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Realtors' dose of optimism tinged with reality
It's been two years since the Chicago Association of Realtors conducted an economic briefing for its members because, frankly, any forecast revolved around rising foreclosures and falling home values. But this month, real estate agents gathered in...
Tags: Mortgages, Chicago Mortgages, Finance, Real Estate Sales, Philosophy
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Tribes' payday loans under scrutiny
A growing number of Indian tribes are getting into the payday loan business, saying they just want to raise revenue for their reservations while helping cash-strapped consumers nationwide. But federal officials suspect that, at least in some cases,...
Tags: Litigation and Regulation, Lifestyle and Leisure, Justice System, Consumers, Laws
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New Year's resolutions you should make
Many of us start the new year with renewed energy and good intentions. We're going to hit the gym more and eat less. We're going to save more and spend less. Here are a few other resolutions you should make. If you're among the nearly 50 percent of...Tags: Theft, Equifax Incorporated, Computer Hardware, Media Industry, Allentown
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Land bank would revitalize distressed properties
A land bank that would acquire, manage and repurpose vacant and abandoned properties in Cook County is one step closer to reality. Two months after its formation, an advisory committee appointed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is...
Tags: Mortgages, Housing Industry, Cook County Government, Chicago Mortgages, Metropolitan Planning Council
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Don't be tricked into applying for an online payday loan
The envelope looked official enough. "Confidential materials enclosed," it said on the outside. "Unauthorized use strictly prohibited." Evelyn Potter, 81, could feel something the size of a credit card within. Opening the envelope, she found a plastic...Tags: Personal Data Collection, Email, Politics, Social Security, Money and Monetary Policy
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columnist 123
![WASHINGTON Advertisement President Barack Obama is outlining a plan Wednesday to allow millions of student loan recipients to lower their payments and consolidate their loans, in hopes of easing the burden of the No. 2 source of household debt. The move to assist struggling graduates and students could help Obama shore up re-election support among young voters, an important voting bloc in his 2008 campaign, and appeal to their parents, too. Student loan debt also is a common concern voiced by Occupy Wall Street protesters. The loans have become particularly painful for many amid the nation's economic woes, high unemployment and soaring tuition costs. They are second only to mortgages as a portion of Americans' debt, coming in ahead of credit cards. Obama's planned announcement in Denver comes the same day as a new report on tuition costs from the College Board. It shows average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago. Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. The White House said Obama will use his executive authority to provide student loan relief in two ways. First, he will accelerate a measure passed by Congress that reduces the maximum required payment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent. The White House wants it to go into effect in 2012, instead of 2014. In addition, the White House says the remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25. About 1.6 million borrowers could be affected. Second, he will allow borrowers who have a loan from the Federal Family Education Loan Program and a direct loan from the government to consolidate them into one. The consolidated loan would carry an interest rate of up to a half percentage point less than before. This could affect 5.8 million borrowers. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters on a conference call that the changes could save some borrowers hundreds of dollars a month. "These are real savings that will help these graduates get started in their careers and help them make ends meet," Duncan said. The White House said the changes will carry no additional costs to taxpayers. Last year, Congress passed a law that lowered the repayment cap and moved all student loans to direct lending by eliminating banks as the middlemen. Before that, borrowers could get loans directly from the government or from the Federal Family Education Loan Program; the latter were issued by private lenders but basically insured by the government. The law was passed along with the health care overhaul with the anticipation that it could save about $60 billion over a decade. The law change was opposed by many Republicans. At a hearing Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs a subcommittee with oversight over higher education, said it had resulted in poorer customer service for borrowers. And Senate Republicans issued a news release with a compilation of headlines that showed thousands of workers in student lending, including those from Sallie Mae Inc., had been laid off because of the change. Today, there are 23 million borrowers with $490 billion in loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Last year, the Education Department made $102.2 billion in direct loans to 11.5 million recipients. Increases in federal aid have helped ease the burden on students dealing with tuition increases, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a report Wednesday. "Despite large increases in the published price of college over the past four years, the average student has not seen commensurate increases in the net price of college, defined as the published price minus grants, scholarships and tax benefits," the report said. Meanwhile, the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a project Tuesday to simplify the financial aid award letters that colleges mail to students each spring. A common complaint is that colleges obscure the inclusion of student loans in financial aid packages to make their school appear more affordable, and the agencies hope families will more easily be able to compare the costs of colleges. Separately, James Runcie, the Education Department's federal student aid chief operating officer, told Foxx's congressional panel that the personal financial details of as many 5,000 college students were temporarily viewable on the department's direct loan website earlier this month. Runcie said site was shut down while the matter was resolved, and the affected students have been notified and offered credit monitoring. Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material ma](http://media.trb.com/media/thumbnails/column/2011-10/65671859-26100028.jpg "WASHINGTON Advertisement President Barack Obama is outlining a plan Wednesday to allow millions of student loan recipients to lower their payments and consolidate their loans, in hopes of easing the burden of the No. 2 source of household debt. The move to assist struggling graduates and students could help Obama shore up re-election support among young voters, an important voting bloc in his 2008 campaign, and appeal to their parents, too. Student loan debt also is a common concern voiced by Occupy Wall Street protesters. The loans have become particularly painful for many amid the nation's economic woes, high unemployment and soaring tuition costs. They are second only to mortgages as a portion of Americans' debt, coming in ahead of credit cards. Obama's planned announcement in Denver comes the same day as a new report on tuition costs from the College Board. It shows average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago. Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. The White House said Obama will use his executive authority to provide student loan relief in two ways. First, he will accelerate a measure passed by Congress that reduces the maximum required payment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent. The White House wants it to go into effect in 2012, instead of 2014. In addition, the White House says the remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25. About 1.6 million borrowers could be affected. Second, he will allow borrowers who have a loan from the Federal Family Education Loan Program and a direct loan from the government to consolidate them into one. The consolidated loan would carry an interest rate of up to a half percentage point less than before. This could affect 5.8 million borrowers. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters on a conference call that the changes could save some borrowers hundreds of dollars a month. "These are real savings that will help these graduates get started in their careers and help them make ends meet,\" Duncan said. The White House said the changes will carry no additional costs to taxpayers. Last year, Congress passed a law that lowered the repayment cap and moved all student loans to direct lending by eliminating banks as the middlemen. Before that, borrowers could get loans directly from the government or from the Federal Family Education Loan Program; the latter were issued by private lenders but basically insured by the government. The law was passed along with the health care overhaul with the anticipation that it could save about $60 billion over a decade. The law change was opposed by many Republicans. At a hearing Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs a subcommittee with oversight over higher education, said it had resulted in poorer customer service for borrowers. And Senate Republicans issued a news release with a compilation of headlines that showed thousands of workers in student lending, including those from Sallie Mae Inc., had been laid off because of the change. Today, there are 23 million borrowers with $490 billion in loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Last year, the Education Department made $102.2 billion in direct loans to 11.5 million recipients. Increases in federal aid have helped ease the burden on students dealing with tuition increases, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a report Wednesday. \"Despite large increases in the published price of college over the past four years, the average student has not seen commensurate increases in the net price of college, defined as the published price minus grants, scholarships and tax benefits,\" the report said. Meanwhile, the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a project Tuesday to simplify the financial aid award letters that colleges mail to students each spring. A common complaint is that colleges obscure the inclusion of student loans in financial aid packages to make their school appear more affordable, and the agencies hope families will more easily be able to compare the costs of colleges. Separately, James Runcie, the Education Department's federal student aid chief operating officer, told Foxx's congressional panel that the personal financial details of as many 5,000 college students were temporarily viewable on the department's direct loan website earlier this month. Runcie said site was shut down while the matter was resolved, and the affected students have been notified and offered credit monitoring. Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material ma")
WASHINGTON Advertisement President Barack Obama is outlining a plan Wednesday to allow millions of student loan recipients to lower their payments and consolidate their loans, in hopes of easing the burden of the No. 2 source of household debt. The move...Tags: Elections, Teaching and Learning, Education, Occupy Wall Street, White House
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Congress Should Dismantle Consumer Bureau
The Hartford CourantThere can be unseemly exposure of the mind as well as of the body, as the progressive mind is exposed in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a creature of the labyrinthine Dodd-Frank legislation. Judicial dismantling of the CFPB would affirm the...Tags: Federal Reserve, Richard Cordray, Lawyers, Barack Obama, Politics
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Credit settlement spurs refund for cardholders
If you have a credit card, watch closely. About 6 million credit card users are going to receive money back on their cards. And it doesn't matter if you have a rewards card or not. The reward you are about to get is unique. It's supposed to make up...
Tags: Richard Cordray, American Express Company, Credit and Debt, Business, Economy, Business and Finance
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Kevin Hunt: A Credit Card Quiz: What's Legal?
The Hartford CourantReaders of The Bottom Line pride themselves on their credit-card discipline (please say it's true), but how many of you watch the people watching you spend your money? Do you know the most, by law, you will ever pay on an unauthorized charge to your...Tags: Trips and Vacations, Equifax Incorporated, Caribbean Vacations, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Credit and Debt
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Students finding out what it means to be underwater
How long can you hold your breath? It's bad enough millions of U.S. homes are underwater, worth less money on the real estate market than needed to pay off the outstanding mortgage balance. The prospect of millions of Americans dragged under by...
Tags: Mortgages, Federal Reserve, Teaching and Learning, Jan Schakowsky, Ben Bernanke
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Background check firms could use a background check
With jobs still scarce, employers can be choosier than ever before when deciding whom to hire. Many use background checks to help them make wise choices. But who's checking on the background check companies to make sure they are doing a good job? Several...Tags: Lawyers, Companies and Corporations, Criminals, Career and Workplace, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
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Credit card complaints made public
With the economy still gasping for air, big banks remain popular targets for consumer outrage. People are ticked off at paying new fees. They're frustrated at being unable to modify their mortgages. For the first time, the public can get a limited...Tags: Mortgages, Richard Cordray, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Incorporated, Companies and Corporations
Jan 25, 2013
|Column| Chicago Tribune
Apr 29, 2013
|Column| Los Angeles Times
Jan 2, 2013
|Column| Allentown Morning Call
Nov 30, 2012
|Column| Chicago Tribune
Oct 30, 2012
|Column| Los Angeles Times
Oct 26, 2011
|Column| KTLA-LTV
Nov 16, 2012
|Column| Hartford Courant
Oct 12, 2012
|Column| Chicago Tribune
Sep 29, 2012
|Column| Hartford Courant
Aug 29, 2012
|Column| Chicago Tribune
Jun 9, 2012
|Column| Allentown Morning Call
Jun 20, 2012
|Column| Allentown Morning Call
Original site for U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau topic gallery.
