Headline News Archive

2007

April

25

• Home appliance purchases demand homework. You’ll probably spend a lot of time considering color and style when choosing a new home appliance. My wife and I did. Just don’t forget…

• Tuition loans could soon change. When Loretta Medeiros' financial aid letter from New York University arrived last summer, she remembers seeing just one lender mentioned: Citibank. Assuming it was the…

23

• Electric deregulation's promise fails. BENTON, Ill. — This wasn't supposed to happen with deregulation. Electric bills were supposed to go down. Instead, Ellie Dorchincez can almost see the dollars…

22

• Math lesson for college grads. Millions of college seniors are interviewing for their first full-time jobs in preparation for stepping out of the hallowed halls of education and into the…

• What they are taking from your 401(k)?. Like 47 million other U.S. workers, software engineer Don Sengpiehl is counting on retirement money invested in a company-sponsored 401(k) savings plan. But ask Sengpiehl…

21

• Negative impact of appraisal inflation. Have inflated appraisals helped fuel the surge in foreclosures on credit-strapped borrowers? Are such appraisals at the core of many mortgage-fraud schemes? The four largest…

20

• Home sellers end up owing in 'upside down' sales. Jeffrey Taylor and his wife bought their dream home in Purcellville for $538,000 last August. Now they have to sell it because they are getting…

19

• Northeastern taxpayers get week's filing break. Taxpayers in the Northeast swamped by a powerful storm just before the filing deadline can delay filing their federal returns for another week, the Internal…

• Freddie Mac helps homeowners refinance subprime loans. Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest mortgage investors, plans to buy about $20 billion worth of mortgages that would primarily refinance the loans of…

• TurboTax users have until midnight to file. Thousands of frustrated TurboTax customers complained that they missed this week's federal and state tax deadline after heavy last-minute volume swamped the popular electronic tax-filing…

18

• Regulators urge cautious approach in foreclosures. Federal regulators Tuesday urged lenders to be flexible with borrowers who are behind on their home payments, as mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie…

• Don't fall for debt relief scams. How’d you like to lower your monthly credit card and loan payments — guaranteed? It’s an offer that sounds mighty appealing to anyone struggling to…

16

• Middle class audited more and more quickly. Middle-class Americans, listen up: the I.R.S. is much more likely to audit you this year. Those caught cheating can expect to pay about $4,100 more…

14

• Mortgage Mod Squad saves homes. With large numbers of homeowners falling behind on mortgage payments, lenders across the country are seeking ways to keep delinquent customers out of foreclosure. One…

13

• Congress looks at setting rights for air passengers. The way Kate Hanni tells it, a holiday trip that left her family stuck inside a grounded airliner for nine hours without food, running water…

• $25K in retirement account? You're not alone. How much do you need to retire? Whatever your magic number is, few would say $25,000. And yet, there are a lot of people in…

12

• Sallie Mae changes its student loan ways. An expanding investigation of the student-loan industry is ensnaring more lenders and stoking fears that a chummy relationship between the lending industry and financial aid…

11

• Simple 'flat tax' faces skepticism. The U.S. tax code runs more than 60,000 pages - a sprawling tangle of loopholes and exemptions that's all but incomprehensible to ordinary taxpayers. Imagine…

09

• House Dems seek to lead in tax reform. House Democratic leaders, in an effort to upstage Republicans on the issue of tax cuts, are preparing legislation that would permanently shield all but the…

• College kids' family incomes top national average by 60%. Parents who send their children to four-year colleges have long been above average when it comes to income. But today's freshmen are financially better off…

07

• Ex-MBNA cardholders face new minimum fee. Bank of America Corp. is imposing a monthly minimum finance charge of $1.50 on former MBNA credit card customers who carry balances unless they opt…

• Credit scores for sale. When your credit scores don't qualify you for the home mortgage you want, where do you turn? That's an especially timely question now, as lenders…

06

• Lodging effective consumer complaints. If you feel cheated by a company for poor service or a faulty product, you have no shortage of ways to complain. In addition to…

• Lemon owners can get a sweet result. Buying a car that is a lemon — or at least, an awfully sour purchase — can leave consumers feeling hopeless. Not to mention often…

05

• For many, tax refund spells 'fun'. When it comes to people's plans for their income tax refunds, Americans have the best intentions. In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,010 people, 62%…