Economy Jan 03 Should You Swim Away From an Underwater Mortgage? Your mortgage is underwater. Making the payments is both difficult and demoralizing. Is it ethical for you to walk away? As we've reported, there are arguments both ways. Here's a feature to help you make up your…
Economy Dec 31 The Year in Foreclosure Reports Mortgage paperwork was a mess. Foreclosures were rampant. Homeowners went through months-long modifications, losing hope when it all fell through. The housing crisis was one of the major stories of the year. And as 2010 draws to a…
Arts Dec 31 Alyssa Katz: How Government Is Failing the Homeowner We last spoke with journalist and author Alyssa Katz back in October 2009. She had just finished writing "Our Lot," a book on the history of America's housing market. "The issue is that the investors and investment…
Economy Dec 29 Robert the Robot, the Mechanical Man Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's today's query: Name: Jose Question: In Virginia we have a non-judicial foreclosure process. The…
Economy Dec 28 The Loan Mod Squad: A Request to Business Desk Readers Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's today's query: Name: Toby Hanna Question: I purchased a house in 2006. A year…
Economy Dec 27 The American Dream Deferred: What Befell our Strategic Defaulters? We've devoted a lot of attention to the foreclosure crisis that is threatening the homes of so many Americans, and to various ways they've sought help: non-profit third parties; the government's loan modification program, HAMP. But…
Economy Dec 24 2010, the Year of Foreclosure Of the two dozen "Words of the Year" cited by the New York Times the other day, two of them -- "robo-signer" and "put-back" -- were spawned by the foreclosure crisis. (See this link for the Gray Lady's definitions.)…
Economy Dec 16 Will the U.S. Follow Europe’s Austerity Lead? Paul Solman answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Thursday's query: Name: Sharon McDonnell Question: Paul, I apologize if I missed a step in the…
Economy Dec 15 Why Doesn’t the U.S. Just Print More Money, Rather Than Borrow? Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Wednesday's query: Name: Bill Turner Question: Why does the U.S. borrow so much instead…
Arts Dec 14 Tool$ Tuesday: Interactive Tax Cut Graphic Today's tool concerns the extension of the Bush tax cuts and comes via the Washington Post, which generated the interactive graphic some time ago. But it's as timely a tool as ever, given that the Senate vote…