Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

White House Set To Review Energy Department Loans

The White House is being criticized over an Energy Department loan made for over a half million dollars to Solyndra, Inc, a company that has now filed for bankruptcy. According to a Washington Post article the White House will be conducting an independent review of other loans made to companies similar to Solyndra in hopes to determine if other such loans may be in jeopardy. The White House had the following to say: “Today we are directing that an independent analysis be conducted of the current state of the Department of Energy loan portfolio, focusing on future loan monitoring and... more »

Will We See Higher Interest Rates This Year?

The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee April 26 – 27 meeting were released today, revealing that Federal Reserve officials have started talking about an exit policy for its aggressive market support measures. That means interest rates are bound to rise, but how soon can we expect a jump in rates? “While the Fed said they’re tussling internally, they’re certainly not ready to step on the accelerator,” with regards to raising interest rates, said Jim Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors in a Wall Street Journal article. “They didn’t really accelerate any timetable. When the Fed says... more »

Chrysler to Repay Government Loans in Full

Chrysler, the auto dealer many thought might not make it out of the recession, seems to finally be standing on near solid ground. During the first quarter of this year, Chrysler finally saw the first quarterly profit since 2006. Chrysler is the last of the three big auto makers to reach the profit margin. During the first quarter, profits came in at 116 million where last year during the same quarter, they lost 197 million. In light of the first quarter profits coupled with the fact that the company is on track for selling their goal of 2 million vehicles... more »

New Debit Card Fee Regulations Spur Lawsuit

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fed’s Board of Governors are being sued over new debit card fee regulations passed by Congress. TCF National Bank, backed in Minnesota, filed the suit claiming the rules, which limit the amount of money banks can charge for card transactions, are unconstitutional. “The purpose of sound regulation is to introduce or advance competition, not to destroy it,” TCF’s lawyers wrote in a court filing, as quoted in an article on Businessweek.com. The rule, called the Durbin Amendment, is part of the Frank-Dodd financial overhaul law. It dramatically reduces the fee a bank can charge... more »

Home Prices near You: Are They Rising or Falling?

Home prices in most of the United States have declined steeply over the past few years, with an estimated loss of $6 trillion. However, it’s not doom and gloom everywhere. In some parts of the country, median home prices have actually increased. So where have home prices improved? Our friends at Quicken Loans put together this Home Prices Infographic that compares median home prices today to prices in 2007 and shows the top 5 winners and losers. Source: Home Mortgage – Quicken Loans ... more »

Small Banks Are Closing Their Doors

Small banks across the country are being forced to shut their doors. This year alone over 140 small banks so far have closed up for good. While small banks at one time were the mainstream of America, today they are vanishing and someday may be a thing of the past. Just like many other small businesses, small banks have been unable to compete with the larger ones. Add to the competition a depressed economy and many small banks simply cannot survive. The recession has left small banks scrambling. While large banks throughout the country were able to get financial tax... more »

Top 10 VA Loan Myths Debunked

VA loans are a top benefit of military service, and with good reason. They are the last traditional loan program to offer 100% financing and refinancing on mortgages and have the most flexible credit guidelines available. But even though the program has amazing things to offer, many veterans are unaware of the full magnitude of their benefit. This sad fact can be explained when you think about how much the VA loan program has changed over the years. The VA loan doesn’t have to be difficult to understand, and every American veteran should be able to easily understand the benefits... more »

Wall Street Reform Inpacts Student Loans

Last week legislators reached an agreement to overhaul the financial system, providing the biggest changes seen since the 1930s. The legislation, does not appease everyone, but does make some significant changes that are meant to prevent another financial crisis. The proposal can be found in a 2000 page document. The plan is calling for amongst other things, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be developed, regulators to watch out for major risks to the financial system, tougher regulations to prevent another economic meltdown and government power to seize and break up companies that are at risk for hurting the American... more »

Bailout Has Not Saved All Banks

New data from bank research firm SNL today showed that even though high profile banks like Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Bank of America have paid off their government loans, there are 55 smaller lenders that have fallen behind on just repaying the required quarterly dividends as of November. There were only 33 such tardy banks in August. To date, the government has shut down 140 banks this year, a record high since 1992, and this new data shows that more closings may follow next year as lenders are unable to meet their financial responsibilities. The government loans are part of... more »

Banks to Bail Out the Government?

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the government agency that insures consumer deposits at banks, declared yesterday that its reserves are way down and that the fund it uses to protect bank deposits is now in the red. The solution: have banks prepay their fees for the next four years, including the current one, before the end of 2009. The FDIC’s money problems are a result of the many bank failures over the past two years. Back in June 2008 the agency had $45.2 billion in its fund, but after 95 bank failures in the first half of 2009 alone the... more »