Month: August 2023

Apache is functioning normally

As the Federal Open Markets Committee raised interest rates by 25 basis points last Thursday, mortgage rates ticked up and mortgage applications fell.  For the week that ended July 28, mortgage applications fell 3% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

“Mortgage rates edged higher last week, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate’s increase to 6.93% and leading to another decline in overall applications,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. 

The purchase index kept decreasing for the third straight week, hitting its lowest level since the beginning of June. Meanwhile, it remains 26% behind last year’s levels. The decline in purchase activity was driven mainly by weaker conventional purchase application volume, said Kan.

He added : “The limited housing inventory and rates still close to 7% are crimping affordability for many potential homebuyers.”

On the other hand, the refinance market continues to suffer from these higher rates with many homeowners not looking for refinance opportunities. The refinance index decreased 3% since last week and is 32% lower than it was the same week a year ago.

At Mortgage News Daily, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates were at 7.10% on Tuesday. At HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center, Optimal Blue had rates at 6.88% on Monday.

The Federal Housing Administration loans’ share increased to 13.3% from 12.7% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs loans’ share dropped to 11.6% from 12.1%. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture loans’ share ticked up to 0.7% from 0.5%.

Adjustable-rate mortgages increased to 6.5% of total loan applications last week, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs climbed to 6.18% from 6.01% a week prior.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Whether you found a billing error on your credit card statement, suspect a fraudulent charge or simply aren’t satisfied with a product you purchased, the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974 (FCBA) gives cardholders recourse to dispute charges and get their money back. But that grace period comes with a time limit, as disputes must be submitted in writing no later than 60 days after your credit card statement is issued.

Here’s what you need to know about the FCBA, including credit card dispute time limits, valid reasons for filing a dispute and how long credit card disputes take once they are filed.

Understand your legal rights

The ability to dispute false charges isn’t just a courtesy extended by credit card issuers; it’s a legal right protected by the FCBA. In accordance with that federal law, you have 60 days from the date your credit card statement is issued to dispute a billing error. To comply with this policy, your dispute must be submitted in writing.

🤓Nerdy Tip

The legal minimum time frame for filing a dispute is 60 days, but some credit card processors allow for a longer window. For example, Visa, Mastercard and American Express each allow chargeback requests up to 120 days from the date of the transaction in certain cases. If it’s been longer than 60 days, check with your issuer directly to determine whether you can still file a dispute.

Once you’ve filed your dispute, the FCBA provides that the credit card issuer must acknowledge receipt of your dispute and launch an investigation within 30 days. From there, it has 90 days to either resolve the dispute with a credit to your account or provide a written explanation of why the charges stand.

Before you dispute a credit card charge

Although all cardholders have the legal right to dispute unfair credit card charges, the process can be complicated, so it’s best to make sure your dispute is valid before filing it.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Disputes can’t be filed on pending charges, so if you see a suspicious transaction, you’ll have to wait until it has fully processed. Note that pending transactions can sometimes be caused by credit card holds, meaning they don’t match the final amount that will be charged.

To save yourself from unnecessary paperwork, take these steps before you follow through with initiating a dispute:

Run a search on the name of the company. Some companies operate under multiple names, using one name for customer-facing purposes and a different one for operations and logistics. If you see a transaction from a company name you don’t recognize, a quick online search may help you realize what the charge is.

Check your email, past statements and other payment records. Do you have a free trial or subscription that you forgot to cancel? Or do you have recurring but infrequent charges, like an annual bill? If you take a few minutes to check through your email for order confirmations and review past credit card statements, that will help ensure this isn’t a charge you simply forgot about.

Talk to authorized users to see if they recognize the charge. If your spouse, child, employee or anyone else is an authorized user on your credit card or has access to use the card, they may be the source of the unrecognized transaction.

Contact the merchant directly. If you’re certain there was a billing error — or alternatively, if you’re simply not satisfied with a product you purchased — contact the merchant directly. Explain the issue with the transaction and request a chargeback. If the chargeback is approved, the transaction will be reversed and funds will be returned. And even if the merchant is uncooperative, that documentation will help speed up the investigation once your dispute is filed.

Put your dispute in writing

Although it may make sense to initiate a credit card dispute online or by phone, full compliance with the FCBA requires that you follow up that initial contact in writing within that 60-day window. This ensures that both you and your credit card issuer have record of the dispute and that an investigation can be conducted with accurate information.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Many major issuers offer options to dispute a charge in writing from your online account. Simply go to your account activity, select the charge in question and look for a link that says “report a problem,” “dispute charge” or similar. Then follow the prompts to complete your written dispute.

Your written dispute should include your name and account number, the date you’re filing the dispute, the date of the transaction in question and an explanation of why you’re disputing the transaction. If you’re dissatisfied with the quality of a product and have already reached out to the merchant, include that information as well. And make sure to include copies of any supporting documentation.

Source: nerdwallet.com

Apache is functioning normally

Having to file a claim against an insurance policy can be stressful. Whether it’s your homeowners insurance, car insurance, or health insurance, filing a claim means that something went wrong.

You hope that your claim will be handled quickly and professionally and you’ll get the desired outcome, compensation related to your claim. When our area was hit by an inland hurricane a few years back, our house took on a lot of damage.   Our entire area was hit, so we made sure to call our insurance company immediately to make sure we were first on the list.   Luckily, our insurance company was quick to respond and we got everything taken care of promptly.

Note:  You can see my post on the storm that hit our area: How to be Ready for an Emergency.

However, sometimes things go wrong and your agent or insurance agency mishandles your claim or you don’t get the fair result you expected. In this case you don’t have to just settle for what you get, you can report a bad insurance agent or agency through a claim with your state.

The first step when you get a decision that you don’t agree with is to try to negotiate a better settlement amount or claim amount with the agent. If you can reach a satisfactory agreement that is often better then the time and energy that will be invested in filing a claim against the agent. However, if your case was just handled poorly or you just can’t reach an agreement, then filing a claim with the state is necessary.

Where to Start

Search the state department of insurance website to locate the name and address of who to contact in your state. Some states like NY and CT have consumer complaint forms available for you to use in conjunction with their formal insurance department claim center. You can print and complete these forms to get started. If your state doesn’t have forms available online, you can print one from a state that does and use it as a template for your complaint.

If you are having trouble figuring out who to contact in your state you can look up the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and their site will direct you to the appropriate contact in your state.

Filing the Claim

You will want to complete the claim against your agent thoroughly and accurately. This means thinking with a clear head and detailing facts only. It is important to list all events and contacts in chronological order. Include any contact you had with the agent, police, insurance company, doctors or anyone pertinent to your case.

Attach any necessary documents. This could be health records in terms of a health care claim or an accident report if it was a vehicle claim. It’s important to hold on to the original documents and just send in photo copies in case they get misplaced and you need to furnish additional copies.

Remember to sign and date your claim before you send it in. Then you will want to send it to your state department of insurance claims.

Follow Up

If you want to achieve satisfactory results, it is important to follow up. Usually two weeks after you submit your claim is sufficient time for follow up. Keep following up ever week until your claim is handled.

Follow Up, Follow Up

A friend of mine who is industry read my post and wanted to add their two cents.  I thought it was a good perspective, so I wanted to share…..

Saw you post a few days ago about insurance claims. Being in the business, it struck a chord with me. I could ramble on with many things but a few that stuck out to me about your article/post/whatever was that it assumed everyone who has an issue with the way their claim is handled had a covered loss? Admittedly, I didn’t research the context of your article but am assuming you’re trying to educate the public. Just wanted to ensure that it was objective! Naturally, email/written text doesn’t allow me to provide non-verbals and context to this message. It is all in good fun and nothing that I am losing any sleep over – or you either for that matter. Just some food for thought.

If you didn’t receive remarkable customer service or were denied coverage for a covered loss, then there are grounds to file complaints. If the top insurance companies mess up, although I know that with respect to the people I work with and what I believe in my company, it isn’t malicious. More so, human error or misinterpretations. I wouldn’t bat an eye to file a complaint myself as a consumer if I thought I was treated unjustly or unfairly, especially when I’ve entered into a contract. But, if you expect insurance to cover general maintenance on your property when your roofer uncovered rotted roof decking once they take hail damaged shingles off your roof – there may not be anything a judge or the department of insurance can do to help you – maintenance isn’t covered. Also, there are areas in most insurance policies that outline alternative dispute resolutions – be it appraisal, arbitration, or filing suit. Often times, these are measures sought outside of asking the DOI to step in which is often viewed as the final option when others didn’t suffice (I think often times the DOI would agree).

One other thing I thought was interesting was that you filed your claim quickly to get to the top of the list. Certainly can’t speak for all insurance companies, but can say based on my experience, this is a general misconception. Most companies assign claims based on severity. The people with more damage generally get inspected first. But there are a lot of subjective items that go into it as well – namely the schedule/location of the assigned adjuster. There are other factors but but just because you file a claim quickly doesn’t mean you’re going to get inspected quicker – relatively speaking.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents – or a quarter based on the amount I’ve typed out here! I just sort of felt like reading it, that you were maybe supporting filing a compliant when you didn’t get what you thought you deserved when the general concept of insurance is confusing for many. I am by no means saying all insurance companies have unwavering ethics or morals. Since USAA is giving you some props – check out there article about myths in insurance. They list some common ones that any insurance company would agree are out there. Wow – I thought this would be a few sentences and this turned into a book. Now I need to go back and read it again and make sure I’ve covered everything! Anyway, I seriously wanted to more so give you props for what you’re doing and jab at you a little and this turned heavy on the jab (in good fun) and less on the props.

 Have you had a bad experience with an insurance agent?  If so, share your experience in the comments below.

Source: goodfinancialcents.com

Apache is functioning normally

When it comes to home decor, it takes a certain level of assuredness to commit to color. Whether it is painting your walls green or investing in a bright blue couch, staying safe seems like the only option with neutrals like grays, beiges, and greiges.

But anyone can gain confidence designing their own space by adding low-stakes, vibrant touches in noncommittal ways. Here, five experts offer their best tips to brighten up your living room—each impermanent and cost-effective—sure to leave you inspired. Once you’ve got an idea in mind, head over to homedepot.com/decor to shop top trends and brands, and find your personalized pops of color.

1. Vibrant Rugs

    “Look down on the ground. All you need is a new rug and voila, your space is totally transformed,” says Brad Ramsey, principal designer and founder of his own studio in Nashville. “Rugs can provide a room with texture, pattern, or color—and sometimes all three in one. Depending on your style, you can go for modern patterns, saturated solids, soft organic textures, or muted antiques to change the feel of your home.”

    BALTA, Merril Pink Geometric Area Rug

    BALTA, Levine Burnt Orange Geometric Shag Area Rug

    Rug Branch, Savannah Collection Modern Geometric Area Rug

    2. Contrasting Textures and Elements

    “Think of your upholstery like good basics in your wardrobe: You can always layer underneath or on top of those base pieces—and change the feel of a space without a substantial renovation,” says Ramsey.

    For example: If you have a leather or velvet couch, opt for an oversized natural jute or sisal rug that takes up the majority of the space. Then, add a brighter and smaller rug over top. “Scale the colorful rug to ground the seating area and then let the natural rug provide more texture,” he adds. “Then you can contrast and accessorize with fun art and metal accents.”

    David Tsay

    3. Powerful Pillows

    All of our experts could agree on this: Never underestimate the power of pillows. “I love to add a color accent to a room with throw pillows. But don’t settle for two of the exact same,” says Ramsey. “Instead opt for a collection of coordinating pillows.”

    If you want to revitalize your oatmeal or charcoal sofa, “selecting a fun, colorful print fabric for pillows will bring it back to life,” says Susan Spath, principal designer of Kern & Co in San Diego.

    Mina Victory, Coral Abstract Rectangle Throw Pillow

    New Heights, Augustine Slope Arm Linen Blend Sofa

    LR Home, Pom Pom Textured Decorative Throw Pillow

    4. Lively Curtains and Blinds

    “What will give you the biggest bang for your buck are colorful drapes,” says Mimi Meacham, founder and principal designer of Marian Louise Designs. “Frame your windows with a fun, colorful print, or choose a solid color fabric with a chic trim.” Meacham prefers darker, heavier tones paired with velvet and wool textures, which “add a soft, yet impactful statement to the space.” If you prefer something more open, linen or sheer fabrics can create a light and airy feel.

    5. Natural Accents

    “A natural way to liven up any room is to incorporate plants,” says Ramsey. “If you get great light, try a fiddle-leaf fig tree in the window. They love to sunbathe and cast gorgeous shadows from their large, waxy leaves.” Colorful planters can also infuse a joyful atmosphere in any space. In an area where sunlight isn’t abundant, try something lower maintenance, like a snake plant, or add dried or faux flowers to empty shelves, bookcases, stairwells, and entryways.

    Litton Lane, Yellow Metal Modern Planter

    Pure Garden, Artificial Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree

    CosmoLiving, Blue Metal Geometric Vase

    6. Subtle Lamps and Lights

    Whether you’re adding decorative lighting over a piece of artwork or a stand-alone lamp for added ambiance, seize the opportunity to shake things up. “A lamp or sconce with a white lampshade is boring,” says Meacham. “Invest in some fun, colorful lampshades” that project their hues around the room.

    7. Bold Bookcases

    Adding wallpaper to built-in or freestanding bookcases “will add depth, layering and interest to the living room. Plus, it’s much simpler and a more minimal investment than covering your walls,” says Mindy O’Connor of Melinda Kelson O’Connor Architecture & Interiors in Philadelphia.

    Alternatively, add a coat of fresh paint to your shelves. “If your living room is mostly neutral, changing the color of your customized built-in or freestanding shelves to a darker tone, such as navy, black, chocolate brown, or forest green creates a striking visual contrast against white walls,” says the principal designer at Miss Alice Designs, Alice Chiu. “Your eye will be drawn to the visual weight of the contrast, which presents a nice focal point.”

    David Tsay

    8. Refreshed Knickknacks

    Ramsey recommends swapping outdated tchotchkes for items that feel more current. “We can get stuck with the same decorative items in our homes for years out of fear that it’s wasteful to discard them. But I say donate those items and look for new ones that speak to you! Would you wear the same shoes for 10 years and expect to still like them? In most cases, no! So don’t treat your decor like it’s too precious,” he says. “As styles and trends change, you can update along with them.”

    Teal Elephant Book Ends, Carved Gorara Soapstone

    “Enclosed Circles” by Marmont Hill Framed Abstract Art Print

    A & B Home, Effra Rectangular Blue Trays

    Feeling inspired? Find colorful accents for your home at homedepot.com/decor.

    Photographer: David Tsay; Art Direction and Production: Armine Altiparmakian and Sabrina Contratti; Prop Stylist: Olga Grigorenko; Merch Team: Two Coast Productions; Local Production: Right Arm Productions

    Source: housebeautiful.com

    Apache is functioning normally

    The 21 top recipients of TARP funds saw minimal increases in overall lending in February compared to a month earlier, according to data released today by the Treasury Department.

    The median growth in total lending was actually negative two percent in February, with nine banks posting increases and 12 experiencing declines.

    “Against a difficult economic backdrop, banks extended approximately the same level of loan originations in February as in January,” the Treasury said in a release.

    “The relatively steady overall lending levels observed in February likely would have been lower absent the capital provided by Treasury through the CPP, an indication of the critical role this program has played in stabilizing markets and restoring the flow of credit to consumers and business.”

    However, residential mortgage originations across the 21 banks increased by a median 35 percent, thanks to a flurry of refinance activity.

    The median change in mortgage refinancing during the month was an increase of 42 percent from January, thanks in part to record low rates; home equity loan originations saw a median increase of 18 percent.

    Wells Fargo was the top mortgage lender for the second month running with $34.8 billion in monthly loan originations, trailed by Bank of America with $28.6 billion and Chase with $13 billion, all substantial increases from January.

    Meanwhile, loan originations for consumer loans, such as auto, student, and personal loans, decreased a median 47 percent, partially attributable to poor demand in these industries.

    New credit card originations also slowed by a median three percent, while the average loan balance of credit accounts fell by a median one percent.

    It appears as if the banks that received billions in TARP funds are only willing to originate low-risk, government-backed mortgages (FHA loans, VA loans), while cutting back on all other types of credit.

    (photo: eflon)

    Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com

    Apache is functioning normally

    The latest survey from the National Association of Realtors revealed some troubling news in the housing market.

    The share of first-time home buyers reached its lowest point in nearly 30 years, per the 2014 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

    The average, dating back to 1981, shows that roughly four of 10 home purchases are made by first-time buyers.

    This year, that number is closer to a third (33%), down from 38% a year ago and not far from the all-time low of 30% in 1987.

    Lots of Roadblocks

    NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun pointed to the many roadblocks hindering the young from purchasing real estate these days.

    One issue seems to be limited job prospects and/or stagnant income growth. Meanwhile, rents are rising and student loans are becoming more of a burden for college-educated individuals who would typically be the ones buying homes.

    That means it’s difficult to raise enough money for a down payment, especially with all-cash buyers swooping in and buying up all the cheap properties nowadays.

    There’s also talk of tight credit conditions and low housing inventory, which don’t appear to be improving.

    Unfortunately, this hurts the housing ecosystem, which relies on young families to come in and buy lower-end properties from existing homeowners who then purchase move-up properties.

    One could also argue that home prices have become too expensive again, even with mortgage rates as low as they are.

    31 Still the Median Age of a First-Timer

    Despite the decline in first-time buyers, the median age was still 31, unchanged from the previous two years.

    And the median income of first-timers was $68,300, pretty darn close to the $67,400 reported in 2013. A 1,570 square-foot home was the norm purchase, with a price tag of $169,000.

    Compare this to the typical repeat buyer who was 53 years old, earned $95,000, and purchased a median 2,030-square foot home costing $240,000.

    As you might expect, the large majority (88%) of first-time buyers financed their home purchases, and the median down payment was a low six percent.

    Aside from tapping their own savings, 26% of first-timers received a gift from a friend or relative, while six percent received a loan from a relative/friend.

    Another 10% were forced to sell stocks or bonds or tap into their 401(k) to get the necessary funds to buy a home.

    Repeat buyers were able to put down a median 13% down payment thanks to their existing home equity.

    Fixed Mortgages Still King

    The overwhelming loan choice for entry-level buyers continues to be a fixed-rate mortgage, with 93% preferring fixed over ARM.

    That’s generally a good move because first-time buyers plan to stay in their homes for 10 years, while repeat buyers plan to hold onto their properties for 15 years.

    Additionally, 35% of first-timers financed their home purchase with an FHA mortgage, though that number is down from 39% in 2013 and 56% in 2010 thanks to higher mortgage insurance premiums.

    As for why they chose to buy a home, 53% of noobs cited the desire to own a home of their own. The American Dream.

    Repeat buyers had a variety of reasons to buy again, with 12% experiencing a job-related move, 11% wanting a home in a better area, and 10% opting for a larger home.

    The composition of buyers was pretty much unchanged from a year ago, with 65% married couples, 16% single women, nine percent single men, and eight percent unmarried couples.

    Read more: Advantages of buying instead of renting.

    Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com