Ernestine Boach felt she needed financial guidance. It was 2003, and Boach had just turned 62. An adviser urged her to take out a reverse mortgage, available mainly to those 62 and older, and

• Foreclosures, lenders' preferred fix. At a time when mortgage lenders were touting efforts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, delinquent borrowers were almost twice as likely to lose their homes as they were to reach an agreement with their lender

• Washington se lanza al rescate de la economía. Usted podría encontrar cientos de dólares extra en su bolsillo dentro de unos meses, y el gobierno está esperando que usted salga a gastarlos. Los reembolsos están surgiendo como el elemento clave

17

• Modificarían préstamos en caso de bancarrota. Una nueva ley que modificaría las regulaciones sobre bancarrota permitiendo a los tribunales alterar las condiciones originales de un préstamo hipotecario está creando polémica entre banqueros, legisladores y organizaciones de apoyo al

16

• Avoidable accidents can be costly lessons. The random wildfire, mudslide or earthquake aside, insurers say many losses can be prevented. Here's what you can do. Pam Copeland kicks herself when she even thinks about it. She was cooking bacon to season

• Consumo de carne de animales clonados. El gobierno de Estados Unidos ha autorizado el consumo humano de carne y leche provenientes de animales clonados, confirmó ayer la Oficina de Alimentos y Medicinas (FDA). El organismo regulador del gobierno indicó que tanto

• Apoyo en crisis de hipotecas. Un nuevo respiro para propietarios de viviendas que no han podido estar al corriente con el pago de su hipoteca y corren el riesgo de perder la propiedad viene en camino con un acuerdo que