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Homeowner rescue awaits President Bush's signature
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
Congress approved mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners Saturday as part of an election-year housing plan that also aims to calm jittery financial markets and bolster the sagging economy. President Bush said he would sign it promptly, despite reservations.
The measure, regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades, lets homeowners who cannot afford their payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes.
It offers a temporary financial lifeline to troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — pillars of the home loan market whose losses have sparked investor fears — and tightens controls over the two government-sponsored businesses.
What began as a showdown between the White House and the Democratic-led Congress over how far the government should go in rescuing homeowners evolved into a bipartisan effort that could be the last such compromise before Bush leaves office in January.
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2007 Chevrolet Tahoe Ignites and Burns
Other fires reported while government probe underway
By Joe Benton, ConsumerAffairs.com
A General Motors SUV caught fire and heavily damaged a Wisconsin home even as federal investigators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stepped up their investigation of allegations that some GM vehicles are likely to catch fire and burn. The vehicles can catch fire even with the ignition turned off, according to federal safety investigators.
The owner of the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe reported to ConsumerAffairs.com that her vehicle "just lit on fire" in the middle of the night. "The vehicle was sitting in our driveway for 10 hours," the owner said. "No one drove it.
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No one moved it. No one even sat in it."
An explosion caused by the burning Tahoe rousted the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin family from their beds. "We had just enough time to evacuate our two small children before my husband grabbed a garden hose and tried to contain the fire so it wouldn't burn our house to the ground," the mother told us.
The Chevrolet Tahoe was parked within 5 feet of the owner's house. "We were very lucky no one was hurt," she said, "but what will happen to the next person?"
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Are You Being Squeezed Dry by your Child’s Credit Card Debt?
Never too early to teach kids to live within their means
By Fred Yager
Did you ever wonder why it was so easy for your college-age child to get a credit card, even though they have no source ofincome? Well, in the eyes of some credit card companies, they do have a ready source of income — and guess, what, it's you.
And here you thought that tuition, housing and books were going to be the biggest financial burdens in footing the bill for your children’s college education. You probably never even considered that monthly statement from your child’s credit card company — or companies — that can be for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
Now that you've got your son or daughter home for the summer, maybe it's time to stop the madness and begin teaching them how to sensibly use and manage their credit card purchases (paying off, or even avoiding, debt in the first place) before it’s too late.
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30,000 Consumers Weigh in on Abusive Credit Card Practices
Feds 'get the message,' consumer advocates say
By Joseph S. Enoch
More than 30,000 consumers have deluged the Federal Reserve Board's public comment system with opinions on the agency's upcoming proposed rulemaking that addresses abusive credit card practices,
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according to the Consumer Federation of America.
The federal regulators have gotten the message from consumers that the banks are using unfair practices to make bad money on top of good money, Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the not-for-profit consumer advocacy group U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said in an older prepared statement. "These rules will ban some of the unfair tactics that hurt American families."
The proposed rules are the first of their kind, said Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the not-for-profit Consumer cycle billing and adjust the allocation of payments so that in the instance a consumer has two balances with a credit card company, the creditor cannot apply payments solely to the balance with the lower interest rate.
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How the housing rescue bill can help you
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com
The House on Wednesday passed a $300 billion housing rescue bill aimed at helping troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure and supporting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
If the bill is now passed by the Senate and signed by President Bush, who today withdrew his threat to veto it, thousands of at-risk borrowers will be able to refinance their unaffordable old mortgages into new low-cost fixed-rate loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 400,000 borrowers with $68 billion in loans may benefit from the program - but the bill allows for as many as 1 million or 2 million borrowers to participate in the program.
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