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Consumer Protection from Irresponsible Mortgage Practices

Posted by Mary Cox on September 20th, 2018

Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 in response to the mortgage crisis that led to America’s Great Recession. The two parts that apply closely to homebuyers are the Ability-to-Repay (ATR) and Qualified Mortgages (QM).

A Qualified Mortgage is a category of loans that have certain, more stable features that help make it more likely that borrowers will be able to afford their loan. These loans do not allow certain risky features like an interest-only period when no money is applied to reduce the principal; negative amortization that would allow the mortgage balance to increase; and, “balloon payments” at the end of the loan that are larger than the normal periodic payments.

A debt-to-income ratio of less than or equal to 43% has been…

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Lower the Rate – Deduct the Interest

Posted by Mary Cox on April 13th, 2017

Credit card debt in America is back to levels prior to the recession. The average credit card APR is just under 16% according to CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Report.

 

Homeowners have an advantage over renters when it comes to getting their arms around debt issues.

Basic money management suggests that higher rate debt be replaced with lower rate debt. Credit cards, personal cars, boats, motor vehicles and other personal property, typically have interest rates higher than that of real estate loans.

Borrowing against a person’s home usually provides the lowest rate of financing. Refinancing a home mortgage to take cash out to retire personal debt is one option. Another would be to secure a home equity or HELOC, home equity line of credit.

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Apple's New HQ Will Be 'The Greenest Building On The Planet'...

Posted by Mary Cox on September 26th, 2014

 

Apple does it again! Here is a great article from BusinessInsider.com on Apple's plans for their new headquarters. It is so nice to see a company as massive as Apple to look towards a greener Planet.

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at New York City's Climate Week on Monday where he proclaimed that Apple's new "spaceship" headquarters would be "the greenest building on the planet," according to 9to5Mac's Zac Hall.

“We’re building a new headquarters that will, I think, be the greenest building on the planet," Cook said about the building, which is under construction. "It’ll be a center for innovation, and it’s something clearly our employees want and we want."

The building should open at the end of 2016.

Cook's tenure as CEO has been marked…

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