Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for August, 2012

Student Loan Debt Continues to Climb

Even as total U.S. consumer debt is shrinking, student loan debt is continuing to rise, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Total consumer debt fell $53 billion in the first quarter to $11.38 trillion, down 0.5 percent from the previous quarter. Americans have been scaling back their debt, especially on […]

Small Business Lending Declines Even as Loan Performance Improves

Lenders are making fewer loans to small businesses these days, keeping their standards as tight as ever, according to recent data, even though more current borrowers are staying on top of their payments. For the fifth time in six months, the Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, a measure of total U.S. small business loan […]

New Mortgage Appraisals Proposed For High Risk Borrowers

A new rule has been proposed, by joint council of financial regulators, that would require lenders to obtain new home appraisals before making any high-risk mortgage loans. As an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act, created by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, regulators from agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal […]

Americans Are Borrowing More, But Not With Credit Cards

U.S. consumer debt is rising, according to new data from The Federal Reserve, yet credit card spending is declining, evidence of a new trend in American financial thought process. Total consumer borrowing rose $6.5 billion in June from May, up to $2.58 trillion, only slightly lower than the July 2008 peak. The growth in debt […]

U.S. Car Sales Fall in July Despite Better Financing

Even though auto dealers have been offering special promotions and credit has been readily available, U.S sales of cars slipped in July, following a strong showing in the first half of the year. The July sales pace fell to an average annualized pace of about 14 million cars, down from the roughly 14.3 million rate […]