February 1, 2010
NID Housing Counseling Agency, in partnership with President Barack Obama’s Administration, is offering a free service to help home owners stay in their homes.
They can help you modify your loan, lower your interest rate, or prevent foreclosure even if you lost your job. Family assistance is allowed.
Call Frostine Holmes at 708.650.0624 for more information.
NID-HCA is a HUD approved organization, and is located at 6459 S. Cottage Grove in Chicago. Visit www.nidonline.org for more information.
January 29, 2010
January 22, 2010
January 22, 2010
WARNING: 2010 Census Cautions from the Better Business Bureau
Be Cautious About Giving Info to Census Workers by Susan Johnson
With the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States, and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race, and other relevant data.
The big question is – how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist?
The BBB offers the following advice:
** If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don’t know into your home.
Do not give your Social Security number, credit card, or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census.
REMEMBER, NO MATTER WHAT THEY ASK, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TO TELL THEM HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE AT YOUR ADDRESS.
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range,
YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION.
The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations.
Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau.
No Acorn worker should approach you saying he/she is with the Census Bureau.
Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail, or in person at home.
However, the Census Bureau will not contact you by Email, so be on the lookout for Email scams impersonating the Census.
Never click on a link or open any attachments in an Email that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau..
January 22, 2010
What Congress giveth, credit card companies are poised to take away.
In six weeks, the final major provisions of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act will take effect. The law prohibits many egregious tactics used by card issuers, such as retroactively raising interest rates on consumers’ balances. But issuers have reacted to the sweeping new consumer protection law by quickly inventing new egregious tactics, including raising rates and lowering credit limits on half of all U.S. cardholders.
And that may just be the beginning. Bill Hardekopf of Lowcards.com expects a series of new “gotchas” from card issuers in the year ahead, as they struggle to recover revenue lost to the CARD Act or the economic downturn. Here are six new booby traps consumers should watch for this year.
1) More cards with annual fees
Today, only about 20 percent of credit cards come with annual fees, Hardekopf said, and consumers with good credit can easily avoid them. That will be less true this coming year. Already, Bank of America is surprising some existing customers by adding fees ranging from $29 to $99.
Annual fees need not be so obvious, however. Citibank is demanding $2,400 minimum annual spending from some customers — otherwise, they face a $35 fee.
It’s important to carefully watch your bill to see if an annual fee has been added, Hardekopf warns. Otherwise, you might pay the fee unknowingly.
Despite the expected onslaught of annual fees, Hardekopf says consumers should still be able to find annual fee-free cards.
“I believe the credit card industry is competitive enough to where there will be an issuer or issuers who will offer free cards,” he said.
Consumers who are tagged with a new fee should seriously consider dumping the card and getting a new one. That should be done with care, however. Never close the old card without receiving a new one first, because closing the card will hurt your credit score and could prevent you from getting a new one. Even closing it later will hurt your score, but probably not enough to exceed an unwanted $99 annual fee.
2) Fixed-rate cards changed to variable rates
It will be harder for banks to raise consumers’ credit card rates once Feb. 22 rolls around. There is one loophole: Variable rates will still float up and down in line with the Prime Rate. Since bank rates have nowhere to go but up, variable rate card rates will definitely be going up. Watch the mail for notice that your fixed-rate card is no longer fixed. If you don’t like the change, consider switching to a new card – but follow the advice above.
3) Increases in interest rates
Many existing cardholders have already endured rate hikes; now, it’s time for new cardholders to get hit. The CARD Act has no limits on the rates that consumers can be charged when applying for new credit cards. Unable to raise rates on current customers, banks will target new customers with higher prices. Why is this important? Consumers who feel jilted will be shopping around, and may not find options as many attractive alternatives as in the past.
4) Increases in existing fees
The CARD Act eliminated some fees, such as over-limit fees, but it did nothing to cap other fees. The best example so far: balance transfers between cards have typically been 3 percent for some time. Last year, Bank of America hiked the fee to 4 percent and recently JP Morgan Chase raised its to 5 percent. Cash advance fees will likely follow suit, and late fees probably won’t be far behind.
5) New fees
This is the most alarming area of all.
“Overall, I think fees is the big word for 2010,” Hardekopf said. “There are people dreaming up fees right now that you and I have never heard of.”
Card companies are taking tips from other industries in their fee-invention schemes, he said. Some issuers are charging $1 a month for paper bills (imitating the cell phone industry). Fifth Third Bancorp recently added a $19 inactivity fee for customers who don’t use their cards during a year. (Stockbrokers were the trail blazers on that one.
“Since fees represent such a cash cow for issuers, expect aggressive increases in existing fees as well as some brand new fees on your credit cards,” he said.
6) Futzing with rewards
Decreasing the value of rewards points might not sound as harsh as a penalty fee, but it is. Card issuers have myriad ways they can toy with rewards values, and many have begun doing so in earnest. Many miles cards now require more points for travel; some have added “tiers” that make travel more expensive, effectively devaluing the points. Other cuts are more obvious: Cash reward cards that lower their percentage rebate, for example. One of Hardekopf’s personal cards now rebates only 1.25 percent of all purchases, down from 1.5 percent.
“I’m an avid user of credit cards. I put everything on my card just so we can get the cash back,” he said. “This decrease in rewards is costing us money and I’m irritated.”
Better or worse?
While the CARD Act contains many positive consumer protections, it’s open for debate whether consumers will be better off after it takes effect than they were before, given the reaction by banks. Hardekopf thinks there’s not much room for debate.
“I think consumers are worse off than they were before,” he said. “Taken with what the issuers have done in response to the CARD ACT, I do think it has hurt more people than it helped.”
Check out the original story here:
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/01/six-new-credit-card-booby-traps-on-the-way.html
January 19, 2010
Virginia’s House Inc. II is a non-profit organization that provides shelter to women victims of domestic abuse and homeless individuals.
If you or anyone you know are in need of shelter for one of the above-mentioned reasons, contact Virginia’s House at 773.767.0273 / fax: 773.767.0446. It is located at 3818 W, 87th St. in Chicago.
Visit http://www.virginiashouseinc.com/ for more information.
January 9, 2010
At the ReBuilding Exchange, we always have affordable appliances for families in need, and right now, we have a special refrigerator sale, ranging in price from $50-$75. Please share this information with your community partners and anyone you think would benefit from an affordable, slightly used refrigerator. If you want more information about the ReBuilding Exchange, please visit www.rebuildingexchange.org. You can also reach us at (773) 847-3761 or info@rebuildingexchange.org.
January 9, 2010
Here are some helpful hints that could make your winters easier to deal with …
Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights – lasts 6 weeks.
Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity.
Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it’s way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they’ll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water—preventing water from freezing!
Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber.
Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.
De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems’ solved!
January 8, 2010
If you or someone you know is having problems paying rent due to loss of job, or illness, or who have become homeless due to the economy or for the same reasons listed, and are residing in Cook County or Hammond, contact Gloria Mullins at 312-603-1006. Chicago residence 311 or 1877 426 6515
Disclaimer: I don’t know how old this information is as it has been passed around the internet for the past few months. Check it out anyway.
January 7, 2010
Happy New Year!
I thought this site was going to be discontinued, but I’m finding that it will be useful for the information that people send to me that do not fit into the categories on Shorty: Your Chicago South Side Resource site (www.goshorty.net).
For information and resources on culture, education, employment, health and youth activities, visit Go Shorty. Stop through here fore all other information.
