Published Sunday, September 25, 2011 @ 3:20 pm

Last week, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said it would cut about=a35,000 jobs and reduce annual expenses by $5 billion, as it struggles with costs from its 2008 takeover of Countrywide Financial Corp and a nearly 50 percent drop in share price this year.

The layoffs could have huge ripple effects for the North Carolina economy.…

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Published Monday, January 24, 2011 @ 8:20 pm

As you made your New Year’s resolutions to dispense with debt and start on the road to saving, it appears many American banks made their own commitments to upping customer fees and, in the process, further padding their coffers in 2011.

In fact, according to a new article from The New York Times’ Ron Lieber, “Earlier this month, Bank of America announced its intent to test a number of different monthly fees for customers in some states, depending on the balance in their accounts or other relationships with the institution.…

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Published Tuesday, December 28, 2010 @ 10:30 pm

A number of months ago, it came to light that a number of banks, in conjunction with a few large law firms and foreclosure processing companies, were creating foreclosure assembly lines. As cases came down the line, outsourced “foreclosure specialists” would rubber stamp each one, regardless of its individual circumstances. For example, families who may have just started a modification program or were perhaps late on only one payment were being asked to turn in their keys.…

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Published Wednesday, November 24, 2010 @ 5:03 am

Student loans, except in a few rare instances where a severe personal hardship can be proven and allowed by a judge, are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Thankfully, student credit cards can be discharged in a Chapter 7, because banks work tirelessly to contribute to the spending habits of America’s college students.…

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Published Saturday, November 13, 2010 @ 8:21 am

Even though the Triangle is one of the better performing real estate markets in the country, even being named by Newsweek as one of the Top 10 Places in America Poised for Recovery, it wasn’t enough to buoy the state’s foreclosure rate, which has surged during 2010.

In October, the foreclosure rate jumped more than 40 percent when compared to the same time last year.…

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Published Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 11:01 am

Data recently released by the Federal Reserve demonstrates that our collective credit card debt is on the way down and has been trending lower for the last 11 months. The “Fed” issues a monthly Consumer Credit report that tracks an array of spending metrics throughout the country. The most recent cited an annual decrease in credit card debt of 13.1 percent, totaling $899.44 billion.…

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Published Wednesday, October 7, 2009 @ 8:40 am

With the government’s new credit card legislation possibly reaching its stride two months early on December 1, a lot of frustrated credit card users may be breathing a collective sigh of relief. Given the tighter restrictions on credit card issuers, you might want to take the opportunity to be a little more choosy in selecting your new card, as industry players are going to push hard to win customers from competitors, using reward plans and low introductory rates as incentives.…

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Published Sunday, September 13, 2009 @ 10:44 am

In July, the number of people who defaulted on their credit cards dropped for the first time in several months, leaving many financial experts to wonder about the cause.

In the midst of speculation that the recession may be turning around, bankruptcy filings continue to climb and many debt management and bankruptcy attorneys cite a rise in the number of people leveraging retirement funds to stay afloat.…

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Published Wednesday, July 15, 2009 @ 12:18 pm

The Associated Press is reporting that banks will soon start employing variable interest rate strategies on most credit cards. This means that the days of the fixed rate card are numbered.

It should come as no surprise to you, our loyal readers, that is in response to the federal government’s crackdown on sudden interest rate hikes, vague terminology relative to fees and an industry-wide, consumer-unfriendly marketing approach.…

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