News
2024
March
13
- In hospitals, affordable housing gets the long-term investor it needs. Health care systems are increasingly starting to see benefits in building affordable and safe housing, from the improved health of local communities to how much managed care groups benefit financially from those healthier populations. Those
February
21
- Here’s why you should check your credit report. Credit report mistakes are the leading cause of complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Here’s how to check your report and fix mistakes if you find them. File a dispute with each
12
- Nonprofit steps in to provide mortgages where others won't. Home HeadQuarters doesn’t have the resources of a bank. But the Syracuse group has come up with a novel way to finance home purchases for people who might not get mortgages otherwise and
- Pros and cons of second-chance checking accounts. Pros Consumers won’t have to resort to check-cashing services which can come with costly fees that quickly chip away at your funds. Any ongoing banking activity on your second-chance account will get
January
18
- Why big banks--and odd allies--oppose a plan to protect banks. Regulators are calling for an increase in the amount of capital — cash-like assets — that banks have to hold to tide them over in an emergency to avoid needing a taxpayer-funded bailout. Banks have
16
- Consumer Action offers free webinar, publication: Avoiding foreclosure (AHEAD grant supports project aimed at keeping struggling homeowners in their homes). Consumer Action offers a new publication and a 90-minute webinar--both free--to help homeowners avoid or deal with foreclosure.
09
- Rent reporting is affecting tenants’ credit scores. In New York City recently, more landlords have started reporting tenants’ rent payments to credit bureaus. While on time payments can help build tenants’ credit scores, tenants who miss payments or withhold their
2023
November
20
- Hidden ‘junk fees’ nickel and dime us out of hard-earned dollars. These “resort fees,” “convenience fees” or “overdraft fees,” often are hidden from customers until the transaction is almost over — for example, when you’re checking out of
02
- How real estate commissions work and why they might get lower. In the United States, there’s generally an agent representing the seller and one representing the buyer. The seller pays the commission to both of them. Generally, commissions are 5 to 6 percent of the home-sale
October
- The Supreme Court could toss the CFPB's consumer protections. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case filed by a trade group of payday-loan lenders against the CFPB. In the worst-case scenario, this could lead to not just an end to payday-loan regulations,
September
18
- When Wall Street buys most of the homes on your block. First-time buyers, who overwhelmingly rely on mortgages, were often outmatched by cash buyers at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when interest rates plummeted below 3 percent and home prices soared. Across the U.S., more
13
- Amazon launches plan to help ‘underserved’ D.C. families buy homes. The undertaking is part of a $40 million initiative that executives said is meant to help boost homeownership among “underserved groups” in the D.C., Seattle and Nashville areas. The first pool of money
03
- Home insurers cut natural disasters from policies as climate risks grow. Major insurers say they will cut out damage caused by hurricanes, wind and hail from policies underwriting property along coastlines and in wildfire country, according to a voluntary survey conducted by the National Association of
July
14
- How Philadelphia kept tenants from being evicted. Philadelphia has kept in place one key lockdown-era protection program — at least for the moment. Under this program, if a tenant owes less than $3,000 in back rent, landlords must try mediation in good faith
March
13
- Insurers slashed Hurricane Ian payouts insiders reveal. After years of more frequent and intense storms, national insurance carriers have pulled back from the market and smaller, regional carriers with smaller financial reserves jumped in. In the wake of Hurricane Ian, those companies
01
- Advocates welcome collection of homebuyers' language preference. Advocates Welcome Mandatory Collection of Language Preference Data by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Required use of the Supplementary Consumer Information Form (SCIF) starts March 1 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Homebuyers with limited English proficiency (LEP)
January
26
- White House unveils Renters Bill of Rights. The Biden administration is releasing a “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights” that highlights the need for clear and fair leases, the right to organize, and eviction prevention and diversion, among other
2022
November
01
- Sharp spike in Black, Asian and Latino homeownership. Helped by pandemic-era stimulus programs, Black, Latino and Asian households saw the sharpest increase in homeownership in 2021 since the Great Recession, when all their levels of owning had fallen, according to an analysis of new
October
27
- U.S. mortgage rates soar past 7%. Mortgage rates barreled past the 7 percent mark to their highest level since 2002, as the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate increases, meant to combat inflation, continued to seep through the economy and worry markets.
September
01
- Bank of America tests no-down-payment mortgages for minorities. Bank of America Corp. started a trial program aimed at helping first-time homebuyers in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods by offering mortgages that don’t require down payments, closing costs or minimum credit scores, all
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