The housing crisis has been a big thorn in the side of Americans, causing many people to face home foreclosure. Sometimes the foreclosure process has seemed fishy to many borrowers, or at the very least inconsistent. The processes, answers and level of knowledge...
Month: September 2011
Not all loan modification programs are what they seem
The housing crisis has left many in fear of foreclosure, with job loss, rising interest rates due to adjusted rate mortgages, plummeting home values, and unexpected home maintenance costs. Many have sought relief through loan modifications. Unfortunately, the fear of...
Have consumers learned the dangers of credit card debt?
Consumers in Florida and all around the U.S. have had to come to grips about a lot of economic truths over the past few years. Jobs aren't always available. Home values do not always go up. Credit cards are dangerous in certain hands and/or economic environments. CNN...
Bankruptcy report: Higher education not secure investment anymore
For many people, the decision about what to do after high school was a no-brainer. You go to college and get your degree. Doing so will mean better opportunities, higher paying jobs, protection against bankruptcy and more financial success overall. However, in the...
Loan modifications can help, but only when approached wisely
There's no shame today in asking your mortgage lender to modify your monthly payment. Getting a home loan modification can be a huge help to homeowners, but the path to loan modifications is one lined with potential hazards. Making mistakes during the...
Florida proposal targets foreclosure backlog, but at whose cost?
The Florida court system has been backlogged with foreclosure cases for years. For the past three consecutive years, state lawmakers have tried to find a solution to Florida's foreclosure problem to no avail. A new piece of proposed legislation has popped up. Could...
Debt attacks Americans’ plans to retire, part 2
In our previous post, we began a sobering discussion about retirement and the debt struggles that sources report are putting many older Americans' retirement dreams on hold. At least one big contributor to the stresses facing those who thought they'd be able to retire...
Debt attacks Americans’ plans to retire, part 1
Oh, retirement. Any of us who works probably has a dream of what our retirement looks like. Some work specifically with that retirement dream in mind; it drives them to work harder now and contribute more to their retirement accounts. It really does feel like a dent...
New study shows foreclosures affect more than financial health
Economists have found another area of people's lives affected by the collapse of the housing market and its seemingly never-ending foreclosures: Their physical health. Two economists, in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, have found a...