Headline News Archive

2007

October

10

• Nuevo plan de espionaje protege la privacidad. Los demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes presentaron ayer un proyecto de ley de escuchas electrónicas que da a la Agencia Nacional de Seguridad (NSA)…

09

• Blocking the card sharks. Pam Gear of Newbury Township [Ohio] is an avid bargain hunter who scours off-price stores on a regular basis for top-quality, low-priced merchandise. And during…

08

• Hold on, my wallet is ringing. PHILIPPINES - It's Thursday, so 18-year-old Dennis Tiangco [of San Miquel] is off to the bank to collect his weekly allowance, zapped by his mother…

• American Dream becomes debtor's nightmare. Soledad Aviles dreamed for years of owning a home, with a plot of land where he could grow corn and chiles as he did in…

07

• Iowa universities won't divulge credit card agreements. Two state universities are refusing to disclose to the Iowa Board of Regents their credit-card marketing agreements with Bank of America. The agreements are believed…

• Credit scores need be good, not perfect. Whether you're considering buying a new home or refinancing an existing mortgage, credit scores matter more than ever. To find out what consumers need to…

06

• Tax relief for distressed but not the rest. In a tax-Peter-to-pay-Paul move, the House voted Thursday to permanently remove the "phantom income" tax penalty that haunts financially distressed homeowners whose debt is partially…

05

• Credit card fine print can cost you. Every now and then, I read something that makes me gasp. It happened just recently, when I learned about a Public Citizen report on arbitration…

• Are credit cards cleaning up their act?. The phone call Kevin McKenna received from Chase bank several weeks ago was as shocking as the news: He had been 90 days late on…

04

• Experian joins 'credit freeze' crowd. Credit reporting firm Experian said Thursday it will allow consumers to freeze their credit reports starting Nov. 1. In doing so, Experian, based in Costa…

• Mortgages for those who lack credit history. CitiMortgage plans to announce today that it has set aside $200 million for mortgages to Washington area residents who have limited credit histories and therefore…

03

• Secret-shopping scam. How would you like to go shopping in your spare time – and get paid thousands of dollars to do it? That is the lure…

• EBay warns against selling recalled items. EBay said Tuesday that it is sending notices to sellers hawking recalled items, warning that they could be kicked off the website and may have…

02

• HUD sued over down-payment rule. Two nonprofit organizations have sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development in an attempt to overturn an agency decision that bans seller-financed down-payment assistance…

• Self-employed face difficulty finding mortgages. David Brannan, 44, of Monroe, N.C., is co-founder of a software company that's been in business since 1989. He and his wife have owned their…

01

• Don't leave reality out of budget. If we spend $500 for groceries each month and can't possibly lower the total, then it's foolish to budget $450. Budgets must be based on…

• Last but not least: lost baggage. After the crammed parking lot, the amusement-park-length check-in lines, security procedures that require all but a striptease, flights that are jampacked, if they're not delayed…

September

30

• Free software tools for managing finances. It started with blogs and a few people willing to reveal all about their financial lives. Now, however, several Web sites, including Geezeo.com, Wesabe.com and…

29

• Buy a home now, lose money?. It takes a bit of courage to buy a home in a weak real estate market. But buying can still be a reasonable, financially sound…

28

• Binding arbitration a loser for consumer. Just about everyone who has a credit card, a cell phone or a job has likely agreed to take grievances to binding mandatory arbitration. But…

• Latino families scramble to save homes. Araceli Flores was so happy to buy a three-bedroom house that she didn’t ask many questions about the mortgage. The person who helped her didn’t…

• Los 5 nuncas de la banca en Internet. El realizar las transacciones bancarias por Internet tiene muchas ventajas, porque toma menos tiempo que ir a la sucursal y tiene menos riesgos para la…

• Wal-Mart amplía su plan $4. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. está expandiendo su programa nacional de medicamentos de cuatro dólares en cerca del 10%, agregando medicinas para nuevas condiciones. El mayor minorista…

27

• America's worst airlines. As air travelers' summer of hell draws to a close, stories of canceled flights, lost luggage and late arrivals abound. But while it might seem…

• Clash over Internet access tax heats up. A monthly phone bill of $50 now includes as much as $10 in taxes. And some in Congress warn that consumers soon could be hit…