While new homeowners should be prepared to take on unexpected costs, a thoughtful housewarming holiday gift can go a long way for someone in the midst of this life change.

A U.S. District Court in California has preliminarily approved an $8.7 million class action settlement stemming from a lawsuit against Discover Financial Services for alleged robocalling practices. Consumers who may be entitled to a payment have been receiving notice of the settlement and must file a claim or opt out by early next year. The claims… Read More

About 90% of arbitration clauses in credit card and checking account agreements prevent consumers from participating in class actions, according to a report released today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Companies and consumers use arbitration to settle disputes outside the court system, and financial service contracts often include “pre-dispute arbitration clauses” — which state… Read More

Though politicians fall all over themselves when it comes to voters in my age bracket and even older (that’s almost impossible to comprehend), a new survey by Harvard’s Institute of Politics shows a growing class of discontented, registered voters who agree that there is one major issue among them regardless of party affiliation: that class… Read More

Real estate investors are hit the hardest by “multiple finance property” guidelines, which the majority of lenders enforce. When an individual owns four or more indebted residential real estate properties beyond the primary home — that’s what’s known as a multiple finance property situation. If you have fewer than four financed properties, then you won’t… Read More

Roughly 70% of the class of 2012 graduated with student loan debt, and the average debt load was $29,400. That doesn’t mean those students or their parents didn’t save for college, but perhaps they wished they had set aside a little more. An informal poll from the National Financial Educators Council showed that many Americans… Read More

Despite the fact that there are myriad tools available to create a budget and get your financial house in order, most of us aren’t doing a very good job at it. But a new iPhone app, Wisely, aims to make it easier for you to budget and track your spending. There are numerous benefits to… Read More

One of the best reasons for paying for a purchase with a credit card instead of a debit card or cash is the power it gives you to dispute charges. If there is a problem with a purchase you’ve charged — you were billed the wrong amount or you didn’t get what you ordered —… Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its latest enforcement action Tuesday, ordering GE Capital Retail Bank and subsidiary CareCredit to refund as much as $34.1 million to consumers who thought they were signing up for interest-free credit cards, but the cards accrued interest to be applied at the end of a promotional period. The refunds,… Read More

Consumers sharply increased their credit card spending in October, adding $4.3 billion to their balances since September, according to the latest consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve. The 16-day partial government shutdown left thousands of federal employees without paychecks for much of the month, and consumers reached for credit cards to cover costs. “The… Read More