Car insurance is one of those confusing necessities in life. Television bombards consumers with commercials that promise low prices, but they don’t give many specifics. Consumers can save money on car insurance by understanding what they really need as determined by their individual situations. Study first to understand the terms, then shop wisely. What...
Monthly Archives: March 2010
State Farm sues Texas over Web posting of its rate hike requests
AUSTIN – An unprecedented move by the Texas Department of Insurance to publicize recent rate hikes by State Farm Insurance sparked a legal challenge from the company Tuesday over what it said was confidential information. Texas’ largest insurer filed suit against the state agency seeking to protect from disclosure certain information that State Farm...
Homeowners with short sales face big tax bills
Out of work for more than a year, Dale Ottley was relieved when she was able to sell her Woodland Hills condominium for $230,000 – even though it was a “short sale” on which she lost $200,000. Now she faces the possibility of having to pay state income tax on the $200,000 debt that...
Schwarzenegger expected to sign new $10,000 California homebuyer tax credit
Homebuyer tax credits are almost certainly returning. Sacramento-area buyers can begin claiming $10,000 tax credits starting May 1 under a bill expected to be signed soon by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The legislation allocates $200 million for more state tax credits – twice what was offered last year to 10,659 buyers of new, unoccupied homes....
Mortgage Modification — the “Good” and “Bad” Lenders
The number of homeowners who have received modifications of their existing mortgages under the Federal government’s HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) continues to climb. More than one million modifications of existing mortgages are active, as of the recently-released February stats. The percentage of modifications that have hit permanent status has also risen, to 17...
IRS gives break on mortgage cuts
With the Obama administration and private lenders considering mortgage principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new advisory for taxpayers who receive such assistance. The IRS gets involved in mortgage principal write-downs because the federal tax code generally treats any forgiveness of debt in excess of $600...
5 states rush plans for $1.5B in housing funds
PHOENIX (AP) — The five states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis have been given only weeks to plan how to spend $1.5 billion in federal funding announced by the Obama administration last month. Guidelines issued under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Fund for Hardest Hit Housing Markets on March 5 gave housing finance agencies...
The high cost of quake insurance will rock your bank account
Los Angeles Times Yves Didier has been a strong believer in earthquake insurance since the 1994 Northridge quake, when his apartment building was severely damaged and some of his neighbors lost their lives. He didn’t hesitate to pay as much as $2,500 a year for coverage after he purchased a three-bedroom house in Reseda...
Mortgage Q&A: FHA loans attractive for some
Q. My wife and I are considering buying our first home this summer. The only thing we have done so far is poke around the Internet to learn about the process. It appears that an FHA loan is the most suitable for us because we don’t have a lot of cash for a down...
GMAC Sells $250M in Problem Mortgages as CFO Steps Down
GMAC Financial Services has auctioned off $250 million of problem mortgage assets, using Citigroup Inc. as its broker on the deal, according to a report from American Banker. “Our plan is to continue to sell assets through the year in our normal course of business and as we have done historically,” a GMAC spokesperson...
