Headline News Archive

2008

April

13

• Majoring in plastic. Lavina Ramchandani, 20, got an American Express card two months ago so she could pay this semester's tuition at the University of Maryland. Holly Jackson,…

• Flyer's bill of rights could cure airport headaches. Airline passengers just can't catch a break. Or can they? Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to scramble for alternative travel arrangements last week…

12

• Walking out of mortgage, into years of hurt. The country's two largest sources of mortgage money have a blunt warning for anyone thinking about joining the growing "walkaway" trend, in which homeowners stop…

• Sallie Mae to charge for loans to students. Sallie Mae, the country's largest student lender, announced yesterday that it will start charging students who apply for federally backed loans and cut the type…

11

• Identity thieves tax the system. David Hodge got a shock when he filed his federal tax returns last year. An identity thief had beaten him to it. "I was stunned,"…

10

• Senate passes bill to ease housing crisis. The Senate today passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis. The measure…

• Take the snail out of rebate mail. Taxpayers have been ringing the Internal Revenue Service telephones in record numbers trying to get answers about the upcoming economic stimulus payments. In a recent…

• Poll fnds Americans feel more squeezed. Offering the gloomiest assessment of economic well-being in close to half a century, a new survey has found that most Americans say they have not…

• White House plan to aid subprime borrowers. The Bush administration yesterday unveiled a plan to rescue 100,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure by relaxing eligibility standards for government-backed loans and encouraging lenders…

• Exit of college lenders sets off scramble to fill breach. Nearly 50 student lenders, including some of the industry's biggest names, have stopped issuing federally guaranteed loans in recent weeks because of paralysis in the…

09

• Airline passengers see even more fees. Airline passengers, already enduring persistent flight delays and other customer service headaches, are confronting another aggravation: mounting fees for everything from checking a second bag…

• Drive for rewards pushes gas cards in ditch. A generation ago, gas credit cards issued by oil companies were widely used by American drivers. For many people, the gas card was their first…

• Bush to offer more mortgage aid. The Bush administration is expanding a government program to help homeowners head off foreclosure as it scrambles to counter Democratic calls for a broader federal…

• Credit reforms a must, AmEx's Chenault says. ITHACA, N.Y. — This seems to be a year when all lines lead to American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault. He had a connection to the…

• Report: IRS not chasing ID theft. Fraudulent tax returns filed as a result of identity theft jumped more than sixfold over the past five years, but the Internal Revenue Service rarely…

08

• Health care businesses take off at airports. Reluctant to deal with the hassles of airport security, sales executive Michael D'Souza generally packs the syringes he needs for his daily medication in a…

• U.S. House to offer housing plan. House Democrats are crafting a response to the nation's housing crisis that would offer tax breaks to homeowners, first-time home buyers and developers of low-income…

07

• Avoid headaches when switching banks. With their bank accounts tethered to online bill paying, automatic debits and direct deposits of paychecks, most consumers cringe at the thought of closing a…

• Credit woes may hinder college-bound. The credit crunch will make it harder for many families to pay for college this fall, particularly if their children plan to attend high-cost private…

04

• Late payments on consumer loans at 16-year high. More Americans have fallen behind on consumer loans than at any time in nearly 16 years, as credit problems once concentrated in mortgages spread into…

03

• Retailer to pay millions more for lost data. Discount retailer TJX has set what could be an expensive precedent for anybody who loses sensitive data to hackers or insider thieves. The company on…

• Housing accord puts builders first. Senate Democratic and Republican leaders rushing to address the nation's housing crisis reached agreement yesterday on a package that would provide billions of dollars in…

• Caja de seguridad virtual. Lo peor no era haber perdido la tarjeta de crédito, sino darse cuenta de ello a la hora de pagar la cena de negocios a…

02

• Distressed owners frustrated by housing help. Every day more than 4,500 people call Hope Now, the White House-backed group formed to help struggling homeowners. But few of them appear to be…

01

• El seguro gap de automóvil. Si creías que pagando el seguro normal de tu auto estabas cubierto de la “A” a la “Z” respecto a cualquier problema en la carretera,…