Last year, it was discovered...by pure accident ...

Filed under: Banks , Budgets , Credit , Real Estate , Recession How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here . Christine Attalla is among the lucky. The suburban Chicago homeowner not only got a temporary loan modification, but she's on track to convert it to a long-term adjustment before Christmas. She even calls herself lucky, although when she does there's a quiver in her voice. That's because in the process, her credit took a beating. For a solo entrepreneur -- Attalla, 38 and divorced, runs her own public relations company -- poor credit is a serious problem. It all began last spring, when Attalla realized the economic downturn was making it increasingly difficult for her to manage her $3,000-a-month payment on her Bolingbrook home. And she was pregnant, so she knew she'd have less earning power later in the year. Attalla heard from a friend about the modification program, applied in April through her lender, CitiMortgage, and waited. She was approved for a three-month trial reduction -- for June, July and August -- which cut her monthly payments in half. If she kept current, she said, she would qualify for a permanent modification that started with a 2% interest rate and tiered up after a decade. So far, so good.Continue reading Faces of loan modification: Christine Attalla, Bolingbrook, Ill. Faces of loan modification: Christine Attalla, Bolingbrook, Ill. originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Budgets , Debt , Home , Real Estate This is the last of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here . The workers are gone, the dumpster was picked up, and we are touching up the stain and paint. Now that things are finished, we are so glad that we put in the quality finishes and the extra touches we wanted. The total cost was around $55,000 -- twice as much as we had originally planned. The investment is definitely worth it. Now we have new plumbing throughout the house, updated electrical, refinished floors, and a state-of-the-art kitchen -- all upgrades that are bound to boost the value of our home if we ever decide to sell. Continue reading Extreme home makeover, Part V: $55,000 later, we're finally done Extreme home makeover, Part V: $55,000 later, we're finally done originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Budgets , Home , Real Estate , Wealth , Recession This is the fourth part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here . We continue to eat dust and stumble through piles of stuff. In spite of the inconveniences, I was starting to feel positive about the progress -- that is, until a large semi-truck pulled up to deliver the dome that goes over the tub. Rick, our contractor, and my husband soon discovered the dome weighed close to 400 pounds. With daggers in their eyes, they asked, "And just how are we suppose to get this thing out?" Fortunately. I remembered reading on the website that the dome was actually quite light -- it was the packing that was so heavy. Grumbling and swearing under their breath, they emerged about 15 minutes later with a fiberglass dome to be temporarily stored in the living room. Tom's Take: It always makes sense to add the cost of a few visits with your chiropractor to every home improvement budget. Continue reading Extreme home makeover, Part IV: Progress at last, but roadblocks remain Extreme home makeover, Part IV: Progress at last, but roadblocks remain originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tax , Technology , Taxes-income-tax-basics , Taxes-advice If the trend in e-filing continues, the IRS expects more than 100 million individual taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically for the 2009 tax year. More than one-third of those taxpayers will file by personal computer; the remainder will use a professional tax preparer or free file at an IRS site. No matter how you choose to e-file this year, following are some tips to make it as easy as possible. Continue reading E-filing tips that should save time, if not money E-filing tips that should save time, if not money originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tax , Taxes-income-tax-basics , Taxes-advice Chances are, you filed your federal taxes electronically this year. According to the IRS, about two out of every three individual taxpayers elected to e-file in 2009 , up almost 6% from returns filed electronically in 2008. That works out to just a few million returns shy of 100 million individual returns, or 67% of tax returns. It's a pretty incredible increase for the IRS e-file program which began just more than 20 years ago. In 1986, the first year of the program, just 25,000 refund-only returns were accepted in three locations, less than 1% of the returns filed in 2009. Continue reading IRS' e-file program gaining users IRS' e-file program gaining users originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Banks , Budgets , Debt , Real Estate , Recession , Mortgages , Refinancing How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here . Kathy Partak went into loan modification armed with the powerful combination of knowledge and motivation. She had worked in the mortgage business, so she knew her rights and the right vocabulary to use. And she had a step-rate loan that was about to step up dramatically. Add to that an on-the-job shoulder injury that left her unemployed and Partak figured she was a perfect candidate for modifying the loan on her three-bedroom home in Auburn, Calif. But Chase Manhattan Bank denied her a modification, Partak said, telling her, "Unemployment is not a permanent hardship." "Hopefully not!" said Partak, 42. "But it's one of the reasons they allow for on their paperwork of qualification."Continue reading Faces of loan modification: Kathy Partak, Auburn, Calif. Faces of loan modification: Kathy Partak, Auburn, Calif. originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Budgets , Home , Real Estate , Buyer Beware This is the third part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here . The situation is deteriorating fast. A large part of the problem is our fault, we're falling victim to an all-too-common disorder in the industry called project creep. It works like this: If we are going to put in a new hallway floor, why not rip up the carpet upstairs and do all the floors there, too? And if we are going to do the upstairs, then it only make sense to do the downstairs as well. Since we got such a good deal on the granite, why don't we put new counter tops in the kitchen? For that matter, why not get new appliances? After all, the plumber and electrician are already here. They can get things hooked up. Don't you think the whole thing will look lousy if we don't re-tile the kitchen back splash? Why not, it already has a hole in it from the plumber. And so on... Continue reading Extreme home makeover, Part III: Falling victim to project creep Extreme home makeover, Part III: Falling victim to project creep originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Extracurriculars , Shopping , Black Friday Lovers of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s latest offering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, propelled the first-day sales numbers into the record books, raking in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom alone. A move sure to help the gaming industry's slumping October sales . Fans of the game waited in lines for hours to for the clock to strike midnight on Tuesday, November 10, contributing to Activision's estimates that it sold about 4.7 million copies of the game in the first 24 hours it was available. That makes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the biggest-selling launch in the history of entertainment. The game, which sells for $60 and plays on Windows-based computers, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, is sure to be at the top of many Black Friday shopper's lists. Shoppers hoping to save a Black Friday buck or two on Call of Duty should check Best Buy's Black Friday ad. And not just for Call of Duty deals. The retailer will be offering several hot new releases at reduced Black Friday prices. For instance, Left For Dead 2, which will debut on Nov 17 for $60 will list 10 days later for $34.99 For other red-hot Black Friday deals and news coverage stay tuned to WalletPop's Black Friday Deals 2009 .Call of Duty: Retail's silver bullet to boost sales figures originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Banks , Real Estate , Recession , Mortgages , Refinancing How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here . Public relations consultant Mark Bonacorso faced the good and bad news of divorce with resolve. The good: he got the 3,500-square-foot adobe in northwest Tucson. The bad: he also got the first and second mortgages and the $2,700-a-month payments. He wanted to make it work, especially since his home was worth less than he owed. At first, with business strong at his firm, Media Ink, this seemed feasible. Then, as the recession slowed work, forcing him to lay off his two employees in March, those payments became daunting. Bonacorso was not looking for Bank of America, his lender, to cut his principal. He called hoping to reduce his monthly payments by combining his first and second mortgages, lowering their interest rates -- now 5.875% on his first; 7.625% on his second -- and extending the loan's term from 30 years to at least 40.Continue reading Faces of loan modification: Mark Bonacorso, Tucson, Ariz. Faces of loan modification: Mark Bonacorso, Tucson, Ariz. originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Shopping , Economizer To give, or not to give a gift card? No matter how impersonal it may seem, this holiday season it's a proposition that will be hard to resist. Retailers are stepping up offers that include gift cards as bonuses or dangling free cards with purchases. They're doing so for good reason: Gift cards will be the most requested gift during this year's holiday season, according to a recent report by the National Retail Federation . According to the NRF's survey, 55% of adults in the United States want a gift card this year. Retailers have definitely taken note. Research firm First Data expects retailers to use cards as promotional tools this season more than ever before.Continue reading Gift cards deals to die for Gift cards deals to die for originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Health , Insurance-health Critics of health-care insurance overhaul legislation, currently being debated in the U.S. Senate, have charged that any change to the existing system will result in greater numbers of unhappy patients. A new survey of satisfaction among consumers with health coverage, however, shows promise that it is possible to cover everyone and still have satisfied patients.Continue reading Massachusetts top spot for best health insurers, survey shows Massachusetts top spot for best health insurers, survey shows originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Transportation , Fraud , Consumer Ally Extended warranties of all sorts have always been a dicey proposition, but when it comes to extended auto warranties many don't even appear to be warranties at all. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster took aim at the industry this week by suing six companies that market the so-called warranties and warning the public that what is being pitched isn't what you end up with. He said the industry is "rife with fraud." Koster said what consumers are actually buying into are limited "service contracts" or "automotive additives" deals rather than a traditional warranty. That was done to avoid consumer protections otherwise afforded by law, he said in a news release. The contracts are filled with catches. Among them: A 30 to 90 day (or 1,000 miles) timeframe when you can't make a claim. Promotion of a 7-year, 100,000 miles warranty extension that doesn't note coverage is limited to the declining value of the car. (In other words, Koster said, "The coverage may soon be less than the price paid by the consumer for the contact). Sending an additive to be put into your car immediately to activate coverage without noting that its use negates the ability to cancel. Continue reading Steer clear of auto warranty deals: Missouri AG sues 6 Steer clear of auto warranty deals: Missouri AG sues 6 originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Budgets , Debt , Home , Real Estate , Shopping , Special Reports This is the second part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here . Now it was onto the next step : Demolition. The destruction was scheduled to begin right after the holidays. Tom's take: Good idea to hold off on demolition until after the holidays. I can't tell you how many panicked calls I've received on my radio show from folks that absolutely had to get a major project done before an event (a holiday, wedding, anniversary party, sweet-sixteen, whatever). It never makes sense to put that kind of pressure on yourself -- or your contractor. Build a fudge factor into the schedule and the stress factor goes way down. Continue reading Extreme home makeover, Part II: Demolition ensues Extreme home makeover, Part II: Demolition ensues originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments