Headline News Archive

2019

December

10

• Student loans a lot like the subprime mortgage debacle. Mike Calhoun is a man on a mission. He's flying around the country, warning state lawmakers and prosecutors, sounding the alarm at conferences, and

09

• PG&E reaches $13.5 billion settlement with CA wildfire victims. Pacific Gas & Electric on Friday announced it had reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with victims of wildfires that killed dozens of people and destroyed tens

06

• Bank regulators urge 'responsible use' of alternative lending data. Lenders and regulators are looking at how data beyond a basic credit score could be used to improve underwriting practices, for example by analyzing bank

05

• My adult child built a good credit score in 3 months. If you plan it right, you can help your children build good credit profiles just in time to qualify for a loan or lease starting

November

26

• Forgiving student debt would boost economy, economists say. The effects would go beyond the housing market. William Foster is a vice president with Moody's, which just did a report on student debt

25

• How to keep pets from destroying your stuff. There’s a ton of gear out there that keeps pets from scratching, marking, or chewing on the wrong things. Yet deterrents alone won

23

• Consumer watchdog downplaying a major Obama-era tool. The director of the country’s primary consumer watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), downplayed the role of the complaint database in its

22

• Lawmaker seeks details about problems with Wells Fargo checking accounts. Bank may have collected “hundreds of millions” in extra fees because of confusion over rules on two checking accounts, a lawmaker says.

21

• Are transit-oriented developments the answer to the affordable housing?. KLEO Art Residences is what’s known as a transit-oriented development (TOD), so named for providing high-density housing near bus or rail lines, often

• Long Island divided: An investigation into real estate discrimination. In one of the most concentrated investigations of discrimination by real estate agents in the half century since enactment of America’s landmark fair

20

• Police can keep Ring camera video forever, share with anyone. Police officers who download videos captured by homeowners’ Ring doorbell cameras can keep them forever and share them with whomever they’d like

19

• Retirement planning is a guessing game. One of the most frustrating things about retirement planning is making assumptions about a future you can’t control.

14

• Realtors association bans “pocket listings”. The National Association of Realtors board of directors voted 729-70 to ban the controversial practice of “pocket listings.” It’s a practice

11

• How the algorithms running your life are biased. Software programs don’t just recommend books and movies you might like: they also determine the interest rate you’ll pay on a

08

• Airbnb CEO pledges to verify all 7 million listings. Airbnb announced several measures to bolster trust and protect the safety of its users better. The news followed the deaths of five people after a

07

• The 100-year family. Research shows that one of the most important differences between those who maintain their wealth and those who don’t is communication.

04

• ‘He cubierto la crisis de vivienda de California durante años. Pero vivirla es una historia diferente’. Durante casi cuatro años, he estado escribiendo para The Times sobre los problemas de asequibilidad de la vivienda en California. Pero nunca lo

01

• PG&E will credit customers subject to Oct. 9 blackouts. Bowing to pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will provide some form of compensation to people affected by widely criticized mass

• Hotel rooms listed for astronomical rates during fires. As people evacuated from the fire zone in the Wine Country scramble to find food, gas and lodging, many are facing high prices. Is it

October

31

• For many families, the costs of long-term care are horrifying. There is a long-term-care crisis in America, and we’ve done little to address the cost of care for people who can no longer

28

• With whipping winds and power down, Californians flee fires. Power outages and fires combined over the weekend to push the state’s disaster response capabilities to the brink.

24

• New mortgage application form unveiled with no language preference. Earlier this year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) ordered the government-sponsored enterprises to remove the language preference question and housing counseling information from the

• Repair or replace: When it’s time to break up with your old car. Is there a sweet spot that tells you when it’s time to stop putting money into an old car and when to purchase

• Facebook commits $1 billion to affordable housing. Facebook announced it is committing $1 billion to help address the affordable housing crisis in California.  The social media site’s investment will help

21

• Supreme Court will hear challenge to Consumer Bureau. The Supreme Court announced late last week that it will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a regulatory agency