Credit Card Debt Collection: Concerns About Flawed Paperwork
The credit card industry does it all it can to get people hooked on unsupportable debt. To be sure, the bad economy is often a factor. You may have lost your job or had your hours cut. There may be other financial pressures, too, such as medical bills. So it can be tempting to begin […]
Preventing Foreclosure: How Banks Failed on Loan Modification
Big banks bear a lot of responsibility for the foreclosure crisis of recent years. In fact, they’ve admitted it. Five of the nation’s largest banks entered into a settlement with the federal governments and 49 states earlier this year. The banks agreed to pay $25 billion as compensation for foreclosures that often did not meet […]
Rising Housing Costs Leave Many Texans in Need of Debt Relief
It isn’t only loss of a job or unexpected medical debts that can cause you to get behind on your mortgage payments. The need for debt relief can also be the result of the cumulative effect of wages that just don’t keep with the high cost of housing and other expenses. Home foreclosure in San […]
When Educational Debt Becomes a Burden, Not a Stepping Stone
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro gives the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention tonight. It is a high honor to be chosen for this assignment. Everyone from the San Antonio area – regardless of political affiliation – will be sharing the spotlight by extension. The major is still only 37. In his three years […]
Foreclosure Prevention: New Rules Proposed for Mortgage Servicers
A flood of foreclosures has many engulfed hundreds of thousands of people since the Great Recession hit in 2007. This includes hundreds of people in the San Antonio and many more throughout Texas. Federal efforts to stem the tide have been largely ineffective. And mortgage lenders and services have done little to work constructively with […]
Families of Elite Olympians Often Have Ordinary Financial Problems
To the television viewer, Olympic athletes seem to be on top of the world. They are young, strong and highly skilled in their sports, with bright futures beckoning. But most athletes come from ordinary families with ordinary financial struggles. For example, the mother of a gold medal-winning gymnast filed for bankruptcy to help keep her […]
Unlike a Short Sale, Bankruptcy Does Not Depend on Lender Approval
If you are behind on your mortgage payments, you are not alone. Many other people in the San Antonio area are too, as well as millions more nationally. Keep in mind, as you consider your choices, that filing for bankruptcy provides an automatic stay on home foreclosure proceedings. Of course, there are also other potential […]
Secured vs. Unsecured Debt: What You Should Know
Whether you considering bankruptcy or not, it’s important to know the difference between different types of debt. The kind of debt you have can affect your credit score, how much money you can borrow, and the interest rates of those loans. This post will describe the difference between secured and unsecured debt? Here is what […]
Creating and Keeping an Emergency Fund Can Be Tough
Create an emergency fund. Financial counselors are very clear on this point. They want us all to have at least several hundred dollars socked away to deal with unexpected needs. In fact, many counselors believe the fund should have more than a few hundred dollars. Some say it should be big enough to cover your […]
San Antonio Foreclosure Data and the National Economy
The real estate meltdown has affected different parts of the country in very different ways. In over-built areas like Phoenix or Miami, the drop in values, and the high rate of foreclosure, remains acute. Yet there are other regions of the U.S. where prices and home ownership have remained more stable. Even in more stable […]