Book Notes
Each year hundreds, if not thousands, of books are published containing advice and in-depth examinations of homebuyer issues. Consumer Action highlights the best of these resources the Book Notes section. The Editor welcomes your feedback and suggestions.
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Avoiding the CON in Construction

Renovating a home is an expensive undertaking even when things go right. When things go wrong, unexpected costs and delays can be financially devastating. This book can help you make informed contracting decisions.
Kia Ricchi, a Florida-based contractor, says there are steps homeowners can take to ensure… More About: Avoiding the CON in Construction
Get a Financial Life

Get a Financial Life is a real-world guide for "millennials" that teaches young people tricks for becoming the masters of their financial universes.
Get a Financial Life focuses on what you need to know when you're just starting to pay serious attention to money matters. Whether you earn $20,000 or… More About: Get a Financial Life
Busted
"Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown" is a personal and journalistic look at the free-wheeling lending that led to our nation's housing crisis. A veteran New York Times economics reporter, Edmund L. Andrews was intimately aware of the dangers posed by easy mortgages from fast-buck lenders. But, eager to… More About: Busted
You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man
Since the Bernard Madoff "Ponzi scheme" scandal broke, shocking investors and the Wall Street community, this insider's guide to investment rip-offs, scams and con artists has been in demand. The book, published in the late '90s, is designed to educate consumers and make them aware of how scams work. It… More About: You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man
Ponzi
Who was Ponzi, the man whose name is synonymous with the classic “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” scam where money from new investors goes to reward earlier ones? (It's the kind of scheme that Bernard Madoff recently used to rake in $50 billion from gullible folks all over the world.) In December 1919, Charles… More About: Ponzi
The New Deal
2008 marks the 75th anniversary of the New Deal, the series of programs initiated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help Americans recover during the Great Depression (1933-43). Programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Civil Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration gave hope, support, and encouragement to… More About: The New Deal
Stop Debt Collectors
Record numbers of people are falling behind on their financial obligations and their debts are being sent to collections. If you're one of them, you know that being contacted by debt collectors can be stressful, especially if they are harassing you, threatening you, and/or using abusive language. The federal Fair… More About: Stop Debt Collectors
Wall Street Versus America
Gary Weiss, a business reporter, looks of what really happens in every corner of the financial system: from Internet tip sites and boiler rooms, to fee-happy mutual funds and hedge funds, to the bluest of blue-chip securities firms. With anecdotes and character studies, Wall Street Versus America tells how investors… More About: Wall Street Versus America
Investing 101
People wanting basic advice about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement planning, and tax strategies may find that picking a good book seems as daunting as deciding what to do with their savings and investments. Investing 101: Updated and Expanded can help you get on a path that you can understand… More About: Investing 101
The Insurance Maze
Without proper insurance - health, auto, homeowners, life, disability, or long-term care - an unexpected event can quickly derail your financial plans and put your life savings at risk. Insurance is an essential part of financial planning, but many people are paying hundreds - sometimes thousands - of dollars more… More About: The Insurance Maze
Home Rich
Your home is the single most valuable thing you can own, yet making it pay can intimidate and confuse even the savviest investor. Finance expert Gerri Willis leads you step-by-step through the entire experience of buying, maintaining, and selling a home, and shows you how to come out ahead–maybe even… More About: Home Rich
The Common Cents Money Management Workbook
In an age of information overload, many simply don't have the time, knowledge or organizational skills to create a simple, functional system for managing personal finances. Now in its fifth edition, "The Budget Kit: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook "is a best-seller that has helped hundreds of thousands of… More About: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook
10 Excellent Reasons Not to Hate Taxes
"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society."—Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. This short, snappy handbook countersthe anti-tax, anti-government rhetoric that permeates our culture and reminds us why taxes lie at the heart of a functioning democracy. Paying taxes is something almost everyone loves to hate. 10… More About: 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Hate Taxes
House Lust
Blending social commentary with reporting, House Lust is a funny and disturbing portrait of the behaviors that drove the greatest real estate boom in history—and its eventual bust. Owning a home has long been considered the fulfillment of the American Dream. But in the last decade, as the real estate… More About: House Lust
The Complete Guide to Reverse Mortgages
Until recently, there were only two main ways you could get cash from your home: sell it or borrow against it and make monthly loan repayments. Reverse mortgages offer a third way of getting money from your home. If you are a homeowner, age 62 and older, you are eligible… More About: The Complete Guide to Reverse Mortgages
Solve Your Money Troubles
Everything you need to get out of debt and repair your credit, from the Nolo Press, the pre-eminient self-help legal publisher. Feeling overwhelmed by your debts? If you're ready to regain your financial freedom, this book is exactly what you need! To make the process easier, Solve Your Money Troubles also includes… More About: Solve Your Money Troubles
The Reverse Mortgage Advantage

Consumer Action advises consumers to go slowly when considering reverse mortgages, as there are some bad deals out there. But we recognize that reverse mortgages are helpful for many house-rich, cash-poor seniors. People who do not have heirs and therefore do not have to consider the issues of leaving money… More About: The Reverse Mortgage Advantage
Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise

Is a neighboring business driving you crazy? Too much noise from next door? Run-off from up the hill threatening to drown your yard?
Learn your rights and responsibilities with Neighbor Law, Nolo's clear-cut, comprehensive guide to the laws concerning common neighbor disputes. The popular bestseller covers fences, trees, boundaries, blocked… More About: Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise
The New Complete Book of Home Buying
The New Complete Book of Home Buying can help you find the best houses and avoid the lemons in today'schanging housing market. Information is offered on how to use the Internet effectively, whether to buy a new or existing home and what to watch for in an older home. The… More About: The New Complete Book of Home Buying
How to Buy a Home
It's hard to think about buying a home, especially if you are a newcomer who lacks the knowledge of the U.S. housing market or the language skills to handle negotiations. Where do you begin? How do you know if you're ready? What forms must you fill out? How can you… More About: How to Buy a Home
Scam-Proof Your Life

Get inside information on how to protect your money, your rights and your health with this complete and practical collection of consumer tips by Sid Kirchheimer, AARP scam specialist.
More than 100 experts reveal specific tips, techniques, and tactics that anyone can use to avoid being victimized financially, physically, or… More About: Scam-Proof Your Life
House Poor

Skyrocketing home values, cheap money and enticing home equity offers have had Americans in thrall. In recent years millions of people took on bigger mortgages, bigger houses and bigger debt. "House Poor: Pumped Up Prices, Rising Rates and Mortgages on Steroids: How to Survive the Coming Housing Crisis," points to… More About: House Poor
Credit Scores & Credit Reports
The U.S. credit reporting system keeps detailed financial histories on more than 200 million Americans. Evan Hendricks' Credit Scores & Credit Reports is a well-informed, informative, and well-written guide to a subject of great and growing importance to consumers. Hendricks, a foremost privacy expert, examines in detail the credit scoring… More About: Credit Scores & Credit Reports
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