• Truth in Lending Act requires a lender to tell you how much it will cost to borrow money so that you can compare the terms of credit offered by different lenders.
• Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act requires a lender offering you a credit card to tell you the annual percentage rate (APR), the amount of any annual fee, and whether
• Fair Credit Reporting Act controls how your credit history (how you pay your bills) is kept by credit bureaus and used by lenders
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lenders from discriminating against you in a credit transaction on the basis of certain personal characteristics such as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, because you receive public assistance or because you’ve exercised your rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lays out the rules a debt collector must follow when trying to collect a debt from a consumer.
• Home Equity Loan Consumer Protection Act requires a lender to give you complete information about the home equity loan plan it offers—first when you receive an application and again before you first use the line of credit.
• The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act requires disclosures and imposes substantive limitations on mortgage transactions having rates or fees above a certain percentage or amount. It also requires disclosures about the potential costs for reverse mortgages.
• Fair Housing Act prohibits lenders from discriminating against you in real estate mortgage or home improvement loans on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or handicap.
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act states that lenders must give purchasers information about the costs required to close a mortgage loan. It also protects consumers from unnecessarily high real estate settlement costs by prohibiting certain business practices. This applies when you take out or refinance a loan secured by real estate such as a mortgage loan or a home equity loan.
• Fair Credit Billing Act requires that a lender promptly correct a mistake on your credit card bill.
• Truth in Savings Act requires lenders to disclose the terms of their deposit accounts in a uniform way.
• Consumer Leasing Act requires the costs and the terms of a consumer lease, such as a lease for a car or for furniture, be outlined to you so that you can compare the cost of leasing.

• Bank Accounts and Services
  • How to File a Consumer Complaint About a Bank
  • Protecting Yourself from Overdraft and Bounced-Check Fees
  • What You Should Know about Your Checks
  • When Is Your Check Not a Check? Electronic Check Conversion
• Consumer Credit
  • Choosing a Credit Card
  • Consumer Handbook to Credit Protection Laws
  • Your Credit Report: What it Says about You
• Leasing
  • Keys to Vehicle Leasing: A Consumer Guide
• Mortgages
  • A Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Lock-Ins
  • A Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Settlement Costs
  • Consumer Handbook on Adjustable-Rate Mortgages (ARM)
  • Home Mortgages: Understanding the Process and Your Right to Fair Lending
  • Interest-Only Mortgage Payments and Payment-Option ARMs–Are They for You?
  • Looking for the Best Mortgage: Shop, Compare, Negotiate
  • Online Mortgage Calculator
  • Putting Your Home on the Loan Line Is Risky Business
  • What You Should Know about Home Equity Lines of Credit
• Personal Finance
  • Budgeting & Saving
  • Building Wealth: A Beginner’s Guide to Securing Your Financial Future
  • Mymoney.gov
  • Personal Financial Education
  • Privacy Choices for Your Personal Financial Information
  • 66 Ways to Save Money

Update: Unfortunately, due to the shady activities of certain website owners, I had to remove quite a few articles submitted here. I’ll be writing a TOS for future articles. I don’t like to take a hard-line stance on what I approve and what I don’t, I want everyone to have their chance to share what they’ve written, but now, due to the unfortunate attempts at wasting my time of a certain few, now-blacklisted, individuals, if you submit an article here and it even smells for a second like it’s a spam blog, or scraped content,  or the blog is “made for adsense,” you will be blacklisted and your article removed.

Money and Finances

Tracy Coenen presents Flip This House lawsuit update posted at FRAUDfiles.

Mortgage Market

Brandon L. presents Did you know this about FHA Loans? posted at FHA Mortgage Center Blog, saying, “FHA loans are a great deal. Learn about why they can save you a ton of money and make buying a home much easier.”

Other

Gavin R. Putland presents Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore & Taiwan: How property taxes affect economic growth posted at Gavonomics.

Larry Russell presents Diversify To Avoid Investment Fraud posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “Stories about investment fraud often seem to include the phrase “his or her life savings.” There should never be a moment during your lifetime when your life savings are not heavily diversified across many investment vehicles and firms.”

Personal Stories

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Can Renting Play A Part In The American Dream? posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, “I calculated that our net worth could increase significantly if we sold our home, rented an apartment and invested the equity that was, at the time, tied up in the sticks and bricks over our heads. My husband and I fancy our debt-free life. Here are some of the other benefits our lifestyle as renters offers our family.”

Real Estate Market

Karyn presents Consider Buying Your Own Vacation Home posted at All About Orlando, saying, “Florida remains one of the best places to invest in real estate. The year round vacation season and minimal investment required make it the perfect place to purchase a vacation home.”

The Baglady presents San Mateo Home Sellers in Trouble #4 — 10/8/2007 to 10/21/2007 posted at xynny.

Tips & Tricks

Joshua Dorkin presents A Primer on Escrowed Funds posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

R.Pettinger presents Refused a Mortgage? – Options of things to do. posted at Mortgage Blog, saying, “What to do when refused a mortgage.”

Colin Robertson presents Biweekly Mortgage Payments posted at Mortgage Tips and Credit Help.

Ason Elder presents Personal Loans With Bankruptcy posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog, saying, “Here I discuss a few things you may not know when dismissing personal loans in your bankruptcy”

Aaron Wakling presents Credit Checks – What They Are And What You Need To Know posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog, saying, “Credit checks involve sensitive personal data. Therefore, many people are concerned about precisely who they’ve entrusted with their records. Fortunately, the Fair Credit Reporting Act has established unambiguous rules governing credit checks.”

Mortgage Market

Mariette presents Getting/Refinancing a Mortgage in a Brave New World posted at The Boulevard to Retirement.

Mike Carpenter presents The Financial Bullet: Subprime is Gone, FHA, and Credit Unions posted at FeedBulletin for: financialbullet, saying, “Discusses how subprime is gone. FHA lending. The value of credit unions.”

Personal Stories

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Stuck In This Housing Market Slump posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!”

Real Estate Market

Matthew Paulson presents Housing Prices Recovering in Many Markets Nationwide posted at Getting Green.

Marti Gellens presents Why isn’t my La Jolla home selling? posted at La Jolla Real Estate: La Jolla Luxury Homes.

Tips & Tricks

Mark McGuire presents Get an Accountant/CPA posted at TheLocoMono Website, saying, “If you are interested in real estate properties, you need an accountant or CPA to help you present your financial paperwork in order.”

Gregg & Debbie Newman presents Downtown San Diego 1031 Tax Exchange Basics posted at Downtown San Diego Real Estate.

Other

Joshua Dorkin presents House Flipping Reality TV Shows: Good or Bad for Newbie Investors and Flippers? posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

Steve Faber presents - Homeowner’s Capital Gains Tax Deduction and More Possibly Headed for Big Change posted at DebtBlog.

Larry Russell presents Avoiding financial advisor and investment counselor frauds and scams – Overview posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “The best way to avoid being defrauded or scammed by a financial or investment advisor is to investigate carefully several different advisers before hiring one of them. If you carefully choose a financial adviser or investment counselor, you have a far greater chance of finding one who is objective, competent, and ethical. This could help you to avoid significant problems in the future.”

Thanks to everyone who was able to submit their hard work to be shared with my readers! Enjoy!

artThailand presents Owning a condo in Thailand posted at artThailand.

Logan Flatt, CFA presents You Don’t Own Real Estate. Real Estate Owns You. posted at PowerWealth.com, saying, “Many Americans believe that real estate can do no wrong as an asset class upon which they can build wealth. I disagree. Building wealth through real estate depends on your ability to distinguish among the three types of real estate ownership – investment, speculative, and personal. If you don’t know the differences, you may soon discover that you don’t own real estate, real estate owns you.”

Mortgage Market

Steve Faber presents - Margin – the Part of Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage that Can Kill You (and Some Other Things You Should Know) posted at DebtBlog.

Leon Gettler presents Fraud and foreclosures posted at Sox First, saying, “Is there a link between foreclosures, the hot housing market and fraud? Very much so. Once the housing market cools, there is an increase in foreclosures, delinquencies and defaults of mortgage loans that have been based on fraudulent information.”

Jeff Autero presents When The Bubble Burst posted at Save The Middle Class.

Other

Larry Russell presents Understand the confusing securities market motion picture posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “Securities markets are usually very quick to adjust prices to reflect new information. However, this price adjustment process may take longer and be more volatile, if the new information is ambiguous.”

Real Estate Market

Phil B. presents Is it Time to Purchase Bank Foreclosed Properties? « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “With the increased number of mortgage defaults and decreased real estate values, it may be time to purchase an investment property soon. Exactly how soon is a debatable question, but many experts are guesstimating between the end of 2008 and first quarter of 2009.”

Jorge H. presents National Association of Realtors Out of Touch with Reality posted at My Adventures into The Street, saying, “A discussion on the current state of the housing market”