Obama Health Care Overhaul

2010-03-19T13:17:31Z

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on health insurance reform during his event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va, Friday, March 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Great Wolf to offer $225M of mortgage notes

2010-03-19T14:30:36Z

<div id="subtitle">Great Wolf to offer $225 million of mortgage notes</div><div><p>Indoor waterpark resort company Great Wolf Resorts Inc. said Friday it plans to offer $225 million of first mortgage notes due 2017.</p><p>The company plans to use the proceeds to repay mortgage debt totaling $212 million. It will use the rest, if any, for general corporate purposes.</p><p>...

Summary Box: Credit score can drop after loan mod

2010-03-19T09:30:12Z

<div id="subtitle">Summary Box: Homeowners see credit scores sink after signing up for mortgage relief</div><div><p>AN UNWELCOME SURPRISE: Homeowners who enroll in the Obama administration's loan modification program can see their credit score dip by as much as 100 points. That makes it harder to get a loan and can hamper your ability to get a job.</p><p>WORSE FOR SOME: The impact is greatest for homeowne...

Obama health bill would reshape student loans

2010-03-19T09:15:45Z

<div><p>US President Barack Obama's historic health care legislation, set to face a make-or-break vote on Sunday, would also reshape the way Americans pay for famously pricey college educations.</p><p>Along with buying a home and setting aside cash for retirement, paying for higher education is one of the most daunting expenses Americans can face, especially if they attend a private institution rather than a state sc...

Credit scores can drop after getting loan help

2010-03-19T08:30:32Z

<div id="subtitle">Homeowners see credit scores sink after signing up for mortgage relief</div><div><p>Some homeowners who sign up for the government's mortgage assistance program are getting a nasty surprise: Lower credit scores.</p><p>For borrowers who are making their payments on time but are on the verge of default, the Obama administration's loan modification program can reduce their credit score as ...

Mortgage scammers havenÕt felt lawÕs effect

2010-03-19T02:17:53Z

<div><p> Compliance with a new law aimed at regulating mortgage modification and foreclosure prevention, a runaway industry rife with scammers, is off to a slow start, causing concern for those on the front lines.</p><p>Only 50 companies statewide have applied for the states new licenses for loan modification and foreclosure consultant services. That number represents as little as one-tenth of the businesses offering one or both of the services targeted by the new law, sa...

Student aid linked to health care gets a trim

2010-03-18T18:45:07Z

<div><p>Congressional Democrats on Thursday trimmed their original student loan plans, reduced spending for community colleges, and eliminated early childhood money from a broad rewrite of a college aid bill piggybacked on to fast-track health care legislation.</p><p>The student loan measure would be the biggest change in college assistance programs since Congress created them in the 1960s, ending a private-lender program by having the government originate all loans to ne...

Fed's emergency loans decline in past week

2010-03-18T15:01:29Z

<div id="subtitle">Banks reduce their borrowing by average of $2.24 billion from Fed's emergency loan program</div><div><p>Banks borrowed less from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week in a further sign that the strains from the financial crisis are fading.</p><p>The Fed reported Thursday that daily borrowing from its emergency loan program averaged $11.49 bil...

Obama health plan faces Sunday make-or-break vote

2010-03-18T12:18:34Z

<div><p>President Barack Obama's Democrats predicted victory in a cliffhanger vote Sunday on his historic plan to extend health care coverage to some 32 million Americans who lack it now.</p><p>The 10-year plan, Obama's top domestic priority, aimed to bring the world's richest country closer than ever to guaranteeing health insurance for all of...

Mortgage rates still below 5 percent

2010-03-18T08:31:20Z

<div id="subtitle">Rates on 30-year mortgages edge up, but remain below 5 percent as Fed prepares exit</div><div><p>Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold for the third straight week as the Federal Reserve prepares to end a program that has kept rates at or near record lows.</p><p>The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage edged up to 4.96 percent this week from 4.95 perc...

PersonalFinance: Federal long-term care

2010-03-18T06:16:06Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON, March 17 - Tucked inside that healthcare bill and likely to become the law of the land, is a new federal long-term care insurance policy.</p><p>Called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, the new program is a voluntary opt-in insurance plan that would give beneficiaries as much as $75 a day to pay for long-term care expenses. It's not yet clear how high the premiums would be, but people who paid into the program and then needed it...

Calif. politics has short sellers facing big bills

2010-03-17T15:45:19Z

<div id="subtitle">Californians losing their homes face big tax bills unless Schwarzenegger, lawmakers compromise</div><div><p>What should have been a legislative afterthought is threatening to become a financial purgatory for thousands of California taxpayers hit by the housing crisis.</p><p>With less than a month until tax filings are due, struggling Californians who received mortgage modifications or lost ...

Small business disaster prep includes insurance

2010-03-17T12:16:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Small businesses need the right kinds and amount of insurance as they do disaster prep</div><div><p>Small business owners are getting some reminders this month that the forces of nature can threaten a company's survival. And that they need to be sure their businesses are well protected against a variety of disasters.</p><p>A storm in the Northeast caused flood and wind damage and left thousands of businesses without power. Meanwhile, residen...

Number of Californians without health plans soars

2010-03-17T07:30:38Z

<div><p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nearly one in four Californians under age 65 lacked health insurance during all or part of last year, well above the latest national average, in a trend fueled by shrinking coverage due to mounting job layoffs, a new study on Tuesday found.</p><p>The number left uninsured for at least part of the year in the most populous ...

About IVA?s ? Demystifying Their Successful Acceptance and Completion

2010-03-17T08:52:30Z

For people who find they simply can?t the payments for their debts, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is sometimes used to provide a legal solution to the problem. You may find some conflicting or even untrue information in advertising by some less conscientious companies who arrange them. This article explains our usual approach to help demystify them, how they are organised and successful completion.<br><br>Reviewing Your Finances at The Outset<br><br>Before ...

Online Banking - A New Way to Do Business

2010-03-17T08:27:35Z

Online banking has made the process of taking care of your finances easier. For the most part if you are apart of the banking online world your trips to the bank are limited. That is because everything that you used to have to go to the bank to take care of, you can do online. Moving funds from checking to savings is only one of the many options you have.<br><br>Owning a business and conducting its finances has become much more convenient. The business accountant can handle financ...

The CARD Act and the College Crowd

2010-03-17T00:16:45Z

<div id="subtitle">MMI offers tips for understanding the CARD Act</div><div><p>While only 10 percent of respondents in a recent Money Management International (MMI) survey believe students should use credit cards to finance college costs, many students get their first credit card while they are in college. </p>&l...

What to Expect When Availing of Mortgage For Self-Employed

2010-03-17T00:03:29Z

Today, there are many kinds of loans available - each of them appealing to the different segments of the borrowing market. You have home equity line of credit, bad credit mortgage, mortgage for self-employed and refinancing - Toronto or elsewhere. All these are specialized in order to cater to the special circumstances of the borrowers.<br><br>A bad credit mortgage loan is especially made for borrowers who have a less-than-perfect cred...

The Risks Associated With a Home Equity Line of Credit

2010-03-16T23:55:30Z

<b>Definition of Terms</b><br><br>To fully understand what a home equity line of credit or a HELOC is, you need to chunk this into two terms: home equity and line of credit.<br><br>* Home equity - is the market value of your home less the total amount of debts that are associated with or registered to it.<br><br>* Line of credit - also referred to as a credit line, it is an arrangement wherein a bank or a lender extends a specified amount of cre...

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