As regulators crack down on shady lending practices, banks and lending institutions are getting more and more rigid with loan qualifications. In fact, a recent New York Times article detailed one retiree’s struggle to obtain a mortgage even with excellent credit history and healthy retirement and brokerage accounts. In addition to demands for the usual read more »

The state of homeownership in this country is an interesting one right now. With home prices rising at a rate that hasn’t been seen since the boom several years ago, demand is strong while supply is lacking. The market would appear to be healthy, rebounding well, however, there’s a hitch; for a prospective buyer, rising read more »

Last week, Attorney General Kamala Harris, who has fought for California homeowners and against big banks, was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. Harris is 48 years old and is the first female, the first African American, and the first South Asian to ever be elected as read more »

The government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was scheduled to expire at the end of April – until last week. The Obama administration’s program to help underwater borrowers, who are current with their mortgage payments, refinance at lower rates was extended an additional two years last week.  Regulators announced last Thursday, April 11th, that HARP read more »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a government agency, recently released the nation’s largest public database of federal consumer financial complaints. This database includes details about more than 90,000 individual complaints on five types of products and services: consumer loans, bank accounts or bank services, mortgages, credit cards and student loans. The majority of complaints, read more »

There is a lot of talk these days about cost-conscious budgeting to prevent avoidable debt. In fact, we’ve shared many handy tips and tricks on this blog to prevent over-spending and to help you feel more in control of your household’s money management. Nowadays though, there is an abundance of programs and phone apps to read more »