Post tagged with credit

  • A law with unintended consequences

    February 24th, 201001:19 PM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way." So we wrote in our November 2009 article (subscribers only) about the unintended consequences of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, signed into law last year by President Obama. The law took full effect Monday. AP Personal Finance writer Eileen AJ Connelly picks up th...

  • Consumers jumping off the credit card wagon

    October 09th, 200909:00 AM ET
    By Mark Biller
    It's not all voluntary, and it's not always a decision made of virtuous intent. But for a variety of reasons, consumers are rapidly cutting their credit card use. Marketwatch reports that consumers cut their borrowing by nearly $12 billion in August, a 5.8% annualized rate of decline. Nearly $10 billion of that cut was credit card debt. That w...

  • 5 tips for dealing with a home-equity-line freeze or reduction

    August 14th, 200911:26 AM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    In the April issue of SMI, we reported that even homeowners "with good payment records and strong equity levels in their homes" have had their home equity credit lines frozen, reduced, or closed during the economic downturn. "The fine print gives banks that option," we noted. Last week, the Federal Reserve Board issued an updated five-point guide ...

  • An offer you CAN refuse: Say no to bad credit card deals

    July 08th, 200909:33 AM ET
    By Joseph Slife
    From Chuck Jaffe at MarketWatch: The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (widely known as the Credit CARD Act) takes effect in February, although a few key provisions kick in at the start of August. One of the key provisions that begins in August requires credit-card issuers to give 45 days' notice before any rate hike. ...

  • Goodbye Countrywide, hello flat-fee closing costs

    April 29th, 200902:36 PM ET
    By Mark Biller
    Monday, the infamous Countrywide name was scheduled to disappear forever, as Bank of America (BoA) tries to cut the memory cord with that symbol of the subprime disaster years. While it is mildly interesting to see the deep-sixing of a brand that was the largest mortgage financier in the US (financing 20% of America's mortgages) just a few years a...
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