Headline News Archive

2008

April

21

• Debt may be a factor in suspicious fires. Some folks celebrate their last home mortgage payment by setting fire to their loan agreement. Lately, some people behind on their mortgages are simply setting…

• Green funerals make for eco-exits. LONDON — It's no longer enough to live a greener life — now people are being encouraged to be environmentally friendly when they leave the…

• Teens turn to thrift in tight economy. The souring job market and rising costs of the usual teenage indulgences — a slice of pizza, a drive to the mall, the hottest new…

• Faster Internet could cost you in future. Back in the days of dial-up, Internet users were content to watch text download onto screens, one excruciating line at a time. Nowadays, people get…

20

• Homebuilders: Walk away, expect to pay. If you thought buying a new home was expensive, wait until you see how much it costs you to back out of the deal. Some…

• Putting a big squeeze on condo loans. If you own or plan to buy a condominium, an ominous new phase of the mortgage-credit squeeze could be looming for you. As a result…

• Sizing up college financial aid packages. One of the many challenges of sending a child through school now sits in a pile on Joseph Han's desk. Han, a Garden Grove legal…

• Sending less money home to Mexico. The U.S. economic downturn and tightened border controls have begun to alter the rhythms of undocumented migrants who used to move back and forth with…

• Rights bill weighed for credit card users. Credit cards are diabolically convenient. Having a card means you don't always have to carry cash. You can zip through payment without delay. You are…

• School loans: Going federal gets difficult. If you must borrow for college, your best bet is a federal student loan. You don't need a credit check. The interest rate is low.…

• Teaching kids early about banking. Kids know money doesn't grow on trees. But some of them believe it grows out of that machine in the wall. They see their parents…

18

• Student loan bill passes U.S. House. The House, trying to avert a looming shortage in available student loans, approved a measure allowing the Department of Education to buy federally guaranteed loans…

• Fed drafting new credit card rules. The Federal Reserve later this spring will propose new rules to prohibit "unfair or deceptive credit card practices," such as arbitrary interest-rate increases and double-cycle…

16

• Seeking a slice of your rebate. Yesterday, as Americans were rushing to pay their taxes, Sears was thinking about next month's promised rebates -- and, like other retailers, hoping for a…

15

• Stimulus payment offers incentive to file taxes. Whatever your excuse is for filing taxes at the last minute – you thrive under pressure, you're lazy, you don't want to pay the IRS,…

• Retailers caught in a wave of bankruptcies. The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are…

• Poll: Housing woes won't end soon. A growing majority say they won't buy a home anytime soon, the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation's housing crisis, a poll showed…

• Online banking satisfaction up. Banks have been disappointing customers many ways lately — tightening mortgage lending standards, paring back home-equity and credit-card lines and lowering savings interest rates —…

14

• What happens to credit card debt after death?. You can't take it with you, but do credit card bills follow you into the grave? Does that debt die with you? Or can it…

• Even credit card offers are ebbing. Since last November, credit card companies have slashed the amount of direct mail they send out, according to figures released by Mintel, a market research…

• Co-payments for expensive drugs go way up. Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for…

• A call for action on tax scams. The scam goes like this: A bogus tax return using a stolen Social Security number is submitted to the Internal Revenue Service early in the…

• Digital transition could hurt cable customers. For months, TV viewers have been told by government, by industry and by the media that if they already subscribe to cable, there's no need…

13

• Green initiatives fly some red flags. You can see major movies that are "carbon neutral," buy any flavor of organic yogurt and even watch as Bob Costas recaps Sunday football by…

• Rabbit ears fears: Converters clear picture. William Meade of Springfield has three television sets in his house. One is hooked up to cable service, but the other two rely on rabbit-ear…