Such voluntary defaults are a new phenomenon. Time was, Americans would do anything to pay their mortgage — forgo a new car or a vacation, even put a younger family member to work. But the housing collapse left 10.7 million families owing more than their homes are worth.

It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2009.

The Obama administration on Monday plans to announce a campaign to pressure mortgage companies to reduce payments for many more troubled homeowners, as evidence mounts that a $75 billion taxpayer-financed effort aimed at stemming foreclosures is foundering.

Local governments fork over billions in fees on investments gone bad

Three-quarters of banks automatically enroll consumers in their "overdraft protection" programs without formal permission, and more than half of banks manipulate the order in which checks are cleared to trigger multiple overdraft fees, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Cor …

...the president repeated his campaign proposal that would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan program that costs taxpayers $15 million each day....

Got an old Nokia 1100 sitting around? You may be sitting on a fortune... albeit with a catch. Certain circles are said to be paying upwards of $32,000 for the handsets, at least those made in Nokia's Bochum factory in Germany.

The Treasury Department Wednesday confirmed that life insurers are qualified to join banks and carmakers on the list of industries getting taxpayer bailouts.

Top federal and state officials on Monday announced a broad crackdown on mortgage modification scams, accusing "criminal actors" of preying on desperate borrowers caught up in the nation's housing crisis.

President Barack Obama on Monday offered a fresh package of aid to small businesses — "the heart of the American economy" — in an aggressive push to get big banks that got federal bailout money to do more lending to these struggling entrepreneurs. "You deserve a chance.

The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing blacks into subprime mortgages while whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.

...Fewer walking away than you think Almost 20% of homeowners - or 8.3 million people - are "underwater" on their mortgages, owing more than their properties are worth. Another 2.2 million are near that drowning point, known as "negative amortization."

Welcome to Landlord Nation, where foreclosure notices are plentiful and for-sale signs offer at least 1,800 homes for under $10,000 that once were worth at least 10 times more.

3 words to save your home: Produce the Note Some homeowners are successfully stalling foreclosures by uttering three words in court. What to say... See more irresistible headlines

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.

Loretta Maxwell of Troy, Mich., thought her credit score of 790 buffered her against most of the fallout of the credit crunch. When Chase (JPM) closed her $6,000-limit card in December without warning after two years of inactivity, she called to fight it. She was unsuccessful.

Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said it will allow some borrowers to rent out their homes after losing them to foreclosure. The goal of the new policy, announced Friday, is to prevent properties from becoming vacant so they won't fall into disrepair.

1. Get your spending under control by using a free online budgeting Web site, such as Mint.com. This secure site tracks your checking, credit-card and investment accounts and offers money-saving tips, such as where you can cut costs or get a better rate on your credit card.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Thursday they will extend the suspension of foreclosure sales and evictions from single-family homes through the end of January.

Homeowners around the country are scrambling to refinance their mortgages at the lowest rates since the early 1960s as the economy staggers through what's likely to be the worst recession in decades.

Two major European banks said they have exposure worth billions of dollars to a US broker accused of a $50bn (£33bn) Wall Street fraud scheme.

Banks are reducing limits on credit cards, regardless of your payment record. » Avoid unpleasant surprise.. See more irresistible headlines

The government has introduced a pair of new programs that will provide $800 billion to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt which Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls vital to supporting the economy. See more irresistible headlines

Zero percent interest rates! It sounds like free money, or maybe a promotional deal from General Motors to get people to buy Hummers. Are zero rates coming to the Federal Reserve?

First lie about your income and also say that you intend to live in the said house. Then, -- The garden variety scheme works like the following:

Long before she filed for bankruptcy, Ann Neukomm was "under water" -- she owed more on her mortgage than her house was worth -- a situation more and more Americans are finding themselves in.

... European leaders hint at much more robust state intervention with tighter regulations.

Think of the current market and economic turmoil as a disaster by committee, with blunders by government officials, Wall Street pros, and regular Americans alike ...

Obama said that banks participating in the federal bailout should temporarily postpone foreclosures for families making good-faith efforts to pay their mortgage.

Financial markets took a bleak view of the future Monday, seeing contagion in a credit crisis that threatens to cascade through economies globally despite government efforts to provide relief.

We are in a vicious cycle: falling housing values cause losses on securities, which reduce bank capital, thereby tightening lending and causing house prices to fall further. The cycle has spread beyond housing, but housing is the place to fix it.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc will invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs Group Inc, in a major boost for the Wall Street bank from perhaps the world's best-known investor.

But many struggling homeowners are asking: "Where's my bailout?"

You should be angry about the $700 billion plan to save banks. But once the rage subsides, realize that doing nothing would be disastrous. ...

Bank of America Corp. has agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for about $44 billion, or around $29 a share, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Foreclosure is a fairly well-understood process, but as "short-sale" signs sprout like weeds, you may wonder what they're all about.

Devotees of the yellow metal -- which they believe protects their wealth against everything from inflation to Armageddon -- have watched in horror as gold has slumped 19% in a month to $790 an ounce.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which oversees the nation's 8,500 banking institutions is reportedly watching 90 additional banks.

Ulises Garcia said he was withdrawing cash from a Wachovia Bank and depositing it into a Bank of America so he could pay his bills online.