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  • Wells Fargo to modify $2 billion in mortgages


    A story in the American Banker today says Wells Fargo has agreed to modify $2 billion in payment-option adjustible rate mortgages, all of them originated by Wachovia and World Savings.

    These were known as "pick-a-pay" loans and were considered especially at risk for default.

    The agreement reportedly came through a settlement [...]

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  • Foreclosures: Sales and hearings canceled in Broward

    For the holidays, major lenders are halting foreclosure evictions and some South Florida courts are canceling hearings as well as foreclosure sales.

    Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to halt foreclosure evictions during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

    Bank of America also said it will pause its foreclosure sales' [...]

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  • Your money Q&A: What's the standard deduction?

    What are the standard deduction and personal exemption amounts for 2010?
    -Mildred, Boca Raton
    There’s only one change from last year. The head of household standard deduction goes up $50 to $8,400. The rest of the standard deductions remain the same -- $11,400 for married couples filing jointly, $5,700 for [...]

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  • The most-asked personal finance question of 2010

    No surprise: Four of the top five questions asked at Bills.com this year had to do with mortgages. In 2009, the San Mateo, Calif.-based web site says its most-asked questions were more diversified. They were about credit cards and 401(k)s and car payments.

    But houses and mortgage debt certainly have been [...]

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  • Florida home prices, from top to bottom

    Here's the prediction for the average home price in Florida, during the boom and beyond, from Moody's Analytics. It'll get any homeowner's heart pounding.

    Moody Analytics is forecasting an astounding drop, from peak to trough, that is not yet over. That’s from the height of the real estate boom to the [...]

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  • Congressional panel blasts loan modification program

    The Obama administration's Making Home Affordable program will fall woefully short of its stated goal of helping 3 to 4 million homeowners, a Congressional Oversight Panel reports. It may help 700,000 to 800,000. Other shortcomings in the program are detailed here in a report from Mortgage News Daily.

    [...]

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  • Holiday spending: Plan it


    Two-thirds of Americans have no holiday budget, says a new survey from Bankrate.
    Unplanned spending, here you come.

    You know, giving up on this whole budgeting issue isn't resolving it.
    I'm sure it seems too big, especially for those living on limited incomes.
    The survey says that only one [...]

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  • Florida home prices, cut in more than half

    Here's the prediction for the average home price in Florida, during the boom and beyond, from Moody's Analytics. It'll get any homeowner's heart pounding.

    Moody Analytics is forecasting an astounding drop, from peak to trough, that is not yet over. That’s from the height of the real estate boom to the [...]

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  • Your money Q&A: Tax breaks for college may continue

    Will the new tax law affect breaks for college expenses?

    The Senate legislation extends for two years the credit for up to $2,500 in qualified higher education expenses, according to a report from CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business.. The Project on Student Debt says more than 8 million families used the [...]

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  • Did somebody say taxes were going down? They are.

    Starting Jan. 1, the sales tax rate in Palm Beach County will drop to 6 percent from 6.5 percent.
    A five-year old local surtax for schools expires Dec. 31.
    That'll bring Palm Beach County's sales tax rate in line with Broward's 6 percent. In Miami-Dade, it's 7 percent, because [...]

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