Personal Finance and Investing

Monday morning the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new rules that will allow many more “underwater” homeowners, those who owe more than their properties are worth, to refinance at current historical low mortgage rates.

Up to a million borrowers are expected totake advantage of thenew program, the FHFA estimates. Originally rolled out in early 2009, the program has fallen far short of the number of people it was expected to help.

Prior to the new rules, only borrowers who owed more than 25 percent more than their homes are worth could participate in the program.

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There is no time like the new year to take the initiative on resolving tax problems. Dennis and Ramona came to Blue Tax with a balance of $31,000 for the State. They did not believe they owed this money. Blue Tax needed to figure out why Dennis and Ramona were being told they owed so much money to the State.

Blue Tax set an immediate goal to find out why these taxpayers owed so much money to the State and to resolve their account, quickly and efficiently. After a few initial calls to the state, Blue Tax found out that the reason behind the huge outstanding balance was due to filing issues. Read more…

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…for scam artists. When the shopping craze hits us after Thanksgiving, the thieves come out in droves and this year, they are targeting one of the biggest gift items we both give and receive — gift cards.

It’s a multi-million dollar industry, so it’s no surprise that scammers and con artists have put gift cards on their own wish list this year. And because of them, you could be in for a nasty surprise when you go to spend a gift card you received. In fact, your gift card could already be worthless.

That’s right, a gift card you have received or bought someone else could already have a zero balance. It’s a prob

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It seems no one in the UK is protected from financial difficulties. Recently revealed data indicates that the younger generation is facing the same miserable financial situation as their older counterparts.

According to official figures, more UK residents age 25 to 34 are resorting to Debt Relief Orders (DROs) for insolvency than any other age bracket.

A DRO is a new alternative to bankruptcy, designed for people with low incomes and few assets.

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