Finance Globe

We've heard plenty about the various methods identity thieves use to steal people's private information. Some go dumpster diving, some come up with a ploy to trick consumers out of their private information, some steal wallets and mail.And some actually buy the consumer's information directly from a consumer credit reporting agency.The Federal Trade Commission reported on Thursday that it has charged Minnesota-based Rental Research Services, Inc. and owner Lee Mikkelson with violating the Fair Credit Reporting...

The New and Improved First Time Homebuyer CreditWhen last year's $7500 first time homebuyer credit - which was actually a loan that had to be paid back to the government - didn't do enough to stimulate the housing market, the American Recover and Reinvestment Act 2009 made the deal even sweeter.First of all, though there was talk of it, the new credit is not for $15,000. Congress had to cut some expenses when writing up the...

The U.S. Treasury Department today unveiled the details of the "Making Home Affordable" loan modification program."Only two weeks after the President unveiled his plan to help promote homeowner affordability, we are moving forward today with these guidelines to implement that plan," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said. "This step forward represents a tremendous coordinated effort between major government and regulatory agencies to help bring relief to America's housing market and homeowners. This plan will help make home...

The first month of the year saw a decline in pending home sales, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors.The pending home sales index for January at 80.4 fell 7.7% from a downwardly revised reading of 87.1 in December. The index is also 6.4% below January 2008 when it was 85.9. The index is at the lowest level since the NAR began tracking pending home sales in 2001 when the index...

Citigroup announced on Tuesday that the company has introduced the Citi Homeowner Unemployment Assist program. This is the latest program offered under Citi Homeowner Assistance, a multi-faceted program to help people avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes."Citi understands that unemployment is a major concern facing the American economy right now, and it especially worries mortgage holders," the company said in a statement. The program is designed to help recently unemployed homeowners who are currently delinquent...

The Federal Trade Commission - the nation's consumer protection agency against fraud - reported on Thursday that identity theft was the number one consumer complaint for the ninth year in a row.Of the 1,223,370 complaints in 2008 to the FTC, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other agencies, 313,982 - or 26% - were related to identity theft.The next most frequent complaints were debt collection practices at 9%, fraud relating to shop...

It's apparent that many factors contributed to the economic crisis, but one of the biggest problems "was that our economy was left exposed regulations that were out of date and regulators who weren't minding the store."On Wednesday, President Obama laid out seven key principles for transforming the nation's regulatory system:Enforce strict oversight of financial institutions that pose systemic risksStrengthen markets so they can withstand both system-wide stress and the failure of one or more large institutionsEncourage...

The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009, signed into law last week by President Obama, provided $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD announced on Wednesday that nearly 75% of those funds - $10.1 billion - has already been allocated to create green jobs, to revive housing markets with a high rate of foreclosure, and curb homelessness. "I am pleased to announce that we...

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 - A breakdown of the stimulus package spendingThe $787 billion stimulus package signed into law by President Obama last week:Tax relief: $288 billion total, including $15 billion for infrastructure and science, $61 billion for protecting the vulnerable, $25 billion for education and training, and $22 billion for energy. State and local fiscal relief: $144 billion to prevent state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local...

In his weekly address this morning, President Obama said that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will start to impact families "as soon as a few weeks from now" through the quickest and broadest tax cut in history. He said that 95% of working families will receive a tax cut that amounts to about $65 or more each month. The Treasury Department has been instructing employers to reduce the amount of tax withholding from paychecks, and...