You can now borrow up to $625,500 with a federally insured reverse mortgage – up from $417,000 – as a result of a change made by Congress that will help some seniors. In a traditional mortgage, you borrow money against your house and pay it back in monthly installments over time. With a reverse mortgage, you borrow money against your house, but you don’t have to pay it back until you die, sell the house, or

Many people who are having trouble making their mortgage payments are turning to consultants who promise to help them modify their loans. The problem: Often, these “loan modification” businesses are actually scams. In a typical scam, a consultant demands a large upfront fee – sometimes as much as $3,000 – and then disappears without doing any work. Prosecutors in 19 states have taken legal action against various “foreclosure rescue” businesses, as has the Federal Trade Commission,

A landlord could evict a tenant who sued the landlord for a personal injury, according to the Alaska Supreme Court. The tenant was a handyman at a motel who rented a motel room at a reduced rate. He sued the motel after he slipped and broke his leg. The motel owners responded by throwing him out. According to the handyman, this was illegal retaliation against him that violated the state’s landlord-tenant law. But the Supreme Court

Over the past year, there have been a number of instances where a bank has agreed to provide a mortgage, then has changed its mind and reneged on its agreement at the last minute. In the past, such conduct was unheard of. It’s still rare – but the credit crisis has changed a lot about the way banks operate, and this is one result. As a buyer, you might want to protect yourself by spelling out

Here’s a common scenario: Both parties to a real estate deal are ready to close, but for some reason the seller can’t move out by the closing date. Maybe the seller is moving to a new home or place of business, and the new place isn’t quite ready yet. Maybe the closing date is the last day of the month, a notoriously difficult day on which to hire a moving company. One solution is to go