Credit card reform cannot seem to happen quick enough for consumers or President Obama’s Administration. CNNMoney.com was the first news source to cover the story about the a House passing a bill to speed up the CARD Act – or more formally known as the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (Credit CARD) Act – [...]

A recent study involving 11,400 respondents in 16 different world markets concluded if $1,000 American dollars landed in their lap, the number one priority would be to put the money in a savings account. The good news is Americans are facing economic challenges by revising budgets, cutting spending, paying down debt, and even saving some. [...]

First-time homebuyers aren’t the only real estate risk takers about to receive a payoff from the government during a dormant housing market. Congress voted to not only expand the $8,000 first-time buyer credit set to expire in November 2009, but to add an additional $6,500 credit toward buyers who have been in their current residences [...]

With the passing of new credit cards regulations come forced changes or practices from the credit companies. Under the Credit Card Accountability Act (CARD), creditors can no longer increase interest rates because a consumer defaulted on a different card. Nor can the credit agencies force you to accept a higher APR without a 45-day notice [...]

The average investor lost nearly 25 percent of investments during the economic collapse that began its nosedive in late 2008. Workers who held 401(k)s suffered a 24.3 percent average drop in their account balance during this bear market. The Employee Benefit Research Institute studied a five-year period of 401(k) investors, finding that before the plunge [...]

Credit.com offers a free service to “grade” yourself on your credit without the inquiry having to show up on your actual credit report. The ever-popular personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly, proves the service is free and not a gimmick. The service advertises a “soft inquiry” on your report using your Social Security number – [...]

Bailout companies or bank executives have been ordered cut top salaries in half and even as high as 90 percent, ordered by the Obama Administration under the direction of “Pay Czar” Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury official in charge of setting compensation for bailed-out companies. Targeted companies or positions include senior employees at Citigroup, Bank of [...]

It’s getting more expensive to own plastic: Many credit cards will now cost you money to maintain. The number of solicitations for cards with annual fees increased to 27 percent in 2009 from just 9 percent in 2008, according to the financial research company Synovate. This increase in card ownership – along with other similar [...]

Recently, a fraudulent debt collecting ring was arrested for trying to collect on legitimate past due consumer accounts as well as non-existent debts. This faux-debt collection agency operated in at least four different locations in western New York using several different company names, including Central Resource Man, Interchange Payment Solutions, Next Step Services, Silverbay Services, [...]

A new study by NCLC is finding that mortgage servers – and their banks – are finding it cheaper to foreclose than offer a loan modification. NCLC, or the National Consumer Law Center, shows that despite several programs designed to encourage loan modifications, Americans are still facing a record number or home foreclosures. The report [...]