Ilyce Glink's BlogWelcome to Ilyce Glink's blog! Here you'll find Ilyce's latest insights on personal finance advice, real estate advice and consumer issues. Come back often for timely and interesting posts on a wide variety of topics. Thursday, March 06, 2008 OCC Throws Its Hat in the Ring
This is the 400th posting to Ilyce's blog! Woo hoo! Quite a milestone! Yet another government agency made its voice heard this week in ongoing housing and mortgage news. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks including issuing them charters, now requires large national banks which service mortgages to provide mortgage data on a monthly basis. The OCC made the announcement in a letter to nine national banks which account for most of the national mortgage banking activity. Despite its name, the OCC does not directly oversee the American Dollar. Though it's probably fair to say that the mortgage crisis has weakened the dollar; it's certainly not helped it. As of today, for every Euro you exchange you'll get $1.53. The agency "was very pleased with the level of cooperation evidenced at the meeting and the recognition of the importance of prompt provision of data to us," said John Dugan, comptroller of the currency, who leads the agency. Well what are the banks going to do? Turn down the government? Say "No, we're not going to share our information with you?" Unlikely. They don't want to jeopardize their charters. The OCC plans to share the data with state agencies through the HOPE NOW alliance. Hopefully this extra level of oversight will help government regulators discover pending mortgage loan problems sooner in the future. Otherwise it's just more people pushing paper. Melanie G. Rogers ThinkGlink.com Labels: banking, Fraud, loans, Mortgage, OCC
posted by Ilyce Glink at 12:24 PM
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Thursday, February 07, 2008 Advance Fee Loans Are Illegal
Labels: banking, BBB, Better Business Bureau, fees, loans
posted by Ilyce Glink at 11:50 AM
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Save Money, Save the Environment
Right now I pay some of my bills with paper checks and others electronically through the Web. Soon, when my student loan payments come due, I will have those automatically deducted from my account. Paying electronically is the way to go, according to NACHA, a trade group of financial institutions who participate in the Automated Clearing House Network. NACHA released some stats about how paying electronically benefits the environment: - By switching to electronic bills, statements and payments, the average American household can conserve 6.6 pounds of paper, 170 pounds of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of not driving 167 miles or planting two trees), 63 gallons of water and 4.5 gallons of gasoline in one year. - If an additional 2 percent of all American households switch to making payments electronically and receiving bills and statements electronically, the environment would save 181,128 trees, avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 218 Olympic-size swimming pools, avoid creating enough waste to fill 614 garbage trucks, eliminate 194,453 tons of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of taking 32,308 cars off the road). - Paper checks use over 674 million gallons of fuel and add more than 3.6 million tons of greenhouse gases/carbon dioxide to the environment, each year. - To transport 533 million pounds of billing statements and checks, it requires an estimated 235 million gallons of fossil fuels, resulting in more than 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. - About 35 percent of your FICO score is based on payment history including detail on timely payments and late or missed payments. Paying bills via Direct Payment ensures you will never have another late/missed payment. - People who pay bills online do so in 15 minutes, each month. Those who write out checks waste two hours. - 97 percent of those who use Direct Deposit are "very satisfied." - Paying bills electronically saves the average person a minimum of $150 annually on checks, stamps, late fees, etc. So if you want to save your credit score, save money and save trees, try paying more of your bills electronically. Melanie G. Rogers ThinkGlink.com Labels: ACH, banking, energy, environment, Green
posted by Ilyce Glink at 3:40 PM
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Thursday, January 31, 2008 IRS Warns of New Scams
Watch out for scammers calling you for bank account information, warns the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The IRS announced yesterday that identity thieves ask for account numbers saying they need them for you to get your $600 or $1200 rebate. Thieves may also ask for Social Security numbers or credit card numbers. Once they have your personal information, they may use it to steal your financial identity - applying for new loans, running up credit card bills and filing false tax returns. The IRS will not contact you by telephone to get account information. Do not be misled. Also watch out for a phishing scam - where you receive an email asking for personal information and in some cases promising to give your rebate check to a non-profit organization. The IRS does not collect information using email. The same holds true for a scam where you receive an email saying you're getting audited. You will not be notified via email. If you receive a fraudulent email you may forward it to the IRS using this address: phishing@irs.gov. As always, be careful about sharing your personal information. You can always ask why someone needs it. And if you don't like the answer you can do business somewhere else. Melanie G. Rogers ThinkGlink.com Labels: banking, credit cards, Scams, Social Security Numbers, Tax
posted by Ilyce Glink at 3:38 PM
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Friday, November 30, 2007 Federal Reserve Announces Consumer Help OfficeIf you have a problem with a bank or other financial institution you now have someone to call for help. Labels: banking, credit cards, Federal Reserve, Payday Lenders
posted by Ilyce Glink at 1:00 PM
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