Headline News Archive

2021

February

23

• Your car insurer may be using pre-pandemic mileage to set 2021 rates. A former LAPD detective discovered that his car insurer had quadrupled his pandemic mileage estimate to justify a rate increase.

22

• On the post-pandemic horizon, could there be an economic boom?. Signs of economic life are picking up, and mounds of cash are waiting to be spent as the virus loosens its grip.

• After mass outages, some TX residents face huge electricity bills. Millions of Texas residents suffered last week when a winter storm caused a statewide electrical grid failure. But those who had power, even intermittently, are

• Airbnb is driving hosts elsewhere with costly pandemic policies. While there had always been tensions between Airbnb and its four million hosts around the world, a rift has widened in the pandemic after the

17

• Mobile home dwellers hit even harder when facing eviction. Affordable housing advocates have celebrated the Biden administration's extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's moratorium on evictions as a critical

16

• Tax season 2021: A tornado is coming. With two — potentially three — sets of stimulus payments and an overworked IRS staff dealing with all those extra demands, plenty could go wrong

11

• HUD to expand fair housing protections. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will issue guidance to investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, expanding civil rights

• Many arrested for Capitol riot had history of financial trouble. Nearly 60 percent of the people facing charges related to the Capitol riot showed signs of prior money troubles, including bankruptcies, notices of eviction or foreclosure,

10

• Send parents money. The United States government helps parents in a few ways — but none of the benefits are simple to get, or available to everyone. The

• FHFA extends mortgage forbearance for up to 15 months. Borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be eligible for an additional forbearance extension of up to three

03

• Evictions and debt could spike when COVID rent comes due. Millions of Americans unable to pay their rent during the pandemic face a snowballing financial burden that threatens to deplete their savings, ruin their credit

• Democrats speed ahead on economic aid package. Democrats took the first step to push through President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, using a budgetary maneuver that could eventually allow the

• Ahorros agotados, crédito arruinado: ¿Qué sucede cuando se vence la renta?. Millones de estadounidenses que no pueden pagar la renta durante la pandemia enfrentan una carga financiera en aumento que amenaza con agotar sus ahorros, arruinar

02

• How to prioritize debt payments in the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis and its economic fallout are far from over, so you’ll want to be strategic when dealing with pandemic-related and other

• How rich hospitals profit off of car accidents. Hospitals use century-old lien laws to bypass insurers and charge patients, especially poorer ones, the full amount.

01

• Here are the issues Biden’s consumer bureau may tackle. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to become a more aggressive consumer watchdog under the Biden administration. Biden nominated Rohit Chopra, a former student

• What resources can help my family while I’m unemployed?. Each state unemployment program determines which workers are eligible for benefits. Generally, you cannot collect unemployment if you quit your job. The compensation is intended

• Will Dems be able to include $15 minimum wage in new relief bill?. The effort to include a $15 minimum wage in the new relief bill poses a challenge for Democrats. The measure will test their willingness and ability

January

29

• HUD nominee to push for rental assistance and affordable housing. If confirmed as secretary of housing and urban development, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio) will confront the immediate challenge of keeping millions of Americans from

28

• Zillow to list housing discrimination protections. Zillow announced an update to its mobile app that aids in the fight against rental discrimination. Rentals listed on Zillow will now show whether or

27

• Democrats turn to quick action on Biden covid relief bill. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that the Senate could vote as soon as next week on a budget bill setting

• Muzzled under Trump, Consumer Bureau to renew tough industry oversight. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog created after the 2008 financial meltdown and largely muzzled in the Trump era, is poised to start barking again.

26

• Seniors face shrinking nest eggs during pandemic. Senior citizens are increasingly finding themselves with new responsibilities and a lot of hard choices because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those who have savings have

22

• The tech that will invade our lives in 2021. Before the coronavirus transformed our lives, the lists of tech to watch each year were often dominated by whiz-bang gizmos like smart speakers and curved

• Complaints about movers soar during pandemic. Mover-related hassles, including some movers holding people's belongings hostage unless they receive more money, aren't new. I first wrote about the problem in 2007.