You CAN fight City Hall! My hearing with the County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board
Today I had a property assessment appeal hearing with the County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board.  My hearing was with an assessment hearing officer and a Los Angeles County Assessor.  I applied for the hearing almost a year ago in an attempt to lower my property tax.  Since property values in most of Los Angeles have declined (along with the most of the country), I was hoping that my property taxes might decline, as well. I applied for this hearing almost a year ago.  It’s amazing how slow a big city can process these things. Nevertheless the day finally came.  I set out to prepare for my big hearing, but I didn’t where to start.  The county assessor̵

New FICO credit scoring model may boost some borrowers’ scores
Even the most responsible borrowers slip up sometimes. Maybe a utility bill went unpaid after you moved and the missed payment went into collections. Or, perhaps there are unpaid library fines or parking tickets in collections that are hanging onto your credit history and affecting your FICO credit score, which is widely used by lenders to evaluate your ability to repay a debt. With the newest version of the FICO credit-scoring system, however, minor delinquencies are now overlooked in calculating creditworthiness. Under the updated scoring model, called FICO 08, small, missed payments lingering in collections with original amounts of $100 or less will no longer do damage t

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 = Good News for Consumers
On May 22, 2009, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The full title of the law: Public Law 111-24 is the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. It amends the Truth In Lending Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. Following is a description of the main provisions of this important consumer protection legislation. Keep in mind that there are many sections of the law where the Federal Reserve Board (often with the cooperation of other regulatory agencies), will be required to develop rules that describe how the law will work in real life. In other words, this is not the final

How to Negotiate With Your Bank to Lower your Credit Card Interest (APR)
How to Negotiate a lower Credit Card Interest (APR) Most credit card lenders charge anywhere from 0 to 20% in interest (APR). I’ve seen some particularly creepy banks that charge as much as 35%! Most people do not realize that you can negotiate with your credit card company for a lower rate, especially if you’ve had any of your credit cards for a long time. All you need to do is to call them up to insist on a lower rate. Shoot for 9% to 15%. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to save yourself a lot of money. Here’s how to do it: 1). Start with a credit card that you’ve had for a long time. One that you have never been late on with

Good news for Credit Card Holders! Change is coming!
Good news for Credit Card Holders! Change is coming! On May 22, 2009, President Barack Obama passed the “Credit Card holders’ Bill of Rights.”  This milestone measure received bipartisan support in both chambers and will make credit card issuers display fees more clearly and end many random abuses.  This bill takes full effect on February 2010. Once the bill is effective, credit cardholders should experience a more consumer-friendly experience when the credit card industry is required to play by clear and fairer rules. The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights will help credit card users by: Restricting issuers’ ability to ra