3 ways home warranty companies avoid paying up

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Are you thinking about purchasing a home warranty for yourself or offering one to buyers when you sell your house? You might be surprised by the number of components in your home that a warranty won't cover.

It’s important to carefully read the complete contract before spending your money to make sure you’re signing up for the coverage you expect, but I can give you a heads up about what to look for. To learn about the many ways in which home warranties can fall short, read my Interest.com article, 3 ways home warranty companies avoid paying up.

What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

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If your identity is stolen, you may have trouble obtaining credit or getting a good interest rate. Creditors may pursue you for debts you haven't incurred. You may even encounter problems when applying for a job because of fraudulent, negative information that appears on a background check. For all of these reasons and more, if you become a victim of identity theft, you need to begin working to clear your name immediately. Read about the basic steps to take in my Financial Edge article for Investopedia, What to Do If Your Identity Is Stolen.

Who profits when you refinance?

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If you refinance, you probably expect to save thousands of dollars over the life your home loan. You can achieve lower interest rates, lower monthly payments and possibly lower total borrowing costs.

But knowing how mortgage companies and loan officers make their money can help you make sure you don't get cheated.

Learn how lenders make their money in my Interest.com article, Who profits when you refinance?

When to avoid making a homeowners insurance claim

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Homeowners insurance provides essential protection against expensive damage to your home, but that doesn't mean you should file a claim every time something goes wrong. In some cases, you might be better off if you handle the problem yourself.

Insurance companies have been accused of raising premiums, or even dropping policyholders, if they file too many claims or if they file the wrong kind of claim. Learn more in my Interest.com article, When to avoid making a homeowners insurance claim.

An Introduction To Complementary Currencies

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In communities around the world, people have come up with alternatives to the usual way of paying for goods and services. Instead of yen, pounds or dollars, they are using privately developed substitutes called complementary currencies.


A complementary currency is a medium of exchange that functions alongside a national currency to fulfill a need that the national currency seemingly does not. According to the International Journal of Community Currency Research, community and complementary currency systems have four main purposes:

• To promote local economic development
• To build social capital
• To nurture more sustainable lifestyles
• To meet needs that mainstream money does not

To learn more about complementary currencies and how they work, read my Investopedia article, An Introduction To Complementary Currencies.

Discover’s cash-advance option could replace your debit card

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Discover credit card holders can get cash when they make a purchase at selected stores by taking advantage of the Discover Cash Over program. In contrast to regular, pricey cash advances, there are no fees associated with Cash Over transactions.

Learn how it works in my Interest.com article, Discover's cash-advance option could replace your debit card.

How HELOCs Can Hurt You

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You may have heard that a home equity line of credit (HELOC) is a convenient, flexible and low-cost way to borrow money for things like buying a car, paying for your kid to go to college, or undertaking a home remodeling project. 

All of these statements can be true if you manage your HELOC prudently. 

But if you don't, a HELOC can become very expensive and get you into financial trouble. Learn how in my Investopedia article, How HELOCs Can Hurt You.

5 Steps To Forming A Tax-Exempt Nonprofit Corporation

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A 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation is a type of charitable organization that the Internal Revenue Service recognizes as tax exempt. This type of corporation does not pay income tax on its earnings or on the donations it receives.

Also, any time a taxpayer makes a donation to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, they can reduce their taxable income by the amount of their donation if they itemize their deductions on their federal income tax return. This incentive encourages private charity and makes it easier for nonprofits to raise money.

If you've ever wanted to raise money for a cause on your own terms, you might want to start a 501(c)(3). My Investopedia article, 5 Steps To Forming A Tax-Exempt Nonprofit Corporation, describes what you should consider before you decide to pursue your goals through this method and tells you how to get started if you decide to move forward.

Eat Healthy And Save Money

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Grocery prices rose 6.2% from October 2010 to October 2011, according to the USDA's Economic Research Service. The agency predicts a further 3 to 4% increase in grocery prices in 2012.

If you're having trouble sticking to your household grocery budget, don't stop buying more expensive healthy foods in favor of cheap junk foods. Instead, start looking for foods that are both nutritious and affordable.

Learn about some good options in my Financial Edge article for Investopedia, Eat Healthy and Save Money. Also read my previous article, Eating Healthy on a Budget.

How to ask for a credit card reconsideration

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If you’ve ever applied for a credit card online, you’re familiar with the following process: fill out a form with your name, address, Social Security number and some information about your annual household income, monthly housing payment and sources of savings.

Click “submit,” and within 60 seconds your application is approved, denied or pending further review.

If your credit card application is denied, you don’t have to take no for an answer--at least not right away.

The company has to tell you why it denied your application.

If the reason is "too many requests for credit or opened accounts with us," consider this initial rejection a starting point for a possible negotiation.

Learn how to undertake such a negotiation in my Interest.com article, How to Ask for a Credit Card Reconsideration.

What to expect from a home inspection

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Buyers want to make sure that a home they have under contract doesn’t contain major problems that they can’t afford to repair or don’t want to hassle with.

The person they rely on to go beyond the obvious and reveal the home’s true condition is a home inspector.

Home inspectors are specially trained to spot problems the average person is likely to miss. However, there are limitations on what inspectors can legally examine. To learn what these limitations are, read my Interest.com article, What to Expect from a Home Inspection.

How To Form A Homeowners' Association

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Homeowner associations (HOAs) have become more and more prevalent. According to public policy professor Robert H. Nelson, condominiums, homeowners' associations and cooperatives "as recently as 1970 represented only about 1% of U.S. housing. By 2010, however, there were more than 300,000 community associations housing more than 60 million Americans, 20% of the U.S. population."

What does this mean for you? It means that if you're shopping for a home, you need to find out whether it's in an HOA. You need to understand what an HOA is and whether you can live with its rules.

HOAs manage issues that affect the entire community, such as safety and security, lack of property maintenance, local nuisances or the provision of services that aren't taken care of by the local government. HOAs also can be a source of major strife because of the power they wield over homeowners.

HOAs are generally formed by developers when a new community is constructed. As a condition of acquiring property in many communities, buyers must join the HOA. As a result, many people wind up joining HOAs without truly understanding what HOAs are or how they work, just because they fall in love with a particular home.

To learn about the intricacies of HOAs, read my new Investopedia article, How To Form A Homeowners' Association, about how HOAs are formed and run.

For even more information on homeowners' associations, check out 9 Things You Need To Know About Homeowners' Associations.